Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

kubilay123

Hi there, sorry if this has already been posted but couldn't find the answer when i searched the forum. I am looking to apply for compensation regarding a delay of 19 hrs with Air Canada on a recent flight from LHR to montreal, but on searching the air canada website, there is no clear address as to which address to send my correspondence to , or whether an email would suffice (and which email address to use). Would be really grateful if anyone who has complained to Air canada before would be able to enlighten me.. thank you :-)

Mark2spark

nigefedup wrote: »

A question for everyone. We were delayed for 7 hours see below and do you agree that compensation is not payable as it is an extra ordinary circumstance:

1 Flight takes off from LHR-MAD after 30 minutes captain announces problem with the air conditioning and therefore would be returning to LHR. Circle around for 1.5 hours burning fuel as too heavy to land immediately.
2. Land Heathrow and all off loaded, collect bags, clear immigration (Interesting as hadn't been anywhere lol) etc
3. Bo back to departures and put onto another flight departing 7 hours later.

Iberia are claiming it is exceptional circumstances so no compensation. Views anyone ?

It appears that the 30 minute flight and the 90 minutes circling amount to the same time the flight would actually have taken to the original destination? Therefore the decision to turn around was an operational one, and not an in flight safety issue.
NBA and then court is your next steps.
The fact that they keep giving you the wrong info is all part of the bundle to go to court, so keep it all.

paul1953

I tried unsuccessfully to claim for a near 5 hour delay on AirBaltic flight in June 2007 but eventually got a reply of -
I also inform you that according to your mentioned judgment, EU Regulation 261/2004 does not state statutory limitation`s conditions, therefore such limitations has to be established based on legislation of definite country. Therefore according to Consumer Rights Protection Law, consumer can submit claim regarding service not later than two years from the date of receiving the service.


So it seems that although there is a ruling that the airline should pay due to their fault the country can ignore it if it like to.

Caz3121

paul1953 wrote: »

I tried unsuccessfully to claim for a near 5 hour delay on AirBaltic flight in June 2007 but eventually got a reply of -
I also inform you that according to your mentioned judgment, EU Regulation 261/2004 does not state statutory limitation`s conditions, therefore such limitations has to be established based on legislation of definite country. Therefore according to Consumer Rights Protection Law, consumer can submit claim regarding service not later than two years from the date of receiving the service.


So it seems that although there is a ruling that the airline should pay due to their fault the country can ignore it if it like to.

Have a read of the FAQs, you will see it is 6 years for England/Wales and 5 for Scotland....so you are out of time anyway

avnire

I had a flight with Wizzair departing from Budapest to London Luton with an almost 8.5 hours delay. My claim was rejected referring to a bird strike. I was going to raise a complaint with CAA, but I can't as they only accept claims about flights departing from the UK. Any idea where else I could complain? Many thanks.

Vauban

avnire wrote: »

I had a flight with Wizzair departing from Budapest to London Luton with an almost 8.5 hours delay. My claim was rejected referring to a bird strike. I was going to raise a complaint with CAA, but I can't as they only accept claims about flights departing from the UK. Any idea where else I could complain? Many thanks.

If you google National Enforcement Body for Hungary, this is the first result you get:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/passengers/air/doc/2004_261_national_enforcement_bodies.pdf

avnire

Vauban wrote: »

If you google National Enforcement Body for Hungary, this is the first result you get:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/passengers/air/doc/2004_261_national_enforcement_bodies.pdf

Thanks a lot. In the meanwhile I also found the Hungarian equivalent of CAA. On its website (http://www.nkh.gov.hu/) it points towards the direction of this website if the one wants to raise a complaint about flight delays: http://www.magyarefk.hu/en.html

I've sent few emails around. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again.

dolphin_swimmer

In June our TOM311 flight was delayed from Mahon to London Gatwick by 6 hours. 2 of these 6 hours was due to a French Air Traffic Control strike but we were delayed a further 4 hours because on push back from the gate our planes towing gear broke. It was an easy fix but unfortunately Thomson's didnt have an engineer on the island to repair this quick fix and the Iberian engineer was not sanctioned to undertake it. They had to fly the engineer in from Majorca. In the meantime they got the Iberian airlines engineer authorised to fix the towing gear and we departed.

