Flight delay compensation, US and Canadian Airlines

shenshaw007

Hiya i was recently delayed for 9 hours on a flight from birmingham to toronto with air transat. originally because the tyre had a puncture/slash which they said would take 5 hours as they had to get a new tyre shipped up from london..then whilst in the air the pilot came on and said that they wouldn't make it to toronto before there legal work time requirements/limits would run out and so we had to divert to montreal to change the crew.my question is would ths be a fault of the airline? ie i can maybe see that they would use the tyre puncture/slash problem as an excuse and say it was beyond there control but im not sure about the crew change part? i've sent a letter to them anyway and awaiting there responce. ps when we landed they gave us a letter appologising when we got off the plane which said reason for delay was " technical issue and diversion for crew change"

thanks

111KAB

shenshaw ... both are claimable as both aspects fall within the responsibility of the airline. Whatever/whichever way they explain your delay they are still liable given the facts you outline.

shenshaw007

Wow after taking a month deciding if i should claim or not i decided yesterday to fill in one of the template letters off here and go for it..i emailed them yesterday and within a couple of hours i got an email back saying yes im entitled to the full 600 euro's and they will have a check for me within ten days
fair play to airtransat no arguing or delaying it... thanks MSE i don't think i would have done it without thie help of this site :-)

Timothea

I recently made a claim for denied boarding on a flight from the USA to London. I issued a small court claim in England against the North American airline concerned earlier this year. This matter is now resolved.

I made my claim under [FONT=&quot]Title 14 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 250.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot] EC Regulation No. 261/2004[FONT=&quot] d[FONT=&quot]id[/FONT] not apply because it was a non-E[FONT=&quot]U carrier. I spen[FONT=&quot]t a lot of time researching the law and preparing my claim. I think it would be a shame if all my [FONT=&quot]research was wasted, so I would like to help others who find themselves in a similar position.

14 CFR Part 250 (as the US regulation is often abbreviated) is not about delay, cancellation, rerouting, missed connections or technical problems[FONT=&quot]; it [FONT=&quot]just [FONT=&quot]provides compensation[FONT=&quot] for[/FONT][/FONT] denied boarding (i.e. when you have a confirmed reserva[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]t[/FONT]ion, are able and eligible to [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]board the flight, [FONT=&quot]and[/FONT] the flight leaves without you on board). This can happen when the flight is overbooked. [FONT=&quot]T[/FONT]he regulation is entitled "[FONT=&quot]O[/FONT]versales".

[FONT=&quot]I need to check the forum etiquette. Is this a valid topic for this forum? If so, should I start a new thread on this topic? [/FONT]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT] [/FONT][/FONT]

Tyzap

Hi Timothea,

I think it's very valid and would help passengers who cannot claim via EU261 legislation.

This thread is probably the right place for it too.

When a flight has been overbooked I assume it is this piece of US law that requires the airlines to ask for volunteers to step out of line and receive a cash payment to travel at a later date.

Any information you could provide would be very helpful.

Timothea

Yes, the airline should first ask for volunteers to give up their seats. This regulation applies if there are insufficient volunteers, or if the airline disembarks or refuses to board certain ticket holders without a valid reason. Most people don't know about this regulation so airlines will sometimes do this without paying any compensation, just because they can get away with it.

You would think this sort of thing would be very rare, but I was reading a post earlier that seemed to qualify. It also applies to EU airlines departing from US airports, so some people may be due double compensation!

I will start a new thread and write a detailed guide later.

symphony63

I have an interesting case.
I was booked on UA at 18:00 to travel to the US from LHR. The flight was cancelled and we were put on a VS flight at 17:30.
The VS flight was delayed by 222 minutes.
My question is, can I claim from UA under 261/2004 for denied boarding and arrived at my destination later then scheduled and again from VS for the delay of 3hr+ under 261/2004.
Your opinions are much appreciated.

Vauban

No you can't. You can only claim 600€ from UA for cancelling flight (NOT denied boarding) and rerouting you so that you arrive more than 2 hours after you were originally scheduled to land.

JPears

symphony63 wrote: »

I have an interesting case.
I was booked on UA at 18:00 to travel to the US from LHR. The flight was cancelled and we were put on a VS flight at 17:30.
The VS flight was delayed by 222 minutes.
My question is, can I claim from UA under 261/2004 for denied boarding and arrived at my destination later then scheduled and again from VS for the delay of 3hr+ under 261/2004.
Your opinions are much appreciated.

You may have to make the claim against Virgin for delay, IF UA's reason for cancellation fell within an EC. What was the reason for cancellation and when were you informed about it?
If you had boxed clever and been able to get a refund for the cancelled flight, then made your own purchase of the Virgin ticket, which was then delayed, you could potentially have made 2 claims, one against UA for short notice cancellation (assuming it was less than 14 days) and one against VS for delay.. But this is assuming a. Virgin had space to sell you a ticket, b. the price was not excessive. c. the reason for the UA cancellation. d.the reason for the delay of the Virgin flight.
But it is worth bearing in mind for canny travelers

symphony63

Let me just put this straight, yes, the UA flight was cancelled the same day as of travel.
The UA flight was scheduled for 18:00 and they booked me on a VS flight at 17:30, which is within the 1 hour, scheduled to arrive approximately the same time as the original UA flight. That the VS flight subsequently had a delay is really out of UA's hands. And the delay was 3hrs 42 min. Or maybe it's just UA's bad luck and I should claim from UA.