Extracting Money for Disgruntled Passengers in the EU

Depending on your point of view, Daniel Michaels's A Robin Hood for Inconvenienced Fliers in Europe, Wall St. J., Aug. 12, 2009 (available here), will either inspire adulation or repulsion.  From the story:

Travelers heading to Europe may want to scribble an extra address on their trip agenda: Hendrik Noorderhaven's Web site.

The Dutch software executive is emerging as a Robin Hood of sorts for disgruntled airline passengers in Europe. His company, EUclaim, helps fliers win penalty payments of up to €600 (about $850) from airlines for long delays and canceled flights and for bumping passengers from flights against their will.

. . .

Enter Mr. Noorderhaven. He has spent the past eight years—and invested some €3.5 million, or $5 million—trying to make carriers pay for passengers' inconvenience. His staff has tapped dozens of sources of information on air traffic, airport operations and weather conditions to build and constantly update a database of every flight in Europe's skies.