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My friend flew SAN-LHR, and unfortunately the flight was delayed by 3.5 hours. They were told this was due to the pilot having a road traffic accident (hope that they are ok). Their claim has been declined stating no compensation is due as the delay was due to staff sickness. Should she pursue this further? (Flight was on 19 Apr) thanks
Staff sickness is not an exceptional circumstance that an airline can use to exempt themselves from compensation. Though plenty of airlines try it on, it’s rejected as a valid excuse in court.
However unfortunately on SAN-LHR it’s a longer journey, and so the delay would have to be at least 4 or 5 hours (I forget which) for any compo. If it was a short haul journey with this length of delay, compo would be applicable. If it was a longer delay, on this journey from SAN to LHR then compo would be applicable but only if the aircraft was operated by an airline based in the UK or Europe (not if the aircraft was an AA aircraft though, say).
The point when you actually count as having arrived, for the purposes of calculating delay, is that you have arrived when the door of the aircraft is open so that the first passenger can step out of the aircraft, AND the ramp or stairs are connected and have been made available for that first passenger to use. So if the guy connecting the stairs or ramp is still fiddling with it, even if the door is open, the first passenger won’t be able to step onto the stairs or ramp, and so the plane hasn’t arrived till that first passenger is allowed to take that first step onto the ramp or stairs.
This means you ignore all the “welcome to x place the time is x” tannoy announcements as soon as your plane lands on the runway or on the taxiing, you have not actually landed till the aircraft is parked and the above has happened.
Was the inbound flight late due to an accident involving a pilot? Or did the accident which involved the pilot occur in SAN? If the latter, I’d not put up much of a fight for compo. The former should be payable I believe.
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