As you know, I’ve been struggling with US Airways on my cousin’s behalf for three weeks. She was on Flight 707 set to depart Munich on Wednesday, August 1st. Due to delays, she ended up spending two nights in Munich and one night in Philadelphia, finally arriving in Dallas on Saturday, August 4th.
I’ve chronicled my ordeal with US Airways in several previous posts (Pack For a Few Days Extra on International Flights, On Hold For an Hour With US Airways, and US Airways on Redial).
At the center of the argument with US Airways is EU Regulation EC 261 which leads one to believe that my cousin and others who have to deal with cancellations and extended delays on flights flying to and from an EU country are due 600 Euros in cash compensation. (US Airways EC 261 Handout provided to my cousin)
Now, I would like to lay out the steps and missteps I have taken over the last three weeks to finally get a claim filed, and I will relay what US Airways has to say on their behalf. My hope is that this will help all of you who have left comments that were on this flight and asked questions regarding Flight 707 and the EU Regulation.
The gory details are outlined next — long story short — a $600 voucher has now been offered instead of the $900 in cash — So, I now pose a question:
Should my cousin and I accept the $600 voucher and just be happy that we got anything, or should we fight on and take our claim to the EU? (Note I am itching for a tussle)
Post in the comments if you think I should go to the last step (appealing to the EU) or not!
My first impression was that no one had any idea what was going on. It took a call to Munich and a nice woman working at the airport (not for US Airways) to even figure out where my cousin was and when she had finally taken off for the States. Once my cousin arrived and I saw the paperwork US Airways had given her, I set out to make the claim. After being put on hold for over 80 minutes on more than one occasion,
I finally got the direct customer relations number to call. I dealt with ridiculously long holds again before someone directed me to the US Airways Customer Relations Contact Page on their website. It’s now clear to me that the airline monitors this page much better than they monitor phone calls. Submit your claim to Customer Relations and be sure to include passenger name, email address, ticket number, and the record locator if you have it.
After I contacted them online, I got a quick email response offering my cousin an apology and a $250 voucher for US Airways. I responded via email and thanked them for the apology, but stated clearly that under the EU Regulation my cousin was due 600 Euros in cash and that the voucher hardly covered that.
Today, I received a response to that email, and it seems that US Airways is relying on the old Get Out of Jail Free Card. They have offered my cousin an electronic voucher for $600 (about 443.25 Euros), but claim they cannot honor EC 261. Here is a bit of what US Airways had to say:
This was an unforeseen situation and we are truly sorry that your travel to Philadelphia was interrupted. As the safety of our passengers and crew is our number one priority, we will not operate an aircraft that compromises this objective. A thorough investigation of this incident revealed your original flight was canceled due to a fuel flow problem. Accordingly, the aircraft was grounded in order to complete required maintenance…
Now, there are five extraordinary circumstances given by the EU that could prevent the airline from having to pay the 600 Euros. They are: 1) political instability, 2) meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight, 3) security, 4) unexpected flight safety shortcomings and 5) strikes.
According to the commission heading up EC 261, …experience has shown that, in most cases, airlines invoke these extraordinary circumstances when facing a cancellation. Of course, the airlines determine what are and aren’t unexpected safety shortcomings, so I can only assume that that is where US Airways is going with this, despite the fact that a fuel flow problem could be seen as an ordinary maintenance issue.
So, the battle has been a long one. I have filed the claim, gone back and forth over and over, and received a final offer.” My prodding has led US Airways from no response, to a $250 voucher, to a $600 voucher.
If you follow the money, approximately 150 passengers would be due $900 or $135,000 — my guess is that is enough to put have their lawyers put this into the deep freeze, no matter what I do next …
I hope this will help any of you who find yourselves in a similar situation on trans-Atlantic travel.
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Pingback by Rick Seaney » Pack For A Few Days Extra on International Flights — August 22, 2007 @ 4:47 pm
go get ‘em, rick. if you don’t go see what happens, who will? they hire customer relations employees who can type 1 1/2 page letters in legalese, in hopes that the customer will take their final offer. i’m sure in 95% of the cases, they never hear back from the customer. i appreciate your blog and your work for us.
Comment by brad — August 22, 2007 @ 8:23 pm
Rick,
Fighting the “system” is tough, but when you get the results you’re fighting for, it can be very satisfying. Many airlines based out of the US are notorious for their pathetic customer service. Southwest, American and Delta seem somewhat tolerable from my experience, but the rest are hopeless . The sentiment of the Spirit Air CEO (“You don’t like our service ? We don’t care, you’ll come to us anyway !”) seems to be ingrained in a vast majority of the carriers. I fear that even as these airlines are getting back into the black, they ill simply be eaten by competition from European and Asian carriers in the time to come.
