Flight Delay Compensation, Lufthansa Only

razorsedge

Ninnytendo wrote: »

Hello,

Does anybody know whether you can claim compensation if your flight is delayed due to “late loaders” and you miss your connecting flight as a result?

I have contacted Lufthansa a couple of times and they said that our flight was “delayed as a result of the late loaders. Please be advised that Lufthansa will not be held liable in this instance as the reason of flight delay is outside our sphere of influence” and they refuse to offer any compensation even though we missed our connecting flight and arrived at our destination 4 hours late as a result.

I also checked Flightstats and it says “Runway Delay N/A”.

Should I insist to Lufthansa that we are owed compensation in this case?

Thank you for any advice you may be able to give us.

Please don't double post. See the other thread you posted on.

drdpj

Hi all,
Just wanted to get a feeling as to whether I should continue pursuing this:

June 2011, Flight from Florence to Manchester via Frankfurt. FLR/FRA leg was delayed by 30 minutes which meant we were bumped off our connection to Manchester and put on another flight 5 hours later.

There's been a fair amount of prevarication from Lufthansa, firstly asking for proof that we were on the flight etc, etc. I served them with a NBA in December, and was just getting my bits and bobs together to put a european claim in when I received this:

We regret to learn of the inconvenience you experienced following a flight irregularity on 10 June 2011 which caused you to miss the connecting flight. Please kindly allow us to explain that flight LH313 was delayed due to Air Traffic Control restrictions on the previous flight of the aircraft rotation.

In addition, we would like to kindly inform that we have no influence over such procedures. Whilst we understand your wish to receive compensation for the inconvenience, please understand that in this case, Lufthansa is not liable for the delay.

Firstly, I can't see any evidence of ATC restrictions in or out of Frankfurt - there are no apparent systematic delays that day, and there was no bad weather. I assume the FLR-FRA aircraft had originally come from, all the FLR-MUC/MUC-FLR flights were on time and the plane couldn't have come from anywhere else - is there any way of divining the truth around this? According to Flightstats (which I realise can't be used in the actual case), the first flight of the day out of FRA-FLR was delayed, and this had a knock on effect right the way through the schedule...

Secondly, am I correct in thinking that this is basically irrelevant as if the airline's scheduling was so tight that there is no contingency for turnaround of the flight, this is exactly what the regulation was meant to discourage?

d.

Tyzap

Hi,

Yes you are correct. It's also irrelevant because it was caused by a 'knock on' event that did not directly involve your flight.

The truth of where and when the delay actually occurred will come out in their evidence if you initiate legal proceedings against them.

Good luck.

Caz3121

the FRA-FLR arrived 15 minutes late and seemed to pick up a further delay in FLR (which may have been due to ATC or could have been due to missing slot because of the late inbound hence waiting for a new slot)
Hopefully when airlines realise that a very short delay can result in them paying compensation they will consider the length of connections they offer passengers. I would not have booked a connection that was less than an hour (as there is no guarantee that the next flight with available seats would actually be the same day) It looks like this one was 50 minutes which means even a 15 minute delay can mess things up big time

drdpj

Realistically the airlines should ensure that they have enough flexibility in their turnaround times to ensure that a paltry delay (which is clearly inherent to the running of an airline) doesn't throw the whole shooting match off kilter.

From my own point of view, with a 9 month old at the time and considering where we had to get from/to, a 50 minute transfer within the EU areas of Frankfurt airport wasn't a particularly alarming prospect and was an entirely pragmatic decision (again, at the time!). If the airline is prepared to let you book a connection, they should be prepared to pay compensation if it proves to be impossible. Of course, this wasn't really an issue in 2011 as they probably didn't think that these things would result in claims. Worth noting, however, that that connection doesn't exist in the timetables anymore!

More importantly, if this is going in as a European Small Claims, does anyone know if I should specify Liverpool CC as the court (which is fairly local to me anyway), or am I meant to send it to the money claims service at Salford? (Actually, it doesn't look like Liverpool deals with Money Claims anymore?)

Thank you all for the input

JPears

bumped housekeeping

ranvinder

Firstly thanks to everyone who has posted good information on here.. particularly to lincoln_dj whose post was super helpful along with this article an article on the thisismoney website which had info on huzar ruling, including claim template letters too..

