Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

maxipeeps1

Hi all,

I was hoping someone could give me some advice.
I had a 24 hour delay with Virgin and they have refused my claim for compensation due to "Extraordinary circumstance".
The have said that the aircraft originally scheduled to operate my flight developed an unexpected problem on the previous day and had to return from airbourne on the previous day due to a problem with the engine bleed valve it says the fix was quite lengthy and so they had to get another aircraft but it caused a knock on delay which was unavoidable.
Can anyone advise is this a valid reason, I thought things like this were only valid if it was your particular flight that the problem was on not the day before causing a knock on effect.
Any advice greatly appriciated this is from 26 aug 2007 so running out of time if going to persue a claim.

many thanks

Natony46

Does anyone know where VA are based, what I mean is where is their HUB? Reading the Gatwick threads, it seems that VA are paying out without a fight, does that mean because they are based at Gatwick (presumably....!!) and if no replacement crew can be found for anyone going sick, that it is not an extraordinary circumstance??????

My head hurts because I can't comprehend how someone going sick in the UK is nothing extraordinary but someone going sick in the US is!! Can anyone shed some light on this please because I think VA are treading a very sticky path.

Vauban

Natony46 wrote: »

Does anyone know where VA are based, what I mean is where is their HUB? Reading the Gatwick threads, it seems that VA are paying out without a fight, does that mean because they are based at Gatwick (presumably....!!) and if no replacement crew can be found for anyone going sick, that it is not an extraordinary circumstance??????

My head hurts because I can't comprehend how someone going sick in the UK is nothing extraordinary but someone going sick in the US is!! Can anyone shed some light on this please because I think VA are treading a very sticky path.

Virgin argue that it is not reasonable to have standby crew in foreign airports in case someone should go sick. In these instances, crew would need to be flown out from London - so delays are inevitable despite "all reasonable measures". A delay in London is more difficult to justify, for the reasons you point out.

The flaw in this argument, in my view, is that it jumps the gun. The all reasonable measures test only kicks in if the delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances. Personnel sickness is inherent in the business of running an airline, and therefore defined by Wallentin as not extraordinary.

Is that any clearer?

Gjmickeylove

NapeDog wrote: »

Just a quick note that I successfully claimed for 3 passengers on the VS16 flight from orlando to gatwick due to take off on 15/06/13 but was delayed 24 hours.
I put in my claim via email, after 10 days I was told I had to send it to an office in Luton (i think).
After about 3 weeks I received 3 cheques, each for £515.
happy days thanks for the help provided on these forums.

Hi there, Brilliant news about being paid out for the delay, can I please ask what caused the delay and did Virgin quote Extraordinary Circumstances?

Thanks

Natony46

Vauban wrote: »

Virgin argue that it is not reasonable to have standby crew in foreign airports in case someone should go sick. In these instances, crew would need to be flown out from London - so delays are inevitable despite "all reasonable measures". A delay in London is more difficult to justify, for the reasons you point out.

The flaw in this argument, in my view, is that it jumps the gun. The all reasonable measures test only kicks in if the delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances. Personnel sickness is inherent in the business of running an airline, and therefore defined by Wallentin as not extraordinary.

Is that any clearer?

Thanks that sorts it out for me. It still beggars belief that VA would still "brass it out" as they say. It seems a waste of time, effort and money to pursue something that you intend to bottle out of halfway through but who am I to complain if the court rules in my favour.............hopefully!!

NapeDog

Gjmickeylove wrote: »

Hi there, Brilliant news about being paid out for the delay, can I please ask what caused the delay and did Virgin quote Extraordinary Circumstances?

Thanks

They couldn't tell me at the time but when i got back i called to check and was advised that crew reasons on the earlier flight meant that they were unable to get our flight off the ground. They didn't quote extraordinary circumstances.

romanby1

Part of Gjmickeylove Post.

Virgin withheld medication from passengers for over 20 hours in florida. Passengers asked for access to these meds which virgin stringently denies happened. I have told Virgin time and again that we were denied our meds, now the airline have stated that they asked all passengers if we needed our luggage off the plane for medication etc, which is a complete and utter fabrication of what actually happened. I have never dealt with such dishonest practices from a huge organization.

Have I read this post correctly ?????????????????? You had placed your medication in the hold luggage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What would you have done if the luggage had gone "Walk about".?
My wife and I both have health problems and always carry our medication that we may need within the next day or two in our hand luggage.

worriedwoman_2

Update on my claim:
I have been pm'd by a few people who were on the same flight as me to Las Vegas in August 2012. Virgin had defended my claim all the way, and I have received my court hearing date through - September 27th.
One person who contacted me was a little ahead of me in his claim. He had his court case against Virgin a couple of weeks ago, and although he didn't attend court himself, Virgin lost the case and settled in full straight away.
This helped me tremendously and I emailed Virgin straight away suggesting they settle my claim too, to save them more expense and inconvenience of another court case. I heard nothing back, and as I am meant to be paying my court fee this week I telephoned them yesterday to see if they received my email and to suggest this to them again.
The lady I spoke to said straight away that there is a cheque there for me which is being sent first class!
Today I received the cheque and a letter from Virgin saying “I have noted your comments and under the circumstances enclose a cheque in full and final settlement of your claim”
I am so pleased that this has finally been settled without going to court.
I will be happy for anyone else claiming for the same delay to contact me for more information.
The flight in question was VS043 to Las Vegas from Gatwick on 27th August 2012

Gjmickeylove

The medication was put in the hold luggage as a member of my family felt uncomfortable taking their controlled drug onboard a plane, and further uncomfortable carrying controlled drugs through customers, which I am sure you will appreciate, could cause its own issues if searched. The party member felt more comfortable in putting it in hold luggage. Lots of people do this, it is not uncommon. The member of my party had supply when they returned home. I do not feel that putting meds on hold luggage is the issue, the fact that virgin Atlantic refused access to the meds is much worse in my opinion.

2pinkgiraffes

Does anybody have any idea as to whether you can claim flight delay compensation on behalf of somebody who is now deceased? I am submitting a claim for my family in which we were delayed for four hours. My father in law has since passed away but if possible I would still like to claim for him as well, partly because I think his wife should be entitled to the compensation as the flight would have been paid for from their joint funds and secondly because of the extremely poor service my father in law, who was disabled, received from Virgin Staff during this flight. Anyone any ideas if this is possible??