Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

tibbles209

Hello,

I would be grateful for the opinions of anyone who may be able to give me some advice - I'm a bit of a novice at all this.

This is what happened;

On 18/03/16 myself and my partner were scheduled to travel with British Airways from JFK Airport in New York to Edinburgh Airport , via an official connection at London Heathrow. Our flight departing JFK (BA 114) was delayed in departing - an announcement on board put this delay down to a technical fault with the passenger boarding bridge. This flight was due to arrive in London Heathrow on 19/03/16 at 09:25 however due to the delay the flight did not arrive until 09:52.

Our official connecting flight from London Heathrow to Edinburgh airport was scheduled to leave at 10:30 with the gate closing at 10:15. We were met immediately off our flight from JFK just after 10:00 by a BA representative who explained to us that it was too late for us to make our original connecting flight and that we had been rerouted onto the next BA flight (BA 1452) with available seats at 16:30 that afternoon, scheduled to arrive in Edinburgh at 17:55. We were advised that there was a 14:05 flight (BA 1448) which had no available seats but we could check whether any seats had become available after check-in had closed. Fortunately we did both manage to secure seats on this flight, and arrived at our final destination of Edinburgh Airport at 15:43. This arrival was 3 hours and 53 minutes after our original scheduled arrival at Edinburgh of 11:50.

I put in my initial claim and have already received a reply from BA which was;

"Your claim’s been refused because BA0114 on 19 March was delayed because of airspace restrictions being in place that were outside of our control. This prevented the aircraft from operating as scheduled. Under EU legislation, I’m afraid we’re not liable for a compensation payment in this situation."

This is all the detail they have given us - are they claiming that the Pilot lied and there was never a technical fault with the boarding bridge? Or would they be trying to count us missing our intended departure slot due to the technical fault and having to wait until we were given a new one as the 'airspace restriction'?

Feel a bit like I'm being palmed off... I have replied asking for more detail about these 'airspace restrictions' and pushing them to either confirm or deny that there was a technical fault with the bridge as announced. Does anyone know of anywhere you can find out information about what airspace restrictions were in place on a given date or am I at the mercy of BA to tell me this?

Thanks guys

JPears

You will probably be at the mercy of a judge in County Court (or the equivalent in Scotland) as you may well have to take it to court to get a semblance of the truth. Read Vauban's guide as a start then move forward with an NBA.

tibbles209

BA explanation number 3 for the delay of my flight; "lack of ground handling resources".

"I’ve reviewed your claim and would like to inform you that your flight BA0114 on 19 March 2016 was delayed due to lack of ground handling resources outside of our control. This prevented the aircraft from operating as scheduled. Under EU legislation, I’m afraid we’re not liable for a compensation payment in this situation.

We weren’t able to operate your flight as the airport authority couldn’t provide enough ground handling resources. I’m afraid this meant we had no option but to delay your flight.

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 couldn’t have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. In Recital 14 and 15 of EU Regulation 261/2004, extraordinary circumstances include weather, strike and the impact of an air traffic management decision which gives rise to a long delay. This means you’re not entitled to compensation under the EU Regulation for your delayed flight."

That is now officially 3 different explanations I have been given for the delay if my flight. I think it might be time to admit defeat

Tyzap

Hi tibbles209,

BA are spinning you a yarn.

BA, and all the airlines, contract ground handlig companies directly, so the ground handlers work for the airlines, not the airport. There are usually multiple ground handling companies at most larger airports.

It is stated in the 261 regulations that in this situation you would claim from BA and BA would then be intitled to claim from their contractor.

I believe you have a valid claim.

BA have misquoted (being Kind) the regulations to you, it does not prove their point.

Try putting your flight details into a couple of NWNF claim calculators and see if they would be willing to take on your case.

Good luck.

chamelion

Hi all,

Wow - what a massive subsection of the forum! I have tried searching some of the key words and could not dig up anything so genuinely apologise if this has been covered a bajillion times!

My BA flight from Shanghai to LHR was 'indefinitely delayed', but few hours later they scheduled the delayed flight to 24 hours later.

I opted for another option of them putting me on a virgin atlantic flight the next morning. This was 12 hours after the original flight.

I tried claiming via the claiming tool but got a message back from BA saying that I wasn't eligible as I hadn't flown non the delayed airline. I could apply for a refund of the ticket though.

Before I proceed to get in touch with some other department at BA to see what i'm eligible for - any advice from the pros in this forum?

Thanks!

DrA_Harrogate

First, read Vauban's guide if not already done. Logically, you were BA's customer and they were in charge of getting you to LHR. However, logic sometimes plays only a marginal role in these matters. I have not come across this excuse before (if someone has that would be great) so you may wish to enter details into a nwnf calculator or even a NBA letter to BA. I fear talking to 'another department' at BA would just annoy you.

JPears

Your original BA scheduled flight arrival was delayed by at l;east 12 hours, irrespective of which airline actually got you back. BA are liable for compensation, depending on the cause of the delay. They are !!!!!!!!ing/misinforming you. It would appear that BA are now using the misinformation tactic increasingly. Did they say what the cause was? Virgin have no part in this potential compensation claim.

Vauban

This isn't difficult. If they put you on the Virgin flight, they rerouted you and you arrived more than 2 hours late. It's in the Regulation. So it's a slam dunk clear case (unless the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances, which sounds very unlikely).

chamelion

slam dunk case it was I replied stating that the contract I had with BA was to get me home by x time on y day. They got me home through their own routing at x+12h time on y day.

Received the response this morning:

Thanks for contacting us about your claim for compensation. I'm sorry for the error made in my previous response.

You’re entitled to compensation for the delay to your flight BA0160 on xxx. The distance of your disrupted journey was over 3500 km. This has been calculated in accordance with EU legislation and you’re entitled to €600.00 in compensation.

The total amount of compensation you’re due is £480.75 which is equivalent to €600.00 as there's one passenger included in your claim. I’ve raised a cheque for this amount in your local currency, which will be in your name as the primary claimant. You’ll receive it soon.

moneysavingexpert to the rescue Thanks all for your help!

[Deleted User]

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