U.S Airways Flight 731/DHLB7T Flight From Heathrow to Vegas

FightTheGoodFight

Hi,gang and let me start by saying what a wonderful and helpful site this is!
I recently recorded the whole series of Martin's last show on I.T.V and sat down last week to watch it........well well well, imagine my surprise when I heard about the compensation you could get from delayed flights.
I got married Las Vegas in 2014 (yes I know it's not everyones cuppa tea, don't start!) and me and my better half had saved up 3 years prior to this so we could go on a 3 week jaunt along the west coast.
I had planned every little detail from the flights,both internal and international to the hotels etc.
Anyway.......We was due to fly from Heathrow at 10.05 A.M on the 8th of Sept 2014 and fly to Charlotte North Carolina. We would then get a connecting flight to Vegas.
On the day of my Flight, I received an email saying that, and I quote; The departure time for US Airways flight # 731 from London-Heathrow (LHR) to Charlotte-Douglas (CLT) on Monday, September 8, 2014 at 10:05 AM has changed. The flight is operating behind schedule due to maintenance affecting a prior flight. Your departure is now 1:12 PM. Please take a look at your updated flight information.
I then received another: The departure time for US Airways flight # 731 from London-Heathrow (LHR) to Charlotte-Douglas (CLT) on Monday, September 8, 2014 at 10:05 AM has changed. The flight is operating behind schedule due to maintenance affecting a prior flight. Your departure is now 2:29 PM. Please take a look at your updated flight information.
Another; The departure time for US Airways flight # 731 from London-Heathrow (LHR) to Charlotte-Douglas (CLT) on Monday, September 8, 2014 at 10:05 AM has changed. The flight is operating behind schedule due to maintenance affecting a prior flight. Your departure is now 3:15 PM. Please take a look at your updated flight information.

And guess what, another;
The departure time for US Airways flight # 731 from London-Heathrow (LHR) to Charlotte-Douglas (CLT) on Monday, September 8, 2014 at 10:05 AM has changed. The flight is operating behind schedule due to aircraft maintenance. Your departure is now 3:55 PM. Please take a look at your updated flight information.

So in total we was nearly 6 hours delayed. This obviously had a knock on effect on our connecting flight and although we were put up in a nice enough hotel in North Carolina, it wasn't the Cosmopolitan of Vegas (of which I had shelled out £1600 to stay 7 nights!) and I had to ring Vegas to assure them that we would be a day late,and not to give our honeymoon sweet away. Grrrrrrrr.
So anyway,after seeing Martin's show the penny dropped and I decided to e mail American Airways (As they have now taken over U.S Airways) and I used the very handy template you have on this site. Thankyou for that by the way.
This is what I got in response, some 6 weeks later;


On behalf of American Airlines, thank you for contacting us. We appreciate the opportunity to address your claims for compensation based on European Regulation 261/2004.
We regret your flight from 731 did not operate as planned. While on-time performance is a top priority at American, the many variables of flight operations make it impossible for us to guarantee our schedules. Nevertheless, we should always do everything possible to make such situations a little less frustrating.
As you have correctly identified, European Union Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 of the European Parliament and Council has established common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellations or long delays of flights. Under this regulation, in the event of a flight cancellation or delay, passengers may qualify for established levels of compensation. However, this regulation does not apply when "extraordinary circumstances" exist.
Our records reflect flight 731 from London to Charlotte on September 8, 2014 was delayed due to damage caused by a lightning strike which affected the arrival of the inbound flight. Under EU Regulations, carriers are not required to provide compensation where an operational irregularity has been caused by conditions out of the airlines control; including meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight. This is considered an extraordinary circumstance; as such, we would advise no compensation is due under the regulation.
In addition, in evaluating your request for a reimbursement of your hotel room in Las Vegas, we carefully reviewed our policies and procedures as they relate to this matter. While I am sorry for the situation you encountered, we must respectfully decline. I am sorry. While we aren't prepared to comply with your request on this occasion, I hope you will give us another chance to serve you better.
Mr. Adkins, we know your time is valuable and we will do our very best to restore your confidence in our ability to get you where you are going, as planned. We will look forward to welcoming you onboard again soon.




On all my e mails I received from them on the day of the delayed flight, it says aircraft maintenance, and says nothing of a lightning strike.
I have looked to see if there are any web sites that track such info, but alas have not found any yet.
Are they trying to fob me off? And do you think it is worth pursuing this any further?
Any info and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Justice13075

Just checked on Flight-Delayed.co.uk and they say you are due 600euro each for the delay. You are due compensation not particularly for the final destination but for the delay to Charlotte from Heathrow. Read Vaubans guide (google it) Then send the Airline a letter before action. They will only reveal the cause of your delay if they get court papers but the letter might prompt them to pay.

Caz3121

and if you have further questions, there is a specific thread for US and Canadian Airlines

JPears

The fact that the alleged lightening strike affected the previous rotation of the aircraft (not your flight) is specifically excluded as an EC.
Also lightening strikes have been excluded from EC list by courts in some cases.
Did you have to pay anything extra for your later connecting flight?

FightTheGoodFight

No, we didn't have to pay anything extra for the connecting flight, and also a massive thankyou for all the replies thus far.
Just a quick update; I have contacted flightdelayed and they have ALREADY won compo for my flight for other customers and I have decided that they can pursue my claim accordingly.
But also on another level, after reading myself what A.A emailed me; after a lightning strike this affected the inbound aircraft........hmmmmm......would a plane be able to stay up an extra SIX hours?? I think NOT

FightTheGoodFight

900 euros out of 1200 euros is better than nothing....and i'll be making a donation to the R.S.P.C.A from what I get : )

JPears

FightTheGoodFight wrote: »

No, we didn't have to pay anything extra for the connecting flight, and also a massive thankyou for all the replies thus far.
Just a quick update; I have contacted flightdelayed and they have ALREADY won compo for my flight for other customers and I have decided that they can pursue my claim accordingly.
But also on another level, after reading myself what A.A emailed me; after a lightning strike this affected the inbound aircraft........hmmmmm......would a plane be able to stay up an extra SIX hours?? I think NOT

There may not have been damage but lightening strikes are usually a reportable incident and the aircraft must be checked, and that depends on a suitable engineer being available...