golfmad

I filed my case with CEDR today and will report back with the outcome. For the benefit of anyone else searching in the future this relates to a bird strike on an inbound flight into LHR causing a delay to the subsequent flight that I was on for which a claim has been denied by the airline due to exceptional circumstances.

tamalien

In a somewhat similar scenario to your case concerning subsequent flights (and for other's information) CEDR ruled in my favour in a dispute I had with Easyjet. They cancelled the fifth (and sixth flight) of a six flight crew rotation from Belfast to Birmingham claiming crew had gone out of hours due to ATC restrictions on an earlier flight. What had happened was on the first flight of the rotation ATC held them at Belfast due to arrival restrictions at Birmingham. They then were further delayed a little by ATC on the return leg Birmingham to Belfast. In total they were running one hour behind schedule. They cancelled the 5th (and 6th) rotation at scheduled departure time, while we were at the airport, claiming crew had run out of hours. When I pursued it with CEDR they accepted my argument that following the initial delays Easyjet would have had enough crew time to run the fifth flight I was on but not necessarily the return 6th flight back to Belfast. Hence they made a commercial decision not to run the sector I was booked on and hence I was due compensation.

Moral of story is that earlier flight exceptional circumstances don't always give subsequent flight's a free pass from EC261.

Hannibal Lecter

There's also this


Calculation of the distance on the basis of the 'journey' to determine the compensation in the event of long delay at final destination.

"The Folkerts case explicitly referred to the concept of a 'journey' composed of several connecting flights. The ‘final destination’ being defined in Article 2(h) of the Regulation as the destination on the ticket used for the check-in or, in the case of directly connecting flights, the destination of the last flight. According to Article 7(4) of the Regulation the distance which determines the compensation to be paid in case of long delay at the final destination should be based on the 'great circle' distance between the place of departure and the final destination i.e. the 'journey' and not by adding the 'great circle' distances between the different relevant connecting flights composing the 'journey'."

COMMISSION NOTICE Interpretative Guidelines on Regulation (EC) No 261/2004
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites...16)3502_en.pdf

AbileneBound

Filed my response to BA's Defence at CEDR today. This is for a flight cancelled due to the Mixed Fleet cabin crew strike. The timeline is roughly this:

Flight booked for 15th August.
11th August flight cancelled.and booked on a flight 24 hours later instead
13th August I request compensation
2nd September BA respond denying compensation but giving no reason for the cancellation
4th September I ask again.
15 September BA respond a second time this time saying the cancellation was due to the strike
22 September I respond to BA
6 October BA's third response denying compensation.
6th October I file with CEDR
26th October CEDR accept my claim
13th November BA submit their defence
23rd November I submit my response

As you can see, this has dragged on rather!

Brookhouse

In praise of BA's very prompt response, my flight from LHR to KUL was delayed by technical reasons on Thursday 23rd Nov and we arrived 4 hour and 2 mins late. I sent a compensation request yesterday - and now less than 24 hours later, they have confirmed they will pay EUR600. Think this is excellent Customer Relations!

B747forever

On 8/12 I am booked on ARN-LHR-DOH (BA781/123), departing ARN 18:05 and arriving DOH 0645. Just received an email from BA notifying me that BA123 (LHR-DOH) is cancelled. Have not called yet to get the ticket rebooked, as I want your opinion on what I should do and what I am entitled to as it is less than 2 weeks before my trip.

As I can tell there are 3 options to fly ARN-DOH with OW with similar times

1. ARN-DOH nonstop on QR 2145-0550
2. ARN-LHR-DOH BA/QR 1510-0620
3. ARN-LHR-DOH BA/QR 1805-0740


Option 2 works best for me as I need to go through LHR (eliminates 1) and I have to arrive close to my original booked schedule (eliminates 3). However, how does this work with a possible compensation? As option 2 will have me depart ARN 2 hours earlier than originally booked, I should be entitled to compensation. However, if BA offers me option 1 or 3 and I decline and want option 2, does it mean that it is a voluntary reroute and no compensation due?

corporate-wage-slave

BA will normally offer option 1, and at least on paper if then choose a longer duration routing unnecessarily that would be for your account and not allow EC261. Clearly the trick will be for BA to offer you option 2 without offering option 1 or 3. Personally I think you're best going with option 1 or 3 anyway. But the usual rebooking conditions do indicate direct routings are allowed/encouraged with QR. It may be that regardless, if you claim EC261 off option 2 they may pay it anyway, but I don't see them as being required to do this.

B747forever

I would actually prefer the nonstop option, however I need to go through LHR and yet arrive around the same time frame I originally booked. So in my case, option 2 is the only one that really works. If I want to claim EC261, when is best to do so, after I have completed the trip or before departure?

corporate-wage-slave

You can only claim EC261 after the delay has happened, that applies in all scenarios.

B747forever

OK.

One last question, according to the guide here it says

b) You are given between two weeks and 7 days’ notice of the cancellation and you are offered rerouting which leaves more than 2 hours earlier than originally scheduled or arrives at your final destination more than 4 hours later than originally scheduled.

Would the earlier departure by 2h55mn qualify for full compensation (600EUR) or reduced amount (300EUR)?

corporate-wage-slave

It's the arrival time that also matters here, so it's the reduced amount due to not being 4 hours late (we assume) - theoretically, since there's a strong case that you wouldn't get anything if option 1 or 3 is offered. Article 7.2.

seaskybound

If you have a legal short connection, single PNR, and miss your connection due to a short delay in arrivng flight and end up in final destination late beyond the minima are you due compensation?

if two separate airlines who is responsible?

corporate-wage-slave

The first operating airline that was the root of the delay. If it is a short delay, the airline's ability to claim it was due to weather / ATC makes it very difficult to claim on these cases. But on paper at least the operating airline is responsible for the entire delay that it caused.

strichener

If you need to be close to your original booked schedule then surely option 3 is the best. If a delay of less than 1 hour at your destination causes significant issues then you really should be questioning your overall travel arrangements. I cannot see any reason why you should be due any compensation based on the alternatives available to you.

srbrenna

Hello all, Here's the situation: Cancelled on the BA123 at 2100 on the 3rd Dec and rerouted onto the QR16 at 2030. I have been downgraded from F to J. Miles ticket.

From the above I guess it is just a few Avios downgrade compo as EC261 would not apply as the flight is 30 minuutes earlier.

Some say that QR J if better than BA F. I'm not one of the ones who agree especially when the J is on a QR 77W!

Is there any chance of getting the flight moved to an earlier A380 with F?