Geoggy

So this thread might get busy since MSE email today.

I had a 24 hour delay in 2008 which according to multi millionaire Martin I am due a few hundred quid compensation.

My PFO-MAN flight was cancelled in Feb 2008 and I got home 24 hours late essentially missing my birthday

When I tried to complain at the time I was fobbed off by ba and gb airways playing "not our fault guv talk to them"

Is it worth pursuing under this legislation as I got nothing whatsoever at the time.

I could just live my life :0)

RedVee

Hello enggeeaitch, welcome to FT. I assume you mean the 215 back to LHR? The BA Source reports this operated in the early hours of the morning the next day using call sign BA9062 following a techical issue.

One of the tests an operating carrier has to meet in deciding whether something falls under EU261 exclusions due to "extraordinary circumstances" is whether the cause of the delay could be seen as being inherent in the operation of an airline. This is legally as important as the 'out of our control' test but tends to get dodged by operating airlines.

So if the door was damaged by a rogue elephant that escaped from a randomly passing circus they would probably have a case not to pay out (unless the elephants passed by at that time of day every day and there was a known issue with them getting through the perimeter fence).

If it were caused by one of their suppliers (e.g. Food contractors) or baggage loaders, or a passing vehicle, or the guy who connected the airbridge they would be on shaky grounds in denying compensation. They ought to pay you and seek recompense from whoever caused the damage. I would give them one more chance to explain why they think the circumstances were extraordinary, placing the emphasis of your letter/emai on why they consider it is not inherent in the running of an airline business. If that doesn't work, you will need to get very prepared if you want to take them to the small claims court.

Gemmbaryan

Good morning

My husband and I had a flight booked from Miami to LHR on 21st January. I received a text earlier that afternoon to say the flight (which was due to leave that evening, around 7pm) had been delayed until 8am the next morning. They told us this was due to the airline crew already working their legal working limit that day. We were told this was due to the snow.

Now, I know that they said it was due to the weather but does this count as it was directly due to not having staff to cover and not the snow?

Any help would be appriciated!

Thanks!

RedVee

Hi Gemmbaryan, welcome to FT.

According to flight stats the 206 that departed on the 21st arrived 2 hours late and the 208 was on time. The day before the 208 was delayed by just under 3 hours. Flights the day after were both on time. Can you double check your details?

There is a flight in there (BA32) with no details but this appears to be a glitch as reported here by Jumbordriver

As a general rule if the crew go out of hours because of widespread disruption casued by weather you wouldn't have much of a case for compensation. It would be completely unrealistic for BA to have that many staff on stand by. Slightly different if it was for a one off reason within their control, when you might expect some contingency to be built in. Having said that, very little else leaving from MIA on the evening of 21 Jan was delayed.

In any case, if you were delayed overnight they did have a duty of care to you whether the delay was their fault or not. So they should have organised your overnight stay and meals to a reasonable level. If they didn't do that you could submit your receipts for reimbursement. If the US is home though and you just stayed there until the next day there would be nothing to claim.

RedVee

Hi Geoggy, apart from passing you around do you know why you were cancelled? That would be the first thing to establish - if it was extraordinary circumstances. The second would be who was the operating carrier - as that is who is responsible. If it was GB Airways, they were their own company flying under a BA franchise and corporate colours etc. Right at the time you flew the takeover by Easyjet was going through, but GB honoured their franchise with BA.

ISTBC, but I think if you do have a claim it would be Easyjet (assuming they inherited the responsibility) and not really anything to do with BA

engeeaitch

Hi RedVee: I was puzzled by your mention of inbound flight, then checked the BA reply letter, and checked my original letter, and realised that they have replied about a completely different flight on a completely different day!!! So many thanks for your help and investigation. Letter number two to BA coming up.

RedVee

You're welcome. Let us know how you get on. Just for completeness, what flight and date were you actually on?

engeeaitch

Hi - it was the BA 119 on 5 November 2012.

Geoggy

the reason for the delay, which is why I propbably won't claim is the the pilot (or poss 2nd officer) had a heart attack and died on the outbound (you might remember it?)

the flight was booked on the BA website, so not sure how Easyjet would be involved?

redpalmetto

Any thoughts from the experts on this scenario?

I had my LHR-SFO cancelled last July - and was shifted onto the next day's service. I duly claimed, and got, EU compensation for the cancellation, but unfortunately the service I was moved to had a 5 hour delay (engine related problems - so not exceptional circumstances).

BA are now saying as I got initial compensation for the cancellation they are not paying again for the delay on the re-arranged service.

I'm not too exercised about this but interested in views here as to whether BA are legally right to say this.

RedVee

Although it was possible to book GB on BA they flew those routes as the operating carrier. So EU261 gives you redress to the operating carrier who don't exist anymore. But they were taken over by Easyjet, who presumably took on their liabilities.

I also think that a defence of extraordinary circumstances might be justifiable in this case. However, they should have looked after you ( hotel costs, food etc) so if they didn't do that you could potentially claim duty of care costs from them.

stewaran

Just received a cheque for £486.55,

How on earth do BA equate that to €600!!!!! :-(

RedVee

Hi Redpalmetto. I haven't seen anything that covers these circumstances. My own feeling is that BA discharged their responsibilities to pay compensation on the occasion of the first flight being cancelled and would not be required to pay again for the second delay - it was one journey with one delay, albeit a longer one than was originally anticipated.

They did remain responsible for the duty of care elements though until your rebooked flight departed - so they should have looked after you during the second delay.

As you are probably aware the fixed compensation is not based on actual losses suffered so there probably isn't much benefit in arguing that the extra 5 hours made a real difference, as long as they did the duty of care bit.

Anyone else have a view on this? Not covered in any of the specific cases that have gone to the ECJ as far as I can see.

Dave Noble

You could ask them specifically for EUR600 but the bank fees will probably eat that up. that amount does seem to be about 6% short.

angatol

According to Nat West, you'd get £477 for €600, £465, from Travelex and £507 from tefx.co.uk. Sounds like they use a pretty average Euro buying rate.