Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

monkey3

111KAB wrote: »

Monkey3 - technical problem is not an extraordinary circumstance and given the fact this was an engine change Virgin should have secured an alternative plane for you. If the problem was not Virgin's whose was it! In addition the problem was on a previous flight - not yours.

Many thanks for your reply. I shall reply to them and move things a stage further.

Daisysmom

Hi all

I contacted Virgin re our delayed flight to Orlando in 2008 and got the usual "extra ordinary" circumstances letter about 4 months later so at the beginning of this month I sent off the NBA so a few days ago I got the following response ....

Thank u for your letter dated 7 may which I am sorry to learn that you are disappointed with our reply.
The new EU ruling does provide the consumer with more clarity in respect of delays and cancellations: however I must advise that `extraordinary circumstances` does not relate solely to external events. Technical faults are not excluded from this ruling providing they are not inherent.
The defect on this particular flight was not `intrinsic` to the normal maintenance process.
Having reviewed the reports pertaining to this particular flight, I can only reiterate the explanation given in our reply to u. The fault could not have been anticipated nor avoided even if we had taken all reasonable actions at our disposal. We must therefore again refuse your claim for compensation.
I understand that u may wish to take this further and, of course, that is entirely your prerogative. Technical logs and engineering reports are internal documents and im afraid I am unable to send these to u. They may only be released to the relevant authorities ie CAA.
We are of course sorry that your plans were disrupted at the time and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

As I posted in my earlier post the aircrafts number 4 engine would not start automatically and the engineers had to replace the pylon bleed valve ........

I think im going to go along the no fee no claims route as some of this is not clear although im not thick, im just not sure where to start really.

xxx

tt2505

Mark2spark wrote: »

An EC (such as a medical emergency) applies only 'to the flight concerned' (read the EU261 rules at 14 & 15 - linked in the OP), therefore as it wasn't on your flight - no EC - so continue the claim with a NBA.

Just thought I'd post an update. I served the NBA letter & it took Virgin 3wks to reply. They are sticking by their EC claim. We have decided to claim via Euclaim .com, as we don't think that 30% is an unfair amount to charge due to work involved. I don't suppose anything will happen very quickly but we'll wait patiently for the outcome.........watch this space

Thanks again especially Mark2spark & everyone else on here who contributes their knowledge & experiences :T

David_e

monkey3 wrote: »

We finally got the flight about 24 hours later.

Their reply was:
"We have declined your claim on the grounds that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond the actual control of Virgin Atlantic and which could not have been avoided even though all reasonable measures had been taken.

The aircraft scheduled to operate this flight experienced an unforeseeable technical malfunction on a previous flight which meant it had to return to Gatwick. A full engine change and associated testing were required. This caused the delay. There was no history of any issues with this engine, and the event could not have been prevented. The aircraft had passed all checks satisfactorily and been subject to a full and rigorous maintenance program; despite this, problems may occasionally develop.

Events of this nature, which are not foreseeable, occur in flight and lead to a full engine change, are considered extraordinary circumstances. As such no compensation is due in this instance"

Many thanks to anyone who may be able to help guide me.

The Wallentin Ruling summarises circumstances in that case (and which, as we know, were deemed not to be extraordinary):

"11. The cancellation of the Alitalia flight from Vienna resulted from a complex engine defect in the turbine which had been discovered the day before during a check. Alitalia had been informed of the defect during the night preceding that flight, at 1.00 a.m. The repair of the aircraft, which necessitated the dispatch of spare parts and engineers, was completed on 8 July 2005." [The flight had been scheduled to depart early on 28 June!]


That doesn't sound that different from your circumstances to me.

David_e

Daisysmom wrote: »

I think im going to go along the no fee no claims route as some of this is not clear although im not thick, im just not sure where to start really.

Looks like Virgin are getting so many claims they are using some standard wording (see #348 frm Lil_Me).

It's certainly not being thick. The small claims does look a bit daunting and I am sure that airlines are relying on that.

Mark2spark

monkey3 wrote: »

We finally got the flight about 24 hours later.

Their reply was:

The aircraft scheduled to operate this flight experienced an unforeseeable technical malfunction on a previous flight which meant it had to return to Gatwick. A full engine change and associated testing were required.

Events of this nature, which are not foreseeable, occur in flight and lead to a full engine change, are considered extraordinary circumstances. As such no compensation is due in this instance"

:rotfl: Yep, they had a spare engine laying around that they just simply changed and had up and running again within 24 hours

What tosh. Off to court you go.

JPears

:rotfl:

Mark2spark wrote: »

:rotfl: Yep, they had a spare engine laying around that they just simply changed and had up and running again within 24 hours

What tosh. Off to court you go.

:):):):)

iforem01

Mark2spark wrote: »

Were spare parts used to rectify the fault? Put them to strict proof on this.
But smelling smoke during mid flight is a tough one to combat.

Thanks for the reply.
Virgin have been very sketchy in their various replies, both at the time of the incident and now, in fact at no point have they been specific and informed me of exactly what the cause of the "smell of smoke" was (could have been a burnt dinner for all I know) and how it was recitified (I notice that they have informed some of the other claimants on this forum with the exact work undertaken in their cases)
Virgin have until 10th June to get back to the small claims court.
Any ideas on how I can find out if spare parts were used other than going back to Virgin directly?
If I do end up in court, will Virgin's differing replies (2009 vs 2013) as to the cause of the delay count against them?

Lawe

Brick wall but that's thanks to Royal Mail!

Sent a NBA on the 16th May but still has not been delivered. Now I did send it back to the po box but as the chap from RM said, it will still be signed for even if it is a po box.

So I'll need to resend another letter but I thik this time direct to Crawley and now also claim compensation from Royal Mail.

This road is long!!

Lawe

Centipede100 wrote: »

Don't bother with signed for mail, just get a free proof of postage from the PO counter when you post the NBA.

Send it to the Crawley head office address.

Thanks for that, I knew I should of sent it to Crawley and thanks also for the proof of postage, didn't think it would work in this case.

Monday morning letter shall be sent... again!