TUI FLIGHT TOM3550 14/10/22

Jeanrobbie

We were booked to fly at 16.05 to corfu to join a cruise, at 18.30we we’re taken to another airport on coaches and finally flew at 22.05 but with no catering facilities 
Tui are saying they will not pay compensation as it was caused by a person on the incoming flight been Ill and using all the oxygen on the plane 
Hiw is this our fault they should have contingency plans in place for people been ill 

eskbanker

It's obviously not your fault but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's TUI's fault either!

However, if the issue was simply the use of an oxygen cylinder, and the need to replace it prior to the next flight, I'm not sure that this could legitimately be considered "extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken", in that it should be perfectly viable to hold spares, so, on the face of it, it sounds like it would be worth challenging them on this, unless there was more to their response than you're sharing?

If you push them but they still don't respond adequately then you can take it to Aviation ADR or small claims.

Jeanrobbie

We have been told all the oxygen was used so the plane couldn’t fly until it was re- oxygenated and that takes a while 

Jeanrobbie

They have said it is European guidelines 

eskbanker

Jeanrobbie said:

We have been told all the oxygen was used so the plane couldn’t fly until it was re- oxygenated and that takes a while 

Not sure if any aviation experts will look in on this thread but personally I'd have thought that if an individual passenger required oxygen to be administered for medical reasons, this would be provided via some sort of portable container, rather than from the main supply that feeds the drop-down masks, so don't really see why the plane would need to be entirely re-oxygenated for an extended period.  I wouldn't be confident enough in that to take them to court but don't see any harm in asking for further clarification - if a passenger being ill was the sole reason for a delay significant enough to bus passengers to another airport for a flight six hours later then that doesn't seem a particularly resilient operation.

Jeanrobbie said:

They have said it is European guidelines 

Again I presume they'll have been rather more specific than this - the flight delay/cancellation regulations that dictate compensation provision were undeniably introduced by the EU in 2004, and have subsequently been adopted separately into UK legislation after Brexit, but what specifically are they saying 'is European guidelines'?

Jeanrobbie

Article 7 is what they quote , I am sorry it won’t copy and paste from the email

eskbanker

eskbanker said:

Jeanrobbie said:

They have said it is European guidelines 

Again I presume they'll have been rather more specific than this - the flight delay/cancellation regulations that dictate compensation provision were undeniably introduced by the EU in 2004, and have subsequently been adopted separately into UK legislation after Brexit, but what specifically are they saying 'is European guidelines'?

Jeanrobbie said:

Article 7 is what they quote , I am sorry it won’t copy and paste from the email

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/261/article/7 is the section of the UK (originally EU) regulations governing compensation, which sets out the amounts and also the fact that these aren't payable if the extraordinary circumstances come into play, so basically that sets out the rules, but the key issue here is whether your situation can legitimately be categorised as "extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken".

Jeanrobbie

So should I complete another claim form and try again , I think they should have had contingency for passenger or staff falling ill 

eskbanker

Jeanrobbie said:

So should I complete another claim form and try again , I think they should have had contingency for passenger or staff falling ill 

That doesn't seem an unreasonable expectation, but it would seem pointless to start again with a new claim form, as that would presumably just receive the same treatment as the first, so I'd have thought you'd need to reply to their response, seeking further details, although I'm not familiar with their exact process, in terms of how straightforward it is to continue to discuss a claim.