Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

Caz3121

------kel------ wrote: »

im sure it was snowing in all of the airports we landed at
the airline put us up in a hotel near the airport

So even if it had been an EU carrier, there would be no compensation if the delays were due to weather
The airline seems to have dealt with their requirements of duty of care. No airline (and I guess very few insurance companies) would deal with consequential losses like loss of earnings

DWayneLove

This is a follow up to my post from a few pages back.

In October 2010 we had a 20 hour delay with Etihad at Manchester, en route to Bangkok via Abu Dhabi. The most recent reply from Etihad is as follows:

Please be advised that I have forwarded your correspondence to our Litigation department in Abu Dhabi.

After reviewing your request, they have replied to me this morning and advised that, unfortunately we are unable to comply with your request for EU261 compensation.

As per our Conditions of Carriage under clause 16.2, any right to damages shall be extinguished if an action is not brought within two (2) years of the date of the guest’s arrival at destination, or the date on which the aircraft was scheduled to arrive, or the date on which the carriage stopped. This information can be found under ourTerms and Conditions at ..........

I hope this clarifies our position on this matter.

So they are effectively claiming that that their T&Cs trump our statutory rights under European and English law? That they can disregard any law they like as long as it’s covered by their T&Cs? I don’t like the sound of that!

Two weeks after our delay, I did complain to Etihad about their handling of the situation. At the time I was unaware of EU261/2004 and the fact that it was awaiting clarification (I only became aware of it following a MSE email last November). They gave vague reasons for the delay as follows:

You have every right to expect punctuality from us and I can assure you that under normal circumstances, we do everything we can to maintain good performance. However, sometimes unforeseen circumstances prevent us from operating flights on schedule.

I am sure that you can appreciate this was a situation completely beyond our control and cannot always be predicted, and we of course like to ensure that our customers are as comfortable as possible given the circumstances. We understand and share your frustrations, but our first priority is always to provide safe air travel.

Flightstats does not give any information for our flight.

They offered us each 20,000 guest miles at the time (November 2010) which we accepted. We still have these miles and they are due to expire at the end of this month! So they were really worth having. Not.

My questions now are as follows:

1. Has accepting these miles prejudiced our claim under EU261/2004?
2. Can Etihad keep hiding behind their 2 year limit excuse?
3. Should we go straight to LBA and then MCOL without contacting the CAA? Or, even though Etihad are not actually citing ‘extraordinary’ technical reasons for refusing our claim under EU261/2004, would we be better advised to ascertain the specific reason(s) for the delay before going any further? Are Etihad obliged to provide us with this information or should we turn next to the CAA?

As many on here have already said, a huge thank you is due to all the regular contributors. Good luck to all.

jammydodger41

spaceaarvark wrote: »

Too soon yet to say whether it was successful, but I just put "Not Available" in the box for boarding pass. I supplied the booking reference and copies of our passports and in my covering letter I said:

The boarding passes which you requested were discarded following the flight and are therefore not available.
However, I am satisfied that the information I have supplied, together with your own records, will be sufficient to establish that we paid for and took the flight in question.


If you took the flight I cannot believe there is any chance that they will reject a claim just because you no longer have the boarding pass. Assuming that you have a valid claim it would just be inviting you to go down the legal proceedings route.
(They also say, and underline "It is also essential that you send us your flight tickets". Well, my flight tickets were surrendered at check-in, so I pointed out that I could not supply those either).

Excellent thank you. Will give it a go. Fingers crossed.

PlaneSailing

Just to say that I followed the Letter Format and received 1200 euros for 2 persons flights to Tokyo which was delayed by more than 5 hours.
Up to that point we had received a £10 voucher for lunch at the airport during the delay.

vadc01

PlaneSailing wrote: »

Just to say that I followed the Letter Format and received 1200 euros for 2 persons flights to Tokyo which was delayed by more than 5 hours.
Up to that point we had received a £10 voucher for lunch at the airport during the delay.

Hi Planesailing

Can I ask how long it took from placing your claim yo it being accepted? I'm claiming for my flight being cancelled less than as hour before take off, and having to be taken by minibus from Manchester to East Midlands, resulting in landing in Ibiza 7 hours late. Hoping I have got a good case!

jillsa

jillsa wrote: »

continental airlines
30.10.11 - flight co37 edinburgh - newark was cancelled after we'd checked in due to weather.
They offered to put us on co17 from glasgow to newark same day and threw us in taxis to take us to glasgow.

We checked in and waited and waited and waited as that flight was delayed due to a technical problem with the plane. We eventually were boarded about 3pm and then whilst on the runway they decided there was still a technical fault so they offloaded us all.
As the crew were over their fly time and there was still a technical fault they put us up in a hotel at glasgow airport overnight but prior to that they booked us onto new flights, we got to go on the co17 glasgow-newark for 31/10 and others got the 30/10 flight which left an hour after the 31/10 flight.
Caa have confirmed we have a claim as we were delayed over 6 hours. I see the flight 30/10 is listed as cancelled.
Continental have told us to sod off they have no liability. They have claimed the delay was a technical fault.
Do we have a claim? We arrived 24 hours after we were supposed to and lost a night in the hotel in ny.
Any help/suggestions welcome.

Thanks

per query, i live in scotland.
Do i claim delay or cancellation. Ive not previously mentioned in my letters to them either word, just quoted the regulation.

y-o-r-k-y

Got a letter back today from Jet2 basically saying they WILL NOT give me any details of the' flight safety short coming ' that caused our delay due to their 'Confidentiality and data control procedures'. This gives me nothing to make a judgement as to weather they are correct in calling this an extraordinary circumstance. I told them I would have given the CAA any information Jet2 gave for their Judgement. Jet2 simply say the would cooperate with the CAA. Yet another letter to write.

JPears

y-o-r-k-y - then I suspect they cannot rely on this as evidence in court? Especially if you have requested as part of an LBA with subsequent legal action.

y-o-r-k-y

Thanks JPears, I'm off to do email to CAA now. I'll report back when I have more news.

dundee1111

What do you experts think about this one?
I put in a claim for compensation for flight delay.
It was AF2221 fromTLV-CDG-ABZ which departed 12 hours late from TLV due to late incoming flight AF2220 from CDG.I subsequently missed my connection to ABZ,hotel overnight and onward to ABZ next day arriving some 20 hours late.
I received the following email form Air France Customer Care Europe.
Our reference:

---

Dear Mr H,
I write in reference to your message submitted on our website on the 18 January 2013 regarding your journey from Tel Aviv to Aberdeen on the 1 March 2012.
I am sorry to learn that you were unable to travel as planned due to the delayed departure of your flight AF2221 from Tel Aviv to Paris on the 1 March 2012. The incoming flight from Paris, which was scheduled to operate this flight, had to be diverted to Basel following a serious security alert after take-off. On behalf of Air France I apologise for any inconvenience caused.
As this is considered to be a delay caused by extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances, I regret to inform you that we cannot offer compensation in this instance. This is in accordance with EU regulation 261/2004 as well as the later 2009 Sturgeon ruling by the European Court of Justice.
Thank you for contacting Air France Customer Care.
Yours sincerely,
B. Vatn
Customer Care Europe

Now i did a bit of googling after that reply and found out on another forum that the reason for the serious security alert turned out to be a Backberry phone that wasn`t turned off properly and was buzzing in someones overhead locker.The staff seemed convinced this was a bomb and convinced the Captain to divert to Basel.
Does anyone think this is one of those extraordinary circumstances?
Thanks for any replies.