AirHelp
 | |
| Industry | Airline, Legal |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 2013 |
| Founder | Morten Lund, Henrik Zillmer, Nicolas Michaelsen, Greg Roodt |
| Headquarters | London, Hong Kong |
Area served | EU |
Number of employees | 8 |
| Website |
getairhelp |
| Original author(s) | Greg Roodt |
|---|---|
| Initial release | January 2013 |
| Written in | Python, Java |
| Operating system | Android, iOS |
| Available in | 9 languages |
| Type | Legal, Flight cancellation and delay, App |
AirHelp is a company that provides an online legal service to help air passengers get compensation from airlines when their flight has been cancelled, delayed or overbooked. Air passengers are entitled to a payment ranging from €250 to €600 in compensation when their flight is delayed or cancelled, depending on the length of the delay and the distance travelled on the route.[1] After AirHelp managed thousands of successful applications for customer payouts in its first nine months of operation, Denmark's national airline association Danish Aviation (Dansk Luftfart) admitted it was concerned about the trend towards more compensation claims, warning that it could lead to increases in fares.[2]
However, under EU Regulation 261/2004, if a traveller is leaving from an EU country or arriving to an EU country with an EU registered airline, they could be entitled to compensation if they experience delays of more than three hours. These rules also apply to people from outside of the EU and they can be claimed as far back as five years. Using the example of the UK's Manchester Airport alone, it has been shown that compensation totalling tens of millions of pounds remains unclaimed.[3]
On the AirHelp website, smartphone app or Facebook page, air passengers can check if they are eligible for compensation. They can then request that AirHelp handles their claim on what the company describes as a ‘No Win, No Fee’ basis. If the said claim is successful, AirHelp keeps a 25% contingent fee from the final compensation payout.
AirHelp says it aims to simplify the claims process by using its own ‘automatic flight compensation technology’ that relies on vast quantities of airport, weather and airline data, thereby consolidating a pool of legal content from a multitude of sources. In doing so, the company hopes to empower travellers to make full use of their consumer rights, and in turn raise the level of customer care provided by the airlines.
The service has launched in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and claims to have processed 80.000 claims in 35 countries.
History
AirHelp was founded in January 2013 by present CEO Henrik Zillmer and Nicolas Michaelsen, who serves as CMO and ex-Moshi Monsters' Greg Roodt (CTO). The founders were later joined by Poul Oddershede (CFO) and Jennie Tost.[4] Early Skype investor and serial entrepreneur Morten Lund[5] heads up AirHelp’s board
The company was revealed by TechCrunch as a recruit to the Winter 2014 class of world-renowned Silicon Valley incubator YCombinator.[6]
In early March 2014, AirHelp launched its service in the United States.[7] In early May, at the annual Tech Crunch-hosted Disrupt NY event, it announced Gmail integration. This means customers are now able to connect via their Gmail account, and AirHelp can search for past flight itineraries, to figure out how much the client is eligible to claim.[8]
In May 2014, AirHelp was announced as the winner of the 2014 Spark 'powered by Rackspace' award at the inaugural Collision Conference in Las Vegas. The company beat over 30 technology startups selected from a total of 500 applicants. AirHelp won a cash prize of $10,000 plus a fund of services.[9]
Also in May 2014, AirHelp was named best Danish startup of the year in the Nordic Startup Awards.
See also
References
- ↑ Europa (European Union website). Passenger rights. Brussels. Retrieved 18 January 2014
- ↑ Højrup Bencke, Sune. "Brancheforening: Golddiggers kan bringe flysikkerhed i fare", Politiken, Copenhagen, Denmark, 9 September 2014
- ↑ Cox, Charlotte. "Manchester Airport passengers could have claimed £63m over delayed flights, but only applied for £1m", Manchester Evening News, Manchester, 4 January 2014
- ↑ O'Hear, Steve. "AirHelp Wants To Put The Fear Into European Airlines With Its Flight Compensation App", Tech Crunch, London, 28 October 2013.
- ↑ Day, Peter (producer). "Entrepreneuring through boom and bust", Global Business, BBC World Service, London, 17 August 2010.
- ↑ Kumparak, Greg. "When Airlines Screw Up Your Flight, AirHelp Gets You Paid", Tech Crunch, San Francisco, 5 March 2014.
- ↑ Swan, Rachel. "AirHelp: Silicon Valley StartUp Helps Passenger Recoup Cash for Canceled Flights (Update)", San Francisco Weekly, San Francisco, 6 March 2014.
- ↑ Dillet, Romain. "AirHelp Lets You Claim Money For Messed Up Flights", Tech Crunch, San Francisco, 6 May 2014.
- ↑ Jensen, Jackie. "Inaugural Spark powered by Rackspace winner announced", Vegas Tech, Las Vegas, 14 May 2014.