Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

richardw

chrisbowman61 wrote: »

... surely the crew timing out is not extraordinary circumstances….

Of course it isn't.
It is entirely reasonable for BA to have standby crew to cover crew going out of hours and for you not to be delayed in excess of three hours.

BTW BA's Heathrow to LAS flights are operated by Mixed Fleet cabin crew http://www.britishairways.com/careers/mixedfleet/mixed_fleet.shtml who are the cheapest cabin crew to employ in BA.

homer2012

Hi there, first ever post so please bear with me. I have read through all 22 pages of this thread and now feel fairly educated on the subject however I would be extremely grateful if someone could take me by the hand and provide me with a specific answer to the following question: WHY WAS BRITISH AIRWAYS FLIGHT BA194 FROM HOUSTON – HEATHROW CANCELLED ON 7/11/2013 ?? Before anyone kindly suggests FAQs and other websites I have tried flightstats and the ba source.com and cannot get any specific information regarding the cancellation albeit I humbly accept that I am a virgin when it comes to claiming flight delay/cancellation compensation and may not have exhausted all possible lines of enquiry. Given BA’s response(s) that I have read from various posters on this thread, and being the suspicious individual that I am, I would rather determine the reason for the cancellation myself (or via a helpful respondent) than entrust BA to give me an honest explanation concerning the cancellation before considering how to progress matters.

As it stands just now I submitted a fairly brief web form compensation claim via BA’s website on 11 November whereupon I received a swift response from them offering me a combined £100 evoucher for myself and my wife with a case reference number. Feeling that this offer was somewhat derisory given the financial and emotional grief that the cancellation caused us I researched the subject and responded on 13 November to the effect that I was unhappy with this offer and was seeking full compensation for both travellers under terms of EC regulation 261 (2004) – I have had no response from BA since this communication.

For anyone that is interested, or who may wish to provide further advice/comment, the circumstances of the cancellation are as follows:- on attempting to book our seats via the BA website about 1640 hours on 6/11 a single line message appeared stating that the flight was cancelled (no reason given). Phoned the 1-800 BA number and were initially offered a flight leaving at 2040 hours that same evening which was entirely impossible to make given where we were at that time in the USA in relation to Houston airport, notwithstanding the necessary process of packing and collecting luggage and arranging transportation to the airport. Other than being advised of the next available BA flight (BA196) at 2040 hours on 8/11/13 no other assistance/advice was provided to us regards the possibility of using another carrier, offer of accommodation, expenses advice, our rights, etc. With no other apparent option available at this time we made our booking for the BA196 flight on the 8th. I did not think to ask why the flight was cancelled at this time as my main concern was in getting home and no explanation was volunteered by the BA reps whom I spoke with for the cancellation. Thereafter received a text message on the 8th stating that our replacement flight (BA196) was now delayed until 2300 hours – eventually took off around 2315 hours.

The upshot is that if we had taken our original scheduled BA return flights (BA194 & BA1482) from Houston-Heathrow-Glasgow we would have arrived at our final destination around 1145 hours on 8/11. Due to the cancellation we did not arrive at our final destination until 1625 hours on 9/11.

Any general comments/thoughts on the circumstances gratefully appreciated, and if Centipede100 or some other learned individual is out there that can determine the genuine reason for the cancellation I would be forever indebted. Many thanks and apologies for the length of the post however I’ve fought hard with my inner-self to subdue a rant. All the best.

P.S - Apologies if I've posted this as a reply to someone else's post as it's intended as a fresh query

Caz3121

no info on BA Source apart from -
07/11/13 British Airways Flight Cancellations.

November 7, 2013

The following British Airways flights did not operate today:
BA195/BA194 London Heathrow – Houston.


I would wait to see what response you get from your latest communication. I would expect if they have genuine extraordinary circumstances, they will confirm them in the response

homer2012

Thanks for your response Caz3121.

I assume that some form of genuine extraordinary circumstance would be the only factor that should preclude us from a successful claim given my description of events ??

Mark2spark

Homer.
Unfortunately, there is no other officially available channel where the reasons for a delay or cancellation can be substantiated, especially in a manner which could be presented to a court.
So the process means that you have to submit a claim to BA, and *then*, if they deny it, investigate further against the reason given for denial.
Should you not agree with this reason given, then it's off to court you go. Only then, will you be able to request the documentary evidence that will either support, or deny, your claim.

homer2012

Thanks Mark2spark, merely trying to ascertain the facts before I go full steam ahead. It would appear from your response that I will have to set aside my cynical and mistrusting tendencies and press on regardless without clarity on the reason for the cancellation. Who knows, I may even end up pleasantly surprised ??

Mark2spark

Homer, unless a terrorist jumped the airport perimeter and shot out number two engine with a bazooka, then there's every chance that the reason for your cancellation was not extraordinary circumstances

homer2012

Thanks Mark2 spark, had to chuckle at your reply ..... guess you're trying to tell me in a succinct way that the extraordinary circumstances really do have to be extraordinary nowadays for the airline to play that card. Have done further reading since last post and I'm becoming more educated by the minute. Keep up the good work. All the best.

Ruthywebbo

Hi, I wondered if someone could help me please. Last Thursday me and my daughter were onboard BA173 LHR to JFK which took off on time at 14.20, however about a hour over Atlantic the captain came over the tannoy to say there was a smell of burning in the cabin and rather than continue we were turning round to land in Shannon, we landed at 18.30ish and it was gone midnight when we boarded the replacement plane.
I emailed BA and they have come back with an offer of a 50.00 evoucher, an absolute joke if you ask me. Due to the fact that the plane took off on time from LHR would anyone know if I can decline the offer and take this further. I'm just glad to be back safely if I'm honest but the fact that we've had no apology from BA about what happened has me really annoyed.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

David_e

Ruthywebbo wrote: »

Thanks in advance for any replies.

So how late were you arriving at JFK? Take off time(s) are not relevant here.

I suspect, on the facts as described, you might struggle to get compensation. The fact that they managed to get you away on a replacement plane (which suggests that the fault wasn't a trivial one) within 10 hours of original scheduled take-off (of which presumably about 2 were in the air on the original flight) would probably play well with a judge when it comes to them arguing that they did all they could to mitigate the delay.

Frustrating, I know. Someone may have a more positive opinion.