Originally Posted by
wiggy
aox
It does apply to airlines.
If the airline makes the decision to transfer passengers to another operator then the airline pays, I've certainly known it happen at BA if for example an aircraft goes "tech". Sounds similar to the ferry situation you describe.
If OTOH a passengers decide that rather than waiting for the original airline come up with a reasonable solution that resolves the problem ( e.g. put them on a later flight) they'd rather make alternative arrangements with another operator I suspect legally the situation is different - though I fully understand why there might be good and understable reasons for passengers taking that course of action.
Trouble is, that causes even more problems and gives more freedom for the guilty airlines to mess around their customers.
Last month the daughter was due to fly AA LHR > DFW > AUS. By the way, AA because the BA direct flight was full in Y class although that might change in the future given this weekend. She was going to Austin to give a lecture to a Global Conference - £3,500 fee, travel costs up to her.
Anyway, at 06.30 on the day of departure, she received a sms from AA saying her flight was cancelled and to call AA reservations. A quick check on FR24 showed the inbound flight had diverted back to DFW from somewhere over Illinois, presumably tech problems. She called, and AA rebooked her on a BA flight to ORD with a 90 minutes connecting time to AUS. No problem, she assumed, I'll be at AUS a bit later than planned, and although I'll miss the Welcome Cocktail Party on Wednesday evening,at least I'll be there for Thursday morning's Conference opening.
The BA flight left LHR 90 minutes late, and arrived 90 minutes late at ORD, around 20.10, the scheduled time for her AA connection to AUS. No problem, she assumed, I'll be roomed overnight, fed and watered by BA or AA and an early morning flight to Austin and I'll only be a couple of hours late for the Conference opening and in time to give her speech on the Thursday afternoon.
Well, would you know, AA only have two flights per day ORD > AUS, and the morning flight was already full and overbooked. The only offer from BA was the 20.10 flight, which she took, eventually arriving in AUS almost 36 hours late.
Result ? She lost her £3,500 fee and incurred about £1,300 flight and hotel costs.
Since then, she's been knocked backwards and forwards by both AA and BA in trying to reclaim her lost fee and expenses - AA have offered her standard EU compensation for her cancelled LHR > DFW flight, but insist her beef should be with BA who caused her missed connection in ORD. BA say they have no duty to reimburse her anything because her LHR flight to ORD was only 90 minutes late and so inside the 120 mintes EU cut-off, and they roomed, fed and watered her at ORD.
Having spent 20-odd years bitching about sleezy ambulance chasing lawyers and, more recently, reading about the PPI spivs in the UK, I've now advised her to contact one of the numerous 'Was your flight delayed' touts, which, hopefully, will cost both AA and BA more than she actually lost in fees and expenses. They've both had their chance to be reasonable, even if not generous, and I hope she screws them both.