UK Supreme Court rules airlines can be held accountable for flight cancellations due to off-duty pilot illness.

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that airlines can be held accountable for flight cancellations stemming from off-duty pilot illness, as such instances do not qualify as "extraordinary circumstances". This ruling has the potential to affect thousands of airline compensation claims annually. In a case involving Kenneth and Linda Lipton, who took BA Cityflyer to court after their flight was cancelled due to a pilot's off-duty illness, the court dismissed the airline's appeal against an earlier Court of Appeal ruling. The Liptons were awarded compensation after the Supreme Court judges unanimously dismissed the company's appeal.