Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

sandrac337

We were on Tcx1542 last year 26th October Gatwick to Antalya. The flight was delayed just over 3 hours due to Operational reasons. We found out this meant 2 planes had broken down earlier in the week and our delay was a knock on effect from that. Did the usual & wrote to TC with no effect. CAA said we were due compensation but TC still said no. Sent NBA but didn't evan get an acknowledgement of this. So decided MCOL was next action.
Issued the papers and on day 13 they said intended to defend. On day 27 the defence appeared on MCOL but I couldn't see it for some reason. Then received letter in post saying their defence was they had reviewed case & compensation would be paid in next 14 days but not the interest.
RESULT cheque now received and cleared through banking system. Just shows they will only pay if forced to do so

Vauban

Well done. Spot on. They had no defence, but shamefully refuse to come clean. Taking them to court is the only thing to do. And has been for a long time (since the autumn of 2012).

reidy100_2

evohicks wrote: »

Now this seems familiar...... we were in Cuba last week and caught the bus to Holguin Airport for our flight back scheduled for a 5.05pm departure, we arrived at the airport to see the plane come in from Manchester and land without issue and park in front of us, with passengers disembarking and all the usual loading of food etc..
So, as usual the sky grey's over at this time of day, a crack of thunder and lightening, nothing that we haven't had before, but there seems to be a delay in boarding, we wait for a couple of hours and the Cuban guys on the ground finally start waving for the passengers to start the walk from the terminal to the plane, the thunder has quietened down now, it's just very hot and humid.
After the disabled passengers have been boarded, the rest of us board and once we have all boarded, the usual things happen, (loading hand luggage etc) but we notice that there is a noise, similar to pre engine noise (hard to explain but I'm sure most have heard this on flights) going up and down all the time, it's the first thing I mentioned to my wife when we sat in our seats. So after about 30 minutes on the plane with no movement, but still the pre engine noises, the captain comes over the speaker, "we have had a problem with the starting of the engines, but we seem to have overcome that issue now, but, we have another issue, lightening has struck the runway and I am going to have to delay the flight until I get instructions from Manchester, in all my flying experience, I have never come across this" he came on about half an hour later and said he'd personally inspected the runway and it was touch and go and Manchester would have the final say. In the mean time people were sweating, there was no aircon and cabin crew were dishing out the in flight meals and water to those who asked for it, can't blame them, they did a sterling job. After about 2 hours (give or take) the captain said we are to disembark to the airport and officials there would sort out some accommodation and we would return tomorrow as the airport had been closed because of the lightening strike, the Cubans don't start work until 8am and the repair of the runway would take 4 hours to set (has anyone seen construction overnight in Cuba? I know I have!)
When we boarded the buses back to our hotel, the 1st thing that happened was a letter issued to us all, apologising for the delay and that it was an 'Act of God' and under section *** there would be no compensation, how nice of them to take the time to do this while we were boiling our ***** off sitting on the runway!
So, next day (Tuesday) we arrive at the airport for the flight at 3pm, which was then delayed until 4 pm, but more interesting, we saw the Thomas cook flight come in from Gatwick, when it came to stop, the usual happened but either the captain, or attendant of that flight went across to our plane for a while before leaving with the rest of the crew (doesn't bringing a spare part for your sister aircraft come to mind) then we were all called to board the plane and left for England.
I have searched for info on a lightening strike on the runway at Holguin airport (they must get these all the time, no big deal) and there were no delays to other flights coming in or going out.
All in all we had a 23hr delay and when we got back to Manchester they were handing out letters to give to your travel insurers to claim, wow, how nice of them.
Now where do we start lol, and thanks for taking the time to read this:)

Would love to see the next post, fingers crossed.

natsplatnat

Well, I got a reply from TC quicker than I thought.

It appears to be a standard delay letter. Just wondered if I could get a couple of points clarified?

"We have carried out an investigation as to the cause of delay that you experienced and can confirm that this was due to a technical fault which was not inherent in the normal course of activity."
The cause was the failure of a cooling fan for the planes electronics. What does "not inherent in the normal course of activity" mean?

"...recent court case, Huzar vs Jet2, has been heard in the court of appeal, which has resulted in a change to how EC 261/2004 is interpreted, which is the regulation that supports governance on compensation payments for flight delays. The decision of this case is due to be appealed at the Supreme Court by Jet2.com in the near future, which may result in a further change to the interpretation of regulations."
Can I have confirmation as to the status of this appeal? Is it that an appeal has been granted, or has the appeal now been heard?

I was hoping this claim would be much more straight forward than last years (different airline!)!!

Many thanks, Nats

Vauban

natsplatnat wrote: »

Well, I got a reply from TC quicker than I thought.

It appears to be a standard delay letter. Just wondered if I could get a couple of points clarified?

"We have carried out an investigation as to the cause of delay that you experienced and can confirm that this was due to a technical fault which was not inherent in the normal course of activity."
The cause was the failure of a cooling fan for the planes electronics. What does "not inherent in the normal course of activity" mean?

