Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

singlav

Hi; my Virgin Atlantic flight from New York to Heathrow was delayed/ cancelled this summer. Virgin provided hotel & meals, but the flight back took off after a good 23 hours later.

I had written to them in August claiming compensation, however they have refused giving out the following reason.. and I will quote them:

"Our engineers discovered a technical fault with the aircraft when carrying out their daily routine maintenance checks which needed to be rectified prior to departure.

All areas of the business worked tirelessly to ensure flight left that night but we were unfortunately up against the elements and a new part was required. This coupled with our crew and flight deck team potentially running out of their working hours meant we regrettably had no choice but to delay the flight overnight.

In line with EU regulations, if your flight is delayed we must let you know what your rights are and give you all the help we can while you are waiting. If you are delayed for more than five hours, you have the right to cancel your flight and receive a refund.

In circumstances where this means that your flight no longer serves any purpose, in relation to your original travel plans, we will offer a refund plus flights back to your first point of departure.

Compensation is given if a flight is delayed for reasons within our control. This is in line with EU regulations and does not include the following:-

• weather conditions
• air traffic decisions
• unforeseen flight safety shortcomings
• industrial disputes
• political instability
• security risks.

If have to wait overnight for your delayed flight, we will ensure that you have meals and a hotel until the flight leaves; however, we will not refund your flight.

In terms of EU regulations, your flight was not actually cancelled because it left 23 hours later with the same crew and passengers. We gave it another flight number because we also ran our normal scheduled flight for that day. (We are not permitted to have two flights with the same number leaving on the same day).

As your flight was delay due to the flight safety shortcomings, we will not be able to provide you with the compensation on this occasion. "

I received this response a few weeks back - but havent written back to them yet. Do you think this is a fair reasoning for 'extra ordinary circumstances'? And also, does this delay/ cancellation is relevant to the compensation claim pls?


Thanks

stevemarr_2

back on 19th june experienced 5.5 hour delay fly thomas cook stansted to palma 1400km-fired off loads of emails to thomas cook with no reply until i asked caa to intervene.thomas cook eventually replied to caa putting matter on hold pending cjeu judgement now made-following this i have phoned thomas cook and they have reopened my complaint but stated they were not doing anything until it was made as uk law.ive asked the caa to enforce the complaint as the cjeu are the highest european court,they said they were talking to thomas cooks solicitors to get this resolved.As you said in your article flightstats confirms the departure time,not arrival although only a few minutes can be made up on flights within the EU.Also on full reading of all the judgement the onus is on the airlines to proove that extraordinary circumstances applied-perhaps airport strikes or volcanic dust clouds would count-but not broken toilets as was the case with my flight,will review with caa in 7 days,and keep you posted

missgiddypants

We had a flight in October be delayed by 2.5 hours from Manchester to Orlando via Atlanta which caused us to miss out connecting flight. We were re-booked on to a flight 4 hours later which then landed 4 hours later than we were due to arrive.
The thing is we made up a bit of time on the 1st leg which meant that we arrived in Atlanta a bit quicker than advised (still missed original connection though) but got on the next flight with standby tickets. Our bags however were put on the later flight that they'd booked us on to and we ended up hanging around the airport until our bags turned up. Is it worth trying to make a claim?

Mark2spark

megan01 wrote: »

So has anyone actually sent in a claim yet besides myself?

I appreciate that the thread is now quite long, but there are several instances of people detailing their claims.
Much of the reason the thread is now quite long is through repetitive questions being asked. (Not saying yours are )

Here's my details:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/47230

A few pages later I copy/paste the response, and also detail the claim forms that were sent.

Mark2spark

Zelen86 wrote: »

My wife and I were preparing to leave our hotel in Mexico and were standing in the hotel recepion, suitcases in hand ready to make our way to the airport for a flight back to East Midlands... this is when we were advised there was a delay.

After waiting for nearly 3 hours not knowing what was going on, we were told that there was a "fault with the plane that is being worked on" after another couple of hours we were told that there were no other provisions in place and another flight would be arranged the following day.

We were given an additional night in our hotel, although it was hardly an extension to the holiday as it meant packing/unpacking and waiting around checking for information so we couldn't leave the hotel.

We had to buy phone cards to ring home to make arrangements for another night in kennels for the dog, and sort out a lift home as my brother was originally picking us up from the airport but due to changes was unable to.

I'm sure I will get a response from the travel company to state that it was due to safety reasons but when you pay over £2000 for a holiday, you would expect there to be some sort of provisons in place for this sort of eventuality right? Should the customer just have to accept that these things happen and pay for the resulting issues from their own pocket? I personally don't think so.

What provisions did you have in mind?
Most people have travel insurance to cover 24 hour + delays?

Mark2spark

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

I haven't read through the whole thread, so this question may have already been asked.

How do you stand as far as travel insurance goes for delays (that airlines won't pay out for), or if the airline has gone bust?

The details will be in your Travel Insurance T & C's.

Mark2spark

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

Well I'm not interested in reading any legal case, as I do have a life, and I'm not trying to get to sleep yet

What I am saying is that it is very unlikely that any airline would cancel or delay a flight due to a mechanical fault, unless it was for safety reasons. I'm not saying that all mechanical faults are safety related.

Do you mean that the airline might delay a flight for mechanical reasons, because the engine's won't actually work?
Hmmm :rotfl:

What are you actually saying Jamie, that relates to helping people with the potential claims for delayed flights?

Mark2spark

RedBern wrote: »

Had a quick read through the guidance, we were delayed by 6 hours in 2007 due to the fire around Dubrovnik which delayed all transport. Am I right in my reading that we can claim a refund for this even if it is out of the control of the airline?

I'd say that you were wrong. An external fire is an extraordinary circumstance, beyond the control of the airline.

Caz3121

missgiddypants wrote: »

We had a flight in October be delayed by 2.5 hours from Manchester to Orlando via Atlanta which caused us to miss out connecting flight. We were re-booked on to a flight 4 hours later which then landed 4 hours later than we were due to arrive.
The thing is we made up a bit of time on the 1st leg which meant that we arrived in Atlanta a bit quicker than advised (still missed original connection though) but got on the next flight with standby tickets. Our bags however were put on the later flight that they'd booked us on to and we ended up hanging around the airport until our bags turned up. Is it worth trying to make a claim?

Forgetting hanging round the airport - how much later than your scheduled time of arrival did you arrive in Orlando on your standby flight?

divine57

Had a Thomsons flight from London to Cuba. On Return at the Cuban airport we were sent back to the Hotel because the plane had a punctured tyre and a replacement wheel had to be sent from the UK. 24hrs. delay.