Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

jpsartre

BA are wrong. Send them notice before action, then file MCOL.

JPears

BA are wrong about journey flight/distance.
Its clearly in regulation EC 261/2004.
The Gahan case (v Emirates) confirmed journey as a single entity.


BA are not responsible for your consequential losses - the AirBnB charges.

Mcoulthard22

Thank you both very much!

AlexDao

Hi all

Is there a better contact number for the compensation team?

Filed my claim a month ago and heard nothing back. Tried calling customer relations but it gives an automated message that they’re busy, ringing once then hanging up.

Thanks

jpsartre

If you're just looking for confirmation that your claim is being looked at, the BA twitter team is pretty good IME although whether contacting them will speed up your claim is doubtful. In fact, unless you have BA status and can call the dedicated UK offices I doubt anything will speed up your claim other than perhaps legal proceedings.

Davidpjack

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice on what I should do....

I'm a regular BA traveler (and Gold Card member). My recent flight for 4 people for holiday to LA was cancelled hours before departure. After speaking with the help desk I was advised they didn't have any options for 4 travelers with BA or any alternative carriers, and I should start looking for my own flights.

By some miracle, I found 4 seats in a Virgin plane that day, so after checking on the phone with BA that they would refund the difference, I went ahead and booked.

After 8 weeks, I have finally received a response from BA. They say:

• The advisor would not have told me that any difference in flights would be refunded (this is a lie)
• That an alternative flight would have been offered (this is a lie, they couldn't find anything for 4 people)
• BA have refunded the original flight (bought in January sale, with points)
• They are not eligible for any compensation as the issue was an engine fault

Please help - I don't know what to do next and am several thousand pounds out of pocket.

I am looking to apply for case through CEDR but given I wasn't actually significantly delayed (the new flight departed <2 hrs after the cancelled one) I'm not sure how much compensation to apply for - can I apply for the difference in flights or just the amount due to delay? Can I also apply through my travel insurance?

I will never use BA again after this. The idea they can cancel a plane hours before it is due to depart, leave 4 people high and dry, and not be eligible for any compensation is bewildering!

David

Tyzap

Hi David,

This sounds like it is related to the Rolls Royce engine problems on the B787's.

Have you spoken to someone on the gold line? They are usually more willing to help. Try again and if they won't help ask for a deadlock letter or a referral to CEDR.

BA have recently lost some CEDR cases on this very topic so you are on sound ground.

If you do get your case referred to CEDR do come back to us here as there are some specifics to include in your claim.

Good luck.

Davidpjack

Thanks for the reply!

Yes, I have logged these with the Gold line as well and told them they are about to lose a lifetime customer. Will see if it makes a difference - they've asked for one week to respond.

I do have the CEDR details, and had a quick look at this. If I go the CEDR route, I'm a bit confused as to what compensation I should apply for. As far as I understand, it is regulated and limited to €600 per person, only if I reached my destination >3 hours after the scheduled time. In my case, I actually arrived at my destination just an hour or two after because I re-booked my tickets myself (at their suggestion) with another carrier. In this case, what is the amount of compensation I should actually apply for?

Tyzap

Hi David,

Your situation is both interesting and unusual, I haven't come across it before.

You may as well give them a further 7 days before deciding how to proceed.

There are two major questions here to be resolved.

1). Do you qualify for compensation? if affirmative, at the full or half rate.
2). Are BA responsible for your self re routing costs?

I’ll attempt to answer 2 first.

I assume that you did not request a refund of your original flights. If you did BA would be able to refund that cost and be absolved of any further responsibility or costs that you might incur.

The following is what should have happened…

Article 8 of the regulations states that when a flight is cancelled ‘at the last minute’ you must be offered a triple choice by the airline...

Article 8
Right to reimbursement or re-routing
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:
(a) — reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,
— a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;
(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or
(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.

If I understand you correctly, BA have bypassed this part of the regs, abdicating their responsibility in the process, and left you to make and pay for any alternative arrangements. During that process they verbally agreed to reimburse any additional costs when booking flights with an alternative carrier. You made it clear, maybe in other words, that you wanted option B.

If my understanding is correct, BA are firmly on the hook to pay those extra costs. Interpretive guidelines published by the EC (Brussels, 10.6.2016 C(2016) 3502 final ) say this…

Re-routing should be offered at no additional cost to the passenger, even where passengers are re-routed with another air carrier or on a different transport mode or in a higher class or at a higher fare than the one paid for the original service; 

The problem is that BA will argue otherwise, and you are unlikely to have any proof of the conversations you had with the their SCA. I would hope that CEDR would be able to see through BA’s argument (smokescreen) and find in your favour.

Moving on to question 1.

It has been generally accepted that the additional engine checks imposed on BA by the regulator do constitute an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ (EC). This would normally excuse BA from having to pay compensation.

However, In the case of an EC the regulations go on to impose a second hurdle that the airline must overcome…

5. EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES
a. Principle
In accordance with Article 5(3) of the Regulation, an air carrier is exempted from paying compensation in the event of cancellation or delay at arrival if it can prove that the cancellation or delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
In order to be exempted from the payment of compensation the carrier must therefore simultaneously prove:
* ― !the existence and the link between the extraordinary circumstances and the delay or the cancellation, and 

* ― !the fact that this delay or cancellation could not have been avoided although it took all reasonable measures.


The ‘reasonable measures’ test is a hurdle too far for BA imho, for the following reasons.

BA were informed about the additional checks in October 2017, almost a year before the flight in question. In that period BA could, and should, have made alternative arrangements to avoid this flight cancellation occurring in the first place i.e by rerouting passengers onto other flights/routes, possibly on other airlines, or by leasing in another aircraft as they from Qatar Airlines did when BA staff were on strike. It appears that they did not take all reasonable measures to avoid the cancellation of this flight and, therefore, they cannot refuse compensation on those grounds so the answer to question 1 is affirmative.

This is also from the interpretive guidelines...

e. Reasonable measures an air carrier can be expected to take in extraordinary circumstances
Whenever extraordinary circumstances arise an air carrier must, in order to be released from the obligation to pay compensation, show that it could not avoid them even if it had taken all reasonable measures to this effect.
Furthermore, the Court52 has found that under Article 5(3) of the Regulation, an air carrier can be required to organise its resources in good time so that it is possible to operate a programmed flight once the extraordinary circumstances have ceased, that is to say, during a certain period following the scheduled departure time. In particular, the air carrier should provide for a certain reserve time to allow it, if possible, to operate the flight in its entirety once the extraordinary circumstances have come to an end. Such reserve time is assessed on a case-by-case basis.

There is a second part to this question tho. That being, if you are rerouted and arrived within x hours of the original arrival time, the airline can reduce the compensation amount by 50%. I believe this does not apply in this case tho as the airline did not reroute you, you had to do that yourself. The CEDR adjudicator would have to make the final decision on this aspect tho.

If CEDR were to find for BA, which I doubt, you would still have the option to use a NWNF solicitor or MCOL.

Good luck.

JPears

I concur with Tyzaps post.