New! Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation Board

djrenegade_2

Hi Guys
I went to Turkey in June and had a 3 hour delay, also had a bad experience on the way home with horrible steward staff commenting about my distressed 2 year old.
This is what I e-mailed to all the directors of Thomas Cook the next day with some help from the templates available:

I am writing regarding an air stewardess on flight number xxxxxx on 10th June 2013 from Dalaman to Manchester. I was travelling with my family including a 22 month old toddler. As you can imagine, it is very difficult to entertain a small child on a 4 and a half hour flight and unfortunately, my little girl was very tired during the flight, though fighting her sleep. At one point, she had a minor screaming fit for no more than five minutes during the flight before falling asleep. Your air stewardesses were quick enough to enquire if we needed any assistance which I thought was courteous but did not need any assistance at that time so politely declined.

After the flight had landed in Manchester and I was leaving the air craft walking with my little girl, I heard one of the air stewardesses remark to a colleague “That is the child that was screaming the plane down”. I made it known that I had heard this remark by turning to look at them with which they looked shocked that I had heard but this was totally unacceptable.

I am also writing regarding flight xxxxxx on 3rd June 2013 from Manchester to Dalaman with the scheduled departure time of xx:xx. This flight departed at xx:xx and arrived 3 hours late at Dalaman.

The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Tui & others v CAA confirmed the applicability of compensation for delay as set out in the Sturgeon case. As such, I am seeking compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004 for this delayed flight.

The passengers in the party were xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. The extra 3 hours plus of waiting time meant that my party of 5 had to pay out for extra food and refreshments whilst waiting and also trying to keep my 22 month old little girl entertained for this extra time was proving extremely difficult.

My scheduled flight length was 3030km, therefore I am seeking €300 per delayed passenger in my party. The total is €1500 for all passengers.
I look forward to a full response to this letter within 14 days. If I do not receive a satisfactory response I intend to pursue my complaint further, which could mean taking it to court.

I have just received their reply:

I am writing in response to your letter regarding your recent travel arrangements with Thomas Cook.

I am sorry that you are unhappy with the attitude of our cabin crew on your flight.

We expect our cabin crew to deliver a high level of customer service, and to do their best to ensure everyone has as comfortable and happy journey as possible. I am very sorry that the behaviour of the crew was unprofessional. I will pass on your comments to the airline management team at Manchester so they can address this with the crew involved.

I would also like to apologise for the disruption to your flight plans. Please be assured that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure that any delays are kept to an absolute minimum, as we do fully understand the inconvenience and frustration these can cause.

It is not always immediately apparent as to when a revised take off time can be secured and a number of factors have to be considered, which quite often rely on outside influences, such as Airport Authorities or Air Traffic Control. We do appreciate the importance of communication, and I would assure you that information is passed onto our customers as quickly as possible, through our handling agents at the airport.

Having carried out a full investigation the specific circumstances surrounding the delay to your own flight were of a technical nature. These were extraordinary, in that Thomas Cook took all reasonable precautions necessary to avoid the situation, and despite our proactive measures the problem could not have been prevented. All our aircraft are maintained to a very high standard, in line with CAA regulations, however, despite these steps, mechanical failures can arise without prior warning.

In line with Regulation 261/2004 a payment of compensation would not be considered applicable in this case.

Please be assured that on-time performance is a key measure for us as a business, and we constantly review our operations to ensure we deliver the best results, and service. I would like to offer our apologies for any inconvenience you were caused on this occasion and I hope that despite this, your stay was found to be an enjoyable one.

How can I take this further, any advice please?

Thanks.

Vauban

djrenegade wrote: »

Hi Guys
I went to Turkey in June and had a 3 hour delay, also had a bad experience on the way home with horrible steward staff commenting about my distressed 2 year old.
This is what I e-mailed to all the directors of Thomas Cook the next day with some help from the templates available:



I have just received their reply:



How can I take this further, any advice please?

Thanks.

The FAQs on page tell you what to do next - click on the link "What to do next", or something.