I wrote twice to Thomson's and both times they have rejected compensation claim stating that 'We have to look at the root cause of the flight delay, when establishing if compensation is due or not. Industrial action conducted by French Air Traffic Control, caused widespread disruption to the flight prgramme, causing subsequent delays to your flight. Although I appreciate a technical fault caused a further delay to your flight, it's the root cause of the delay which determines if compensation is due or not.'

What I disagree on is the root cause. Our flight was only delayed by 2 hours because of the French Airstrike but delayed 4 hours because of lack of engineer to fix plane. This was what I was claiming compensation for.

What determines the 'root cause'?

richardw

Ultimately, if it ends up in front of a district judge at a small claims hearing and you get a judge that only hears 'air traffic control strike' and doesn't find in your favour, then you'll have wasted a lot of time and effort especially if you don't continue to a risky appeal.

Can you be bothered and risk a partially 'deaf' DJ and a risky appeal process with other costs?

saayinla

In July Last year, I flew lufthansa to Lagos in Nigeria, my flight was meant to depart LHR as detailed below to arrive Lagos Same Day at 17:25pm however I did not arrive Lagos until 05:25am the next day with a 12 Hours Delay!

Your flight itinerary
Flight Date from to Departure Arrival Reservation

LH 925
operated by:
LUFTHANSA 06 July LONDON GB HEATHROW

TERMINAL 1 FRANKFURT DE FRANKFURT INTL

TERMINAL 1 08:20 h 11:05 h Economy Class
confirmed


LH 594
operated by:
LUFTHANSA 06 July FRANKFURT DE FRANKFURT INTL

TERMINAL 1 LAGOS NG MURTALA MUHAMMED INT

TERMINAL INTL 12:05 h 17:25 h Economy Class

So basically there was a Delay at Heathrow hence the Flight arrived 39 minutes Late, basically preventing me from taking the onward flight also operated by lufthansa to Lagos. After complaining etc, myself and other passenger were made to wait at the airport until around 6pm and we put back on a flight to London from where we were rebooked on another Virgin Atlantic flight to Lagos which Arrived the Next morning 05:25am. I got a stamped proof form the lufthansa customer service desk at frankfurt saying they caused the delay preventing myself and other passengers to miss our flight.

I contacted Lufthansa to complain and below is the response I got back which I have not pursued any further, Can someone please advice me on what to do next.

Thanks in advance.

Dear XXXX,

We deeply regret that your flights LH925 from London to Frankfurt on 6 July 2012 did not take place as scheduled.

We are very sorry that your feeder flight LH925 was affected by a delay in departure as the result airport congestion and you were unable to catch your onward flight LH594 in Frankfurt. We very much regret the delay this caused and offer you our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience.

Of course, we do everything we can in order to transport you to your destination punctually and reliably. However, the delay of flight this flight on was caused by unusual circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all possible measures had been taken.

As is usual in air traffic, aircraft are used according to a fixed rotation plan. Unfortunately aircraft can be delayed for many different external reasons, such as, for example, airspace congestion or bottlenecks caused by official requirements. Regrettably, this was the case with your flight LH925.
This is how the aircraft used for your flight and arriving from Frankfurt landed behind schedule. As a result it was impossible for your flight to depart punctually.

As Lufthansa is not responsible for the reasons behind the delay in departure, in accordance with EU regulation 261/2004 we are not obliged to pay compensation.

In view of your experiences, we are taking the liberty of crediting 3000 award miles to your Miles & More account, which we hope you will accept as a token of our apologies and as a motive to restore your faith with Lufthansa.

While we are unable to comply with your request for compensation entirely, we would be pleased if you continued to trust Lufthansa. Rest assured that we will do our utmost to ensure your future flights with us proceed smoothly.

Yours sincerely,

Paolo Elmo

Lufthansa German Airlines