Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

Seniorhobo

Hi all,

I got tied up in the recent Gatwick delays because of the Air Canada Flight issue and am a little unsure as to how eligible I am for claiming compensation as I had a bit of a nightmare journey. To set the scene here are the details of my trip:

I was supposed to depart Belfast International on 17/07/2017 at 20:10 on a Ryanair Flight to arrive at 21:30 in Gatwick Airport, expecting to arrive back at home (Southern Hampshire) just before midnight. Because of what was going on at Gatwick, delays were incurred and I arrived at Gatwick just before midnight. The last train home was long gone by this time and I was unable to make the last coach (which left at 23:59) as it was after midnight before I got into the airport terminal. I was now stranded at Gatwick (Having to go into work in the morning) and after speaking to some staff, my options appeared to be:

1) Fork out for a taxi, which I had been advised had a 3 hour wait time on anyway and hope the airline would cover the cost of it.
2) Hunker down and wait for the first train back in the morning (for me this was just after 5am).

After getting a taxi quote of about £150, I begrudgingly opted for option 2 as I did not want to risk the airline refusing to compensate me for this and with the 3 hour wait time on a taxi, I don’t think it would have actually got me home that much quicker. After waiting it out, I finally made it back to my house at 07:15 on Tuesday 18/07/2017, about 8 hours after I should have got home and minus a night’s sleep looking forward to a day’s work! Whilst I realise that this is probably small fry compared to some other people’s experiences on the same day, it was still a huge inconvenience to me and if I’m entitled to compensation I certainly wouldn’t feel bad for claiming it on this occasion.

Looking at the table on the MSE guide, my arrival was delayed by about 2.5 hours which would not make me eligible for compensation if I travelled, but this is where the line becomes a bit blurred for me as we did not depart once we boarded the plane (there was some delay in ATC), and we had to sit in the plane for some time once it landed, further adding to the delay. These extra delays would likely push the time delay over the 3 hour mark which snowballed into me not getting home until the next morning. I looked at a tool with my flight number and it says the plane landed @ 23:34 but we did not get off the plane until after midnight. This would put the delay at 2hrs 4mins which is BS as I was looking at my watch at 23:59 whilst still on the plane remarking to myself “There goes the last coach”.

Considering the above, is it worth my time submitting a claim or will the airline/authority just stick hard by the regulations and only consider the time that the plane landed on the runway, and decline my application? Will they just say that the trains and coaches are not their problem and onward travel is my responsibility and that the issue at Gatwick was exceptional circumstances out of their control (This is the response I would expect to be honest)? I just wonder do I have any real grounds to stand on here or will it just be a waste of my time.

Many Thanks

Gorie

Hello Hobo

If you have a browse through Vauban's guide you'll find (in section 2.0) that arrival time is counted as the time the aircraft doors open.

To be able to claim the doors must have opened three hours after the expected arrival time.

I must add that from what I can make out this incident does appear to be out of the control of other airlines (i.e. it was not RyanAir's fault that the Air Canada plane damaged the runway). I don't know what other think but this does seem to be an exceptional circumstance.

Seniorhobo

Gorie,

Thanks! Yea I saw that about the doors opening however its a bit sneaky, as on my flight they opened the doors and made us sit there for a while furthering the delay. I appreciate that the line has to be drawn somewhere in terms of tangible evidence, however I was definitely delayed longer than the flight times state and I was not walking off the plane until after midnight. I was also told by staff on the Belfast side that there would be no problems with me making the last coach time after expressing my concern to them that I might miss if if there were any further delays.

Considering that it was an exceptional circumstance I probably wont pursue a claim but just wanted to get some second opinions considering how much of an inconvenience the whole experience turned out to be for me.

Cheers.

legal_magpie

There are two issues. First whether you have a claim under the regulations. IMHO, not because it was an extraordinary circumstance. The second issue is the level of service you received which seems to be appalling. I would make a formal complaint.

rachavs

Hi I was asking a similar thing even though it will be considered exceptional circumstances the way we were dealt with was terrible and I hope easyjet will pay as I have forked out over £500 getting home on Monday

legal_magpie

If they reject it, you could try a small claims case on the basis that they owed you a duty of care. You would certainly get the sympathy of the Judge

Gorie

This is just another example of where a little customer service would go a long way.

Recently on my delayed flight we had to leave the departure lounge (in Hamburg), go to the check in counters and queue with the people leaving luggage to collect refreshment tokens. After security there were no EasyJet staff to be seen and the ones who were there sent us out for the vouchers. This diversion killed some time but in no way represents good customer service.

Back to the above post - how far does the duty of care owed extend? Furthermore how do you prove what happened? What are you asked to prove?

lchappell

I had a reply from Justice13075 back on 11/07/17 to follow the Vaubans guide on page 6 is a LETTER BEFORE ACTION. Ryan air basically came back with.

Whilst we sympathise with your view, we regret that our position as set out in the letter dated 07/07/2017 remains unaltered.

As this delay was unexpected and therefore outside Ryanair’s control we regret to advise that no monetary compensation is due under EU Regulation 261/2004.

We are sorry that we cannot be of further assistance with regards to this matter.

what would be my next step ?

Gorie

Unless I am mistaken if you sent the letter before action and that was the reply your next step is Action. The guide describes the European Small Claims Procedure. There is a link to more details in the guide.

Vauban

lchappell wrote: »

I had a reply from Justice13075 back on 11/07/17 to follow the Vaubans guide on page 6 is a LETTER BEFORE ACTION. Ryan air basically came back with.

Whilst we sympathise with your view, we regret that our position as set out in the letter dated 07/07/2017 remains unaltered.

As this delay was unexpected and therefore outside Ryanair’s control we regret to advise that no monetary compensation is due under EU Regulation 261/2004.

We are sorry that we cannot be of further assistance with regards to this matter.

what would be my next step ?

Follow the guide ...