Connecting Flight Cancelled Leading to Overnight Delays

[techno20]

Hello all,

 

I bought a flight from Virgin Atlantic for Manchester to Boston via NYC, which arrived 12 hours late at the final destination (Boston) due to a cancelled connecting Delta codeshare flight. What are my options for compensation?

 

The first leg was operated by Virgin and arrived roughly on time at JFK. I received a message once landing from Virgin to say that my connecting flight (JFK to Boston at 10PM VS4611) had been cancelled and that they were rebooking me, followed by a message to say I had been rebooked on a flight for the following morning at 9.50AM local time (DL5595). I arrived in Boston at 10.46AM, almost 12 hours after my original arrival time of 11PM the previous evening.

 

I was given 2 reasons for the delay - weather and air traffic control.

 

I went to claim compensation but Virgin says to get in touch with the operating airline (Delta in this case) - what should I do? Is this worth pursusing or is it a lost cause?

 

 

[Kyosanto]

Virgin is right: the operating carrier is responsible for your compensation, ie, Delta.

 

As your flight departed from Europe you are entitled to 600 Euros compensation under EC261, as long as your connecting flight was part of the same PNR. (Technically at least... might be a bit harder to enforce with a US airline, the delay compensation is not part of EC261 but is jurisprudence in most EU courts....)

 

You are also entitled to have expenses for your hotel night, food you had during the 11 hour delay, and reasonable expenses (Ie: toiletries, change of clothing) refunded. I hope that you kept your receipts! Otherwise try and submit your credit card statement.

 

You will find tons of online sollicitors who do the claims for you: best to not use their services and do the claim yourself, it's fairly simple.

 

I would start by getting in touch with Delta and requesting 600 euros + your expenses. It's more than possible they will pay up.

Keep us up to date

Edited September 13, 2022 by Kyosanto

[FTMDave]

Open.

[techno20]

Hello,

 

After a few months I finally received a reply from AirFrance, on behalf of Delta

 

Do you think it's worth continuing to pursue or should I just push to get the hotel expense back (£205)

 

Dear XXX, Thank you for your e-mail dated October 27th, 2022, regarding inconvenience caused to you on DLXXX from New York to Boston. We regret to note that you were unable to travel as planned and please accept our sincere apology. Please allow us to inform you that as Delta is a non-EU/EEA based airline, this regulation does not apply when departing from an airport not located in the EU/EEA. Since this flight departed from New York(Non-EU) zone, the right to compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004 does not exist. Therefore, we must respectfully deny your request for compensation. Furthermore, to provide you the reimbursement of the additional expenses, we would require the bank details. Hence, In order to assist you further please provide us the mandatory complete details of your bank account. 1. Name of the bank 2. Name of the account holder 3. City where the account is held 4. IBAN (ex: IBAN GBXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX ) 5. BIC/Swift code Please be so kind as to contact us again by clicking on the “Reply” button function of your e-mail quoting your reference C-XXXXX. Upon receiving a reply from you, I shall respond at the earliest. Best regards,   Sachin Singh Pundir Air France KLM Customer Care Assistant

Edited February 28, 2023 by techno20

[Kyosanto]

Hi, first of all thanks for your update, it's good news that they seem prepared to pay your expenses without batting an eyelid. Although it did take them 5 months... (legal requirement is 7 days) We will use that to our avantage later. Anyway send them your bank details and get that out of the way first and foremost.

 

(In case you were wondering Air France take care of Delta customer support in the UK and Delta does the opposite in the US, so it's normal that they were the ones to reply to you)

 

Regarding your EC261 claim, you should pursue, but first you need to answer my original question:

 

Did you travel as part of one single PNR/Ticket number?

 

If you did, but only if, then the European court of Justice ruled that all connecting flights should apply as if you had been connecting in the EU. See here:

New compensation rules for delayed transfer flights outside EU (euclaim.com)

 

So in this case Air France is being dishonest with you when it is trying to sweep it under the rug as a flight that originated outside the jurisdiction of the law. 

 

 

If you travelled with multiple tickets because you broke down the fees, or you bought them with some shady OTA who combined separate tickets to save you a few bucks, then Air France is right and you should drop your EC261 claim. 

Evenso, if you suffered any quantifiable damages, you could stil demand compensation from Delta. Americans are very court happy and would most certainly threaten the airline, and usually obtain at least some vouchers as a result.

Edited February 28, 2023 by Kyosanto

[techno20]

Thanks for the update. I bought the ticket all as part of one PNR through Virgin Atlantic I believe. I bought the flight from Manchester to Boston and another flight from Washington to Manchester.

 

What would you recommend I send to them? Also, when? Should I sort the expenses first and then send or?

 

 

 

[Kyosanto]

Good, you're in the clear.

For peace of mind I would first give them just your bank details (without making any comments on anything else) and wait for them to pay in. (Through my own experiences with AFKL they have always been somewhat decent, so I doubt they would try something nasty, but it's a safe way to proceed in general).

 

Once that's out of the way, you can reply something like "I have received my expenses paid, thank you. However I must inform you that - as we both know - the European court of Justice has ruled that connecting flights departing outside the EU do not affect a passenger's right to claim under EC261 when the journey did originate in an applicable state where the law applies. Please note that I do not appreciate you trying to unlawfully deny me my rights to claim under EC261. May I also remind you that your legal obligation is to issue the compensation within 7 days and I have already waited X months which is unacceptable. Please be informed that unless you process my EC261 compensation within the next X business days. I will be forced to lodge a formal complaint with the relevant regulatory authorities. You can consider this my letter of intent"

 

...or similar

[Kyosanto]

Once you have your final rejection, you have 2 options:

• Complain to the ADR agency, which both Delta and Virgin use: Airline Complaints | Resolving Airline and Airport Disputes | AviationADR 
• Launch direct legal action yourself

(the important is that you have tried with the airline first and retained the evidence) before you take one of the above steps.

 

...always the chance your letter will make them budge though!

[techno20]

Thanks Kyosanto. I am waiting for the payment to clear tomorrow and then I'll send the email. I'll let you know how I get on.

[techno20]

I sent across on March 8th. I've still not received any reply. Should I send a follow up next Monday or go straight to complaining?

 

 

[Kyosanto]

How long did you give them? Stick to your guns and launch the ADR complaint when the time is up.

 

If the time is not up yet, chase them and loop in the Air France CEO: [email protected]

[techno20]

Thanks Kyosanto. I gave 10 business days on 8th so we are on day 7 of that currently.

 

Will send a chaser now.

 

 

[techno20]

Hi Kyosanto,

 

Still not received any response from the above. Any recommendations on next steps?

[Kyosanto]

Launch the ADR complaint without delay. You're already 37 days overdue. You lose negotiating power if you don't stick to the timelines you have stated.

[techno20]

Thanks Kyosanto. Complaint submitted. Let's wait and see.

[Kyosanto]

Keep us up to date when you hear back 

[techno20]

Great news. They've offerred to settle at £520 via the platform. Assuming I should accept this offer?

Thank you very much for your help!

[Kyosanto]

Yes, that is your statutory UK261 £520 so do accept it, but they also paid your expenses already, right? You should have got both.

So by the platform you mean the ADR website? It's good to know that it worked well so thanks a bunch for coming back here and letting us know.

[techno20]

Yes indeed. On all the above. Thank you very much for your help!

 

[honeybee13]

Well done and well done also to Kyosanto.

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