Flight delay compensation, US and Canadian Airlines

Pachaprincess1

marcowil wrote: »

Pachaprincess1, did you email them directly (if so, what email address did you send to?) or use the "Contact Us" facility on the website?

I did originally use the contact us facility but then ended up emailing direct to CustomerCare@united.com I also sent a letter to their Heathrow airport address which is located on this thread somewhere. That is when I finally got a response but they responded via email not regular mail as a reply to my original email sent a few weeks earlier.

kateorama

kateorama wrote: »

Hi! I lodged a claim last week with United over a 5 hour delay on a flight from Heathrow to New York a couple of months ago. It was due to some sort of technical problem.

I just got my first response from United which says, "Prior to departure, an unexpected safety shortcoming beyond our control impacted the operation of the aircraft...Although EU261 compensation is not applicable in this case..." and they offered me $200 each flight vouchers.

Has any one else had the same response and any advice please on how to respond?

Thanks!

After being fobbed off with multiple letters about the previously mentioned delay I filed suit with MCOL. United have filed a defence and I'm not sure if I have grounds to proceed.

They say: Your delay...was caused by extraordinary circumstances... Specifically this occurred just prior to departure. The problem was observed during a walk around. An engine access panel needed to be replaced. An evaluation was made with regard to the repairs and operations advised the crew to remain at their hotel until summoned. Once the issue was addressed the flight departed.

They claim exemption under the revised guidelines of EC261 number 26, "Any other technical defects which become apparent immediately prior to departure or in-flight...and which require investigation and/or repair before the aircraft is airworthy for the intended flight."

Any suggestions as to whether I have grounds to proceed? I can say they gave us food vouchers when we checked in 2 hours prior to departure so they had apparently known something was wrong at that point.

Thanks!

Al1x

dmurray0 wrote: »

Result!!!!! Just got e-mail from Delta agreeing to pay 5 x 600 euro each for our delay to Orlando recently. Big thanks to all the people on here for all the guidance and templates etc. Things moved a lot faster when I contacted the Civil Aviation Regulator in Dublin.

Hi, would you be able to give me your contact details for Delta? is it just an email you have or an address too?

Thank you .. I'm still trying to claim but not getting any further.

Mark2spark

kateorama wrote: »

After being fobbed off with multiple letters about the previously mentioned delay I filed suit with MCOL. United have filed a defence and I'm not sure if I have grounds to proceed.

They say: Your delay...was caused by extraordinary circumstances... Specifically this occurred just prior to departure. The problem was observed during a walk around. An engine access panel needed to be replaced. An evaluation was made with regard to the repairs and operations advised the crew to remain at their hotel until summoned. Once the issue was addressed the flight departed.

They claim exemption under the revised guidelines of EC261 number 26, "Any other technical defects which become apparent immediately prior to departure or in-flight...and which require investigation and/or repair before the aircraft is airworthy for the intended flight."

Any suggestions as to whether I have grounds to proceed? I can say they gave us food vouchers when we checked in 2 hours prior to departure so they had apparently known something was wrong at that point.

Thanks!

You counter claim against that by quoting from the revised regulation wording due to come in force next year (hopefully) which states the opposite of that.
The current regulation is also quite clear that they have recourse if the damage to that door was caused by a 3rd party.
Further to that, the 'new' guidelines are an unfinished piece of work, not law, just suggestions from an initial meeting. It even states that they are not binding in the heading. There's lots of threads on this. There's even a co,mplaint to the commission and that they are due to be withdrawn soon as they are misleading.

kateorama

Mark2spark wrote: »

You counter claim against that by quoting from the revised regulation wording due to come in force next year (hopefully) which states the opposite of that.
The current regulation is also quite clear that they have recourse if the damage to that door was caused by a 3rd party.
Further to that, the 'new' guidelines are an unfinished piece of work, not law, just suggestions from an initial meeting. It even states that they are not binding in the heading. There's lots of threads on this. There's even a co,mplaint to the commission and that they are due to be withdrawn soon as they are misleading.

Thanks Mark2spark! :T I hadn't come across any of those threads but they are very helpful, I feel more confident about proceeding now.

dmurray0

Al1x wrote: »

Hi, would you be able to give me your contact details for Delta? is it just an email you have or an address too?

Thank you .. I'm still trying to claim but not getting any further.