My flight was delayed due to a technical fault with the hydraulics of aircraft (pilot of the delayed flight confirmed this on tannoy as we took off and the lady at the desk when delayed also mentioned a technical fault with plane) and I initially used the templates on this website to send Lufthansa a claim via their website. I received this response -

Thank you for your online feedback dated 13 February 2016. We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns. It was with great regret that we learned of the disruption to your flight LH500 from Frankfurt to Rio de Janeiro on 15 January 2016. We understand how upsetting it is to have your journey disrupted in this way and regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.
As you may be aware, this delay was due to an unforeseen technical issue with the aircraft. Our engineers repaired the defect which allowed the aircraft to depart with a delay of 9 hours 56 minutes.
Safety is Lufthansa’s first priority. We therefore maintain our aircraft regularly according to the instructions of the manufacturers. The defect which led to the delay in this case is a rare occurrence and could not be foreseen. Even with the best of intentions, unexpected problems can occur in exceptional cases and at short notice. However, you can rest assured that we and our partners are doing everything in our power to ensure that such isolated incidents are kept to a minimum
As the delay of flight LH500 was caused by exceptional circumstances which could not be prevented although all feasible measures were taken, we appreciate your understanding that we unable to comply with your request for compensation. We are conforming to the stipulations of EC Regulation 261/2004 in this matter.
However, we appreciate your disappointment with the fact that you arrived at your final destination with a significant delay. In the event of a flight irregularity, our main aim is to get our passengers to their final destination as quickly as possible.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond regarding this matter. We fully appreciate that our apologies cannot erase your disappointment under the circumstances. We ask you to view this incident as an exception to our usual fine standards of service and regret the less than positive impression gained during your journey with us.
We would like to thank you once again for your patience and understanding. We hope to welcome you on-board a Lufthansa flight in the future

I knew this to be a lie as it was a technical fault with their airline, so this was indeed claimable due to the Huzar ruling.. so replied -

Dear Sir/Madam,


Thank you for your email dated February 23 2016. I am really disappointed that you have chosen not to deal with this adequately the first time around. I have sought legal advice, and I have been made aware that I am entitled to the compensation I have requested -

A 2014 ruling ratified by the Supreme Court, in the case of Huzar vs Jet2, says that European airlines can no longer claim technical faults as extraordinary circumstances, so must pay out compensation for flight delays of longer than three hours such cases. The court ruled that technical faults are 'inherent in the running of an airline' and cannot be considered extraordinary or exceptional as you have advised. I am aware that on my flight, the pilot told all the customers, that the delay was due to a hydraulic problem with the aircraft. This is considered as a result of 'general wear and tear' and as such airlines should be expected to have to deal with such issues regularly, meaning they're not extraordinary / exceptional.



I also believe Lufthansa failed to comply with Article 9, paragraph 2 of European Union Regulation 261/2004 by failing to offer "two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails".


I also believe Lufthansa failed to comply with Article 14, paragraph 2 of European Union Regulation 261/2004 by failing to provide me with "written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance in line with this Regulation".


[FONT=&quot]I look forward to a full response to this letter within 14 days. If I do not receive a satisfactory response detailing all of the compensation that I am entitled to above, I intend to pursue my complaint further, which will mean taking it to court. [/FONT]


I then received the below reply -

Thank you for your feedback dated 19 March 2016, in response to our correspondence.
We were sorry to learn of your disappointment with our decision. Therefore, we have re-studied your case.
We confirm that flight LH500 on 15 January 2016 was delayed due to unforeseen technical issue.
We ask for your understanding that such situations unfortunately cannot be prevented and lie outside the sphere of influence of the airlines. However, we will be happy to offer the amount of EUR600 (GBP450), as a gesture of goodwill.
Additionally, we are pleased to reimburse the amount of EUR50 (GBP38) in order to cover the extra costs you might have had while waiting at the airport (meals, refreshments, phone calls).
These amounts should be credited to your account within the next days.
We thank you for your patience, and hope that this unfortunate event does not keep you from enjoying Lufthansa flights in the future.


Result! I actually did receive meals and refreshments too, but wasn't given phone calls and toiletries, so ended up getting 50 EURO for those too.. on top of the 600 EURO!

For info, the exchange rate of compensation was the rate on the day of delay.. I expected a little more due to change in rate at the time I claimed, but I was happy with the £488 in the end as it more than paid for my flight to Rio! Many thanks to everyone again!

JPears

bumped...........

Old_King_Cole

Can I ask Ranvinder -or anyone else- to clarify if you used email or a postal address for the second lot of correspondence? If so, please can you advise what address you used. I originally used Resolver to make a claim against Lufthansa and just received a voice mail message in response, explaining that it was due to a technical fault which couldn't be foreseen and therefore they weren't go to pay out. I followed up with a letter using the MSE template as a base and quoting the regulations, Huzar and Sturgeon cases. In the absence of finding any other more relevant UK address I sent this letter to Lufthansa Customer Services, Terminal 1, Hathrow Airport TW6 1AP. That was almost 4 weeks ago and I've not had a response. Can anyone advise if ther is a better address please? Or should I try email? Thank you

Anna8888_2

Hello,

We had a 4 hours delay on a connection flight and after an email sent to lufthansa one of their advisers contacted me the next day. I was told it was a special circumstances because of the weather.but after i've explained to the adviser that that was not the case as the weather was lovely i was placed on wait for 2 min for further investigation.the adviser wasn't very happy to inform us that we will indeed get the compensation .We got €600 for each passenger in our bank account within 7 days. Good customer service and easily solved. :T