Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

gillybean129

Dancemum2015 wrote: »

Hi just to give u a heads up on the time scale of compensation for delayed flight from British Airways

I submitted my claim 11pm Friday night
Got an email to say I was entitled to the compensation on Monday
Submitted my bank details Monday afternoon and got an email at 3am Tuesday morning to say bacs transfer sent from British airways
Friday morning - money in my account

Hope this helps

This makes me think I won't get help!

Vauban

gillybean129 wrote: »

This makes me think I won't get help!

If you've ruled out legal action as a final recourse then I'm not sure what else you can do that is likely to make a difference. Sorry.

Tyzap

Pjr wrote: »

Advice please. BA flight from New York to Heathrow was 12 hours delayed (overnight) as pilot was ill and a replacement had to be flown out from UK. BA have refused my compensation claim stating:

"If a flight is operating from London Gatwick or London Heathrow, our base airports, then it would be expected that we would have standby crew available. However, this flight operated from New York, and we are not able to have standby crew available at every outstation that we operate from. A replacement was flown out from London, and so all reasonable measures were taken"

and,

"Article 5.3 of the EU Regulation 261/2004 states that a carrier is not obliged to pay compensation if it can prove that the delay or cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. I regret, therefore you are not entitled to compensation under the EU Regulation for your delayed flight"

Are they trying to squirm out of paying and what should my next step be?

Hi Pjr,

They are trying to squirm out of it, whether they can seems to be in the balance.

Crucially, when did the pilot report ill, was it on the previous flight?

It might be worth checking with a couple of NWNF solicitors via their web sites, such as the one linked here to Bott & Co.

https://www.bottonline.co.uk/aviation/flight-compensation-claims-form

Some people have been paid out for this and others have hit a brick wall.

Considering that NY is a major destination for BA, with many flights every day, you would expect them to have backup available.

To qualify as an 'extraordinary circumstance' it also has to be 'outside of the airlines control' which this is not IMHO. Pilot sickness has happened before and it will happen again. That makes it inherent in the operation of an airline. In other words, a day to day normal event which the airline should expect.

Were you offered a duty of care while delayed?

Good luck and please keep us updated with any progress.

Pjr

Thanks Tyzap,

You've confirmed my thoughts really. I'll give it another go with BA before handing it to a nwnf company, I think. I've no idea when the pilot reported sick - a question I shall ask.

At the time BA offered me nothing (just sent me a text stating flight was delayed 12 hours). I was subsequently refunded additional costs such as hotel stay and dinner - on production of receipts. When I first asked for compensation they refused, but offered me £50 per person (there were three of us) in BA vouchers valid for a year, which were of no use anyway!

gillybean129

Vauban, what's your take on my situation?

Vauban

gillybean129 wrote: »

Vauban, what's your take on my situation?

It is unclear whether Expedia booked you one through ticket or two. That may be important.

But if you've already decided you don't want to take legal action, there's not a lot you can do.

As has already been advised, I'd approach a reputable NWNF company and see if they'll take your case on.

gillybean129

Vauban wrote: »

It is unclear whether Expedia booked you one through ticket or two. That may be important.

But if you've already decided you don't want to take legal action, there's not a lot you can do.

As has already been advised, I'd approach a reputable NWNF company and see if they'll take your case on.

How can I find out if expedia booked me two? I only have an 'itinery'.
I haven't decided I don't want to take legal action, it's just I'm waiting on a response from BA first.

Tyzap

Pjr wrote: »

Thanks Tyzap,

You've confirmed my thoughts really. I'll give it another go with BA before handing it to a nwnf company, I think. I've no idea when the pilot reported sick - a question I shall ask.

At the time BA offered me nothing (just sent me a text stating flight was delayed 12 hours). I was subsequently refunded additional costs such as hotel stay and dinner - on production of receipts. When I first asked for compensation they refused, but offered me £50 per person (there were three of us) in BA vouchers valid for a year, which were of no use anyway!

Did you put your flight details into their 'delay checker' to see if they would take on your claim?

