Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

LouLou82

Hi, we have just received our letter back from Virgin declining us compensation, saying the following:
The inbound flight scheduled to operate on your service was delayed due to a technical problem stemming from events which by their nature or origin are not inherent in the normal exercise of our flying activity and are beyond our actual control.
During pre-flight safety checks in London Gatwick the aircraft was found to have an oil leak from one of the engines. Upon further inspection it was determined the engine would need changing. Unfortunately an unforeseen casualty engine change is a lengthy process which took time to complete. Our spare aircraft was also under repair due to suffering a lightning strike on its previous service and therefore could not be used at the time.
The cost of having spare aircraft at all of our outstations to eliminate this event would have been unreasonable.

In my opinion, this doesn't seem like a valid reason to decline, if it's not Virgin's fault that there was an oil leak, then who's was it? Not having a spare aircraft, that is surely Virgin's fault too? Is this worth appealing?

Our delay was for over 24 hours.

Many thanks in advance

111KAB

LouLou82 wrote: »

Is this worth appealing?

No - they have made up their mind so 3 alternatives
a) take them to court
b) use no win no fee or
c) forget it, walk away.

Bestdea1s

Bestdea1s wrote: »

Well Virgin replied to my claim for 8 people stating ''unexpected technical problem. The aircraft had suffered a thrust reverser problem during a previous service and had to be grounded fro repairs. Thus knock on effect etc etc and could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.''

So where do I go next, CAA or small claims.

Or do I accept that a faulty aircraft is 'Extraordinary Circumstances'

Anyone who can help if you have been through this please let me know.

UPDATE _ FILED CAA online complaint as only took 10 mins and is good for small claims if I have a response from CAA.

:mad:
Just sent off Money Claim to courts - 8 of us claiming on a single form - cost £120 court fee - Total claimed £4188 plus interest of over £800. I will keep all posted.

maxipeeps1

Hi,
I am just about to submit an online MCOL as i am running out of time so no time to send paper forms. can i put Me My Husband and Sons claim on one online claim.
Thanks

Psaila

LouLou82 wrote: »

Hi, we have just received our letter back from Virgin declining us compensation, saying the following:
The inbound flight scheduled to operate on your service was delayed due to a technical problem stemming from events which by their nature or origin are not inherent in the normal exercise of our flying activity and are beyond our actual control.
During pre-flight safety checks in London Gatwick the aircraft was found to have an oil leak from one of the engines. Upon further inspection it was determined the engine would need changing. Unfortunately an unforeseen casualty engine change is a lengthy process which took time to complete. Our spare aircraft was also under repair due to suffering a lightning strike on its previous service and therefore could not be used at the time.
The cost of having spare aircraft at all of our outstations to eliminate this event would have been unreasonable.

In my opinion, this doesn't seem like a valid reason to decline, if it's not Virgin's fault that there was an oil leak, then who's was it? Not having a spare aircraft, that is surely Virgin's fault too? Is this worth appealing?

Our delay was for over 24 hours.

Many thanks in advance

Hi, i too am claiming for this flight. I had the exact response and i am taking it further, it is not a valid reason so i have sent an NBA and its now been 2 weeks with no response so i shall be starting to file a claim with MCO. I will keep you posted on my progress.

pmramsay

Rugbymum wrote: »

After a flight to Orlando VS27 12/12/2008 that was delayed for 8h 06m I sent a claim form off to Virgin, this is the reply "In your particular case, the flight was initially delayed as a direct result of the closure of the runway at Gatwick the previous day, due to adverse weather conditions. This had caused the aircraft to be late departing from Gatwick on its previous service, which meant it arrived late back into Gatwick to operate your service.
Shortly before the revised departure time of your flight, an unexpected technical issue arose with the emergency lighting, which had to be fully investigated by our engineers. Following a thorough inspection, it became apparent that a lengthy repair was required. In an effort to minimise the overall delay to your journey, we arranged our fleet of aircraft to ensure we were able to operate your service, albeit with a delay.
The initial weater disruption along with the unexpected technical issue could not have been foreseen or anticipated. All reasonable measures were taken to minimise the disruption to your service but unfortunatley this could not have been avoided. As such these are deemed extraordinary circumstances and exempt form compensation."
The weather delay was 3h 48m leaving a 4h 18m delay due to technical problems. Has anyone else claimed for this flight, and is it worth taking it further - CAA/small claims

Pretty much same question from me, we had that response to a flight to havana on the saturday. We were advised that the flight was delayed due to knock on effect from previous days weather and runway issues.

I know that EC covers "meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned" but as the weather issues were on a previous day would this so called knock on effect be an applicable get out clause for virgin?

celiaw

we were delayed over 5 hours Leeds to Alicante - have written but they are now asking for copy of confirmation or boarding pass, which we no longer have - should this prevent us getting our claim? surely they have this information?

111KAB

celiaw wrote: »

we were delayed over 5 hours Leeds to Alicante - have written but they are now asking for copy of confirmation or boarding pass, which we no longer have - should this prevent us getting our claim? surely they have this information?

Jet2 posts should be on Jet2 thread however lack of boarding card or confirmation does not preclude a claim.

Psaila

Hi I am now at the point MCO, however i am claiming for me and my family total of 5 people. Others have stated you cannot use the online service to claim for more than 2 people but i can't see where it says you cannot. Why can't I just put all of our names in the particulars of claim section?

Vauban

Psaila wrote: »

Hi I am now at the point MCO, however i am claiming for me and my family total of 5 people. Others have stated you cannot use the online service to claim for more than 2 people but i can't see where it says you cannot. Why can't I just put all of our names in the particulars of claim section?

Strictly speaking you should not do this, but in the final analysis it is up to the discretion of the judge. If you are a couple with kids, I think MCOL is fine. But you can do the paper version if you want to be super-sure.