Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

dominicbond

dominicbond1000 wrote:

I have just heard back from British Airways regarding a 24 hour delay in Miami earlier this year. In part the reply reads;

"Your claim for compensation has been refused because flight BA208 on 23 May 2012 was delayed due to aircraft damage, which was not caused by British Airways. Under EU legislation, British Airways is not liable for a compensation payment in this situation."

Does any one have any thoughts on this as to whether BA are trying to wriggle out of their responsibility on this one?

Thanks!

Centipede100 wrote: »

BA are trying to wriggle out of their responsibility on this one. You may want to ask the airline who they hold responsible for the damage if it wasn't the airline.

Thank you for your help with this one. I followed through on your advise and asked who was responsible, the time of the occurrence, the circumstances that caused the damage, where the plane was geographically when the damage occurred and what part of the plane was damaged. etc.

I received an email this morning that reads in part;

"Following a review of your file and taking in to account the recent decision made by the European Court of Justice, you are entitled to compensation for the delay of your flight BA208 on 24 May 2012. The distance of your disrupted flight, as calculated in accordance with EU legislation, was over 3,500km. Based on this, you are entitled to €600 in compensation."

Has anyone else had any success yet with BA?

Camaro3

Just a quick one, we went on holiday to Spain in July 2008, booked through Co-op travel. Flight & Package was Thomson holidays. On the way back (at Alicante airport), we had a six hour delay due the one of the aircraft's engines failing on take - off.
I know the flight number & have checked on the flight stats website, but what I don't have is the booking reference.
I have tried Co-op travel, but they cannot find the holiday, so my question is, is the booking reference necessary if I have the flight number?

Montrealer

dominicbond wrote: »

Thank you for your help with this one. I followed through on your advise and asked who was responsible, the time of the occurrence, the circumstances that caused the damage, where the plane was geographically when the damage occurred and what part of the plane was damaged. etc.

I received an email this morning that reads in part;

"Following a review of your file and taking in to account the recent decision made by the European Court of Justice, you are entitled to compensation for the delay of your flight BA208 on 24 May 2012. The distance of your disrupted flight, as calculated in accordance with EU legislation, was over 3,500km. Based on this, you are entitled to €600 in compensation."

Has anyone else had any success yet with BA?

How did you correspond with them? Strictly by email? I am still waiting for an official answer to my complaint which I sent in via their web form. I just sent out the NBA by snail mail yesterday.

mooeyitfc

Just had a success to the tune of £400 for a cancelled flight we had with Swiss airlines a few years back from London City to Zurich. It was cancelled due to technical difficulties.

One simple letter and eticket numbers got me an easy £400! Thanks MSE!

:j

dominicbond

Montrealer wrote: »

How did you correspond with them? Strictly by email? I am still waiting for an official answer to my complaint which I sent in via their web form. I just sent out the NBA by snail mail yesterday.

Since I am living in South America at the moment I was restricted to using email. I emailed about 4 times before receiving a reply. I guess they have a stack of claims to process so hence the delay. They will put up a few barriers, but keep on persisting and the pounds should come your way!

tinkerbellkirst

Centipede100 wrote: »

I don't believe you will get far with claiming compensation for the choose your seats option.

On the other hand you have a legitimate claim for a delayed flight but you need the airline's official reason for the delay. IMO 'unavoidable operational circumstances' doesn't quite cut it and certainly doesn't satisfy the test of proving an Art 5.3 defence to a claim under 261/2004.

Write back and ask them to state what the 'unavoidable operational circumstances' were before you do anything else as if you are to bring a claim for 600 euros per passenger, you need to show that you are being reasonable by ensuring that the reason given is explained to you first before you launch any court claim ('cos that's where most of these claims end up if you are going to fight for compensation).

Thanks Centipede,

Email has been sent requesting details of the delay, lets see what they try and come up with!

Kirsty

robrymond

Mark2spark wrote: »

My tuppence worth.
The aircraft, following engine replacement, has been deemed 'fit to fly' by the powers that be. Therefore a mid flight problem will be argued by the airline that it's a safety issue.
The crux is that the Captain said you could fly onto the final destination without any safety issues, but that you were turning around due to lack of maintenance facilities.
Therefore it was a commercial decision based on the best financial outcome for the airline.
Arguing whether other incidents were a featuring part of your delay is fruitless IMO.
They supplied a plane that was fit to fly, which departed on time.
They turned around because it was cheaper for them to have it fixed in the UK.

So if I leave out the other incidents and focus on that one alone...surely for cost reasons and for the benefit of them by turning back that we should be reimbursed something?

Dumping most of the fuel over the Irish Sea so it was light enough to land back at Manchester seems an expensive option.

Daza

Just had this reply back from THOMAS COOK - the letter was a NOTICE BEFORE ACTION letter



Firstly, I would like to thank you for taking the time to write to us about your recent travel arrangements.
Having read the content of your letter, I can see that aspects of the holiday have given cause for concern. I am sorry that this is the case and would assure you that as a business, we utilise feedback to ensure that our products are improved and enhanced to reflect the needs of our customers.
We do advise all guests to view a brochure prior to their departure. This is because it contains valuable information for guests as well as containing the booking conditions, which form part of the contract between us. A letter should be sent to our Customer Relations Department within 28 days of their return from holiday. Failing to complain within 28 days of return may reduce or extinguish any rights the guest has to make a claim from us and ultimately may mean that we are unable to investigate your concerns with our resort based staff.
In light of the above and due to the time that has elapsed since your return and writing to us, I regret to advise that we are unable to investigate the comments. Nevertheless, the information that has been supplied will be shared with our colleagues overseas and our Quality Assurance department, so that we can work with our suppliers to identify any immediate solutions.
In closing I would like to thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention and regret any impact this may have had upon your holiday enjoyment.



Is this in breach of their legal requirement to compensate for a 24 hour flight delay - that was caused due to a "techinal problem" on a flight the day before (which was nothing to do with our flight - it just pushed ours back 24 hours)

richardw

It's TC twaddle and doesn't get them out of their obligations under EC 261/2004.

Perhaps proceed with the action.

Daza

Just replied to their email stating

"A letter should be sent to our Customer Relations
Department within 28 days of their return from holiday. Failing to
complain within 28 days of return may reduce or extinguish any rights the guest has to make a claim from us and ultimately may mean that we are unable to investigate your concerns with our resort based staff."
The wording of your booking conditions say "MAY", but the legal position under EU rules (EC Regulation 261/2004) is that you do have to compensate for flight delays of 3 hours or more - your booking conditions are overruled by this regulation and will be also overruled in a courtroom

FINAL NOTICE BEFORE ACTION
Should my claim not be settled in full or you do not respond with a full valid defenceto my claim within 14 days of the date of this letter, I reserve the right to commence legal proceedings without further notice.



And just got the following reply back from them


I write to acknowledge receipt of your further communication.
I am sorry that you remain unhappy with the way your complaint has been dealt with initially and the further comments you have made will certainly be considered.
Following a review of your entire case, you will be contacted again with a view to bringing this matter to a satisfactory conclusion for all concerned.
Again, we will endeavour to respond to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, I apologise for any delay in our further reply and should you wish to contact us again please do so via our weblink
Yours sincerely
Paul
Customer Relations Executive