Civil aviation authority responses

OldManAhoy

bigbluepenguin wrote: »

My husband and I were supposed to be on a flight from the Isle of Man to Glasgow in November, but the flight got cancelled. We wrote to Loganair for a refund but they said as it was "due to extraordinary circumstances" (mechanical issue with the plane) we weren't due anything.

I then wrote to the CAA, and having had the standard response, have heard nothing since. Do you think it's worth chasing up again? We were stuck on the island for an extra day, had to fly home via Birmingham the next day!

Very new to this (first post) but I moved to Orkney last year and have had trouble with Loganair. I am in the Sheriff Court on Friday suing them for compensation on a cancelled flight from Shetland back here. The CAA are stacked and not much use in my opinion, my 'extraordinary circumstance (EC)' was aircraft electrics. The emphasis is on the airline (operating carrier) to prove EC and the requirement is quite high for faults (read other threads ECJ case Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (C-549/07) is a must)

michael_f

Hi. Also new to this! I'm trying to claim off Thomas Cook for a 10 hour delay back in July from Corfu to Newcastle. I sent the first e-mail to Thomas Cook 2 and a half weeks ago, and it says they can take up to 28 days to respond. I'm fully expecting the usual generated reply of how they won't pay.

Just wondering has anyone had any experience with the Greek CAA and how long they take to respond?

Thanks

111KAB

A lot is said in threads regarding the role of the CAA and their 'assistance'.
1) They have NO POWERS WHATSOEVER to force an airline to pay up - they can advise an airline that you are correct or they can inform you that in their opinion your claim is flawed but that is it.
2) They will only accept your request to look into your (delay) matter if the problem occurred in the UK ie at a UK airport. If you flew from another country in the EU you need to contact the NEB in the country you plane flew from.
3) The UK Government requires that the CAA’s costs are met entirely from its charges on those whom it regulates. That is to say they are funded by the airlines so bear in mind it is unlikely they are going to be over critical of any of the airlines as their 'wages' are paid for by the likes of Monarch, Thomas Cook, Thomsons etc.
4) The ex chairman of the CAA (he retired in 2009) now sits on the board of Monarch. How likely is it that his former employees and work colleagues are going to criticise their former knighted boss?
5) The recent Watchdog programme (through the CAA spokesman) indicated that the CAA would assist your claim. Bearing in mind that over 50% of delays occur outside of the UK so they will not even look at your (delay) situation there and taking into account they are a toothless organisation the CAA are likely to be as much use/help as a chocolate teapot.
6) By all means approach the CAA (UK flight) but if you feel you have good grounds for delay compensation then (assuming negative reaction to claim from airline) the only way to resolve the matter is by way of Court action. A CAA (or NEB) response may well support your claim but it will possibly take as long to obtain this as a Court hearing and even if you gain their support it has no legal bearing and the airline will just disregard it anyway.

adrian2000

I posted mine to the CAA but received it back to say that it now had to be done on line as they were receiving so many applications. I have now submitted online and received an acknowledgement back. So will now just wait and see!!

joannenutter

Ladylean wrote: »

I had an email saying they would reply within 8 weeks!

I have also put a claim in against Thomsons who have refused to pay due to aircrew sickness, so I have refered it to the CAA. could you tell me did you ever get a response from CAA and if so what did they say

Vauban

So you can dig up a 4 month thread, but can't discern the near unanimous view on here about the utility of engaging the CAA? Weird ...