It would give you an indication of what they think your chances of winning are.

Pjr

Tyzap wrote: »

Did you put your flight details into their 'delay checker' to see if they would take on your claim?

It would give you an indication of what they think your chances of winning are.

I did and it came up with 'congratulations' followed by them requesting further information to progress the claim, so I guess they would take it on.

H_Rubinfeld

I sent a letter to BA and I think they are trying to trick me and avoid paying. Here is the text of my letter:

To British Airways,

I flew with my wife and baby from Tel Aviv to San Paulo Brazil via London all on British Airways on Sunday 5 October. We arranged for a bassinet for the baby and strictly kosher food because we only eat strictly kosher. We were scheduled to have over an hour in London Heathrow to switch planes and continue to Brazil.

What happened was that the first flight landed a half hour late and because of the time to get off and get out and everything and the security there we were shocked that we MISSED our flight to Brazil! After talking and talking to whoever we could, we were told that there's nothing they can do and we would have to wait 24 HOURS for the next flight!

They gave us a hotel to sleep but nothing else—no food. No one gave us any food or any vouchers or something for anything. And for 8 hours we didn't even the hotel—we had nowhere to be just to sit and wait on a chair and drag our bags and the baby and the carriage and everything around everywhere.

Finally we did get on the flight the next day but they only gave us food for ONE PERSON kosher. My wife and I had to share that one meal.

Overall it was a very hard travel experience. My wife is a young mother with a small baby and just to fly regular would be hard but to be nowhere and wait 24 hours and no food and have to fend for ourselves etc. She suffered a lot and I couldn't really do anything to get us out of this problem—we were just stuck at the mercy of your airline when you would decide to finally fly us. She does not want to fly again, even to visit family in Brazil because it was so hard.

I have the eTicket that says........ (details removed)

I am demanding 800 Euro cash per person as according to the EU regulations. I can take this to court here in Israel as my cousin is a lawyer and has advised me but I think it's better to agree to do what it says in the regulations without having to go to court.

and here is their response:

At the outset, it should be mentioned that complaints filed by passengers who reside outside the UK, are usually dealt with by British Airways’ representative office in the country of residence of the relevant passenger. Since you reside in Israel, your letter was forwarded to British Airways’ local staff in Israel for attention and handling.

Under Israeli law, the pertinent piece of legislation that would ordinarily apply to passenger complaints is the Israeli Aviation Services Law (Compensation and Assistance for Flight Cancellation or Change of Conditions), 2012 (“the ASL”).

Your flight from Tel Aviv connected to the Heathrow jetty at 21:07 local time instead of at 20:25 a total delay of forty-two minutes. This delay is considered a minimal delay resulting from extraordinary circumstances beyond our control. The minimum connecting time is determined by the relevant Airport Authorities and is a recommendation, while minimal delays are a factor that should be looked at carefully by the passengers and travel agents when the itinerary is determined. When you miss your connection due to such delay, it is our legal obligation to provide alternative travel arrangements & care obligation. Our records show that alternative travel arrangements were made as well as care obligation.

We recognise you have incurred expenses as a result of the disruption, and would like to put things right for you as quickly as possible. By way of an apology I am happy to arrange a bank transfer for the value of 1,500 NIS. It would be very much appreciated if you could send me your bank account details by return mail (bank name, bank account number, branch number = 3 digits & branch address) and I will arrange a bank transfer soonest. If you have receipts that exceed the above amount kindly fax them over to 03-6955375.

You are welcome to join our Executive Club scheme free of charge. I will be happy to contribute Avios towards your future travel plans with us. Please let me know by return email whether you would like to pursue this.

Once again, thank you for contacting us. I know that things did not go as expected for you and I am sorry. We know that we must improve our on time performance if we are to deserve your confidence and trust. We really do appreciate you choosing to fly with British Airways.

Their answer doesn't even mention the second flight, which is the one I am complaining about!

Can anyone advise what precisely I should write back? Yes, I am an Israeli citizen but I believe the EU law applies anyway.