I fly internationally and almost always prefer a European, Asian or even a 3rd world airline for punctuality and service over a US carrier ! Secondly, US airlines simply have no clue about eating habits or culture of the destination country !
So I hope you do fight on this cause, as you would actually be doing these airlines a favor by helping them get in shape for the competition coming their way.
Comment by Nitty Rao — August 22, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
Push, Push, Push for the max !
Comment by Chris — August 23, 2007 @ 1:24 am
Rick, I say GO FOR IT. US Scareways is another airline that doesn’t give two loads of crap about their customers. We can also lump Northworst airlines in that mess too. PUSH ‘EM! Get your cousin what she’s entitled to - and that means 900 Euros.
Comment by Mauro Montoya — August 23, 2007 @ 1:33 am
I would go ahead and request for higher compensation. In fact, you should get CASH, not voucher. If i were you, i will consider about the compensation for the time you spent……Gd luck
Comment by CT — August 23, 2007 @ 3:31 am
very few European travellers are able to claim compensation as the EU rule is badly drafted and leaves too many loopholes for airlines. Take the money and run.
Comment by Thomas — August 23, 2007 @ 3:46 am
I wish you the best of luck but, Take the compensation $600 and run. A fuel flow problem is not a normal occurance and they will clearly argue that it is “4) unexpected flight safety shortcomings”.
They would be technically correct. Of course if you can document expenses that exceed that amount then you could take that approach.
I suffered a similar fate with NW/KL and got 25,000 FF miles. Hardly made it worth while. Since then they lost most of my business ($50-75K USD p/year)
So if US Airways is willing to give $600 in compensation take it and use it for the next years vacation.
Comment by Albert Vitale — August 23, 2007 @ 3:58 am
Either I missed it your you did not say whether the original flight was canceled or were some passengers, including your cousin were forced to get off the flight.
In April I agreed to get off an oversold Delta flight in Venice and was given #1000 in vouchers, a night in a good hotel + vouchers for dinner and breakfast and a business class ticket home the following day.
Several years ago on the way to Montreal from LGA also on Delta, the flight was canceled by the airlines “because of equipment problems.” Another flight was not available yet there were only 2 seats available on the next flight, where I got 1. Some people were transferred to other airlines and the rest had to come back the following day, or could cancel their flights without penalty. There were people in the terminal who had been waiting from a previously canceled flight to get to Canada.
Keep fighting and good luck.
Comment by Suzanne — August 23, 2007 @ 4:46 am
I say, go after US Airways. Their #1 priority is not the safety of their passengers. Here is a perfect example. A close friend of mine flew on a US Airways flight from FL to DC. The plane had mechanical problems prior to arriving in FL. While in FL mechanics looked at the problem. The plane needed more extensive work than what could be performed at that airport. It was deemed airworthy and passengers were boarded. No sooner had the plane left the runway it developed major problems. The pilot was unsure if he could even get the plane safely back to the airport. The plane narrowly missed tree tops and crashing in the water. My friend hysterically called me from her cell phone to inform me of the problem. I told her to get the tail number of the plane. When she got off the plane she turned to get the “N” number. The flight crew tried to stop her from getting that number. She was successful in getting the information. She then wrote a letter to the president of US Airways to inform him of the mechanical problems of that plane and requested reimbursement for the motel payment, transportation to and from the motel to the airport and her food. US Airways denied paying her. On their behalf they did give her a voucher, but she was too traumatized to ever fly their airline again. To continue the story, I tried contacting the FAA. I reached a very sarcastic individual who didn’t want to have anything to do with the problem. In the beginning of my comments to him I told him I had the “N” number. He went on and on about how there was nothing the FAA could do about the situation. He said they had no way of tracking down the plane because planes are always changed around and the can’t trace which airplane is where at any given time. I kept telling him I had the “N” number. Finally he stopped talking long enough and heard me say I had the “N” number. Then he said well now that makes a difference. At that point he said he would follow up on it. I asked if my friend could get a report on how the mechanical issue was handled and he said the FAA will not do that. People have no clue the lengths the airline industry and the FAA will go to keep things covered up. Other passengers on board that flight tried to get US Airways to compensate them and US Airways ignored them. So I say, go after US Airways!
