Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

legal_magpie

IMHO if an airline brings the time of a flight forward they must do more than merely sending an e-mail to bring it to the passenger's attention. The fact that it was simply restoring the time to the original is irrelevant. I would make a claim for compensation assuming that you have suffered a loss.

saayinla

Wonder if anyone can help me regarding a 12 hours delay by the airline.

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!


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

Going by the above, I complained to the CAA last year and they contacted Lufthansa who came back yet again that the delay was unforseen and there was nothing they could have done to prevent it even though I highligthed the fact that the time between flights was just an hour and also showed statistics from the last 30 flights before mine showing that 16 out of 30 Flights were delayed, which basically means over 50% of flights were delayed and could have resulted to a missed flight but yet the continued to take the chances and yet fob me off when missed flight occur. See their response below, I intend to take them to small claims court now, any advise will be appreciated.


Thanks in advance.

apatel1704

I am scheduled to fly at 13;30 from Heathrow to Mumbai (the new flight they put me on-see above).

It now transpires that flight is not scheduled to depart till 19:30 (at least). I know of the delay before getting to the airport.

I wanted to know if the EU law related to after check in delays. The original arrival time in Mumbai was 4am but it is now likely to land closer to 10:30am.

Am I entitled to claim compensation even though delay has occurred whilst I'm still at home and not at airport?

Additionally can i potentially also claim a refund (and just try another airline). Air India is proving to be quite difficult.

Ambrish

Vauban

apatel1704 wrote: »

Hi,

Have I got a reasonable claim for compensation and if so what process should I use. I have all emails from the airline which shows the flight time changes etc.

Would appreciate any help.

if this was for a flight INTO the UK, you'd not be covered by the Regulation.

On your second flight (above): yes. Significant changes this late to the schedule are counted as delays under the Regulation, and if the delay is in excess of three hours you are entitled to €600 compensation. If the delay exceeds five hours, you have the right to ask for a refund and try a different airline (though walk-up ticket fares are likely to be v expensive).

funkmaster_2

Hi all,

Our Jet2 flight in 2011 from Reus to Manchester (1382km) was delayed by 4 hours and 22 minutes because of "an operational fault with the aircraft". I belive this would put us in the EU flight 3hours+ $400 (£310) bracket.

Because I needed to claim on my travel insurance (which I did) I wrote to Jet2 for confirmation of the delay and they wrote to me saying that "the above flight was delayed as outlined below (they sent flight details) due to an operational fault with the aircraft. The flight was delayed by approximately 4 hours and 22 minutes in total". We took the delayed flight and were offered a sandwich and a drink.

Would this qualify?

apatel1704

Vauban wrote: »

if this was for a flight INTO the UK, you'd not be covered by the Regulation.

On your second flight (above): yes. Significant changes this late to the schedule are counted as delays under the Regulation, and if the delay is in excess of three hours you are entitled to €600 compensation. If the delay exceeds five hours, you have the right to ask for a refund and try a different airline (though walk-up ticket fares are likely to be v expensive).

I have since cancelled my booking and have asked for a full refund.

Now looking to fly later in week. Will start the claim process once I have confirmed information that flight landed more than 5 hours late.

Thanks for your help.

111KAB

funkmaster wrote: »

Hi all,

Our Jet2 flight in 2011 from Reus to Manchester (1382km) was delayed by 4 hours and 22 minutes because of "an operational fault with the aircraft". I belive this would put us in the EU flight 3hours+ $400 (£310) bracket.

Because I needed to claim on my travel insurance (which I did) I wrote to Jet2 for confirmation of the delay and they wrote to me saying that "the above flight was delayed as outlined below (they sent flight details) due to an operational fault with the aircraft. The flight was delayed by approximately 4 hours and 22 minutes in total". We took the delayed flight and were offered a sandwich and a drink.

Would this qualify?

Under 1500km - read Vauban's guide > last heading here > https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4896454
Should be on Jet2 thread.

funkmaster_2

Apologies and thanks. I will repost in Jet2 thread.

Caz3121

apatel1704 wrote: »

I have since cancelled my booking and have asked for a full refund.

Now looking to fly later in week. Will start the claim process once I have confirmed information that flight landed more than 5 hours late.

Thanks for your help.

From your first post it appeared you were due to travel yesterday, got a text to say the flight was delayed and then another to say it was back on schedule but missed the flight as the "back on schedule" text came in whilst you were asleep.
Normally even when a flight is delayed the airline would close the checkin at the original time unless you were specifically told of a new closure time so they could argue that you missed the checkin time for the original flight (which is how you ended up being booked on the flight today)
Did the text for the original delay state anything about the time you should be at the airport?

apatel1704

Caz3121 wrote: »

From your first post it appeared you were due to travel yesterday, got a text to say the flight was delayed and then another to say it was back on schedule but missed the flight as the "back on schedule" text came in whilst you were asleep.
Normally even when a flight is delayed the airline would close the checkin at the original time unless you were specifically told of a new closure time so they could argue that you missed the checkin time for the original flight (which is how you ended up being booked on the flight today)
Did the text for the original delay state anything about the time you should be at the airport?

No unfortunately they didn't, so I can see your point. Hopefully Logic will win out as not sure who aims to get to the airport 8 hours before a flight.

I'm hoping at the very least they adhere to their word of refunding me my ticket for the reschuled flight given the 8 hour delay was their fault and I since cancelled.