Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

delvey

Bobfossil wrote: »

Hi there

My Thomas Cook flight from Menorca to Gatwick had to land at Paris due to an "unforeseen operationally significant defect which required rectification prior to further flight". Basically - the pilot advised us that a valve had stopped working and needed replacing and that we were unsafe to land at Gatwick. We had to stay overnight at a nearby hotel while engineers were flown out to fix the plane.

My question is (and I hope this isn't a repetition of an earlier post!) as the flight wasn't delayed prior to take off, but was still about 24hrs late in getting me home, am I still eligible (subject to the judgement in the Autumn) for compensation? This may well be a dumb question, but the information I've seen on here seems to relate to cancellations and delays prior to boarding, rather than an unscheduled landing and delay "mid flight" as it were.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I doubt it would, but not 100% sure
If you had to land in Paris, then I presume the fault was highly likely to be deemed 'urgent' to fix

roadiegirl

Hi there, have read through the pages but I'm a little confused, so thought I'd post.

Just returned from Corfu to Manchester, package holiday booked with Olympic, but the flights were with a company called Strategic. Apart from the fact these were the worst planes I have ever flown on, our flight home was delayed by 12 hours (although Strategic claim it was only 9hrs 55mins). We arrived at the airport on our transfer to be told there was a slight delay on the flight, but we'd be told more in the next half hour. After sitting outside Corfu airport for two hours, being told to stay where we were incase of any developments, we were told we wouldn't be flying that night as the plane went 'technical', and hadn't actually left Manchester airport, and we were transferred to local hotels for the night (big thumbs up to Olympic for getting this sorted asap). When we arrived at Corfu airport the next morning, having only been offered a very basic and rushed breakfast (served at 7.30, we had to be outside for the coach at 7.40), we arrived at the airport, to have to stand outside again for another 45mins, with no proper explanation as to what had happened the previous night with the plane. We were told we would get complimentary food and drinks onboard as an apology, this never happened.
There was a letter at the check in desks from Strategic stating the reason for the delay was that the crew were outside of their working hours, however the night before we were told it was a technical problem, then when we finally got on the plane they told us it was a 'serious technical malfunction', but we would be airborn within the next 30 mins, by which time we didn't care, we just wanted to get home. We weren't offered phone calls or access to email home or any vouchers for food, and as far as I'm concerned, we didn't get a meal or drinks that we should have. (If I'm wrong, my apologies, I'm a little confused with all the legal aspects)

Can we claim compensation, and if so, who would we have to go through, Olympic or Strategic?

If you've read through all this, thankyou! And as a word of warning, if you get told your flight is with Strategic, run the other way!

richardw

Olympic used Tor Air last year with some horror stories reported in this forum, perhaps do a search.

MrHeart

honeymonster3 wrote: »

Hello MrHeart are you having any luck with Singapore airlines, as they are only offering us a Hamper!! a insult. They also say its because the flight was delayed and not cancelled please reply with your update

Sorry for the delay.
We were offered nothing by Singapore Airlines.
Our solicitors, funded by household legal insurance, are now issuing a "breach of contract" notice to Singapore Airlines.
Hope this helps.

mothershipton

richardw wrote: »

Olympic used Tor Air last year with some horror stories reported in this forum, perhaps do a search.

they are also using small planet airways who are equally awful. We were delayed from 830am till 1919 for a flight to crete. I started to feel really ill due to underlying health problems and abandoned my holiday. Apparantely spa are always late, im going to be watching this flight for the rest of the summer!!

111KAB

Futher to my earlier posting regarding my 26 hour Monarch delay I have now received the following..........

Thank you for your correspondence regarding your flight from Palma.

I am sorry for the delay you encountered and the obvious disruption this caused you. As you are aware on arrival into Palma the aircraft developed a technical problem. Unfortunately, there were not the necessary spares in Palma to rectify the fault. Firstly, we tried to get the spares from Hamburg but this was unsuccessful and the spares then had to be sent from the UK, along with a new crew to operate the flight back once the fault had been rectified. I agree that it is the way in which we manage these delays when they do occur that affects the customers overall experience.

We do not take your custom for granted and I do understand how inconvenient delays can be. I am afraid that Monarch is not liable for any compensation. However, in recognition of the overnight delay I would like to offer a £100 discount voucher per person that can be used towards a future Monarch scheduled flight. Voucher details are below.

