Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Jet2.com ONLY

Vauban wrote: »

I don't believe the judge will rule in your favour ...

Blimey you had me and I bet pcyuljr worried then :huh:

I'm surprised J2 didn't cave in when the NBA was issued, and pcy don't forget to add any court costs to any settlement amount offered.

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

..........I'm saddened they play so 'hard to get' with claims under EU261.

Yeah there are famous for being one of the worst, if you follow the last link in my signature, you'll find they have been voted the worst!

NoviceAngel wrote: »

Blimey you had me and I bet pcyuljr worried then :huh:

I'm surprised J2 didn't cave in when the NBA was issued, and pcy don't forget to add any court costs to any settlement amount offered.

He did have me worried! Haha.

The more I read Vaubans guide, the more I'm impressed with it. I've seen criminal Crown Court cases with less supporting documents.

Just out of interest Vauban, at what stage did Monarch pay you? I can't see it on the documents. I assume a judge ruled in your favour post hearing? The prep put into your case makes me wonder how on earth they expected to win?

pcyuljr wrote: »

He did have me worried! Haha.

The more I read Vaubans guide, the more I'm impressed with it. I've seen criminal Crown Court cases with less supporting documents.

Just out of interest Vauban, at what stage did Monarch pay you? I can't see it on the documents. I assume a judge ruled in your favour post hearing? The prep put into your case makes me wonder how on earth they expected to win?

Well you are very kind. I am not a lawyer, and knew nothing about any of this before my own flight delay - and Monarch Airline's contemptuous response - saw me find this forum. And I did a lot of reading (helped very much by one poster, Centipede - no longer here - who had really excellent insights).

My own fight with Monarch went on for ages - and required three hearings in the end! You can read my account of it here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=64739995&highlight=victory#post64739995

I don't think anyone would ever need to do this again. The law is now much less ambiguous, following the Ron Huzar's splendid win with Bott. But the law was also clear enough already, really, though District Judges often seemed confused by it all.

The behaviour of Monarch was quite astonishing. Their witnesses presented statements to the court that they couldn't and wouldn't defend, and they were basically hopeless in every respect once properly questioned. Monarch should of course settled, but instead spent a small fortune on London barristers to try and win the case.

And in the end, having been cornered into disclosing documents that would show their defence lacked any merit, they simply walked away. Read the judgement from the Court - it's comedy gold. Utter incompetence. I would like to say that they have improved since then, but I've seen no evidence of it.

Hello.

I'm new to MSE but have been lurking on this forum for some time. Two posters suffered significant delay on the Jet2 flight from Manchester to Thessaloniki on 17th June 2017.

I was booked on the reciprocal flight, LS904 (9.30pm) Thessaloniki to Manchester. And we were delayed by more than 19 hours too. Very unpleasant delay as we were travelling with two four-year olds.

Using a template, I made my initial claim to Jet2, which, unsurprisingly, has been rejected.

They state: "On investigation, the reason the delay to your flight exceeded three hours was due to adverse weather conditions. The preceding flight departed Manchester with a delay of less than three hours and it was therefore expected to arrive at Thessaloniki with a similar arrival delay. However, strong tailwinds were experienced, preventing the safe landing at Thessalonkik; therefore the aircraft was required to divert in the interest of passenger and crew safety." There is no mention of the reason for the delay (the damaged tyre), and the fact they had changed the aircraft in Manchester.

Following some detective work, I think they could have well foreseen the problems they would face landing at Thessaloniki. If this is the case, are the circumstances really extraordinary?

I recorded the Captain's announcement explaining the reason for the delay when we got on the plane. He stated (this is a transcription): "Unfortunately the runway which was favouring the winds, runway three-four at Thessaloniki, we are not allowed to use at night.

"So the wind was quite strong last night and we weren't able to use the reciprocal end of the runway, which is runway one-six. So unfortunately we did come down and have a look and we did try and approach and we hung around for about 45 minutes, 50 minutes. I'm afraid the wind just didn't come within limits. So I'm afraid we went on to Athens."

According to a website I found called Pilots Briefing Room, between 'June and August [Thessaloniki] often has strong winds necessitating the use of runway 34'. But 'Night landings [are only] permitted provided PAPIS (precision approach path indicators) are available and EGPWS (enhanced ground proximity warning system) is serviceable'. Apparently this is because of high terrain on approach.

So they would have been fully aware, before they took off from Manchester, that they may need to use runway three-four to get the plane down. Whilst the pilot didn't state why they weren't allowed to use runway 34 (could this have been an ATC restriction?), they must have known that a night approach to runway 34 could be problematic.

Maybe it's the cynic in me, and perhaps I am over-thinking this and rambling, but I wonder if they knew the likely outcome before they took off from Manchester? A better scenario (although still not great) might have been to accommodate outgoing passengers at Manchester, flying them to Thessaloniki first thing next morning, and accommodating those of us in Thessaloniki earlier rather than at 2am. At least this would have reduced the 19 hour delay by a few hours and been less unpleasant. However, if they had done that, they would have had to pay compensation. I suppose they thought attempting to get it to the destination may pay off. And if they couldn't land it, they could always blame the weather as an extraordinary circumstance...

I plan to issue an NBA now. Perhaps I am wrong in how I am looking at this, but had they left Manchester on time, they'd have been able to land at Thessaloniki as use of runway 34 wouldn't have been restricted.