Flight delay compensation, US and Canadian Airlines

Vauban · 23 May 2014 at 3:08PM

bump - read #1

WELLYBOOT0_0 · 29 May 2014 at 3:20PM

Hi my family of 4 travelled on 30/3/2014 to Orlando via Atlanta on DL39 flight. We boarded on time but once on the plane were delayed by 67 minutes. The captain advised us that it was due to the airconditioning unit at the rear of the plane not working. They had the part and were going to fix it before we took off.

We missed our connecting flight because of the delay and were unable to get on a standby flight. Delta were very good and put us in a hotel overnight and booked us on an early flight the next morning.

We arrived in Orlando 16 hours late. I wrote to them and they came back to me and said that the delay was due to Airport Security instructions, and therefore we were not able to claim.

I replied to them and explained that we had been told about the broken air conditioning by the captain and that was the reason for our delay.

They wrote back to me and said that they had checked again, and our flight was delayed by 20 mins because of the air conditioning and then the other 47 minutes were Airport Security instructions, therefore we were unable to claim.

I wrote back to them and said that we had already been waiting 20 minutes on the plane when the captain told us about the air conditioning, and then it had to fixed, and anyway if the airconditioning had been ok we probably wouldn't have had the Airport Security instructions anyway.

I have now had another reply from them offering us EMD vouchers. Each of us has been given a voucher number and it says at the bottom that the amount is £100. I'm not sure if it is £25 each or £100 each but it doesn't say 'as a gesture of goodwill' or that they aren't accepting any liability or anything like that. The EMD vouchers are not really any good to us,( it took 3 years to save up to go this time the vouchers are only valid for 12 months!) from what I have read I cannot understand where the £100 has come from but £100 is better than nothing. Are they admitting that they are at fault by offering me this in which case surely I should be entitled to the full £500?
Any advice would be gratefully received, I am not a money grabber but our holiday of a lifetime started off as a bit of a nightmare and it wasn't our fault.

I appealed their decision and wrote to them questioning the fact that had we not been delayed by the broken air conditioning unit we wouldnt have had the delay and re-iterated the above also explaining that I thought we were entitled to the 600EU and have had a reply back today as follows:

Thank you for your further email. I am sorry you remain dissatisfied with our responses and gestures thus far.

Please note that the EU legal compensation which you are referring to applies for cancelled flights or flights delayed by over 3 hours. I understand that your total delay was over 3 hours, however, since Delta Air Lines is not EU domiciled and your connecting flight to Orlando was not departing an airport located in an EU or EEA member country, no compensation is due in accordance with the European Union regulation. Therefore, I must respectively decline your request for legal compensation once more. I regret any disappointment this may cause.

We have dealt with your claim appropriately and in accordance with our Company’s policy and we now consider this matter closed. I am sorry I am not able to provide a more positive response on this occasion, but I hope you will understand our position with regards to the matter.

We are sorry to disappoint you, as we can appreciate that this is not the answer you were expecting. However, we do hope you can make the decision to move forward from this event.

Despite your present sentiment, I hope you will feel able to choose Delta Air Lines again in the future.

Is this right or should I carry on?
Thanks

WELLYBOOT0_0 · 29 May 2014 at 4:00PM

They say that as Atlanta is not in the EU or an EEA member country and Delta Airlines is not EU Domiciled no compensation is due. I am assuming that this is irrelevant as our flight was all booked on one ticket? Is this right? I have read the Folkarts case and think I understand enough to go back to them but I just wanted to make sure that I havent misunderstood. The fact that we left an EU country to the US with a stopover but all booked on one ticket and our delay to our final destination was more than three hours means that we should be able to claim?

Do I need to send them the notice letter? Thank you for your help.

Laura_T · 3 June 2014 at 12:59PM

Advice would be appreciated please, as I understood we are eligible for cashback under Martin's guidelines Flight Delay Compensation.

I have posted in KLM discussion, but its been pointed out that was the wrong place! As actual delay was with Delta airline, although we booked through KLM (which is an EU company and why I thought we were eligible for compensation).

We booked through KLM to fly to Los Angeles and then to return from Las Vegas via Detroit and Amsterdam to Teesside. We were delayed in Detroit for 5 hours, which resulted in missing our connection in Amsterdam, and eventually arriving home 9 hours later than scheduled.

Now KLM are saying that we are ineligible for compensation as this flight was a Delta flight. As far as I am concerned, we booked directly with KLM and Delta is a partner of their's, therefore shouldn't we still be eligible under EU guidelines? As KLM is an EU company.

I'm very confused! But wanting to take this further, as we received such appalling service from Delta staff at Detroit airport. I have tried to complain to KLM and they are just passing me around with this complaint, so feel doubly entitled to some kind of compensation from them!

Any advice, or ideas on where to look next for guidance would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance

Vauban · 3 June 2014 at 1:05PM

If you were delayed leaving the US for Europe, and were flying with a non-EU carrier, you are not entitled to 261/04 compensation. The fact that you booked it through KLM is immaterial.

JPears · 3 June 2014 at 1:14PM

And please don't duplicate post in 2 different threads

Skid_Marks · 14 June 2014 at 8:47AM

Please read #1

CJN1946 · 18 June 2014 at 10:04AM

Although, as you say, airlines can use weather as an excuse for flight delays, they cannot dump you somewhere far from your destination and abandon you. We were sent by American Airlines to Glasgow instead of Heathrow, because it was closed a couple of winters ago,and left to make our own way home. The ground staff company, Service Air, said it was our responsibility and to claim off our insurance.

Lengthy correspondence and quotes from the Montreal Protocol eventually got us the £400 it cost us to get home.

As I now understand it the airline are responsible for you when they are flying to and from Europe until they get you to your ticketed destination. This may not apply to flights outside Europe.

razorsedge · 18 June 2014 at 9:33PM

I love the dodgems....

Bumping again

Al1x · 19 June 2014 at 10:49AM

Do my parents have a case here - they flew to USA from Heathrow with Delta. They had a connecting flight. The first flight from London to Detroit was an hour late ( I don't know why yet) and then the 2nd flight was delayed for another hour due to 'crew problems' and then due to thunderstorms no planes were flying for several hours (the flight they were getting from Detroit to Cincinnati was stuck at its previous airport until after the thunderstorms cleared) They were around 6-7 hours late to their destination.

Flight delay compensation, US and Canadian Airlines

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