BA operational reasons?

[Mart]

We had a mad-lhr-man booking with ba
We landed into lhr 15 mins late and went to the transfer gate to be denied access and told to rebook,which we did.The next flight was over 5hrs difference.
I filled in a claim form to be denied due to operational reasons?
The pilot never said why we late.
How should I proceed ?

[JDB]

Unfortunately, ‘operational reasons’ can cover a multitude of sins, some of which may count as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and many which don’t. I would respond to BA using the reply function stating that simply citing ‘operational reasons’ is not a valid basis for refusing UK261 and that unless they either provide evidence that BA was both affected by ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and took reasonable measures or simply pay the compensation within 14 days you will escalate the matter to CEDR.

If they respond positively (relatively low chance!) you have bypassed a few months of CEDR delay but if they either don’t respond or still say no, BA will have to provide evidence to CEDR to rebut your claim.

[Colin MacKinnon]

And people say BA is wonderful annd keep booking them via Heathrow for short-haul. And Ryanair is bad because of scatter seating and various charges that allow them direct flights with much cheaper pricing (even after their charges!) than BA.

Not victim blaming here – OP may have a perfectly valid reason like Frogee had (not having to get kids to the airport for a 6am flight!).

But I got caught with a Mad-LHR- Edi delay once that mean 6hrs in LHR and an arrival after the only EasyJet direct flight.

Now I have a great lunch in Madrid and go EasyJet. And after last weekend’s experience on an Edi-Lhr, I’ll be flying direct to the USA from Edi.

Good luck with the compo, hope you get it.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Mart wrote:

How should I proceed ?

Tell us the date of the flight. It’s easy enough for anyone to google the weather for that date or if there were ATC or other strikes or other incidents that would preclude compensation.

[Mart]

Hi it was the ba0457 on the 14th of November
Then we were connecting onto the ba1394 to Manchester but we’re rebooked onto ba1398

They have replied again saying

I understand your flight was delayed, however in addition to the Operational Reasons, your flight to London Heathrow lost 10 minuets in the air, which was out of our control and therefore took your transfer from the minimum 1 hour time to 50 minuets which was why you were rebooked, and it means you’re not eligible for compensation.

[JDB]

Mart wrote:

Hi it was the ba0457 on the 14th of November
Then we were connecting onto the ba1394 to Manchester but we’re rebooked onto ba1398

They have replied again saying

I understand your flight was delayed, however in addition to the Operational Reasons, your flight to London Heathrow lost 10 minuets in the air, which was out of our control and therefore took your transfer from the minimum 1 hour time to 50 minuets which was why you were rebooked, and it means you’re not eligible for compensation.

Well, a rower might say that’s a load of rowlocks but it’s quite helpful in that you have drawn out a reason that fails to justify the refusal. BA can’t rely on ifs and buts and it’s your total journey time that is the issue, not the missed connection. The ten minutes they reference must be accepted to be within the normal operations of a flight and the 15 minute delay on arrival didn’t or barely qualified as a delay given that is the leeway they allow.

I wouldn’t bother engaging further with BA – just go to CEDR and as part of the claim note that BA has been given two opportunities to provide details/evidence of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ but has provided none such that any new assertion should be treated with great caution and based on the responses, your compensation should already have been paid.

[Lady London]

Colin MacKinnon wrote:

…. And after last weekend’s experience on an Edi-Lhr, I’ll be flying direct to the USA from Edi.

What was your exciting experience EDI-LHR last week with BA, @ColinMac?

[Mikeact]

Lady London wrote:

Colin MacKinnon wrote:

…. And after last weekend’s experience on an Edi-Lhr, I’ll be flying direct to the USA from Edi.

What was your exciting experience EDI-LHR last week with BA, @ColinMac?

I might add him to my list, ‘Never Again, BA’….just keeping an eye on people.

[Mart]

Update
went to CEDR and we accepted the full claim today
thanks for your help