Originally Posted by
rbAA
I considered MCOL but felt that with my previous legal experience (practiced law for 15 years, with substantial trial experience,) and having the time and resources to do the technical and legal analysis, CEDR was the best option. It really isn't as close an issue as others make it out and your comment about the fleet make up was something that I incorporated into my reply to BA's defense statement. I appreciate your input.
They relied on section 38 of the van der Lans case plus the Wallentine case, both of which held in favor of the passenger, as the engine problems there were considered inherent in the operation of an airline. I'm sure if it was an airline that only had one type of aircraft, all with the same engines (ala WN in the US,) that might present another problem. But here, BA has 28 787's of which 3 were down as of last December (they didn't update the current maintenance status.) However, they have a total of 134 long-haul aircraft, including the 28 787's, that have the range for LAX-LHR. So while it's 10% of their 787 fleet, it's only 2% of their long-haul fleet.. Plus they waited until after the US FAA issued their April 26th directive (8 days after the cancellation notice and 4 days after my flight date,) further restricting ETOPS opps, to take steps to solve the fleet management issue, going to QR (which owns 20% of IAG, parent of BA, et al,) to wet-lease 3 A330's. Plus, as I mentioned previously, the particular aircraft, G-ZBJG a 787-800, originally assigned for this flight was shifted to the LHR-YUL-LHR route that day. It didn't go out of service until April 29 for 6 days at London. So, it's fleet management at that time. Plus they attached the summary of the op log, showing the reaon for cancellation as "OPEN." SO, they won't be able to satisfy their burdan of proof that this is extraordinary circumstances.
Thanks again.
I have a very similar case I want to pursue via MCOL (BA customer relations has refused compensation) and I want to look into the aircraft assignment for the flight that was cancelled. When I requested this, BA declined to provide that info. Is there a way after the fact to see what aircraft was assigned for a particular flight? I've used BAsource to get other info. It was the BA69 on 27/8 so it was a 787-900, but the flight wasn't cancelled until 21/8 and the two birds that went in for maintenance (G-ZBKI and G-ZBKD) did so 4 and 5 days before that respectively and BA admit in their email that this was done to rescheduling of various flights (but still saying that direct cause is the engine-related extraordinary circumstances), so I'm trying to look into whether one of those two was actually assigned or if the aircraft assigned flew another route that day. I am thinking that they might not have taken reasonable measures here given the delay in cancelling the flight and because this was quite probably down to fleet management. (They also tried to argue with me that the burden of proof to show that it was extraordinary circumstances was on them and kept insisting it was mine—humph!). Any other advice much welcomed! I am also considering contact Bott & Co.