Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

Leyther_2

Thanks very much Cityboy for your response, which is very helpful in understanding the exact situation we face. I suspect this is going to be a long hard fight with Monarch which may or may not lead to a successful outcome. However i am angry that they appear to be absolving themselves of any possible liability to pay compensation under any circumstances under this Regulation. However i am not going to be fobbed off so easily and intend to pursue the matter to the end. Again many thanks for your detailed information and i shall post any further progress on the forum.

robbin1

Leyther

Unfortunately this is not an informed reply as you wanted, but I was on the same delayed MON302 flight from Sanford to Manchester on 11th Sept, as was a friend and his family. Your write-up of events is very accurate (I took pictures of the menu board and prices! lol) and as my friend was due in work on 10th, his business had to close that day. This is not the first time it's happened to me but last time I flew with Airtours and although the circumstances were similar (overight in Altemonte Springs, evening meal etc) their handling of the situation was nothing short of amazing and totally appreciated. Phone cards, plenty of reps at both hotel & airport, room within an hour (I got mine at 7pm after dinner this time!) and sufficient financial assistance to cover meals and drinks on return to the airport.

We are also in correspondence with Monarch, although in two different ways. I booked my flight direct with Monarch, whereas my friends had booked through Thomas Cook as part of a package holiday. In my case, my complaint is being handled by Monarch direct, who have acknowledged receipt of it. In theirs it's been passed to their Travel Agent who has now responded to say Tour Operators have no liability to make payments under EC Regulation..yadda yadda. I am expecting my reply, not yet received although it's over 4 weeks, will be along the same lines as yours.

My friend has already responded to the Travel Agent (Co-op Travel, recently announced as now being part of Thomas Cook, therefore Monarch) asking why they have addressed the issue when the original correspondence was sent to Monarch, the carrier and provider of the service, not the Agent acting independently. He has also requested they return his letter to Monarch so they can respond themselves.

As I said at the beginning, I have no informed response for you but perhaps we can compare our replies and ultimate outcomes? I will update once I've had my response, or any other update I can share. Please continue to update with your endeavours. Alternatively, I have no idea how (or even if) we can communicate directly but if there is a way and you want to discuss further, let me know.

Many thanks and good luck. I suspect we'll need it.

ronster1

Hi there

only just started on this site and would like some advice if possible. My case is similar to others an involves Ryanair. Had a flight delay in May 2010 on Ibiza to Bham flight. Applied through usual channels for extra hotel, taxi expenses etc and for flight delay compensation under EU Regs. Since then much stalling from Ryanair and I reported to AUC who told me to contact Spanish authorities (which I've done with no response so far) as flight was from Ibiza.

Just wondering
a) if anyone else has had success with reports about delays sent to non-uk authorities
b) how long I can expect to wait
c) any other action I can take against Ryanair

I intend to pursue this as far as possible as Ryanair have done nothing but stall, lie about or ignore various attempts to get a refund/compensation.

Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks

kathleen3737

Cityboy wrote: »

If that connection is missed through no fault of your own and assuming the MCT has been adhered to in this booking, then the airline must offer you the next available flight to your destination. If the original flight is delayed meaning you miss the connection, the airline is obliged to feed and accommodate you until any new flight departs.

Full Regulation here:

I really appreciate your help, thank you. I hope you don't mind if I have another couple of questions?

Reading through the Regs you linked,

"(14) As under the Montreal Convention, obligations on operating air carriers should be limited or excluded in cases where an event has been caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Such circumstances may, in particular, occur in cases of political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes that affect the operation of an operating air carrier."

Does this mean that in case of strike or bad weather - they have no obligation to get me home?

Then I read;

Article 8, which relates to the "Right to reimbursement or re-routing". I'm guessing, should I miss the connecting flight, article 8 and article 9 "Right to care" would apply?

I am confused about point 14 quoted above - doesn't that negate both article 8 and 9?

Once again I really do appreciate your advice

Thank you

Kathleen

kathleen3737

Cityboy wrote: »

Recital (14) which you have quoted refers to the obligation to compensate passengers under Article 5, and if you look at 5.3 the wording is repeated there. The recital does not refer to the obligations under Articles 8 and 9 which are passenger entitlements no matter what the cause or event.

Since the Recitals are just that, a preamble to the statutes created in Articles 1-19, the Articles take precedence as they are the legal entities enshrined under EC 261/2004, the Recitals are there as guidance (but not law in themselves).

That's excellent. I'm now prepped!!

Again, many thanks for your invaluable help!

Kathleen

kenlionheart

Hi
I would apreciate if anyone can guide me on this.

2 passengers (1 disabled) booked a flight from London to Baghdad - with a transit in Sweden.

The flight was Thursday. They went to the airport, but there was no flight!! Rescheduled to Tuesday!! No one told them - and they had confirmed their flight on the company website 2 days ago!!

They went on Tuesday, and there was 1 hour 40 mins delay before take off to Sweden.

In Sweden, there was a 20 HOURS delay!!!
They gave them hotel and food.
They got to their final destination 30 HOURS late!!!!

