Hi all,
It pains me to write a first post that’s negative having been a fan and champion of BA for many years. I wanted to canvas opinion about a compensation claim for a delayed flight, with which I’ve had little previous experience.
The flight in question was BA25 LHR-HKG on Oct 31st, which was delayed by 16 hrs. I was travelling CW (UuA) with partner, and was notified 3hrs before the flight about the delay. We were put up in a hotel, fed and watered, but no options were provided for rerouting (or equipment change).
A few days later customer service emailed an apology and credit of 30k avios p.p. as a goodwill ‘gesture’. Upon returning from holiday I wrote back to explain that I didn’t consider this adequate compensation, and believe I would be entitled to 600 euros compensation according to EU261/2004.
The response, perhaps not surprisingly, was to cite extraordinary circumstances. During final maintenance checks (note that G-XLEA was in mx since Oct 29th) a ‘leaky tube’ was discovered.
Having read up on the regulation, I responded by asking for a more technical explanation of said leaky tube, and argued that nevertheless, not all reasonable efforts were made to get us to our destination, e.g. rerouting on another airline. (I know that many passengers must have been rerouted, since the flight the next day was virtually empty).
I received no response from BA, so wrote again reiterating that I expected to receive evidence that the delay could not reasonably have been avoided, and followed the recommended template citing the judicial precedent (Tui et al vs CAA etc.).
I’ve now belatedly received a response, which just quotes the definition of extraordinary circumstances –
“Unexpected flight safety shortcomings - Failure of on-condition/condition monitored parts i.e. parts which should not require unscheduled maintenance or replacement during normal operational service”
My question is basically is this worth pursuing? Would the next step be to complain to the CAA?
While I don’t doubt there was a technical problem that was a flight safety issue, I am wondering whether the absence of equipment change or rerouting alternatives constitutes a case for compensation. While I appreciate the credit of avios, these don’t have a high monetary value to me, and I wouldn’t want to let this ride, if indeed I’m being fobbed off.
Thanks in advance for your input.