Caz3121

djrenegade wrote: »

I went to Turkey in June and had a 3 hour delay

The only Dalaman flight (2708) delayed that day did indeed leave over 3 hours late but arrived in Dalaman 2 hours and 50 minutes later than scheduled according to flightstats so no compensation would be due

tucko

NorthumberlandLady wrote: »

Hi!
I (&2 in my family) flew with Monarch airlines in December 2008 from Manchester to Goa. The flight was delayed by 8hrs and caused great disruption to our onward plans.
I would now like to claim compensation under the new ruling.
I joined flight-stat to trace the flight back but couldn't find any details.
How can I find out after all this time what my flight number was? I do have the departure time and arrival time as I write a travel journal, but I do not have the other details.
Can anyone suggest anything please?[/QUOTE

As long as you have the flight departure time both scheduled and actual, destination and date. You should have no problem. If you dont mind losing 25% you can go with a no win no pay solicitor. I dont like them but it may be an option. Flight numbers usually stay the same. I fly KM146 to Malta quite often,

tucko

NorthumberlandLady wrote: »

Hi!
I (&2 in my family) flew with Monarch airlines in December 2008 from Manchester to Goa. The flight was delayed by 8hrs and caused great disruption to our onward plans.
I would now like to claim compensation under the new ruling.
I joined flight-stat to trace the flight back but couldn't find any details.
How can I find out after all this time what my flight number was? I do have the departure time and arrival time as I write a travel journal, but I do not have the other details.
Can anyone suggest anything please?[/QUOTE

tucko

As long as you have the flight departure time both scheduled and actual, destination and date. You should have no problem. If you dont mind losing 25% you can go with a no win no pay solicitor. I dont like them but it may be an option. Flight numbers usually stay the same. I fly KM146 to Malta quite often,

djrenegade_2

Vauban wrote: »

The FAQs on page tell you what to do next - click on the link "What to do next", or something.

I sent the next letter which was the 14 day notice one and have just got their second reply:

I am writing in response to your most recent correspondence and I am sorry that you remain unhappy with our previous reply.

With regards to the comment that was made, again I apologise for the comment that was made. This was most unprofessional and is not the standard that we expect from any members of staff. This information has been passed on to the management of the crew involved and so can ensure that a situation like this does not arise again.

On receipt of your initial claim a full investigation was carried out by the airline into the circumstances surrounding this delay. This investigation included analysis of historical maintenance data, discussions with engineers, and a review of the activity of our other aircraft at the time. Following this thorough process we remain confident that the technical fault was extraordinary and that we took all reasonable measures possible to avoid the delay in question. With regards to a request for this information, I must apologise as I am unable to provide you with the technical reasons as to why your flight was delayed.

I appreciate you remain unhappy with this decision, and whilst I regret this, we do not believe that a payment under the rules of the scheme is relevant in this particular case. Should you remain unhappy I can only suggest that you contact the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) online at https://www.caa.co.uk/passenger or call the CAA for advice on 020 7453 6888.

I trust this provides some clarity on our position and I can only apologise once again for the delay you encountered on this occasion.

What next...

111KAB

djrenegade wrote: »

I sent the next letter which was the 14 day notice one and have just got their second reply:
What next...

1) Post on TC thread
2) 14 day NBA letter or appoint NWNF firm
3) You or NWNF firm go to Court
4) You bank the money.

ajdstrider

apologies as I'm a newbie and unsure if this "reply" is mode for submitting a post. I had a 3 hr + delay on an aer lingus flight, claimed using a M.L. form but was dismissed as was allegedly due to pigeon strike which meant another replacement plane had to be sent from a distance. Is this reasonable? surely any airline could claim pigeon strike and impossible to refute, to cover any delay; also not my problem a replacement plane wasn't nearer. Couldn't find pigeon strike in forum via search. Maybe there's a missing d!

111KAB

ajdstrider wrote: »

Couldn't find pigeon strike in forum via search. Maybe there's a missing d!

Bird strike >
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=2008&pageid=11326