Compo from BA due to delayed flights
Discussion
Went to Las Vegas in May on BA flights from Gatwick. Upon arrival at Gatwick, the flight information board said 'delayed', which it was for six hours. Apparently the aircraft needed a part which was being delivered from somewhere several miles away.
Coming back from Las Vegas, the delay was seven hours. Apparently the pilot was out jogging, fell over and hit his head which meant he couldn't fly and we had to wait til a replacement pilot could be found.
Las Vegas airport staff said it may be possible to make a claim for the delay so, upon arrival back in the UK, I looked at the BA Expenses and Compensation website. The eligibility criteria looked like a claim would be possible so the online claim form was completed and sent off.
Managed to get compensation for the outgoing flight but the incoming flight claim was refused. This was the email received from BA;
We’re sorry it was necessary to delay your flight to London Gatwick on 25 May and understand why you needed to get in contact about this. We take all reasonable measures to avoid delaying a flight and we’ll always consider if there are any alternative solutions available before we make a decision. We'd also like to thank you for your patience while we got back to you about this.
Your claim's been refused because BA2274 on 25 May was delayed because of cabin crew. A member of the cabin crew reported injured and wasn't well enough to operate the flight. Because Las Vegas isn't the main airport we operate from we didn't have a standby member of cabin crew available.
Thanks for letting us know about your expenses. We’re happy to reimburse them and have arranged a bank transfer for £63.45 in your local currency, which will be paid directly to your bank account within 28 business days. Please don't respond to this email in the next 48-72 hours, as this may delay the payment being processed.
We don’t underestimate how important it is for you to experience a high standard of service when you travel with us, and we obviously didn’t get this right on this occasion. I can assure you that your feedback is already making a difference. I’ve shared your comments with my colleagues in the relevant team, and we’ll be using them to help us improve our service.
We take all reasonable measures to avoid disruption to a flight and we always consider if there are any other alternative solutions before, we make a decision. The delay was out of our control and caused unforeseen disruption to our schedule.
Thanks again for following this up with us. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused. Please feel free to contact us if we can help you any further and I hope we have the chance to welcome you on board again soon.
Best regards
Sahil
British Airways Customer Relations
So....aside from looking like the email was written by a 7 year old, is it worth pursuing this?
The £63 was for a couple of meals and coffees. They were happy to pay this so why not the compensation?
Any advice gratefully received.
Coming back from Las Vegas, the delay was seven hours. Apparently the pilot was out jogging, fell over and hit his head which meant he couldn't fly and we had to wait til a replacement pilot could be found.
Las Vegas airport staff said it may be possible to make a claim for the delay so, upon arrival back in the UK, I looked at the BA Expenses and Compensation website. The eligibility criteria looked like a claim would be possible so the online claim form was completed and sent off.
Managed to get compensation for the outgoing flight but the incoming flight claim was refused. This was the email received from BA;
We’re sorry it was necessary to delay your flight to London Gatwick on 25 May and understand why you needed to get in contact about this. We take all reasonable measures to avoid delaying a flight and we’ll always consider if there are any alternative solutions available before we make a decision. We'd also like to thank you for your patience while we got back to you about this.
Your claim's been refused because BA2274 on 25 May was delayed because of cabin crew. A member of the cabin crew reported injured and wasn't well enough to operate the flight. Because Las Vegas isn't the main airport we operate from we didn't have a standby member of cabin crew available.
Thanks for letting us know about your expenses. We’re happy to reimburse them and have arranged a bank transfer for £63.45 in your local currency, which will be paid directly to your bank account within 28 business days. Please don't respond to this email in the next 48-72 hours, as this may delay the payment being processed.
We don’t underestimate how important it is for you to experience a high standard of service when you travel with us, and we obviously didn’t get this right on this occasion. I can assure you that your feedback is already making a difference. I’ve shared your comments with my colleagues in the relevant team, and we’ll be using them to help us improve our service.
We take all reasonable measures to avoid disruption to a flight and we always consider if there are any other alternative solutions before, we make a decision. The delay was out of our control and caused unforeseen disruption to our schedule.
Thanks again for following this up with us. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused. Please feel free to contact us if we can help you any further and I hope we have the chance to welcome you on board again soon.
Best regards
Sahil
British Airways Customer Relations
So....aside from looking like the email was written by a 7 year old, is it worth pursuing this?
The £63 was for a couple of meals and coffees. They were happy to pay this so why not the compensation?
Any advice gratefully received.
8.4L 154 said:
Given the recent court ruling I'd say get back in touch as crew sickness has now been found not to be extraordinary circumstances for EU261
Apologies for being Flight Captain Pedantic but that should be UK261 
But this, go back and ask for the specifics. Be reasonable and civil because you can take this higher and the first thing they'll ask for are all communications.
I went through this rigmarole with Air Europa last year, I spent 10 hours in Gatwick because the jet bridge had struck the aircraft, this exact scenario was listed on the EC261 website and they still claimed "extraordinary circumstances". At the airport all they offered us was a £5 voucher that barely covered a sandwich from Boots (I ended up paying for my own lunch), they did accommodate me in Madrid because I'd missed my connecting flight though.
Your next step if they still deny your claim and you still think you have a case is to see if they are part of the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme:
https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers-and-public/resolv...
You can lodge a claim with the ADR and they work with the airline to hear your case.
Air Europa didn't have an ADR, so I ended up having to go to PACT (Passenger Advice and Complaints Team) who are part of the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority),
https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers-and-public/resolv...
Keep in mind, if the ADR sides with the airline you're unlikely to get anywhere with PACT as the ADRs should be working with governmental aviation authorities (CAA/FAA/et al.).
PACT ended up ruling in my favour (they'd had a few claims for this incident, so I'm clearly not the only one who lodged one) but the whole thing took about 6 months... then about 2 weeks for Air Europa to stump up the £500 odd. I won't say I'll never fly Air Europa again, but they are at the bottom of the list for completely unrelated reasons (erm... namely the planes and terrible seats).
Don't ever go through one of those dodgy claims management companies that turn up on Google... the paperwork is easy and doesn't take long and it's easy, it's just a load of hurry up and wait. They'll just take £250 for doing nothing.
Edited by captain_cynic on Thursday 11th July 18:17
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