[Edski777]

Why don’t you consult one of the EU261 claim organizations? They have both the legal knowledge and the experience.
Based on my own experience BA has very little chance to win in your case. In both arguments you describe there no extraordinary circumstances. Both situations seem to be caused by management decisions and BA doesn’t offer information to contradict this. If a judge follows this, and I can’t see why not, BA will have to pay up.

[TominScotland]

Off topic but related to EU261, anybody have any thoughts as to whether this entitlement will survive the Great Repeal Bill longer-term? Clearly, it will still operate on flights to/ from the EU but will/ should a UK law be enacted to keep it in place for other travel (such as to Jeddah)?

[Edski777]

Tom, I think EU 261 will only apply to EU irlines. As Britain will leave in 2 years time it would be a logical step for BA, Easyjet and other British airlines to scrap this rule. It would save them a lot of money. I believe that under a Tory government the UK will revert to a US-like situation where the level os service and consumer protection is absolutely sub-standard compared to the current EU situation.
From a passenger’s point of view, especially those living in the EU, it would be a reason not to fly a British based/registered airline any longer.

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=797053]Why don’t you consult one of the EU261 claim organizations? They have both the legal knowledge and the experience.
Based on my own experience BA has very little chance to win in your case. In both arguments you describe there no extraordinary circumstances. Both situations seem to be caused by management decisions and BA doesn’t offer information to contradict this. If a judge follows this, and I can’t see why not, BA will have to pay up.

[/quote]

I concur – the answer is worthy of the chavvy company that BA has become.

[AMcWhirter]

Tom – There is much still to be discussed. Aviation treaties may or will have to be rewritten.

This piece today from The Independent explains matters from the EU viewpoint.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ryanair-easyjet-brexit-uk-airlines-move-eu-europe-lose-major-flight-routes-a7643506.html

[Christian]

Had exactly the same situation. No chance to get compensation. So I decided to sue BA. They paid immediatly the compensation and all legal costs.

[DavidSmith2]

Last year I had a flight booked with BA, through ba.com. The return flight was cancelled some weeks in advance and I was re-booked on Iberia, with a connection in Madrid. The connection failed and we had to overnight in Madrid (not enhanced by the fact that we were put in a ‘hostel’ in the middle of a business park with a single canteen which served assorted ‘slop’ which could be enhanced by a single glass of wine).

I wrote to BA and they immediately said I should write to Iberia as this was not a matter for BA. I replied accepting that Iberia would be liable but that, as the booking company, and given they have the same owners, BA should initiate this. They refused, so I repeated my request but, this time, I copied in the head of customer relations into the email. That worked and Iberia contacted me to provide details.

I wrote to Iberia and got their standard reply that this was not covered by EU261. I replied and said it most definitely was and threatened legal action. Again a brush off, so I re-submitted my email, this time copied to the head of customer relations of Iberia.

The next day I was phoned up by Iberia to say they had accepted my claim and a payment would be made to my bank account. 10 days later the full payment was received.

So the moral, is bypass the process and copy in someone senior in the respective organisations and it seems to get things moving.

[LuganoPirate]

My understanding is all airlines flying to/ from the EU fall under EU261. As for non EU flights there could be no compensation but this is something that will make BA, VS etc very happy. Most if not all EU airlines would also love to dump EU261 if they could.

As for inter EU flights, yes, unless Easy etc establish EU bases they will have problems. But they employ so many people and provide such huge revenues to airports, suppliers etc that again to stop them from flying would be for the EU to cut off their nose to spite their face.

TM is threatening a hard Brexit and the EU are threatening a doomsday scenario towards the UK, but these are just opening tactics before the negotiations. The EU have far much more to lose and aviation is quite small in the overall scheme of things, so I’m sure a deal will be made.

Just a small matter, free from the burden of EU regulation and taxes fares from the UK to the US, ME etc will drop, perhaps by as much as 25%. In order to get those savings EU passengers will travel ex LHR in droves much to the chagrin of AF etc.

No, a deal will be done.

[DavidSmith2]

[quote quote=797407]My understanding is all airlines flying to/ from the EU fall under EU261. As for non EU flights there could be no compensation but this is something that will make BA, VS etc very happy. Most if not all EU airlines would also love to dump EU261 if they could.

