Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

dsp007

This is a reply I received from BA this morning regarding our cancelled flight in October

Thank you for contacting us about your claim for compensation.! I apologise for the delay in replying to you.

Your claim for compensation has been refused because flight!BA0187 on 28 October 2013!was cancelled due to aircraft damage which was not caused by British Airways, which prevented the aircraft operating as scheduled.!!Under EU legislation, British Airways is not liable for a compensation payment in this situation.

Unfortunately airline operations are subject to circumstances outside the airline's control.!!British Airways takes all reasonable measures to avoid cancelling a flight in such circumstances.!!Consideration is given to whether there are any operational options available before a decision to cancel is made.!!We are sorry that the cancellation was necessary in this case.

Thank you for following this up with us.!!I do hope we have the chance to welcome you on board again soon.

Best regards

Esha Palan
EU Compensation Claims

David_e

dsp007 wrote: »

This is a reply I received from BA this morning regarding our cancelled flight in October

Looks like NBA and then court!

dsp007

As far as I'm aware,BA had only three 787 dreamliners in their fleet on the date of my cancellation and as was pointed out earlier,two were in flight and the third,which was usually assigned to the Lhr to Newark route was used on a flight to Toronto some 1 hour after our flight had been cancelled.Coincidence I think not.

dsp007

This is a response I received from BA today with regard to the alleged damage which caused the cancellation of my flight in October.

Thank you for contacting us.! I apologise for the delay in our response.

I have reviewed your claim for compensation and as previously advised the flight BA0187 on 28 October 2013 was cancelled due to damage not caused by British Airways.! The weather conditions across UK on 28 October 2013 were windy and steps being blown into the side of the aircraft caused the damage.! This caused a flight safety shortcoming that had to be assessed by our engineering team.

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.! 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.! I regret, therefore you are not entitled to compensation under the EU Regulation for your cancelled flight.

I realise that this will be disappointing for you but I hope this information will enable you to understand our decision.

Best regards

Rohit Ranka
EU Compensation Claims


Am I correct in thinking that this is a bailed attempt at using the weather to justify the flight cancellation.

Vauban

dsp007 wrote: »

Am I correct in thinking that this is a bailed attempt at using the weather to justify the flight cancellation.

It is certainly an unconvincing attempt, yes. Were the people who caused the damage acting as agents of BA for the purpose of operating the flight? And was it not carelessness that caused the accident, and therefore a failure to exercise sufficient control of the steps? I think a yes to both is more than likely.

Mark2spark

I agree with Vauban, whoever was in control of the steps was not fastidious enough to ensure their security against being blown around.

*Whoever*, being within the remit of the airline. Their handling agents? Then that's BA staff effectively. Non BA handling agents? Then BA have, within the Regulation, the capacity to mount a third party claim against that handler, whilst your claim with BA can of course go ahead.
I can see the possibility of an issue to prove, if the steps were indeed securely tethered, and that this tethering broke, due to the high winds (meteorological conditions). That would be EC IMO.

Further to that though, the second test, to minimise the delay, has not been proved.

offshore1

Mark2spark wrote: »

I agree with Vauban, whoever was in control of the steps was not fastidious enough to ensure their security against being blown around.

*Whoever*, being within the remit of the airline. Their handling agents? Then that's BA staff effectively. Non BA handling agents? Then BA have, within the Regulation, the capacity to mount a third party claim against that handler, whilst your claim with BA can of course go ahead.
I can see the possibility of an issue to prove, if the steps were indeed securely tethered, and that this tethering broke, due to the high winds (meteorological conditions). That would be EC IMO.[QUOTE=

The high winds were forecast and my experience at LHR where I once worked in a non aviation capacity was that the airport operator used to send out warnings to all operators to secure equipment when such weather was predicted. If an airline did not act upon them they could be held to be negligent and liable for any consequences. So unless someone can show that the steps were properly restrained and broke loose nonetheless I would regard this excuse as being without any validity.

razorsedge

dsp007 wrote: »

This is a response I received from BA today with regard to the alleged damage which caused the cancellation of my flight in October.

Thank you for contacting us.! I apologise for the delay in our response.

I have reviewed your claim for compensation and as previously advised the flight BA0187 on 28 October 2013 was cancelled due to damage not caused by British Airways.! The weather conditions across UK on 28 October 2013 were windy and steps being blown into the side of the aircraft caused the damage.! This caused a flight safety shortcoming that had to be assessed by our engineering team.

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.! 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.! I regret, therefore you are not entitled to compensation under the EU Regulation for your cancelled flight.

I realise that this will be disappointing for you but I hope this information will enable you to understand our decision.

Best regards

Rohit Ranka
EU Compensation Claims


Am I correct in thinking that this is a bailed attempt at using the weather to justify the flight cancellation.

Don't forget that first of all BA have to prove all that they are claiming as an EC, although it is unlikely you will get any documents from them in that regard until you start court action.

Also don't forget that if it was another party that failed to look after the steps properly then BA can seek redress from them under Article 13 for any compensation paid out under EU261/2004. I would also imagine that the bill for repairing the aircraft has been sent to the steps' operator in any case, that would be useful to see in court!

Mrs_A_G

Hi All,

My first post on here and I am after some advise.

Last May I was booked on a BA flight from LHR to DUBLIN which was delayed more than 4 hours due to another BA plane going on fire at LHR.

I applied for the compensation as we felt justified in doing so (they weren't cheap flights, the delay ruined part of a short weekend break and my 2 year old daughter was pretty distressed by it all given I didn't have enough nappies or milk!)

BA rejected the claim and when I followed up with the case to the CAA they investigated and sent me a very insipid non-response that they had contacted BA but not really that they had made any ruling.

I am writing a chase letter to BA now but am I wasting my time, do I have a leg to stand on or are they stalling hoping I will get bored? Should I threaten court proceedings (Martin Lewis mentioned that on This Morning today but no idea what to do)

There used to be a different ombudsman to complain to but I can't find it anymore so I wonder if CAA is my only hope and they aren't very much help at all!

Thanks for any advise.

David_e

Mrs_A_G wrote: »

Thanks for any advise.

Read the BA and FAQs thread and please don't create unnecessary new threads.