Geirinhas

Yllanes, they said that it was due to weather circumstances but how do you explain that the flight IB3107 with worse conditions departed from Lisbon and arrived on time at Madrid without any problem?

Ok, the weather conditions weren't the best but some flights (like the example that I presented) didn't had any problems.

The law says that I have the right to be rebooked to the earliest flight posible (doesn't specify if is on Iberia or any other airline). That was denied to me and I know that it was posible.

Maybe I'm getting something wrong, but according to the law, I don't believe that a +12 hours delay to the final destination doesn't have the right to a compensation.

Yllanes

Bad weather generally means that operations are slowed down, not that the airport closes completely. Some flights will arrive on time or with minor delays. I obviously don't know about your case, but the fact that there was a flight between the same two cities that arrived on time the same morning is not definitive. I'm just saying that if it actually was because of weather, the monetary compensation does not apply.

The law requires them to rebook you under comparable conditions and "at the earliest opportunity". It is unfortunately a grey area whether this extends to rebooking you on another airline. Of course, most airlines tend to choose the interpretation that it doesn't.

I would recommend taking a look at the EC261 thread on the BA forum, which has a lot of good information: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...61-2004-a.html

Please understand that I'm not defending the airline's handling of your case, I just mean to spare you the aggravation, since I don't think you will get anywhere by fighting this.

Often1

1. "Weather" does not mean that every flight will operate in the same manner. Airport operations are slowed down and some flights will be slower than others. Unfortunately, yours was on the slower side. Pointing to others, will not help you. People try it every day.

2. EC 261/2004 requires rebooking under comparable conditions. If you think that it requires "earliest opportunity" you are wrong. There is no case that remotely suggests this. While it would have been nice in light of your status and the 24-hour delay, it was lousy customer service, but not a violation of EC 261/2004.

3. EC 261/2004 did impose a "duty of care" but does not specify the type of hotel. You got a hotel and that is it.

What you suffered was lousy customer service, but nothing that will entitle you to EUR 600 or other EC 261/2004 compensation.

Best to carefully read the Regulation before asserting things.

Geirinhas

I'm going to present a claim to AESA (Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea). Something isn't right... How do you explain that the flight IB3107 with worse weather conditions arrived before schedule and the flight IB3101 would have a delay of 1 hour to depart and arrived with 1h and 7 minutes of Delay? Something is not right here, I'm sorry but I can't agree that this is due to weather conditions, traffic, etc. etc. This is just pure incompetence of the airline.

https://beta.flightstats.com/histori...107/2017/01/30

https://beta.flightstats.com/histori...101/2017/01/30

Article 8

Right to reimbursement or re-routing

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,
- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;
(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or
(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.

It's very clear that this wasn't fulfilled.

tobsw

Iberia won't do anything without an AESA complain. My advice is as soon as you get the first response from Iberia, immediately fill the AESA questionnaire. AESA will request a proper report of your case and based on that, AESA will inform you whether you are entitled a compensation.
the problem with weather is not like you inform. When there's bad weather at an airport the relevant authority warns the airlines that they need to adjust their schedule, since they are not able to operate at planned capacity. That means airlines choose which flights are cancelled and or delayed. Iberia did not change the first flight (because they chose to do so), but decided that your flight needs to be delayed in order to get a landing slot, and be complaint with the capacity adjustment at the airport.
If whatever you write is the truth, it's unlikely that you get EC261/2004 compensation.
good luck!

Geirinhas

Did the AESA complain. Let's see if I'm entitled a compensation or not. Thank you all for the help.

Fontana

Same here. Did email the CEO, clearly he couldn't be asked to give a sh!t. Get frustrated when other people on the same flight get paid and you don't?

Geirinhas

I don't know if other people got paid or not... but I will do everything for get paid. This problem with Iberia completely changed my plans and got me a lot of problems with my ex-girlfriend (yes, one of the reasons for being p*s*ed off is because of that).

I still don't believe that this is due to weather problems. It was an operation problem/neglect... there were flights departing and arriving at time, so it's a operation issue not a climate issue.

Often1

tobsw explains this very well. In poor weather, flow control means that there is reduced capacity as safety dictates more spacing between aircraft, landings & departures, and even with runway usage as wind shifts.

