SK AAR

As long as adverse weather is contributing to the delay/cancellation BA will be able to invoke adverse weather exemption. It is not required that the delay/cancellation is caused only by adverse weather and it is beyond doubt that the diversion would not have incurred had adverse weather not been involved.

Tobias-UK

And where is your basis in law for this assertion?

simons1

Many new precedents have been established since EC261 came into being. Rather than becoming sanctimonious and talking myself out of something I would get legal representation and see what can be done.

steve170461

We had a situation a few years ago where the SAN flight with my wife on board diverted to ONT due weather at SAN. They sat on the ground there for 3 hours before going 10 minutes to LAX and bussing the pax to SAN. I argued that they could have gone straight to LAX, where there are ground staff and customs-as other airlines were doing, and so reduce the delay from the 8 hours she suffered to around 4-we got nowhere. They even tried to tell me, an ATCer, that local ATC told BA where to divert to and that it was outside their control.

2 weeks later: We arrive to check in for the return from SAN to find that due weather at SAN the inbound has diverted-this time straight to LAX. We were told to come back for a 1900 departure (24 hours later) the next day.as Part of the EU261 claim on behalf of my wife, I also put forward that BA had to failed to keep the delay to a minimum by just rescheduling 24 hours later. Hey presto, BA agrees and pays 2 x 600.

Motto is to keep pushing them even if weather is involved, although I recognise that the attitude has hardened significantly since our issue.

After 2 IRROPS, I'm only just getting round to persuading the Mrs that it's time to visit SAN again

Tobias-UK

Now there we can agree. My view is that BA has a justifiable basis in law to reject a claim for EC261 compensation (weather). Your assertion is that BA is using the weather as an excuse not to pay out.

Bott & Co, or some other no-win-no-fee claims company, may very well take this on. However, if BA deny the claim the claims company may choose not to proceed to court (on a contingency fee basis) because of the amount of work that would become necessary to litigate. There are legal and evidential difficulties to overcome. BA may do a doorstep settlement, they may not. In this particular case, on the balance of probability, I suspect the airline is the more likely to succeed ... but you never know. There is certainly an arguable case.

Linyilee

A quick word of praise for BA
i'm certainly not pro BA but I put two claims in for my colleagues on Tuesday for this flight, they called Wednesday to agree the EU261 and today also agreed £190 extra for expenses despite not having receipts.
Expected much more of a battle.

TravellerFrequently

Good to read and thanks for posting. ^

I had hoped that BA would treat those affected on the outbound in a positive manner beyond assisting them during the ordeal of a journey.

Hopefully a positive response will be given to those affected on the return, although I recognise the circumstances appear a little less clear.

Domvh75

My boss was booked on the BA72 AUH-LHR on 25/03/17 which was initially delayed then ultimately cancelled due to adverse weather. I submitted a compensation claim on ba.com on his behalf for the initial delayed departure from 2:10am to 10am. The reply stated he was ineligible for cancellation as it was due to adverse weather. I replied saying that the claim is for the delay of over three hours and not for the cancelled flight, ciiting letters were handed out at AUH on British Airways headed paper apologising for the delayed departure which was due to the inbound aircraft's late departure from London. The reply from BA again rejected the claim repeating that adverse weather cancellation exempts them from paying compensation. I replied again stressing I was fully aware that BA72 was finally cancelled due the weather, but this claim is not for this fact, but for the initial delay of over 3 hours. When the departure was rescheduled from 2:10am to 10am, my boss would have been eligible for compensation at this point! Passengers were checked in and at the departure area for the 10am departure when they were advised of the cancellation. The reply to this message was that the matter would be investigated, so there would be a delay in replying. Two days later (today) BA replied offering compensation of 600 Euros; however, there was a choice of an enhanced compensation of 60 000 Avios. My boss accepted the Avios compensation.

ahmetdouas

Congratulations!
Wow it took 3 attempts.
When flying BA these days it seems everyone has to be an armchair lawyer to get anything out of it!

msm2000uk

Nice to see that BA is copying its competitors in more ways than one!

I often refer to the QR Customer Service mentality, as 'souk-esque'. Be prepared to haggle, and you'll get what you want.

M

Domvh75

It took that many attempts because like the BA call centre agents, I got a rather generic response rather than addressing specific points written in the initial submission; they always seem to ignore (or not understand) what is actually being said.

ahmetdouas

haha deception by pleading ignorance! i love it = )

simons1

Well done. I am not a lawyer but it was quite obvious what happened here, the initial delay was nothing do with the weather and entirely due to the technical fault on the outward journey and diversion to Frankfurt. Had that diversion not happened then the airport was open for arrivals and departures.

Clearly common sense has prevailed.