"...recent court case, Huzar vs Jet2, has been heard in the court of appeal, which has resulted in a change to how EC 261/2004 is interpreted, which is the regulation that supports governance on compensation payments for flight delays. The decision of this case is due to be appealed at the Supreme Court by Jet2.com in the near future, which may result in a further change to the interpretation of regulations."
Can I have confirmation as to the status of this appeal? Is it that an appeal has been granted, or has the appeal now been heard?

I was hoping this claim would be much more straight forward than last years (different airline!)!!

Many thanks, Nats

Your questions are linked. The European Court ruled in 2008 that a technical failure caused by something "inherent" in the activity of the airline (eg a normal failure through wear and tear, rather than something specially weird like sabotage) could not be defined as "extraordinary". By telling you that the technical fault was not caused by something inherent, the airline is trying to say they don't pay you compensation. Of course, if the failure wasn't caused by something "inherent" then what was it caused by? Gremlins?

The Court of Appeal earlier this year reinforced this definition - effectively excluding almost all technical failures from the "extraordinary circumstances" defence. That's why Jet2.com has appealed it to the Supreme Court. We should find out in the next few weeks whether the SC will agree to take it on. Further details are in the "Huzar" thread.

fimberly

Hi guys,
I'm new to the forum and had a few questions
- can I still claim for a flight in April 2007?
- I complained to TC back in 2007 and all they did was send me a £15 voucher off another TC flight (useless). Does my original complaint count as having taken action before the cut off date?
-I also sent a response to their letter saying I felt it was an acceptable offer for 6+hour delay to Cuba and 6+ hour delay returning (plus a knee injury due to a broken seat in front, and a missed flight due to the delay)

-Do I have any ground to claim at all?

Thanks so much guys

Vauban

- No
- No
- So?
- No

JPears

Vauban wrote: »

- No
- No
- So?
- No

lol succinct and economical

evohicks

reidy100 wrote: »

Would love to see the next post, fingers crossed.

Haha, so I wonder what they replied with.........
Ok it arrived today and it's the usual scenario,


We are writing in response to your most recent letter following your flight with Thomas Cook Airlines.

Firstly, we would like to extend our sincere apologies for the delay you experienced on your flight. Please be assured On Time Performance is a key measure for us, and we do work extremely hard to get our customers to their destination on time, and in the vast majority of cases this does happen. We do, however, regret the impact to your travel plans on this occasion.

We have carried out an investigation as to the cause of delay that you experienced and can confirm that this was due to a technical fault which was not inherent in the normal course of activity. A recent court case, Huzar vs Jet2, has been heard in the court of appeal, which has resulted in a change to how EC 261/2004 is interpreted, which is the regulation that supports governance on compensation payments for flight delays. The decision of this case is due to be appealed at the Supreme Court by Jet2.com in the near future, which may result in a further change to the interpretation of regulations.

In view of this, Thomas Cook will be deferring a review of your case until such time as further clarification is received on the EC 261/2004 Regulations . We will continue to monitor any developments, and we will ensure an updated message is posted on our website with regard to our revised position following the outcome of the appeal. You will be required to re-approach us once the appeal has been heard and your case will then be reviewed against the appropriate guidelines.

Once again please accept our apologies for the delay to your flight, and I hope the above explains why we are unable to review your case at the present moment in time.


I see the above post where TC were taken to court and paid out, I'm not sure what to do next. The lightening strike on the runway obviously wasn't the issue here then

Vauban

evohicks wrote: »

Haha, so I wonder what they replied with.........
Ok it arrived today and it's the usual scenario,


We are writing in response to your most recent letter following your flight with Thomas Cook Airlines.

Firstly, we would like to extend our sincere apologies for the delay you experienced on your flight. Please be assured On Time Performance is a key measure for us, and we do work extremely hard to get our customers to their destination on time, and in the vast majority of cases this does happen. We do, however, regret the impact to your travel plans on this occasion.

We have carried out an investigation as to the cause of delay that you experienced and can confirm that this was due to a technical fault which was not inherent in the normal course of activity. A recent court case, Huzar vs Jet2, has been heard in the court of appeal, which has resulted in a change to how EC 261/2004 is interpreted, which is the regulation that supports governance on compensation payments for flight delays. The decision of this case is due to be appealed at the Supreme Court by Jet2.com in the near future, which may result in a further change to the interpretation of regulations.

In view of this, Thomas Cook will be deferring a review of your case until such time as further clarification is received on the EC 261/2004 Regulations . We will continue to monitor any developments, and we will ensure an updated message is posted on our website with regard to our revised position following the outcome of the appeal. You will be required to re-approach us once the appeal has been heard and your case will then be reviewed against the appropriate guidelines.

Once again please accept our apologies for the delay to your flight, and I hope the above explains why we are unable to review your case at the present moment in time.


I see the above post where TC were taken to court and paid out, I'm not sure what to do next. The lightening strike on the runway obviously wasn't the issue here then

This letter tennis isn't even very interesting (as you've discovered) and it certainly won't get you your money.

Do you really not know what to do next? Even after reading my very helpful guide (details below)? Then all hope is truly lost ...