Originunkown

I was on a flight from jfk to lhr the flight could not land in lhr due to wind but after 2 attempts had to divert for fuel to manchester and then returned to lhr 4 hours late.

Can i claim anything for this ? if so how where and how can I get info to do this

Thanks in advance

Djlawman

If you had incurred expenses (meals, hotel), the EU duty of care might still require them to pay that (as they were required to do even during the Icelandic ash cloud incident), but a weather delay does not trigger the delay compensation.

LondonElite

No, you won't be able to claim anything under EC/261. First of all, the regulation applies only to European airlines, and those operating flights form Europe. Secondly, this is clearly exceptional (weather) circumstances. You got here, albeit a bit late. You can try AA, but I doubt very much that they will have a great deal of sympathy, given the circumstances. You could try your travel insurance, but I don't know of any that pay our inconvenience cash for a field diversion and subsequent late arrival.

Yoshi212

Not that it changes things for the OP's situation but I believe EC 261 applies to all EU (including the UK & Switzerland) based airlines to/from/within the EU and non EU airlines departing from the EU.
If any expenses were incurred the OP should seek payment from the airlines for food/lodging.

LondonElite

Correct. That is what I meant (and thought I wrote). I guess it would have been helpful (though not relevant in this case) to point out at that it doesn't apply to non-EU (+Switzerland+Norway) airlines flying into (rather than out-of, where it would apply) the EU (+Switzerland+Norway).

Originunkown

Thanks alot people, I thought this was the case but just thought better to check since the fuel was the main issue for the delay lasting so long. I will write to AA anyway about other issues so might as well drop a line or two about this.

Thanks again

omaralt

am i the only one that finds this ridiculous? i mean they couldn't land because of high winds. it wasn't mechanical. it wasn't their fault. they put your safety above all else and then got you to your destination safely 4 hrs late. i would thank them for putting your safety first, or would you like them to try to force a landing in bad weather (fly dubai?). why does everyone always think they are entitled to something??

DoctorDoug

Agree 100%.

This reminds me of a time when I picked my mother-in-law up from the airport after she had landed off a trans-atlantic flight. She was late due to bad thunderstorms at her origin point. I asked her how her flight was. She said, "Fine, but we were 4 hours late". I asked her how her meal was. She said, "Fine, but we were 4 hours late". I asked her how the service was. She said, "Fine, but we were 4 hours late". Finally I had enough and said, "Listen here you old battle axe, you've just flown across the Atlantic Ocean, safely, with a nice meal and good entertainment and all you can focus on is that you were 4 hours late. Next time take the boat!"

Often1

To say that this was "about fuel" is ridiculous. This was about high winds. Suffice it to say that the aircraft is loaded with sufficient fuel for its intended flight, to hold at its destination, to divert to MAN (or other locations), to hold at that location, and then and only then declare a fuel emergency. None of the latter ocurred here.

At the point when this flight diverted, it would have had plenty of fuel onboard, likely enough to hold and then land at LHR. But, "likely" is not a term that people in commercial aviation safety like to hear. Nor do 99.9% of the traveling public.

In this case, had this been a community (EU) carrier or been a departure from the EU, there would have been no compensation due as this is exactly the sort of situation in which a delay would not have resulted in delay compensation.

Me? I would very much not want air carriers facing a financial disincentive to diverting aircraft for safety reasons (beyond the financial disincentives they already suffer).

One does hope that OP includes this in a complaint to AA, as it will certainly flavor anything else he says.

NWIFlyer

Heathrow arrivals and departures on 28th March were very constrained, with plenty of cancellations, go-arounds and diversions forced by the weather and subsequent ATC restrictions. The delay at Manchester, aside from a need to let the winds subside to a safer level, would have been because there were no available slots at LHR before that point, so the aircraft would have been unable to leave MAN. That has nothing to do with fuel.

You might actually consider yourself lucky that they found a slot at all in that timescale - there must have been a very real possibility that you found yourself on a coach to London!

omaralt

for real. i swear when some of my family fly from overseas and you hear them talk about it; it's like hearing a horror story... for some reason normal people become spoiled, entitled brats when they travel.

fredc84

editted