It is entirely possible that some flights will arrive early or on time, that others will arrive with only minimal delays, yet others with significant delays and finally others will be cancelled. Finally, it is entirely possibly that adjustments have to be made minute-by-minute as the wind shifts.

This is not an IB issue nor is it confined to any one airport. It occurs on most carriers and at most airports. If it were predictable, life would be much easier for all concerned. It is not.

The absolute last thing to look at when judging whether your flight was delayed due to weather is whether the flight before or after is delayed due to weather. Perhaps in a major blizzard. But, in routine poor weather - not in the least.

If she is your ex-girlfriend, EC 261/2004 will not fix the relationship. If she is your girlfriend, look for a florist, not a NEB or a court !

Geirinhas

Often1, I understand what all of you tried to explain. But Iberia did know that I had a connecting flight in Madrid and didn't do anything. I'll explain with an example:

I had a flight with Avianca at MDE at 14:15h, Avianca in that day during the morning contacted me saying that they were having some delays due to operation problems in BOG and they have a seat for me on an earlier flight, If I would be interested in getting that plane for guarantee not loosing my connecting flight at BOG.

This is how Iberia should work things out. If there was an earlier flight that would not put at risk my connecting flight, if there was seats available, they should have contact me. The bad weather was not only for 2/3 hours during the morning. The bad weather was since the night before the departure. They did know that would be delayed flights, they did know that there were a lot of passengers that were having connecting flights at MAD... and they didn't do NOTHING.

Another thing... I got in time to the gate, but it was already closed and ground crew rudely denied bording and said that I should contact costumer service. The plane was still parked at the gate.

I may not be entitled with compensation, but at least they will have to explain me why that happened. Oh, and pay me back the selection seat that I bought at LIS (around 20€).

About my ex-girlfriend, unfortunately there's no much that I can do. I failed our anniversary and things got weird after all of that. I tried to do what I could to revert the situation but, unfortunately, things got bad... really bad.

kai.lileboo

Lots of companies avoid to compensate at any cost. It is never their fault. However I can assure you IB is doing what IAG says; Willie Walsh demands to be done! Once they paired up with BA, eveything got out of control and BA is in control of everything. IB has not enough staff, has not enough planes... of course this is not the reason you were denied a compensation.
As far as I can read, they offered alternative transport or a refund. If you did not accept (you have the right not to) than you are NOT entitled to any additional compensation.
I had many, many problems in the past with other companies, and they all refused compensation, what they did was put me on the first available flight (days later...)
I am actually dealing with OS, and LH as both denied any compensation for the cancellation. After 5 months, I will need to sue, as there is no way they gonna pay.
I am happy to learn IB finally compensated you, but this was mainly because you went futher with your complaints.
I am not defending IB actions, nor I am saying you are not right, just wanted to clarify what could went wrong.
If there was a cancellation for no crew, than is not always company's fault. If the crew came in with a delayed flight, they were already out of their working hours and could not fly anymore. Of course the company cannot have 100 cabin crew members on standby for alternatives.
This kind of things happen a lot.
Good luck!

YuropFlyer

All airlines in general will deny claims initially. That's how they get 90%+ to give up.

With some airlines, a few more emails can convience them, with others, getting a lawyer/small claims court/EU261 claim agency will work. Pick your choice. Apparently, Iberia is the one that needs a direct hit on the head with some justice power to pay out

330

And then there are some airlines who simply pay. Such as Eurowings (payment to my bank account in 8 days starting from my complaint) and airberlin (voucher offered after 6 days).

Regarding IB: sue them right away.

tobsw

I got paid from Iberia without suing them. Iberia though won't do anything without a proper AESA complaint. As I said from the beginning, my advice is to write a complaint as soon as you get the first response from Iberia (because you need that for the AESA complaint).
AESA will request a proper report from the affected airline and will tell you whether you're entitled compensation (or not).
if you have lot of patience, it's possible.

Fontana

tobsw - How long did it take for AESA to come back to you after logging the complaint? Curious to know the expected/average response time? I logged my claim just over 2 weeks ago.