9 hour delay and flight cancelation

hardyg

Below is a copy of a letter seeking compensation from Jet2.com following a nine hour delay whilst sat on the Manchester runway in February 2016. I have resent this on 2 further occasions by email and post but have had no reply. I hope this can be reviewed on my behalf on next weeks programme regarding MSE travel




Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing regarding a cancelled Jet2 flight.
I am seeking compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004 for this vastly delayed then subsequently cancelled flight.
The details are as follows:
Booking reference or other flight details:
Booking reference - 2NVZRF Flight No - LS919 Seats 37A & 37B
Date of flight: March 4th, 2016
Departure airport: Manchester terminal 1
Arrival airport: Tenerife South
Scheduled departure time of original flight: 10:10 – 04/03/16
Scheduled arrival time of original flight: 14:50 – 04/03/16
Warning given before the flight was cancelled: none (sat on the runway for 8 hours)
Scheduled arrival time/date of alternative flight offered: 17:45:00 the following day - 05/03/16
Total number of passengers on the booking: 2
Other passengers’ name: Mrs Susan Hardy
I am therefore seeking the fixed compensation as specified in EC 261/2004.
Additional refund or compensation sought: Food the next day £20:00
No accommodation provided so we had to travel home in my car which was parked in the multi-story car pack 100 mile round trip cost of fuel and wear and tear. Standard car user rate of £00:45 p per mile = £45:00
Sat on the plane for 8 hours no food offered or issued, 2 soft drinks provided all day
We lost most of the Friday and even more of the Saturday on holiday. The cost of the accommodation lost for 1 night is – £125.41
Don’t know how you will compensate for loss of time on holiday in the sun?
The reason given all day long was that we were in a queue for de-icing of the plane; from our seat window we could see a selection of aircraft being de-iced, in particular at least 4 Monarch planes one after another close to our location on the airport apron. Every bit of information from the pilots (2 sets of crew) was neither helpful of informative and after a while they stopped giving briefs, they did apologise and stated on several occasions how embarrassed they were.
Once we were given the decision that Jet2 had cancelled the flight a de-icer vehicle approached our plane and turned off suddenly just before 1700 hrs.
By the time the plane was offloaded and we approached the terminal building there were 5 de-icing units parked up against the terminal, with 1 solitary unit working a Thomson flight.
As we were shepherded into the total chaos of the Jet2.com check in desk area leaflets were handed out giving very little detail and the pathetic efforts to arrange accommodation and transport typified the whole day’s events. We were assured by Jet2.com ground staff that they had spoken with the car parks and they were fully aware that people would be taking their cars and returning the next day. Again that was not the case as when I returned to the car park after my shortened holiday I was refused egress from the car park and told it would cost me £150. After a lengthy debate the attendant allowed us out but informed us they would check up on my story and could still be charged.
If we were animals the RSPCA would have taken better care of us.
The most galling thing having been returned to the terminal was the announcement that a flight to Finland was closing and was ready for take-off.
I look forward to a full response to this letter within 14 days. If I do not receive a satisfactory response I intend to pursue my complaint further, which could mean taking it to court.
Yours faithfully :mad:

Mr Graham Hardy
34 Old Greasby Road,
Upton Village,
Wirral, Merseyside,
CH49 6LT
grahamhardy1957@gmail.com :mad:

Caz3121

I suggest you read Vauban's guide
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5173888

Looking at one of the NWNF sites - they state
Our data shows that the airline can claim 'exceptional circumstances' e.g. there was a strike or bad weather conditions. This means they can't be held responsible and can't be forced to pay compensation.
While it is possible to claim compensation it's unlikely you'll be successful. We recommend not pursuing this case.
you could check bottonline to see if they also agree that no compensation is due
After you have read Vauban's guide you should be able to see what you should claim under Duty of Care, what you should claim from your travel insurance or, if you booked a package, what you can claim from their holiday arm re the lost night

I would also remove all your personal information from the post (and it should have been on the Jet2 thread)

leylandsunaddict

For an Eu261 claim that's far to long and full of unnecessary 'waffle'.

EU claim are saying that it was weather related and therefore you'd be unlikely to be successful with a claim, and Bott won't do it on a nwnf basis which means they don't think think would win a claim either.

If youd have booked your own accommodation for overnight then Jet2 would have been liable, but for your car journey home and back I dont know.

If it was a Jet2holiday package then you could write a short and to the point letter about your lost night, but if it was just a flight only then you'd have to see if your insurance covers.

Tyzap

Hi HardyG,

From what I understand you were delayed by snow and then forced to sit on the aircraft for 8 hours before the flight was eventually cancelled. You were then sent home and your flight, LS919 I assume, was re scheduled for the next day.

During the period you were sat on the aircraft for 8 hours and at the point of the cancellation J2 had a duty of care to look after you. This is not an option for J2, it's an obligation under the regulations. They should have fed you, watered you and taken you to a hotel for the night, unless you opted or volunteered to return home instead.

The two runways at Manchester did close for a short period but were open again pretty quickly once the snow had been cleared. It seems tho that this was not the reason for your flight being cancelled.

Some facts from that day....
Jet2 flight LS891 to Lanzarote was scheduled to depart at 10am but was delayed until 14.10, when it departed without further problems.
Also
Jet2 flight LS917 to Tenerife was scheduled to depart at 9.25am but was delayed until 12.43pm when it too departed.

So why did your flight, and many others, get cancelled? I'm pretty sure the reason was because of a shortage of de icing rigs available to J2 and also, if I recall correctly, many rigs also eventually ran out of de icing fluid. These are operation problems, not Extraordinary Circumstances. Had J2 made better contingency plans and been better prepared your flight could have departed that day with a delay of a few hours as the others did.

I believe that a shortage of equipment/fluid does not constitute an 'Extraordinary Circumstance' which J2 could use as an excuse refuse paying delay compensation.

IMHO, you are due compensation from J2 but would almost certainly have to issue proceedings against them yourself via MCOL.

Jet2.com have many questions to answer about the way they abandoned their customers on that day.

Hello' CAA where are you?

Good luck.