Hi,

I sent my paperwork off to the french customer servicesaddress by post. They sent 2 initial ,,," We have recived you letter...." replies then nothing. A week or two after that I went to the CAR. Shortly after that I got my result :-)

Al1x

dmurray0 wrote: »

Hi,

I sent my paperwork off to the french customer servicesaddress by post. They sent 2 initial ,,," We have recived you letter...." replies then nothing. A week or two after that I went to the CAR. Shortly after that I got my result :-)

I didn't even get a reply from the french customer services address!

Ryan_F_2

Okay, I'm a n00b here, but I'm pursuing compensation from United Airlines (thanks to having read some hundreds of posts on here), and I'm aiming to post updates every step of the way.

Here's the story so far:

Booked on flight UA900 (London Heathrow to San Francisco), due to depart 10:35 am on 3rd October 2013.

Upon check-in (at 6:30 am that morning), we were told that the flight had been cancelled. We were instead put on a different plane, only now we had to make a connection instead of flying direct.

What's more, this new route (Heathrow - Dulles - San Fran) departed at 7:55 am, so we had to literally run around the concourse to get to our gate on time!

Our original schedule looked like this:

UA900 LHR - SFO: dep. 10:35, arr. 13:35

This was revised to:

UA123 LHR - IAD: dep. 07:55, arr. 11:25
UA644 IAD - SFO: dep. 16:50, arr. 19:27

This second flight from Dulles to SF was delayed, and actually arrived in SF at 19:40, exactly six hours and five minutes later than our original flight would have been.

By my reckoning, this means that me and my buddy who flew to SFO would each be due €600 compensation (flight distance > 3500 km; arrival delay > 4 hours).

This being only a couple of weeks ago, we have all the relevant documentation, boarding passes etc.

As I understand it, my first port of call would be to ascertain the reason for the cancellation. I telephoned United customer services in the UK (tel: 08458 444777), and spoke to an operator called Lani (she didn't give a surname), who checked her computer and stated that the flight was cancelled because "the plane was being serviced" (direct quote). Obviously, this response gives me hope that United will be unable to use the old "Extraordinary Circumstances" excuse.

So earlier this evening I rattled off an email to United (thanks to the poster earlier in the thread who gave me the addresses) - copied to [EMAIL="customercare@united.com"]customercare@united.com[/EMAIL] and also [EMAIL="anne.seeley@united.com"]anne.seeley@united.com[/EMAIL] requesting a official reason for the cancellation - this time in writing.

I decided that I might get a quicker response by couching the request in friendly language (after all, for all they know I'm just doing this for an insurance claim):

Dear Sir / Madam,

I'm writing to enquire as to the reason for the cancellation of flight UA 900 between LHR and SFO on the morning of 03/10/13 (scheduled departure 10:35 local time; booking ref XXXXXX)

I telephoned your customer services department this evening (and spoke to a helpful lady named Lani), who stated that the reason the flight was cancelled was because "the plane was being serviced" (her exact quote).

If you could confirm in writing that this was indeed the reason for the cancellation I would be most grateful.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the United Airlines staff at Heathrow, who did their best to ensure that we were put on the next available flight, in a helpful and friendly manner.

Regards,

Ryan F

I've already had an automated reply (suggesting that a response will be forthcoming in the next 14-21 business days), and, if that confirms what I was told over the phone then I will indeed be pursuing this claim all the way.

Here's hoping for a decent outcome to all of this; I'll post further updates as and when!

Cheers!

nda1976

Hi
I am new to this and I hope i have the right thread for my query. Apologies if not.
I booked a flight from london to san Francisco with American airlines and was delayed by about 5 hours getting into SFO on my original schedule. The problem was that my flight wasn't direct and the delay was due to my connecting flight from JFK being cancelled. I subsequently had to transfer to newark and have another change in somewhere like dallas all of which resulted in the delay.
Although it was booked as a ldn to sfo flight american airlines refuse to compensate because the cause of the delay was actually a flight starting from the US. I think this is a bit unfair and was wondering if they are within their rights to refuse compensate or whether i should persue my claim.
Thanks for your help

Caz3121

your delay was departing from non-EU on a non-EU airline so it appears they are correct.
There is some mixed opinions on this but I cannot find any evidence of anyone being successful in a claim for a similar situation
Had the flight from London been delayed and you subsequently missed the connecting flight then you would have been covered