Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

111KAB

Miss.P wrote: »

Is this worth taking further? TIA

I would see if a NWNF willing to 'take on' - their response may decide for you.

pixies13

staceydee wrote: »

please help

HI

We were aboard the virgin man-mco morning flight all excited ready to set off to the world when the pilot announced a delay for unknown hours?

this was due to a problem with a part in the fuel tank therefore not being able to put fuel in the plane?

anyway a part was flown up from london and eventually we were on our way.

However we were due to fly at 11.15 and actually flew at 15.44 landing local time at mco 20.04

Does anyone know if i am due compensation due to this, i have filled in the form but am i likely to be rejected?

Many thanks

Stacey[/QUO

Hi we were on this flight to, we have sent the forms in but haven't heard anything yet, It was a very long day and we were starving as they hadnot restocked meals. Will let you know if I hear anything.x

haslehurst

Miss.P wrote: »

Hi All,

VS75 10/04/09 10.25 Manchester to Orlando (3h 19min arrival delay)

My claim has been rejected for the following reason:

The Captain scheduled to operate your flight became unwell at the aircraft, shortly prior to passenger boarding. We immediately looked for a replacement captain to operate the flight through our standby allocation. A replacement captain was found in the Manchester area (with it also being Good Friday flights from our main hubs of Gatwick and Heathrow were infrequent, so positioning a captain from here would have caused a further delay to the flight.) The replacement captain was due to arrive so that the flight would be able to depart at 12:45, however during the captain's journey to the airport he became further delayed increasing the overall delay.

Is this worth taking further? TIA

Hi,

I was also delayed due to Pilot Illness but this was in Orlando and Virgin have said within their defence that their operational hubs are Gatwick, Heathrow & Manchester. Length of delay is over 3 hours so is therefore within the scope of 261/2004.

They seem to be clutching at straws saying it was Good Friday!

Within their defence to me they said it would be impractical to have standby crew at all airports but they generally have standby Captains at their UK hubs - which would include Manchester.

I think you have a case - probably NWNF if you're less confident on the outcome.

pixies13

my claim was rejected 28/12/13 Manchester to orlando (vs75 delayed 4hrs 24mins due to unexpected safety shortcomings) as it was extraordinary circumstances. Not only delayed but they fed us our inflight meal and didn't have time to restock so we did a 9 hour flight with only a snack, leaving members of our party feeling unwell.

Vauban

pixies13 wrote: »

my claim was rejected 28/12/13 Manchester to orlando (vs75 delayed 4hrs 24mins due to unexpected safety shortcomings) as it was extraordinary circumstances. Not only delayed but they fed us our inflight meal and didn't have time to restock so we did a 9 hour flight with only a snack, leaving members of our party feeling unwell.

Virgin do seem to reject most claims. But, if you look at people's experiences as report on this thread, they become much more accommodating once legal action is started. Funny that ...

DavidW76

Looking for some advice regarding my claim for compensation from Virgin Atlantic.

Our flight on 3rd July 2011 from Las Vegas to LGW was delayed by over 4 hours due to a series of problems. The problems we experienced were:-

1. We were due to board the flight at around 16:00 local time for a departure of 16:40. For some reason all passengers were denied boarding until around 17:00 due to the airline waiting for a particular passenger. Numerous announcements were made over the airport tannoy system for this passenger.

2. Once boarded, the pilot advised that the plane had overheated and a temperature warning light was active and that we could not push back for take off until the plane had been cooled down. Given that the temperature in Vegas in July exceeds 40 degrees centigrade this should have been foreseen. We had to wait over an hour for airport staff to cool the plane down with water jets.

3. When we did eventually push back for take off around 18:15 we queued on the runway to take off. We were next in the queue to take off when a severe thunderstorm rolled in and air traffic control denied take off for our plane. The one in front of us took off just before the storm hit.

I have claimed from Virgin Atlantic and was told that it was extraordinary circumstances due to the storm. They made no mention of the other two points which had occured and directly led to us not being able to take off.

I wrote back explaining in detail the events that took place and again they rejected the claim purely based on the weather conditions and again ignored my comments regarding the delayed boarding and problems with the planes temperature.

I feel that Virgin Atlantic are conveniently ignoring everything else that happened on that day leading up to the storm and are hiding behind the extraordinary circumstances clause.

I have tried using the CAA process too but they have so far been unhelpful and merely pass my claim back to Virgin.

I have written to the Chief Executive giving them notice that I will start court proceedings with 14 days if not resolved. I have yet to hear from them.

Interested to know if anyone else was on this flight and has successfully claimed and people's opinions on what the likelihood of success would be if I pursue the claim in court.

Vauban

So you were delayed by an hour and a half - for reasons that are reasonably not Virgin's fault? And then weather further delayed you by an extra two and a half hours?

I think your claim is unlikely to succeed in court; you could run it by a NWNF firm to see whether, in principle, they think it is winnable. CobyBebson may even give you a quick informal steer, if you're very nice.

richardw

DavidW76 wrote: »

...Once boarded, the pilot advised that the plane had overheated and a temperature warning light was active and that we could not push back for take off until the plane had been cooled down. Given that the temperature in Vegas in July exceeds 40 degrees centigrade this should have been foreseen. ....

What reasonable measures would you have expected VS to take to avoid this?

DavidW76

I don't see how denying boarding for everyone on the flight just to wait for one passenger is reasonably not Virgin's fault and also the plane overheating in an airport located in the middle of a desert could not be foreseen!

The thunderstorm was not the primary reason why we were delayed. If Virgin had boarded us on time and ensured the plane was it a fit state to take off we would departed well before the storm rolled in.

Vauban

DavidW76 wrote: »

The thunderstorm was not the primary reason why we were delayed.

Yes it is. It accounts for about 60% of your delay. Had there been no thunderstorm, your delay would have been less than 90 minutes (if I've understood you correctly).

DavidW76 wrote: »

If Virgin had boarded us on time and ensured the plane was it a fit state to take off we would departed well before the storm rolled in.

True. But I don't think this is going to be a persuasive argument.

If a technical defect developed in an airplane but was resolved quickly, causing a delay of just 15 minutes, for example, and then a storm moved in causing a subsequent 4 hours delay, it would be difficult to suggest that the airline is liable for compensation. A court - I suspect - would decide that it was the weather that had caused the delay to exceed three hours. The sequencing is immaterial to that argument. The same principle holds here.

However I am not a lawyer - so I cannot say I am right. But I will say that I think you'll find it hard to persuade a judge of the merits of your case. Good luck though if you choose to take it on: let us know how you do.