Kind regards,

M*****
Customer Relations Advisor

If I accept their offer of £100 vouchers (x 2) I assume this will preclude my ability to seek any further compensation in the future (ie ECJ ruling) and if so should I be declining the current vouchers and returning to Monarch. Once again I would appreciate your valued comments.

Suggs

Recently flew to Madeira with TAP from LGW. Suffered a 10 hour delay. It was a known technical issue, as it was reported on the planes landing the previous evening. The fact it took 8 hours to get the part from Heathrow? Additionally the engineers start work at 7am, but the flight was due to depart originally at 06:15.

Once on the plane we sat for an hour, before being told by the Captain to disembark as the new part did not fix the problem.

It turns out that in actual fact, it was now more about the crew being close to being out of hours and it was a stand off by the Crew with TAP HO. How do I know, I was stood there when the new crew arrived and were told by the groundcrew that they were not needed as the Captian would not fly.

Once the issue of the possible mistruth (lie) was made apararent to the groundcrew, it transpired that they rasied the issue to TAP HO and suddenly we were flying again!

So a 10 hour delay. Plus some sort of stand off by the Captain and / or the crew over hours?

Not sure what to do, I am going to complain after all I lost all of one day in terms of travel and day in the sun on Medaira. Do I deserve compensation? Yes I do. How much? Not sure. I feel that the EU ruling is more for other passengers who suffered worse delays.

What do you guys think?

Thanks

111KAB

Suggs wrote: »

Suffered a 10 hour delay. It was a known technical issue, as it was reported on the planes landing. I feel that the EU ruling is more for other passengers who suffered worse delays.
Thanks

Once ruling is ratified it will be any delay over 3 hours however if you feel embarresed to seek 250 euro per person at that stage you could write to the airline now oferring to waive (on Without Prejudice basis) your rights to the future claim on the understanding that a mutually agreeable offer is made say within next 14 days.

bigmc1_9

Posted this on different part of forum but feel free to help please -

Hi,

Myself and My wife were due to return from Mexico on Monday July 30th after our honeymoon. The flight was due to depart at 15.25 and we boarded at 14.35.

We were all on board the flight and ready to depart when the pilot said the engineer needed to change a computer due to some regulations and we will still depart on time. 2 hours later we were still aboard the plane and the pilot eventually announced we would go back to the terminal to wait due to a problem with the change over.

Despite requesting numerous times at the terminal. i was refused water by thomas cook staff because they didnt know when the flight would be ready to take off. I had spent the last of my mexican money before we went on board after seeing the flight was to depart on time so i could not even by myself a bottle of water.

At 20.00 it was announced the flight was cancelled for the evening due to the problem they had putting in this new computer and we would all be sent to a ai hotel for the night. i asked for water again and was told this was not possible.

We did not arrive at the hotel until 11pm that night. After getting soemthing to eat, We went to the room and discovered the room was in a section of the hotel closed off due to building works. the room itself was nice but had not been used for months and smelled. We also realised there was no towells so we phoned reception and at 12 30am someone arrived with some towels. In the morning we also noticed there was no shower gel or shampoo and had to again call for this.

We had also paid for vip check in and lounge access and on the tuesday when we returned to the airport we were told we would not get that for our flight home that day.

In total the flight was delayed for 24 hours before take off and i was wondering if i would be able to claim for compensation? i want my mobile calls refunded as well as the cost of the vip check in and the money back for an unpaid day off work my wife has had to take.

Does anyone know if i would be entitled to anything back?

Thanks

111KAB

Yes you will be able to claim compensation (see Centipede's letter template in an earlier post for the content of your letter to Thomas Cook) - you should send this letter now bearing in mind the compensation level attributable to your particular case. If you want to check the amount you can log onto say www.flight-delayed.co.uk but do not use this website as you will only be paying them to achieve the same result as you can achieve. In essence your flight was delayed over 3 hours which forms the basis of your compensation clain however there is a different avenue if you want to claim for lack of refreshments/phone calls etc but you will need to have receipts etc if you wish to pursue this aspect as well. You will not receive any compensation for time off work unless you have an extensive personal travel insurance policy. Any insurance payout will be in addition to the TC compensation payment and if claiming via your travel insurance company you should read their small print and if you are entitled to any payment your claim should be submitted sooner rather than later.