TUI compensation due to delay with previous flight

bevans88

Hi,

Had a flight delayed by over 5 hours which was due to the turnaround flight being delayed in Gatwick due to bad weather. This was a flight going from Gatwick to Cancun, with my flight using the same plane from Cancun to Gatwick.

As far as I was aware due to the bad weather not causing issues with my flight itself I should be able to claim compensation for the delay, but TUI don't seem to agree. Does anyone know if they're correct, or if I actually have a case? 

Thanks 

Westin

I think TUI are correct.  

eskbanker

I'm not sure there's enough information to decide - there are essentially two issues here, i.e. whether the bad weather at Gatwick was genuinely exceptional, and if so, does it count as exceptional circumstances for subsequent flights?

On the first of these, Bott & Co offer their thoughts at https://www.bottonline.co.uk/flight-delay-compensation/claim-guides/flight-compensation-bad-weather

Bad weather is not always an extraordinary circumstance, despite what an airline might tell you when you try to claim direct from them.

In fact, the only time weather is an extraordinary circumstance is when:

• The flight in question is directly affected by ‘freak’ or ‘wholly exceptional weather’
• Air Traffic Control decides to reduce flow rates due to bad weather. For example, if ATC decides only 20 planes an hour can land instead of the usual 45 planes an hour, that would be an extraordinary circumstance
• Air Traffic Control decides to delay a flight, which causes a knock-on effect on flights throughout the day
• An airport is closed because of bad weather.

As to the second point about knock-on delays, the wording of the regulations does actually refer to "meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned", which some (including Bott) interpret as meaning that it isn't possible for airlines to hide behind extraordinary circumstances on later flights, but I'm not sure this has been tested in court (happy to be directed towards anything relevant and binding!).

What's known about conditions at Gatwick on the day in question?

bevans88

Gatwick definitely had bad weather on the day, so I fully expect any flights which began in Gatwick to not be compensated.

Just to clarify what happened.

Was due to fly from Cancun to Gatwick at 17:10. Was notified on the day of a delay of 5 hours due to weather at Gatwick delaying the flight from Gatwick to Cancun, with them using the same plane for my flight. Cancun itself was fine to fly from, and at the original scheduled arrival time I had at Gatwick the airport had planes landing so weather was fine.

Happy to raise with the CAA to see what they say if anyone thinks it's worth doing as I am surprised that TUI can avoid this due to a delay on a flight which was not my scheduled one causing knock on effects. 

Thanks 

Westin

Good luck. I however still believe TUI’s line is correct.  If it had been days later perhaps different but the aircraft coming to collect you was delayed due to (very) poor weather conditions.

TUI should however still have provided a ‘duty of care’ during your wait so light refreshments, or perhaps even a meal.

tony190879

We had a similar situation, we were delayed on the 10th Dec 2022 coming back from Cancun by 36hrs. The original explanation was that the crew were over hours, then it was changed to snow on the runway at Manchester delaying earlier flights, then it was changed to weather affecting our flight. So of course TUI initially rejected it. You cannot contact TUI directly after the initial complaint form has been filled in, and you cannot appeal, you have to fill out the form on the Aviation ADR website, attach all relevant documentation and then wait up to 90 days.
The process has become slightly more difficult as it cannot now all be completed via the resolver webiste like in the old days.
The final step, if the ADR decide against, is to use a flight claims company like Bott and Co but they will take 30%.

razord

The issue is ATC implemented departure and arrival restrictions for all the London airports, so I'm pretty sure TUI are will win this one.

We were fully boarded and ready to go (almost) on time before being delayed for 3 hours in Amsterdam before Heathrow would give us a slot to land on the 11th.

eskbanker

tony190879 said:

The final step, if the ADR decide against, is to use a flight claims company like Bott and Co but they will take 30%.

There's no actual need to use ambulance-chasers like that, you can just raise a small claim directly yourself via MCOL, but obviously you need to be sure of your case about the root cause of the delay, rather than just having doubts about apparently contradictory explanations.  The likes of Bott will obviously have greater knowledge of case law and maybe better access to industry data, as well as claims process details, so that's why they can charge for that expertise....