On top of all that - the baggage was delayed - they still have not recieved the baggage.

So I'm thinking:

Thursday

flight cancellation 600 Euros
fuel £59.43
Parking £8.00
Cost of 5 days extra stay.

Tuesday

flight delay 600 euros



Extras

Delayed baggage

Disabled passenger


Am I right on the compensation for Thursday and Tuesday??

What can I claim for the delayed baggage and disabled passenger?

Thanks alot!!

imaan_2

Hello All,

I need some help please in how to respond to Monarch arilines. Our flight back on Saturday was delayed by 6.5 hours at Dalaman Airport.

I was given a letter explaining why the delay occured "as a result of aircraft changes within the Monarch fleet due to operational requirements". They provided us with a single set KFC meal each,
and the letter stated "you will also have the opportunity to make a brief call home", when I asked the Monarch rep, she said this was not possible as they did not have the facilities to call abroad !! At this point I could not be bothered with arguing and her command of english was limited.

I wrote to Monarch yesterday and the response is below:
Thank you for your email.

Under EC Regulation 261/2004 the airline is not liable to pay compensation during a delay. If you would like me to send you a delay letter which you can send to your insurers then please forward me your postal address and I will send this to you. You may be able to claim for expenses through them.


Kind regards

Rachel
Monarch Customer Relations

I feel quite angry as I booked this partcular afternoon flight so I would arrive back in London at 5:30pm and not have to fly through the night and not have my sleep disrupted (medical reasons), thus I paid for a more this afternoon flight, I got home at 2am Sunday.

Also I ended up buying another meal at the airport and if anyone has experienced Dalaman airport it must be one of the most expensive in Europe, a single Burger King/Mcdonalds/KFC meal will set you back a cool £12-£15.

Please help.

hopeneeded

Hello, Im getting no where with my claim and wondering if anyone has any ideas.

On 19th July 2010 I was part of a party of 3 that had a 5 hour delay going to Turkey. This should be 400 euro each in compensation. We flew with Thomas Cook Airlines as part of a Thomas Cook package we booked in one of their high street shops.

I wrote to TC on 23rd August and again on 23rd September and they havent replied.

I informed ABTA about TC not replying on 23rd September who in turn replied that it was nothing to do with them as I was claiming from Thomas Cook Airline and not the travel agent.

I informed the Air transport council on 23rd September about TC no writing back for only them to write back a week later saying it is currently taking them 8-10 weeks to reply to all enquires.

Im getting no where

ronster1

This was a delayed flight. Flight no. FR2712 Ibiza to Birmingham scheduled take off 23/05/10 19.25, actual take-off 24/05/10 1300hrs

email response 01/09/10 says delay due to "unexpected aircraft safety/technical problem (extraordinary circumstances)" at the time we were told engineer had to fly in to fix it the following morning. As fa as I am aware this is not extraordinary circumstances.

Note I applied for accommodation/transfer expenses by recorded delivery on 27th May enclosing receipts but they claim not to have received them - despite sending me an acknowlegement email!

So I would like to commence small claims against Ryanair. I am aware of the challenge to EC judgement but is it true that the Montreal Convention applies to such compensation cases?

Regardless, I want to pursue expenses by small claims as Ryanair treatment of my claims has been so shoddy. Advice on how to go about this would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

richardw

I asked the Aviation Regulatory and Consumer Division, Department for Transport regarding enforcement of EC261/2004, here's their response

"Thank you for your e mail of 7 October to Theresa Villiers, regarding arrangements for enforcing Regulation EC261/2004 in the UK. Your e mail has been passed to this Division for reply.

It may be helpful for me to set out the UK enforcement arrangements for this Regulation. The Department for Transport has designated the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as the UK national enforcement body in accordance with Article 16.1 of the Regulation and the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) as the complementary complaints handler in accordance with Article 16.2. Enforcement is undertaken under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department, the CAA and the AUC.

The CAA proactively promotes air carrier compliance by ensuring that all airlines operating from the UK are aware of their obligations under this legislation. In addition, it actively monitors the experiences of air passengers, including reviews of the media, consumer websites, complaints made direct to the CAA, and makes ad hoc airport inspections. The AUC manages individual passenger complaints, and seeks to secure a satisfactory resolution in cases where the Regulation is not being applied appropriately.

Where the AUC is unable to secure a satisfactory resolution, or identifies a trend of apparent non-compliance by an airline, the matter will be referred to the CAA to consider further action. Where such a reference is made, the CAA will itself make reasonable efforts to secure compliance by the airline. If after considering any relevant records it appears to the CAA that an airline is in contravention of the Regulation, and it has failed to comply after intervention by the CAA, the CAA will consider initiating legal proceedings.

This dual approach ensures that the AUC can provide independent advice to the consumer, and allows the CAA to evaluate in parallel any breach of the Regulation, and take appropriate remedial action on a measured and proportionate basis."

They say they monitor 'consumer websites', so it will be interesting to see if the pick up on this thread.

They also say the CAA will consider initiating legal proceedings, shame it doesn't say 'will initiate'.