As for inter EU flights, yes, unless Easy etc establish EU bases they will have problems. But they employ so many people and provide such huge revenues to airports, suppliers etc that again to stop them from flying would be for the EU to cut off their nose to spite their face

TM is threatening a hard Brexit and the EU are threatening a doomsday scenario towards the UK, but these are just opening tactics before the negotiations. The EU have far much more to lose and aviation is quite small in the overall scheme of things, so I’m sure a deal will be made.

Just a small matter, free from the burden of EU regulation and taxes fares from the UK to the US, ME etc will drop, perhaps by as much as 25%. In order to get those savings EU passengers will travel ex LHR in droves much to the chagrin of AF etc.

No, a deal will be done.

[/quote]

Lugano,

Without getting to political (and maybe this should be a separate thead?), but which tax changes do you think could result in a 25% reduction in non-EU air fares?

[LuganoPirate]

Not just taxes David, but carbon emissions tax is one cost saving.

[Edski777]

LP, I’m not too hopefull about lowering taxes and passing the savings on to passengers following a Brexit. The Brexit (and certainly a hard Brexit) will, according to most economists, lower the economic output and therefor result in a lower income for the government, meaning a larger budget deficit. This means the UK will have to borrow so more and against a higher interest rate as the UK ouside of the UK will be most likely be downgraded by the rating agencies. Also, the price of imports will rise as the pound devaluates.
My expectation is that the man in the street and businesses will have to foot the bill of a Brexit. Taxes are more likely to rise and foreign airlines will, due to the devaluation and therefor unattractive exchange rate, see their income in US$ or their local currency drop.
On the other hand: don’t expect competitors to sit on their hands. The idea that the EU will accept the UK to gain too much out of a Brexit is at best wishfull thinking.

My guess would be that for the near future not much will change for EU travellers and that the situation for UK citizens and companies will certainly not improve.
And the largest non-EU flights operator in the UK, BA, with their focus on their shareholders and bottom line, in stead of providing a quality product to customers, doesn’t help either.
A 25% reduction in non-EU air fares: I wish, but if it sounds too good to be true…..

[travelworld]

A brush off from BA- they say that they are not required to pay compensation when a flight is cancelled owing to strike action. They haven’t addressed the fact that the crew who were on strike on the relevant day were those from Mixed Fleet, who do not operate the flight I was on (so presumably the legacy crew who do were rostered on to a Mixed fleet route on the day in question). Nor do they deal with the CAA advice that strikes of the airline’s own staff do not count as exceptional circumstances under EU261 unless they were “wildcat”- which these weren’t. They have asked me not to write to them again as they will not change their mind. So five minutes on Money Claim On line tonight has seen a claim issued against them by me. Now the local County Court will decide.

[Markyah]

BA cancelled my flight to Inverness the day before Storm Doris arrived. They offered me a full refund which I accepted and completed the necessary form and had this acknowledged by BA saying my full refund would be processed and paid shortly. I checked my credit card a week later and there was the refund but for less than a third of the price I had paid. I asked BA why and they said they had made an error and treated it as if I had cancelled rather than BA and said they would rectify it. More than a month has now passed and still no refund despite numerous tweets and telephone calls and BA admitting that the refunds department had made an error. They fobbed me off with all sorts of rubbish and I advised them that if payment was not received and cleared by today then I would issue a Money Claim (Small Claims). The final straw was getting another email from its claims department confirming that what they had refunded was correct and that was the end of the matter. Something categorically denied by another department of BA. Hopeless.

Disappointingly but not unexpectedly, since BA has not managed to keep any of its promises to date on this, I issued a claim today against BA.

One wonders if BA was trying this on and refunding a lower amount and hoping it would not be spotted. So if you have a flight cancelled make sure you get the refund due. When you will get it , however, is another matter.

A really pitiful performance from allegedly the Worlds Favourite Airline – says who?

[openfly]

The first two letters of the word battle are BA. Refunds from BA are a battle every time. Their policy must be to only pay after the claimant has made 4 calls, hoping that they will go away and BA keeps the dosh….

[Edski777]

Playing tough is not for BA only. Other airlines are known to play the same game although they seem to be more polite in their communication towards the customer. Only airline that handled it quite well in the last 3 years (2 claims) in my case was KL via facebook and a single letter.
Charter and LC operators seem to be the worst.

[Author]

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