VS11 - Cancelled... compensation ?

I was meant to be on the flight to Boston this evening which has now been cancelled. I have now got an alternative 13 hour trip tomorrow via JFK.

I understand they have said it's weather, but currently Logan has no snow and flights are arriving currently from other airlines from this side of the Atlantic. If it's been cancelled because of positioning of aircraft with problems with weather elsewhere can I claim anything.

What has really annoyed me is by being more than 24 hours late my car rental will automatically cancel its reservation and I will have to make a new one for 5 days.... which costs $600 more for one day less as it's not a discounted weekly rate.

Any views would be appreciated.

Tricky one. VS will no doubt reject your claim for compensation under EC261/2004 on the grounds that the cancellation was caused by bad weather at BOS. If that genuinely is the reason, and ATC have restricted arrivals there, you'll be out of luck.

But if the cancellation was down to the aircraft being unavailable at LHR because of bad weather on its previous journey, I'd argue that VS should have a robust enough contingency plan at its home base to be able to lay on another aircraft, so you should be entitled to €600 compensation.

I suspect VS will dig their heels in though, and you may have to threaten to go down the MCOL route or engage lawyers.

Regardless of the above, VS have a duty of care under EC261/2004 which means they must pay for a hotel, meals and transport.

They are not, however, liable for any incidental expenses like your additional car hire costs. That's what travel insurance is for.

[Darren Wheeler]

Logan is currently under a winter storm warning until 0100 EST with snow expected 6-12 inches and a gusty northerly wind leading to drifting.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/boston ... ngs/348735

FWIW, I have friends who are currently on a break in NYC & they have posted pics on Facebook today of them taking a walk in Manhattan. They are dressed for Winter & covered in a fair amount of snow. Whilst NYC is not Boston, there is clearly snowy weather on the East coast.

Early BA flight was delayed by an hour, BA arriving same time as your V was cancelled & the later BA flight was also delayed by an hour.
Los of other delays/cancellations around the 7pm landing time as well
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightSta ... Airport.do

Coincidently this was the day that the 787 went tech in Delhi (see other thread)

Could it be that VS decided to cancel the BOS flight and blame it on 'weather' because they were stretched being an aircraft down. Obviously there was a weather warning in place for the BOS area but I wonder if it would have operated if the Delhi incident hadn't occurred. Other airlines flew the route that day.

They obviously have no slack at LHR at the moment due to the fact that G-VXLG is operating there.

Just a thought.

FWIW, I have friends who are currently on a break in NYC & they have posted pics on Facebook today of them taking a walk in Manhattan. They are dressed for Winter & covered in a fair amount of snow. Whilst NYC is not Boston, there is clearly snowy weather on the East coast.

We are on the last day of our visit to family in NJ, just outside NYC. About four inches of snow Saturday here but friends living in BOS reported several feet of snow. We were in Manhattan last night and snow certainly still visible on the sidewalks. What's more startling to me is the temperature - it's just after 0800 now and is minus 13C.

I'll wave from EWR CH later today.

We are on the last day of our visit to family in NJ, just outside NYC. About four inches of snow Saturday here but friends living in BOS reported several feet of snow. We were in Manhattan last night and snow certainly still visible on the sidewalks. What's more startling to me is the temperature - it's just after 0800 now and is minus 13C.

Chilly - stay warm. A big change from two weeks ago when it was warm(ish) and wet.

It was cold in NYC on Saturday!

Snow was bad by UK standards but not by NYC / US ones.

Roads passable but slushy. Pavements depended on how much pedestrian traffic was on them (and speed of businesses clearing their frontages)


Airports of course are a different matter. Still lots of snow covered grassy areas at JFK Sunday morning but runway and taxiways all clear and flights generally operating normally - other than my AA flight which left an hour late due to a delayed pilot.

Coincidently this was the day that the 787 went tech in Delhi (see other thread)

Could it be that VS decided to cancel the BOS flight and blame it on 'weather' because they were stretched being an aircraft down. Obviously there was a weather warning in place for the BOS area but I wonder if it would have operated if the Delhi incident hadn't occurred. Other airlines flew the route that day.

They obviously have no slack at LHR at the moment due to the fact that G-VXLG is operating there.

Just a thought.

Doubt it, as BA flight due to arrive the same time was also cancelled, as well as a lot of Domestic & International flights.

Indeed. No chance of EC261/2004 compensation here I'm afraid.