Missed connection due to slightly delayed flight

pthompson

Hi all,

I missed a connecting flight due to the slightly delayed arrival of the first leg.  Am I entitled to any compensation?   Both flights were with KLM.

My LHR-AMS flight was about 10 minutes late arriving in AMS, and KLM sent a message at 10:53am (i.e. even before we'd landed) stating that I'd missed my connecting flight (AMS-GOA, departing at 11:40am), and that I'd been auto-rebooked on a 9pm flight.  

I ran and arrive at the gate of my 11:40am flight just as it was closing -- and was informed that my booking was no longer valid (even though I'd checked-in online already), and was referred to the Transfers desk. 
  

The transfers desk was unable to find any earlier flight, which meant I had a 10-hour wait in the airport (and missed my appointment in Genova). 

Given that the first leg (LHR-AMS) was less than the requisite 3 hours late, do I still have a claim for compensation?    Would this be classed as a 'cancelled flight'?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul.

eskbanker

If it was a through booking on a single ticket reference (as implied) then yes, it's the total end-to-end journey that counts for UK/EC261 purposes, so compensation for the delayed arrival at your final destination would be due unless "caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken", which seems unlikely to be the case if the root cause was a delay of only ten minutes.

pthompson

eskbanker said:

If it was a through booking on a single ticket reference (as implied) then yes, it's the total end-to-end journey that counts

Yes, it was through-booking on a single ticket -- so it does sound promising. 

Many thanks.

Stevo_safc

I have a similar situation.

16th April I flew from BSL to LHR, and then was meant to fly from LHR to NCL.

The Basel flight was delayed so I missed my connection to NCL, was booked on a flight in the following morning, and was put in a hotel overnight.

It was all on one booking, where would I stand in terms of compensation? 

Also, our bags were delayed on the way out to Basel, I've submitted an expenses claim for the items we had to buy, but would this also warrant compensation?

Caz3121

Stevo_safc said:

The Basel flight was delayed so I missed my connection to NCL, was booked on a flight in the following morning, and was put in a hotel overnight.

It was all on one booking, where would I stand in terms of compensation? 

Also, our bags were delayed on the way out to Basel, I've submitted an expenses claim for the items we had to buy, but would this also warrant compensation?

Whether any compensation is due will depend of the reason of the delay of the Basel flight
Compensation is for delayed flights not delayed bags...reimbursement of essential items would be the norm from the airline. You could check your travel insurance policy wording to see what it covers.

Stevo_safc

Caz3121 said:

Stevo_safc said:

The Basel flight was delayed so I missed my connection to NCL, was booked on a flight in the following morning, and was put in a hotel overnight.

It was all on one booking, where would I stand in terms of compensation? 

Also, our bags were delayed on the way out to Basel, I've submitted an expenses claim for the items we had to buy, but would this also warrant compensation?

Whether any compensation is due will depend of the reason of the delay of the Basel flight
Compensation is for delayed flights not delayed bags...reimbursement of essential items would be the norm from the airline. You could check your travel insurance policy wording to see what it covers.

The reason was a rotational delay caused by various factors on previous flights (weather, check-in IT issues, baggage loading delays, aircraft startup issues and a slot delay caused by the weather).

The length of delay is counted as the time past my scheduled arrival at my final destination right?

eskbanker

Stevo_safc said:

Caz3121 said:

Stevo_safc said:

The Basel flight was delayed so I missed my connection to NCL, was booked on a flight in the following morning, and was put in a hotel overnight.

It was all on one booking, where would I stand in terms of compensation? 

Also, our bags were delayed on the way out to Basel, I've submitted an expenses claim for the items we had to buy, but would this also warrant compensation?

Whether any compensation is due will depend of the reason of the delay of the Basel flight
Compensation is for delayed flights not delayed bags...reimbursement of essential items would be the norm from the airline. You could check your travel insurance policy wording to see what it covers.

The reason was a rotational delay caused by various factors on previous flights (weather, check-in IT issues, baggage loading delays, aircraft startup issues and a slot delay caused by the weather).

The length of delay is counted as the time past my scheduled arrival at my final destination right?

Yes, in principle, but you'll need to check the situation with regard to exactly how Switzerland has taken on the EC261 regulations, as they're not intrinsically bound by them, as a non EU member, even though they've largely adopted them, without necessarily accepting all relevant CJEU decisions as I understand it.

pthompson

eskbanker said:

If it was a through booking on a single ticket reference (as implied) then yes, it's the total end-to-end journey that counts for UK/EC261 purposes, so compensation for the delayed arrival at your final destination would be due unless "caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken", which seems unlikely to be the case if the root cause was a delay of only ten minutes.

Yes, it was a through-booking on a single ticket.   But today I've received KLM's response:   "was delayed due to Air traffic Control restrictions".    Should I just accept that or push on for compensation and reimbursement of my expenses?     I'm annoyed because the entire reason for my trip was ruined.

eskbanker

pthompson said:

eskbanker said:

If it was a through booking on a single ticket reference (as implied) then yes, it's the total end-to-end journey that counts for UK/EC261 purposes, so compensation for the delayed arrival at your final destination would be due unless "caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken", which seems unlikely to be the case if the root cause was a delay of only ten minutes.

Yes, it was a through-booking on a single ticket.   But today I've received KLM's response:   "was delayed due to Air traffic Control restrictions".    Should I just accept that or push on for compensation and reimbursement of my expenses?     I'm annoyed because the entire reason for my trip was ruined.

Hmmm, it is true that air traffic control restrictions are generally considered to extraordinary circumstances beyond the airline's control, but that would normally apply to scenarios such as bad weather, when it becomes necessary to make significant changes to traffic management.

Recital 15 of the regulations states that:

Extraordinary circumstances should be deemed to exist where the impact of an air traffic management decision in relation to a particular aircraft on a particular day gives rise to a long delay, an overnight delay, or the cancellation of one or more flights by that aircraft, even though all reasonable measures had been taken by the air carrier concerned to avoid the delays or cancellations.

so I'd have thought there'd be an argument that a delay of only ten minutes is really 'business as usual' rather than extraordinary circumstances as such, given that all flights inherently rely on ATC management decisions?

Even if you don't convince them to pay compensation, they should still reimburse reasonable costs of meals while you waited....