Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

heatherfay89

received the letter below from Thomas Cook mid June, unsure as to how to go foward.
Help?! Opinions?!

Anyone else on these flights?
TCX02K MAN-POP 06.02.10 and also your inbound flight TCX062L POP-MAN 20.02.10
12 hour delay outbound and 24 hour delay inbound!

"Dear Heather

I am writing in response to your letter regarding your recent travel arrangements with Thomas Cook.

Initially, I would like to apologise for the disruption to your flight plans. Please be assured that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure that any delays are kept to an absolute minimum, as we do fully understand the inconvenience and frustration these can cause.

It is not always immediately apparent as to when a revised take off time can be secured and a number of factors have to be considered, which quite often rely on outside influences, such as Airport Authorities or Air Traffic Control. We do appreciate the importance of communication, and I would assure you that information is passed onto our customers as quickly as possible, through our handling agents at the airport.

Having carried out a full investigation the specific circumstances surrounding the delay to your own flight were of a technical nature. These were extraordinary, in that Thomas Cook took all reasonable precautions necessary to avoid the situation, and despite our proactive measures the problem could not have been prevented. All our aircraft are maintained to a very high standard, in line with CAA regulations, however, despite these steps, mechanical failures can arise without prior warning. These unpredictable events can be likened to those we encounter with our own cars, despite having full service histories, or MOT’s.

In line with Regulation 261/2004 a payment of compensation would not be considered applicable in this case.

Please be assured that on-time performance is a key measure for us as a business, and we constantly review our operations to ensure we deliver the best results, and service. I would like to offer our apologies for any inconvenience you were caused on this occasion and I hope that despite this, your stay was found to be an enjoyable one.

This is with regards to your outound flight TCX02K MAN-POP 06.02.10 and also your inbound flight TCX062L POP-MAN 20.02.10

Kind Regards,

Victoria McGuire

Customer Relations"

Markie11

Vauban wrote: »

As Kim says, this is the tactic that a number of airlines have adopted in order to deter claimants from pursuing compensation. In truth, you don't need to know the detail of the technical failures. It doesn't matter whether the components were within their expected shelf life, whether the maintenance regime was unable to pick them up, or whether this was an unusual technical failing. All these factors are irrelevant as far as the law is concerned.

For those looking for some reassurance, can I suggest you read this interesting article by the eminent aviation lawyers, Bird&Bird from 2009: http://www.twobirds.com/en/news/articles/2009/denied-boarding-regulations

(Regular readers of this column will know that "Two Birds" are now acting as the defence counsel for Jet2 - so probably regret this publication now!)

The airline industry made an incredible fuss about the Sturgeon judgement (that said three hours delays were to be treated as cancellations). Does anything really think they've have done that if they thought technical failures could usually be described as "extraordinary circumstances"? By law, they simply can't - which is why the airlines effectively "appealed" Sturgeon. And they lost. So this is their last stand. Pathetic, really.

Thank you. Good read and understand now the defence required to suggest "extraordinary"

111KAB

heatherfay89 wrote: »

received the letter below from Thomas Cook mid June, unsure as to how to go foward.
Help?! Opinions?!

Typical TC rubbish as mentioned in numerous posts before (and probably after) yours. Proceed in accordance with the FAQ's on page one ~ just jealous that you will be getting two lots of compensation!

Mark2spark

heatherfay89 wrote: »

These unpredictable events can be likened to those we encounter with our own cars, despite having full service histories, or MOT’s.

I was doing well until this popped up again :wall:

William49

I have no boarding card, tickets or booking confirmation for a 261 minute delay with thomas cook in may 2008, any suggestions of what to do next? Have the document from flight stats showing the delay.

gillpet

Thomas Cook have emailed me to say I have to prove I was on the delayed flight, does anyone know if that is the case?

romanby1

They have to prove you were not on the flight. Send them a Freedom of Information request.

111KAB

William49 wrote: »

.... any suggestions of what to do next?

Presume you know where you were flying from and the date so you can easily establish the flight number etc so you have enough information to submit a claim to TC.

picardygirl

Im not posting for advice (but any welcome )Just posting to say what we've done/will be doing!

Weve done our initial letter to TC, to get back the standard letter blah blah ...... read FAQ, ring our bank as we get free "legal help", that was useless, as they advised they cant help but only "advise" and advised us to contact CAA (but they also advised me to check on here as this website gives some brilliant advice, shame they dont read it themselves!)

So check house insurance to see that we have "family legal cover" which we pay an additional premium for each year, to be told til we have contacted and had a response from CAA they cant help us .... so back to drawing board ...... i'll be composing my email with an NBA tonight (as that is how TC have been corresponding with us)!

DangerousDick

Just a thought, would anybody be surprised if TC (or their associates etc) were posting stuff here to try putting people off, or wind us up reading the same question/thing again and again?

I know it's getting very full, but a complete read-up of everything here reveals every answer you could possibly need.

A lot of court case dates looming, I'm looking forward to more results as and when