Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

Vauban

lfc4ever wrote: »

Finally had my reply and Virgins response was that they declined my compensation (4 lots of 600euros)

There reason was extraordinary circumstances -

'In your particular case, the aircraft scheduled to operate the inbound flight encountered a problem with its artificial horizon system on its previous flight (flight VS6 12 August 2010). Due to the nature of the problem, parts had to be flown to Miami to fix the aircraft, which was out of place and therefore unable to operate the inbound flight to San Francisco. To prevent a cancellation, we rearranged our fleet and another aircraft was used to operate the flight, albeit with a delay'

I just wondered if people think this is a good enough reason from them and I should give up, or if I have a solid case for compensation and should proceed to NBA and then the MCOL?

Thanks in advance for any help!

So a flight - not your flight, but two flights before - develops a technical problem and you are consequently delayed.

You have read the FAQs, presumably, and the Wallentin judgment: do you think that this is "extraordinary circumstances"?

terriandaaron

so I got my reply......

It says

shortly after take off there was a bird strike which caused a technical issue with one of the engines. the decision was made to turn back to London Heathrow and repair the fault, in order to minimise delay we arranged another aircraft which did take time to prepare.


so is that extra ordinary....? they told them on the flight that an engine wasn't working....nothing about birds ?....and the children reported seeing smoke.... and although they could fly with only one out they thought it was safer to return and then they had nearly a 5 hour wait ahead of them, so they choose to turn back...?

how do I find out if this is infact true and nota technical fault??

Vauban

terriandaaron wrote: »

so I got my reply......

It says

shortly after take off there was a bird strike which caused a technical issue with one of the engines. the decision was made to turn back to London Heathrow and repair the fault, in order to minimise delay we arranged another aircraft which did take time to prepare.


so is that extra ordinary....? they told them on the flight that an engine wasn't working....nothing about birds ?.... and although they could fly with only one out they thought it was safer to return and then they had nearly a 5 hour wait ahead of them, so they choose to turn back...?

Have a search for bird strike - there's lots of discussion on the forum about whether they are ECs or not. Personally I'd say not: but I can see how a judge might conclude they are an "unexpected flight safety shortcoming" - which are classed in the Regulation as ECs.

terriandaaron

im questioning if it is even true., how do I get a copy of the report...?

there was an engine failure but they had already taken off and could have flown with one engine down but decided to turn back, so surely this makes it there choice?

Vauban

lfc4ever wrote: »

Not in the slightest, they had plenty of time to sort out a replacement aircraft and for it to be on time! I just hoped to gage other peoples opinions before I pressed on with the claim!

Thanks for your response by the wat!

I agree with you!!

Vauban

terriandaaron wrote: »

im questioning if it is even true., how do I get a copy of the report...?

there was an engine failure but they had already taken off and could have flown with one engine down but decided to turn back, so surely this makes it there choice?

Only by initiating legal action, unfortunately.

dswil

We were delayed by almost exactly 3 hours on a flight back from St Lucia in June 2011. We missed our connection back to Glasgow so at the time we claimed on our travel insurance and Virgin sent us a supporting letter saying that the delay was due to "Operational reasons". Basically they decided to combine our flight with one from Barbados so it was within their control.

Anyway, I sent off the MSE template letter together with the Virgin compensation forms and a copy of the letter they provided for our insurance about 10-12 weeks ago. Finally received a reply last week... with two cheques for 600 Euros enclosed!!! We literally drove to the ATM that night to deposit these cheques :rotfl:

What a result, I'm so happy and to be honest I had given up hope weeks ago

Thank you so much MSE and good luck to the rest of you!! :money:

terriandaaron

Vauban wrote: »

Only by initiating legal action, unfortunately.

do you think its worth me doing this??
im not sure, if it was a bird is 5 hours reasonable for a delay...? and then had to wait even longer for a free runway another hour while on the plane!

Debsyh

Hi all. So I lodged my complaint through MCOl and received letter to say Virgin intended to defend the claim. I have today received an N180 form to complete with a copy of their defence. I will include it here and if I could get some advice that would be greatly received. My two queries are 1) the flight had to come from Gatwick to Manchester and my understanding is that if it is coming from another airport than the one you are flying from it can't be defended and 2) how do I dispute that the fault they detail below is not extraordinary circumstances. The defence is quite long so apologies, but i have tried to summarise as much as possible.

"The aircraft scheduled to operate this flight was based at Gatwick and was due to fly from Gatwick to Manchester to operate flight VS 73 on 24 April 2009. At approximately 09:00 hours the aircraft pushed back at Gatwick but was unable to start number 4 engine and had to return to stand.

The defendants engineers ascertained that there was a fault with the hydromechanical unit which regulates the fuel supply to the engine. A new unit would be required and this would take between 3-5 hours to fit. The aircraft was serviceable at 13:50 hours and was able to be flown to Manchester to operate the VS 73."

The letter then states about the regulations and that generally you are entitled to compensation however it then goes on to say:

"In spite of the above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to EUR 300 because under article 5(3) it states that compensation is not payable if the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The defendan't aver that the aircraft scheduled to operate this flight was delayed due to extraordinary circumstances.

The part in question had only accumulated 9,231 hours on this aircraft and the average time for this part is 41,273 hours. There had been no indication of any fault with this part and as such an early failure is totally unexpected.

In view of the above the defendant avers that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances."

Thoughts and advice on how to progress would be great. i have until the 5/7/13 to send back my form and serve it on Virgin.

normansbaby

Hi all, sent my NBA and had no response so did MCOL on 10/6/13, Virgin lodged "Acknowledgement of Service" today and have said they will defend the claim,so they have an additional 28 days.It appears from the posts on MSE today and yesterday that they are looking to defend them all.
My flight was delayed 14 hours going to Jo'burg due the plane not leaving New York the previous day due to high winds.
Will update when I receive their defence.