Comment by Jennifer — August 23, 2007 @ 4:51 am
Here in the U.K , we have the chance to take them to the small claims court, big firms usually settle once the court papers are served, because to send a lawyer to court , would cost a couple of thousand, so its not worth it and the bad publicity. do they have one in germany??, i would now look into complaining in germany through the system , they have, its time we stood up to these airlines,
Comment by stephen jenkinson — August 23, 2007 @ 5:09 am
My personal albeit brief relationship as a customer with US Airways has been less than favorable. I truly believe that while some employees do demonstrate customer service traints that is not a Standard the Corporate office embraces. I say go for the full 900 euros plus any additional the EU may deem necessary based on the effort it has taken you!
Comment by Wilson — August 23, 2007 @ 5:20 am
i think $600 is great, my experience with us air is that they are right and tend to cancel flights on a whim.
Comment by barbara quirk — August 23, 2007 @ 5:50 am
Is it really worth the time and stress to insist on a few hundred dollars more? And to get every last dollar because by gum it’s what I deserve and I’ll take no less.
Comment by Art — August 23, 2007 @ 6:03 am
Airlines almost always will invoke extraordinary circumstances. I would write US Airways another letter and tell them that you will file a claim with the German aviation department that handles complaints if they refuse to pay (”Luftfahrt-Bundesamt”). The forms are here:
http://www.lba.de/nn_57320/EN/PublicRelations/InformationforAirPassenger/Passenger__Rights.html
The German aviation department will get in contact with the airline and negotiate on your behalf, in case they refuse to pay. Unfortunately, it might take a couple of months to get the money this way. If the airline still refuses to pay after the aviation department got invovled, I think there is higher European Department that covers all countries to which you can appeal (though am not sure which one that would be - didn’t have to go that far).
By writing to the aviation deparmtment, we got 600 Euros from a Lufthansa flight NYC-MUC that was cancelled. The airlines first said that it wasn’t their fault (”extraordinary circumstances”), but later paid once the German aviation department was involved.
Comment by Flo — August 23, 2007 @ 6:04 am
Take the $600. If people want special treatment they should fly 1st class. I have been flying coach for 20 years at least 3 times a year and have always been treated well.
Comment by Marie Severo — August 23, 2007 @ 6:11 am
Comment by Rick Seaney — August 23, 2007 @ 6:15 am
I would absolutely go after USAirways. I have had some awful customer service experiences with them. They are very inflexible and frankly, I am amazed that you got as far as the $600! I have been fighting with them over frequent flyer miles because one of their so-called partners never transferred the miles to my account. I ended up having to buy miles from my husband in order to have enough miles to travel “free”. I sent them my boarding passes and that still wasn’t enough for them. So I say, go for it and good luck!!!
Comment by Susan Creditor — August 23, 2007 @ 6:22 am
I think it is reasonable to expect that an airline who flies widebody aircraft into the EU should have arrangements to receive local or regional maintenance services. While the fuel flow problem may not be common or able to be anticipated, it is not reasonable to be dependent on receiving service from 5000 miles away in Philadelphia. Had US Airways been able to obtain maintenance from within the EU, the delay would have obviously been dramatically less. Because they’re trying to save a buck and rely on PHL as their maintenance base regardless of where they’re transporting passengers, I say push for full compensation. They can use some of that money they save in maintenance to fund their obligations under EC 261.
Comment by Larry — August 23, 2007 @ 6:47 am
I would continue to push for the full compensation and would do so via the German government as previously suggested. The EU approach is less likley to get action and should be considered a fall back.
A couple of “creative” approaches you might consider are:
1) Contacting the Munich airport authority and explain to them that while you recognize they have no control or responsibility for this, the event still hurts their image and thus business. They may be willing to offer something small which in combination with the $600 voucher would make you feel satisfied.
2) Trying to contact of other affected passengers for that specific flight and banding together. That would result in a louder voice and might make US Air more responsive. Note though that TOO loud a voice would make them very defensive, but would get you more PR.
3) Issue an official online press release about your cause using something like PRWeb. It will cost you real cash to do it, but it would reach a large media audience and one of them might pick up the story and run with it. Once you have media attention you will likey get higher compensation.
Good luck with it and keep us appraised of how it turns out.
Comment by Alden — August 23, 2007 @ 6:52 am
Hi Rick
As a former crewmember with over 2500 hours on KC-135R, my suggestion is take the $600. My crew and I never compromised on safety and no airline would do the same. As a matter of fact, we always briefed our entire crew that, “safety is paramount.” I believe there are bigger battles to fight and $300 is not worth the amount of your energy. The bottomline is (1) US Airways apologized and (2) they’ve made a $600 offer of restitution.
