Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

Vauban

Your case looks good Endaf, especially with the letter from the airport. Full steam ahead and do not be intimidated!

Violet.beau

not sure if you are still pursuing this, but I have had success on this specific flight delay recently. If you haven't done so recently I would resubmit a claim

endaf

Thanks for the encouragement Vauban! I'll be lying if I didn't say i was slightly intimidated but I'm not going anywhere and determined to have my day in court! Do you think the letter I have is sufficient or I should push Gatwick airport for something more substantial? Maybe even call a representative from Gatwick airport to court? or is that going overboard?!
Thanks again in advance, this site has provided me with so much information and confidence in not letting the airlines getting away with their legal obligations!
with the new ruling regarding the "exceptional circumstances" being rejected by the courts, i feel that i have a strong case. i just hope the judge will as well that day!

Phamous

Morning all,

This is my first time claiming for compensation... We were delayed by 4.5 hours from Hurghada to London about a month ago.

I filled in the MSE online form and have received the 'bird strike' reply from Thomas Cook, so no compensation payable due to this being an extraordinary circumstance.

I have read about the recent court case where a Manchester judge ruled in favour of a couple where Thomas Cook had used bird strike as a defence.

Although the articles I read said that this 'paved the way' for people to claim even though bird strike was the reason for delay - Thomas Cook said they would continue to block claims where bird strike was the reason.

I wondered if there was any update on this? Whether anyone has since successfully claimed on these grounds? Not sure what to do next...

111KAB

Phamous - read Vauban's Guide then decide whether to go DIY or NWNF.

Tyzap

Phamous wrote: »

I wondered if there was any update on this? Whether anyone has since successfully claimed on these grounds? Not sure what to do next...

IMHO a lot depends on the detail.

If you were on the aircraft when it hit a bird during take off and the wind screen or an engine was damaged forcing a quick landing then I would agree with the airline.

If it was not your flight that was directly affected, ie a knock on from a previous rotation, then I would say it's not an EC and you have a valid claim.

You need to find out how much time the airline had following the bird stride to inspect the aircraft and or put things right. The longer this time is the more chance of a valid claim.

If you want to post the details we can give our opinions otherwise follow 111KAB's advice above.

Good luck.

Phamous

Tyzap wrote: »

IMHO a lot depends on the detail.

If you were on the aircraft when it hit a bird during take off and the wind screen or an engine was damaged forcing a quick landing then I would agree with the airline.

If it was not your flight that was directly affected, ie a knock on from a previous rotation, then I would say it's not an EC and you have a valid claim.

You need to find out how much time the airline had following the bird stride to inspect the aircraft and or put things right. The longer this time is the more chance of a valid claim.

If you want to post the details we can give our opinions otherwise follow 111KAB's advice above.

Good luck.

Thanks for your reply... This is what was said by Thomas Cook.

Thanks so much for being patient while we investigated the delay on your recent flight.

Following our investigation, under EC Regulation 261/2004 your case has been assessed and I can see from the aviation report that your delay was caused by a bird strike to the aircraft intended to operate your flight. Based on this information under EC Regulation 261/2004, delays due to bird strikes are classified as extraordinary circumstances, therefore, I am unable to offer you compensation for your claim.

The safety of our customers is our main priority and although we aimed to take off on time we had to ensure that the aircraft was safe to travel. I’m sorry for the inconvenience this caused you and hope you still had a great holiday.

Kind Regards,

Phamous

111KAB wrote: »

Phamous - read Vauban's Guide then decide whether to go DIY or NWNF.

Thank you. I did skim through it but I didn't know if the guide had been updated since the judgement in May where a judge ruled that a bird-strike was not an EC...

CelticStar

Just a quick query. My husband and I were delayed for around eight hours on a Thomas Cook flight to Paphos in 2011. I've escalated the claim twice through the MoneysavingExpert Resolver tool and have now received a reply from Thomas Cook asking me to send details of my case to a specific email address.

I've already submitted all the details through the Resolver tool, is it advisable to re-submit all the details again to this email address rather than continue through the Resolver tool? I don't have any problem composing an email, just wondered if it was better to keep everything in one place.

Thanks in advance for any help.

legal_magpie

It does no harm to do this but don't let them drag it out. Keep the pressure on them