"Extraordinary circumstances" claimed for delay in earlier flight (knock on effect)

sebtomato

Flew with Jet2 end of August.

Flight was delayed by 6 hours from Stansted, due to late arrival of earlier flight, due to bad weather for that flight. Zero communication from Jet2 during that time: no emails, no texts.

There was no bad weather in Stansted, nor at the destination airport or on the way.

They have of course denied the £350 compensation claim due to "extraordinary circumstances" caused by bad weather, despite the fact that it's knock on/domino effect rather than for the actual flight.

I assume I can just take them to court and use Recital 14 of the 261/2004 law, which is clear about "the flight concerned":

(14) As under the Montreal Convention, obligations on operating air carriers should be limited or excluded in cases where an event has been caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Such circumstances may, in particular, occur in cases of political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes that affect the operation of an operating air carrier.

Which is also mentioning that "If your flight was delayed because a previous flight was affected by bad weather, it's not considered extraordinary circumstances

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/your-flight-compensation-rights-in-extraordinary-circumstances-arsnh7l0SxzB#what-arent-extraordinary-circumstances

eskbanker

Recital 14 is really just quoting examples rather than setting out a definitive and complete list, and the Which article makes no attempt to support its assertion, so there's no harm in citing both of those but I'd be looking to build a more compelling case if going to court, as decisions about what constitutes extraordinary circumstances usually need to rely on case law, as discussed at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6457624/knock-on-effect-caselaw

sebtomato

I am glad to report that Jet2 eventually paid £350 compensation, plus legal cost, after 4 months.

However, they dragged the process as much as they could.

I had to raise a small claim/money claim against them.

They quickly defended the claim, quoting recital 14 and weather conditions being extraordinary circumstances justifying delays. They intentionally of course left out the "the operation of the flight concerned" words, which didn't apply here (no bad weather condition at the departure airport, on route or at the arrival airport).

I opted in for mediation but they declined/didn't agree on the date (which of course wouldn't be in their favour in court).

I had to then submit a witness statement, basically arguing why they should pay compensation, and submit to the court ahead of the hearing. Of course, quoted the whole Recital 14 wording in full, as well as case law, specifically Jager vs easyJet (2013). 

I had to send to the court and Jet2 by recorded mail, as the Jet2 lawyer clearly had lost access to her email at that point and wouldn't reply...

It's only at that point that they folded and settled.

It's worth noting that they are one of the few airlines not part of any Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme as well, so only option is to take them to court in case of issue. The CAA did raise this issue with Jet2.

Basically, in case of dispute, the only option is to take legal action against them.

Of course, they do drag the process out as much as they can, as they know 99% of the people will give up at some point.