Missed Connection - which airline to claim from

Rubinetticampo

We bought a ticket from Virgin from MAN-JNB via LHR.

The MAN-LHR flight was delayed resulting in our missed connection in LHR.

Virgin said it was BA's responsibility to find us alternative flights, which they did (with some difficulty as everything seemed to be overbooked).

I arrived in JNB around 12 hours later than we should have had we not missed the connection, while my wife arrived via a different route 24 hours behind schedule.

We have submitted a claim to BA for the incidental costs incurred which they seem to be processing.

However does anybody know which of the two airlines we claim the £520 per ticket delay compensation?

I am not sure if it should it be BA whose delay caused us to miss the connection, or are they "subcontracted" by Virgin who sold the tickets, and it's Virgin we should be claiming from ?

Apologies if this issue has been addressed before but I have searched quite extensively and only found one reference on a claims company website which implied its whichever airline sold to the ticket, which would seem to make sense contractually.

eskbanker

It's clear in the regulations that reimbursement and compensation are the responsibility of the operating air carrier, rather than the one who sold the tickets.

What was the reason for the delay to the domestic leg?  Compensation will only be due if it was something within the airline's control....

Rubinetticampo

Thanks, that's very helpful.

I haven't had a definitive response yet from BA, who I gather are not known to be quick to respond on these things, so it is possible that they may yet pay the compensation due. Its helpful to know the onus is on them.

Reason for delay was unclear, flight was a bit late arriving in MAN having left LHR late, followed by a slow turn around.

I asked the cabin crew for the reason for the delay but they didn't seem to know, but we were rushing (in vain) to try to make the connection, so couldn't question the flight crew.

The weather wasn't bad (I have records of the weather reports and forecasts) but don't know any way of finding out what ATC delays might have been present at the time that might have delayed the inbound leaving LHR, and further delayed the flight out of MAN. If anyone knows a way of accessing the history of what ATC slots might have been allocated and possibly missed that could be a great help.

Thanks again for your input

eskbanker

Rubinetticampo said:

The weather wasn't bad (I have records of the weather reports and forecasts) but don't know any way of finding out what ATC delays might have been present at the time that might have delayed the inbound leaving LHR, and further delayed the flight out of MAN. If anyone knows a way of accessing the history of what ATC slots might have been allocated and possibly missed that could be a great help.

There's a thread on the FlyerTalk forum which shows data about cancellations or delays of BA flights, with some inside information - it's nothing like as granular as specific ATC slots but if you find the page for your date you might find some details of BA's operations at LHR and/or MAN that day:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2146197-faq-reason-flight-delay-cancellation-2024-edition.html