Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

legal_magpie

Given that the adjudicator has already rejected your claim I would be minded to go with a NWNF solicitor (not a claims company as Tyzap says) as the airline will be feeling very bullish. While you will lose a slice of the compensation if you win, you will get the rest which is better than nothing. On the other hand, if you take it to Court yourself and lose, not only won't you get anything but you'll be out of pocket for the court fees and, given that CEDR has already found against you, you could end up having to pay BA's costs. With the NWNF solicitor, if you lose it doesn't cost you anything. Think of it as a sort of insurance. We all pay each year to insure our buildings and might go years before we have a claim but at least you know you have cover.

JPears

Agreed with magpie. And if you win you can write the most critical scathingly sarcastic letter to CEDR and CAA. It won't achieve anything but will make you feel a whole lot better...!!!55357;!!!56841;

catemead

I recently was delayed taking off from Heathrow, landing over 3 hours late into Asia and missing my connecting flight, and then had to spend 12 hours overnight at the airport before the next available connecting flight. The delay was due to the long queue for planes at T5 to be de-iced before take off. We sat on the tarmac for 3 hours waiting to be de-iced. I put in a delayed flight compensation claim to British Airways, who are citing extreme weather conditions, but this is surely an operational issue. The runways were open to planes but they hadn't got organised to de-ice the plane in time to fly. Has anyone had any success with claiming compensation for flight delays due to de-icing delays?

Caz3121

you will find posts for that issue on the British Airways dedicated thread, it is also discussed at length on the BA forum on Flyertalk

jpsartre

Whether your reasoning is sound or not, you'll almost certainly have to take them to court to get a result (or get a company to do it for you).

patxi101

A few weeks ago (28/2/18) I was due to fly from LHR to Barcelona for a day of business meetings (I run my own business, not working for a big company). It had snowed overnight and a number of flights had been pre-cancelled from Heathrow to allow the remaining ones to operate to schedule. The 06:15 flight should have landed at 09:20, but after a catalogue of delays we finally landed at 12:49 (3hr 29 mins late).
Reasons: Due to a technical problem with a door the captain decided to call up a spare plane. BA have confirmed to me that this took 157 minutes. The plane needed de-icing and this was completed and the plane taxied out to the end of the runway and then taxied back as another plane had informed ours that the truck had missed some snow on the top of the fuselage. We were de-iced a second time, properly, and took off at 09:13 (2hr 58 mins late). The flight time took longer than scheduled - the plane landed at 12:43 and then took a further 6 mins to get to the gate - total 3hr 29min late arrival.
My day was effectively ruined as I tried to fit a 5hr meeting into 2hr with no lunch break. BA have rejected my claim saying ATC delays for safety reasons are beyond their control.
In their reply BA point out that the technical delay was under 3hrs but fail to acknowledge that the plane arrived more than 3hrs late. My question is, where there are a number of factors that lead to a delay can they be treated in isolation as BA seem to be implying? The weather conditions were not perfect but other planes were flying to schedule and not being delayed unreasonably.
What is my next step? CEDR? Or will the weather in combination to a technical issue be enough to get them off the hook?

JPears

From what you say it looks as though the technical issues - faulty door/new plane and deicing were to blame for the vast majority of the delay, irrespective of the weather conditions. BA missed their slot with ATC, thats their problem, not yours.
I believe you have a valid claim. Put your details into a few reputable NWNF firms such as Botts, and see what they say regarding potyential claim.
An ADR could be your next step. Or a NWNF. At least you can put donw the fee they charge you (approx 30%) as a business expense against tax

patxi101

JPears wrote: »

An ADR could be your next step. Or a NWNF. At least you can put donw the fee they charge you (approx 30%) as a business expense against tax

Great idea about the business expenses, I like the way you think! I will try with an ADR as I will put the £25 fee (in case I don't succeed) on expenses and pocket any payout directly!

I can't believe BA didn't even offered me one poxy Avios point - but they sent me a 'how did we do' survey yesterday which I haven't filled in yet...

U.N.C.L.E.

Hi,

I was due to fly back from Arrecife (Lanzarote) on 15th March with BA @ 12:15.

Flight was delayed and no information forthcoming.

Eventually we found out that the plane and crew hadn't arrived from the previous flight on time (they had been diverted to Fuertaventura because of winds at Arrecife).

After 5 hours of watching other planes landing and taking off, we were told the plane had just arrived, but the crew were now out of flying hours, so we were being taken to a hotel overnight. The flight was then re-scheduled (not cancelled) to leave at 08:15 the next morning.

It eventually took off at 08:45.


When we got home, I started looking at compensation options.

To my knowledge, if the plane and crew are not there to operate my flight, then I am entitled to compensation. Other planes were leaving on time. And other planes were landing.

I understand that if my plane (and crew) cannot leave on time because the weather doesn't allow for it, then that's not in the airlines control. But, I don't believe it's correct that if that plane and crew are still operating a previous flight and are somewhere else, then I should suffer.

Either way, they did not do everytrhing in their control to minimise the delay. They sent us to a hotel overnight. Why did they not fly out a new plane and crew to take us home as early as possible?

BA rejected my claim - stating that the flight 'CANCELLATION' had been a result of crew availability. The flight was not cancelled. It was delayed. By 20.5 hours!

Where do I stand with this?

Thanks

NoviceAngel

U.N.C.L.E. wrote: »

...........

Where do I stand with this?

Thanks

You have a valid claim for compensation under EC261/2004, start by reading Vaubans guide and issue a NBA (Notice Before Action). I think once you issue the NBA they will pay your compensation. It’s a pretty clear cut case and I can’t see BA having any defence.

Good luck

NoviceAngel