Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

vln

Hello to eveyone else who had the 25 hr delay along with ourselves!!!!

I've not had the letter back yet - but as everyone else seems to have I expect mine is waiting on the mat at home.

I dont think pilot sickness is an extraordinary event that couldn't be planned for. Of course it is - thats what stand by pilots are used for.

Does anybody know what the next steap is?

Leumas_Trebor

I got the letters in the post today confirming Virgin are declining the VS0074 7th June claim, so will follow the process and see what happens. I have also not had a response to my seperate letter regarding out of pocket expenses for the delay.

JPears

I feel a Centipede noob "Reminder" post coming along soon.....

Vauban

Tin hats on!!!

Gjmickeylove

Hello All,

I was on the VS74 and have also had my response denying compensation. I have spoken to senior managers in customer relations and the manager who sent us the letter. What I found interesting is the fact that the manager who investigated for the 261/2004 did not know what was the matter with the pilot, and that I informed them of this illness yesterday. This clearly says to me that VA have not investigated this matter properly, and that they have just sent the stock response to passengers. It is my opinion that they had no intention of compensating us.

I have had further correspondence with a senior manager in customer relations, whom also is seemingly incapable of doing a good job. He has advised me that he is no longer willing to look at my complaint, and has basically encouraged me to take them to court. I fear that this in now the only way forward. I have therefore now written to the CAA explaining the complaint and the terrible treatment and misinformation we faced. I suggested to another passenger who I have been in contact with via email that as passengers of this flight we all need to stick together, not to become disheartened and to work in a collaborative manner to fight virgins clear abuse of the 'extraordinary circumstances' blurry definition of the EC no 261/2004. Anyhow, I do not know what the rules are in terms of swapping emails and telephone numbers on here, but if anyone would like to fight this collectively, I am really happy to work with others to ensure that we do not let Virgin Atlantic deny us compensation which we rightly deserve.

haslehurst

I have also received the decline letter today, I am proposing to send NBA tomorrow. There has been some question over where to send he letter to - original claim went to Luton, however with is being the start of legal proceedings am I right in saying it should go to the registered office of

THE OFFICE MANOR ROYAL
CRAWLEY
WEST SUSSEX RH10 9NU
RH10 9NU

Gjmickeylove

[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Company Secretariat,[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]The Office[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Manor Royal[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Crawley[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]West Sussex[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]RH10 9NU.[/FONT][/FONT]

haslehurst

Gjmickeylove wrote: »

Hello All,

I was on the VS74 and have also had my response denying compensation. I have spoken to senior managers in customer relations and the manager who sent us the letter. What I found interesting is the fact that the manager who investigated for the 261/2004 did not know what was the matter with the pilot, and that I informed them of this illness yesterday. This clearly says to me that VA have not investigated this matter properly, and that they have just sent the stock response to passengers. It is my opinion that they had no intention of compensating us.

I have had further correspondence with a senior manager in customer relations, whom also is seemingly incapable of doing a good job. He has advised me that he is no longer willing to look at my complaint, and has basically encouraged me to take them to court. I fear that this in now the only way forward. I have therefore now written to the CAA explaining the complaint and the terrible treatment and misinformation we faced. I suggested to another passenger who I have been in contact with via email that as passengers of this flight we all need to stick together, not to become disheartened and to work in a collaborative manner to fight virgins clear abuse of the 'extraordinary circumstances' blurry definition of the EC no 261/2004. Anyhow, I do not know what the rules are in terms of swapping emails and telephone numbers on here, but if anyone would like to fight this collectively, I am really happy to work with others to ensure that we do not let Virgin Atlantic deny us compensation which we rightly deserve.

Completely agree that joint action would be beneficial, however earlier posts suggest that small claims court don't operate on a precedent basis and therefore it's down to the individual judge on the day if it gets to court.

That said I can't believe that a judge would not agree that it would be reasonable for Virgin to have a stand-by pilot in a city in which it has at least 4 flights in a 2 1/2 hour period. This would cover off the all reasonable steps issue, as for the extraordinary circumstances surely again a judge could be persuaded that due to a pilot also being ill the following week means it's not EC.

I'm happy to take joint action if there's a benefit.

flor2012

Just had the same exceptional circumstances letter for my party of 6, for the 25 hour delay. Reading previous posts looks like court action is now the only way forward. Given that there are obviously quite a few of us claiming looks like they are going to fight us all the way.
Sickness is not exceptional and given the number of flights to from Orlando provisions should be in place.

I am already in contact with another passenger and we are sharing advice, so would be more than happy to work with other passengers too.

My only worry is should they be successful in court (which I can't believe they will be) is there much of a financial loss.

haslehurst

I've been looking on a few other forums and found an article from a claim website which suggests a win for Pilot Illness previously, does this set legal precedent that small claims may consider?


27-12-2012
We received two judgments from the Court in Rotterdam regarding Easyjet claims. For flight U2 2723 of 29 November 2009, the delay was caused by a sick pilot.

Easyjet states that their home base is not in Milan. Therefore, there was no replacement for the pilot. Another pilot had to be flown in. According to the Court in Rotterdam, Easyjet did not prove that they tried everything they could to prevent the delay. A sick pilot is not seen as an extraordinary circumstance.

The case for flight U2 7002 on 18 February 2010 was also won by EU***. The delay originated because of a technical problem and missing crew members. The argument from Easyjet that missing crew members is an extraordinary circumstance was not accepted by the Court in Rotterdam.

Ilona Maertzdorff
Corporate Lawyer