Comment by R Sonny Sampayan-Sampayan — August 23, 2007 @ 6:53 am
I had an issue with US Air last year. I upgraded to first class because I had been recently diagnosed with diabetes, and assumed that food would be served in first class. I discovered, too late, that it wasn’t. The fact that they don’t serve food is not mentioned anywhere in their descriptions of first class service. The service itself was lackadaisical and the plane was dirty.
I wrote to US Air asking for a refund for the price of the upgrade. They told me that their policy didn’t permit refunds for upgrades, and they sent a $25 voucher. After several letters back and forth with no results — except for another $25 voucher, I filed against them in Small Claims Court. The day they got the summons, they phoned me and settled with me.
I won’t fly them again and you shouldn’t either, but try suing and see what happens.
Comment by David Perry — August 23, 2007 @ 8:24 am
Read post #12 again. Look at how you may be able to use that strategy. The money does matter. Even though the fight is worth fighting there should be some compensation that comes out of this. I think you will know when to accept an offer better than any of us. So I support your decision. I want to hear about the outcome.
Comment by jerrod — August 23, 2007 @ 8:49 am
Dear Rick, I applaud you for being so tenacious. And how lucky your relative is for having you on her side. If you enjoy the bumpy ride the airlines is dragging you on then persevere. You are doing a service to the flying public.
On a recent July 2007 flight my bags did not make the connection flight and were not delivered to me in London for 3 days. I just wrote to Virgin Atlantic. I want to believe that every letter may make a difference, so stay the course and hold out. Terry
Comment by terry — August 23, 2007 @ 10:04 am
I just got the same email, same flight.
They offered me $200 each.
Comment by Jeff Gallagher — August 23, 2007 @ 10:51 am
Have you considered going to the Federal Trade Commission? Since US Airways is registered as a US business, I think they might be able to help, as possibly might the consumer protection agency in your cousin’s state.
Since US Airways came into operation, service has been poor and even a company pilot I once spoke with said he had much preferred working for Piedmont, which was a very nice airline. So much for progress!
Best wishes.
Comment by B Sloan — August 23, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
Hi Rick,
I think you should continue to hold out for the $900 compensation-in cash-as her flight originated in Europe and US Airways is responsible for all the screw-ups and days worth of delays. You have a powerful tool at your disposal having become so well known and a tough frequent flyer’s advocate.Writing formal letters has always worked well for me and I have gotten coupons and credits for shabby treatment when I provided very specific information(agents’ and stewarts’ names).Unfortunately,US Air is now perhaps the worse of all the legacy carriers,having had a good reputation at one time in my humble opinion. Today,I would be hesitatant to take an international flight with them. We all need to stand fast and NOT tolerate shabby treatment period! The best of luck in your pursuant. How about a little well-placed PR on your part in one of the papers or wherever else you feel it might be read by many.
Comment by Timothy Jaqua — August 23, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
Rick, I would definitely keep pushing for full compensation, and I will continue to keep doing so myself. Technically, they cancelled 2 flights, so I would go for the $600 per flight! We were treated like prisoners in deluxe sccomodations.
Comment by sue — August 23, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
Hi Rick, Sorry I can’t advise you on this as I have no experience of claiming but perhaps you could advise me. My wife & I have just returned from Peru to N Ireland last night. We travelled from Lima to Miami on American Airlines and from Miami to London via Philadelphia by US Airways. In Lima we sat all night on the plane which had developed 2 faults, then the crew needed rest so we queued for 1-2 hrs to get back thro immigration etc. They sent us to a hotel with vouchers for taxi and lunch / dinner and stay for the day, we phoned later and found the plane was leaving at 10pm that night, so we took off after 11pm and arrived in Miami next morning, We had originally planned to spend a night and 1/2 day in Miami in a beach hotel which we had already paid for but now it was too late to go there having lost 1 night so we waited in the airport for a few hrs until our connecting flight with US Airways. After 4 long days of travel I think we would have been better paying a little extra and flying with LAN & British Airways. Could you advise how I should go about claiming some compensation - at least for the hotel?
I appreciate all your good advice in travel etc.
Many thanks
n logan
Comment by N logan — August 24, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
[...] offered a fare sale, the CEO of Spirit Airlines put his e-foot in his mouth, and my personal battle with US Airways raged into its third week. This week also offered some great posts from bloggers and writers [...]
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Hi Rick,
I was searching the internet to see if anyone had put out some information about the dilemma that occurred with US Airways flight 707/9010 from Munich on 2 and 3 August and fortunately for me I found your site while doing a search. My wife and I were two of the many passengers, along with your cousin, who also had to endure most of the ordeal. However, unlike your cousins dilemma, which started on 1 August, we arrived on 2 August to depart for Philadelphia only to be told that the flight was cancelled and were migrated into the group of passengers who had this same flight cancelled on 1 August. The rest of the events were the same as you described them on your web site.
