[Anonymous]

[nathinfor]

Hello,

I was due to fly to Sao Paulo with BA and then have a connecting flight on a separate ticket to Rio.

The flight to Sao Paulo was delayed by over 12 hours due to a technical problem which couldn’t be solved in time for the current staff not to exceed their normal working time. As it was late in the evening, no new staff could take over. Hence the 12 hours delay.

I manage to have BA reroute me to a flight direct to Rio (since I lost my connecting flight further to BA delays and I would have arrived late at night in Sao Paulo with no possibility of connecting to Rio that day anyway). I still arrived 12 hours late to my final destination…

BA offered me some miles in compensation (not very helpful as it is next to impossible to book a flight with those if you have a normal work schedule and no visibility beyond 9 months).

When I asked about financial compensation, I was told that the flight was not cancelled and therefore BA was not obliged to proceed to any financial compensation under EU regulations.

Can anybody please share his views on this? Can BA seriously take me to my final destination with 12 hours delay with no penalties despite the delay being caused by something that is their responsibility (technical fault = lack of investment, lack of available crew = BA poor planning of staff ressources)??

Thanks in advance.

[Tim2soza]

My view (I could be wrong):

You contract was with BA to fly you to Sao Paulo, not the final destination. They are only responsible for the delays to the journey they caused, not the consequential knock on effects. Your insurance company is the place to turn to for additional costs. Airlines do not sell you a guarantee of journey time, and it sounds like they did the best they can, and got you to your end destination despite not booking the 2nd leg with them. Also bear in mind that if you were flying from London, there is a night curfew on departures, so having an available crew and aircraft may not have solved the problem.

[Hippocampus]

I think in the circumstances BA rerouting you direct to Rio de Janeiro was reasonable.

Tech delays are frustrating but they are not necessarily a consequence of lack of forward planning by the airline.

[VectorOne]

Yes, you are entitled to financial compensation under EU legislation. BA should have informed you in writing of your entitlements at the time of the delay, in addition to providing you with a meal and a phone card.

The additional cash element of your compensation depends on (1) the journey distance (2) the length of delay. It can be as much as Euro600 from what I remember. Do a Google search and you will find the relevant information. Just hold onto your boarding card and submit your claim to BA in writing. There is also a Dutch company who will process the claim on your behalf, including taking BA to court if necessary, for 20% of the compensation received. Again, a Google search will yield results.

A tech delay is the airlines fault, and 12 hours is totally unacceptable especially if the flight was originating in LHR/LGW (with additional aircraft, crew, spare parts, engineers at their disposal). It is your choice whether you wish to pursue them for compensation, given that they re-routed you. You are however, entitled to claim for financial compensation.

[FormerlyDoS]

VectorOne

Sorry to disagree with you, but at present all cases are on hold in the UK, until a ruling is received from the ECJ.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10991631

[RichHI1]

From a non legal perspective there is protection under EU legislation for delay as well as cancellation. It may well be UK carriers are fighting cases to try to avoid tgeir liabilities. When the ECJ ulimately upholds EU legislation you will be entitled to some compensation probably. As BA rerouted you to your destination you would find consequential loss difficult to adduce. Possibly lost time for a business trip. Lesson to learn is when flying to Brazil ans connecting fly TAM and when flying to Gig take direct on BA or Tam.

[AMcWhirter]

“”All cases are on hold in the UK, until a ruling is received from the ECJ”

There’s still no ruling yet … but the EU Court of Justice passed down a non-binding opinion today:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-15/lufthansa-iag-may-lose-on-delayed-flight-cash-court-aide-says.html

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