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Good evening. I’m aware there has been a similar post very recently so apologies for any repetition but I wanted to understand a couple of points further if anyone could please advise.
Our BA flight back from Cairo on 12th April was delayed 4.5 hours due to crew sickness (as advised by crew on board at the time). We submitted a claim via the webform which we have received the following reply:
“Your claim’s been refused because BA401 on 12 April was delayed because of sickness of our First Officer.
First Officer reported sick and wasn’t well enough to operate the flight. Because Cairo airport isn’t the main airport we operate from we didn’t have a standby officer available.
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.”I understand I now have the choice of sitting out the 8 weeks before going to CEDR, or replying to BA in the interim. There is an option to reply online through our case reference number, is there any disadvantage to doing so rather than in writing to BA Legal as I’ve seen sometimes recommended on here?
I am aware of the Lipton vs City Flyer case and was half expecting a response to include a delay pending the outcome but it seems rather vague/lacking in argument. As I believe our claim would be a UK261 rather than EC261 then I understand this case would be directly relevant. Would there be any merit to include reference to the previous Lipton court decision (made before the Supreme Court appeal) and/or the ECJ decision @JDB references in the recent thread (or any other cases)? Many thanks!
JDB gave you perfect text in the identical situation on the other thread so it’s really not clear why you’re hesitating.
I don’t even think it’s as sophisticated as BA denying claims that are so open and shut just because they’d be hoping to win an appeal many months in the future. Any judgment is unlikely to be retroactive anyway.
It’s just BA poor or deliberately incorrect training of agents or agent has misunderstood. Don’t let yourself be worn down just send the response JDB gave adapting to your own flight details. If BA says they’ve given their final answer or refuses to deal further after you do that next, then make a note of who said that when by what means and then you don’t have to hang around the usual 8 weeks or so.
The previous BA flight to CAI left LHR at 18:36 hrs BST the day before, I’m curious as to when it was known that the FO to operate BA401 reported sick.
@LauraR – I would go back to BA with the previous script, there’s nothing to be lost and I would expect to get a response from them quite quickly. Doing this (including the ending that you seek a response within x days failing which you will escalate to CEDR or MCOL without further reference to them) will roll up chasing a response and writing to the legal department which has completely lost its sting/useful effect through overuse.
I wouldn’t particularly mention Lipton either way – as it’s the subject of an appeal it can’t really be used. I don’t think BA is trying to play for time pending a judgment as it has been a fairly standard response for years notwithstanding the ECJ and CofA decisions. Any judgment that changes the current position would be fairly seismic and would affect your case immediately if not settled prior to the decision. There are many who view some ECJ decisions on EC261 as judicial overreach, but we shall see. You should be able to go to CEDR once BA has responded
Thank you @Lady London and @JDB for your quick responses, I am overthinking the details and will get right back to them now!
@Richie – Good point. We got the notification of the impending delay at 9pm BST the evening before by email. We also were told the Cairo crews have 2 days downroute and there’s 2 flights a day..
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