Apologies if I am posting in the wrong thread, I am new to Flyertalk and would appreciate some advice on my situation, I am currently pursuing reimbursement from BA following the cancellation reroutings and downgrading of my flight to IND from MAN via LHR and JFK in July this year. Due to BA’s failure to respond after weeks of chasing I escalated the issue to the CEDR. Below is BA’s defence sent to the CEDR, I am now in a position write my response.


The Passenger was booked as follows:
BA1385 J MAN-LHR HK1 09JUL 6 0700 0810
BA175 T LHR-JFK HK1 09JUL 6 0940 1210
BA2472 Y / Op AA4390 Y JFK-IND HK1 09JUL 6 1458 1719
Flight BA175 on 09 July 2016 was cancelled due to crew issues and so we rebooked the passenger on
to the following flight with American Airlines:
MAN JFK AA 211 09-Jul-16 10:15 09-Jul-16 13:00
This meant the passenger could still travel on BA2472 on 09 July as originally booked which meant
there was no delay to his final destination.
We sent the passenger a text to advise of the cancellation on 08 July at 16:42:
08-07-2016 16:42:00 SCDN-BA/SID1000 / LONBA06DQ / / 0001AASU
Add SK EUCN BA BA0175/09JUL16/FCRY/Y/DIRECT/08JUL16/1642/SMS/O
The passenger contacted us and we rebooked him on to AA211 09 July as per Article 8 of EC
Regulation 261/2004 and his ticket was reissued:
08-07-2016 17:41:00 EMAIL PROCESS,MANBA080J,U159819,0958GY-BA/U159819 / MANBA080J /
91493942 / 0958GYSU
Add RM MR XXXXXXXXXXXXXX IN CTC////FLIGHT WAS CANX///FLIGHT G IVEN///TICKET
REISSUED
As per Article 5 1c (iii) compensation is not payable for the cancellation as we offered a reroute
allowing the passenger to arrive at their final destination less than two hours after their scheduled
arrival time.
The Passenger was rebooked in economy with American Airlines from Manchester to New York. His
original Manchester to London Heathrow was a domestic cabin so no premium cabin but his
cancelled BA flight to New York was booked in World Traveller Plus, our premium economy cabin.
We met our obligations under EC261/400 Article 8.1 (b), as we re-routed the Passenger to travel at
the earliest opportunity. Under Article 8, there is no obligation to reroute passengers in the same
class as booked or on an alternative carrier. The alternative would have been for the passenger to
wait for a seat in World Traveller Plus on the next available BA flight to New York which would have
made him miss his connecting flight to IND and delayed his journey to his final destination.
The Passenger was not downgraded within the meaning of Article 10.2, because downgrading only
occurs when the operating carrier places the passenger in a lower class than that for which the ticket
is held. Having accepted the re-routing the passenger was issued with new economy tickets, so they
were not placed in a lower class than that of the tickets they held for the American Airlines flight.
Therefore we are not obliged to pay 75% of price of the ticket for the MAN-JFK sector.
As you can see from the original ticket I've attached the fare sector to show that the Manchester to
London sector was £37 and the London to New York sector was £402.62, totalling £440.09 . ECJ
decision Mennens v Emirates which clarifies that when calculating a downgrade refund the tax
element is not included. The passenger is only entitled to any difference of fares between our World
Traveller Plus cabin and the economy cabin on his rebooked American Airlines flight. I've contacted
our Refunds team and this amount is £166.85 and the refund was arranged on 28 November back to
the original form of payment.
The passenger states he spoke to a Charlotte and was told he would receive £415.95 back. We are
not sure how anyone calculated this amount given the total of the two sectors was £440.09. I've
copied the notes Charlotte put in the Passenger's booking below and there are no amounts
mentioned:
08-07-2016 18:58:00 CCH,NCLBA080Y,U161099,026512-BA/U161099 / NCLBA080Y / 91495460 /
026512GS
Add RM MR XXXXXX IN CTC AS DOWNGRADED CABIN DUE TO DISRUPTION AS MOVE TO AA FLIGHT
WHICH DOESNT HAVE WTP ADV WOULD NEED TO
Add RM TAKE THIS UP WITH CR POST TRAVEL PAX WILL REVERT CHARLOT TE NCL
Add RM AGENT SIGN 12 NCLBA080Y NCL 08JUL16
Unfortunately we are unable to trace the call but I hope I've been able to explain and prove the
amounts involved and that we have fulfilled our obligations under EC Regulation 261/2004.
Unfortunately the passenger chased a refund since 25 July, to apologise for this our Customer
Relations department added 5,000 Avios to his Executive Club account. This sort of refund also takes
longer than normal as we have to contact American Airlines to get their fare and then work out the
difference. We apologise for the length of time this has taken to resolve.

I have particular queries regarding the fact the BA left me little choice but to take the alternative AA flight. The fact that they have neglected to comment that EC261/400 Article 8.1 (b) also states”under comparable transport conditions” and the failure to trace my original telephone conversation. I would appreciate any comments and advice you may have on my case. Thanks.