British Airways offering you EU compensation as Avios – at a poor rate

Joseph says:

Hi

Hoping someone here may have some insight into my experiences with BA on a delayed flight in September.
I was booked on a Baltiimore BWI to London Heathrow flight (BA 0228) on 6th September 2016. I arrived in plenty of time to check in my bag with my pre-printed boarding pass but was told by BA check in they were having a small technical issue and everybody would have to wait. Very little updates from BA but after a couple of hours waiting in line it was confirmed that there were problems with the BA computers and if necessary BA would switch to manual check in. (Around this time I discovered I was one of only a handful of passengers who had managed to check in and print my pass, not that it seemed to help me at all)

Finally we did go manual which was sloooow and the flight due to depart at 21.50 left around 1.00 am. And almost worse still was that the flight was full and the inflight entertainment was not working.

We then landed at Heathrow at 13.57 (by BA’s own flight checker) delayed from 9.55am. So just over the magic 4 hours by my calculation. I thought raising an immediate complaint via the BA website ought to be relatively clear cut. Over 3 weeks later I received a response from BA that they were sorry to hear about the delay and (non) entertainment system but:

“Your claim’s been refused because BA0228 on 06 September was delayed because of airspace restrictions being in place that operational circumstances outside of our control. We always concern about our passengers’ safety. Under EU legislation, I’m afraid we’re not liable for a compensation payment in this situation.

We take all reasonable measures to avoid delaying a flight and we always consider if there are any operational options available before we make a decision. We’re very sorry the delay was necessary in this case.” And that they have instead credited by BA account with 3,000 Avios.

I’m very surprised to hear about the “airspace restrictions” as this was never mentioned by check in staff or the pilot/staff when apologising for the delays. Of course upon returning to London I discover on the news that ‘IT glitches’ have caused chaos with BA check in and flights, worldwide.

So my question is, am I being naive in even wondering if BA could be telling porkies about the airspace restrictions? Or if there were some sort of airspace restrictions they don’t change the fact that the BA IT glitch was the primary cause. Should I persist with BA or consider the small claims route?

Any pointers or similar experiences gratefully received. Apologies for the long rambly post but I noted elsewhere that a poster was asked for fuller details.

Thanks