In reading the postings, it showed that you have had a terrible time in trying to contact anyone at US Airways that could answer your questions on how to get the 600 Euro compensation that was indicated on the Passenger Rights sheet that was passed out by the US Airways personnel. It also showed that because of your dedication and tenacity that you were not going to sit back and have US Airways ignore your cousins and “her fellow flight 707 passengers” rightful claim to the 600 Euros compensation “under the terms of the European Unions Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 commonly known as the Passenger Bill of Rights”. Although you were only able to get US Airways to provide compensation in the amount of $600.00 (so far) that is still more than most of us would get from the airline as they would give us some “song and dance” about how they did their best but regrettably, it was not their fault that the plane needed maintenance.
As I am preparing to submit my claim to US Airways (I was told that you only have 30 days from your return to do so) for what happened, I would like to know if I would be allowed to reference your emails that you have so graciously allowed us access to, on your web site. I would also like to ask if you could provide me with the last name of “Barb H” at US Airways customer relations as she is aware of the situation and might be able to expedite the process. This would help me tremendously and possibly other passengers who wish to file a claim from having to ‘reinvent the wheel”. I know that even if you allow me and others to use your emails, US Airways is still going to give the rest of us who submit claims, a hard time, as they do not want to pay us what is our rightful compensation for what we endured. This was evident from postings of other passengers (”I just got the same email, same flight. They offered me $200 each. (”Comment by Jeff Gallagher August 23, 2007 @ 10:51 am”) that had submitted their claims for compensation.
I do have one piece of information that may help the process if it you are going to file a claim with the “German Aviation Department” as suggested by (”Comment by Flo August 23, 2007 @ 6:04 am “). Articles about the incident appeared in the Munich “Abendzeitung” weekend edition Saturday, 4/5 August. My brother-in-law told me about it and I requested the article from the newspaper for the purpose of sending it to us Airways to substantiate the ordeal that the passengers went through. They sent me two PDF files as well as two text files (you can use Google to convert the text from German to English but it is not the best translation) contain the articles. One is a front-page article about a newly married couple and their 33-hour delay. The other article describes the 57-hour delay experienced by other passengers. They also had an article about how many Euros each passenger was entitle to based on the EU regulation. I do not know if it will help but you are welcome to use them, as the newspaper did not tell me that I could not provide them to other people as long as the copyrights are honored.
Thank you very much for taking up the cause for your cousin and keeping the rest of the passengers of that chaotic time informed of your dealings and progress with US Airways. None of us would have a chance in purgatory to get any compensation from US Airways without the inspiration that you have provided to us.
Comment by Vincent Walters — August 28, 2007 @ 10:11 pm
Go for as much as you can get! I too was a passenger on the cancelled flights from Munich to Philadelphia. I was the performer with the extra large pieces of luggage which I had to claim and take back to the hotel with me each day and recheck the next day (I was also last in line at the hotel the first night–I finally got to haver dinner at 10:30 PM, my first meal since a 6:30 AM breakfast). I am just now composing my letter to US Airways. I procrastinated because I didn’t want to remember and relive this experience. The problem was not about safety, it was about terrible customer service, poor planning, and lack of communication. Not to mention an old plane in serious need of an upgrade. They supposedly fix things and then it turns out to be the wrong part–and they can only get the correct part from Philadelphia??? Nothing extraordinary or unexpected about this. My email is dfool at verizon dot net.
Comment by Andrew Richardson — August 29, 2007 @ 7:31 pm
Rick–
Do you know a good aviation-type lawyer?
I truly believe a good class action suing on behalf of USAirways customers for all delayed/cancelled flights would be a winner, and frankly in order.
On flyertalk, they have posted a internal memo from the USAirways CEO where he basically admits that the airline has had maintenance shortcomings that made their on-time performance unacceptable to Europe this summer.
This far different from the “Exceptional circumstances” they quoted when offered $200 each in vouchers when putting up with the debacle.
(By the way, my daughter had a broken leg, and we too had to wait for the sperrgepaeck so I must have been right next to Andrew, last in line for check-in)
Cheers!
Comment by Jeff Gallagher — August 30, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
(oktoberfest 2005 tshirt)
me and the girl (blonde) i was always with got a letter from us airways offering an 600$ ticket voucher.
i already called a lawyer for help
cause they basically try to FORCE me to fly with them again,
and i wont
Comment by Felix Baier — September 7, 2007 @ 7:04 am
Hello Vincent
Could you please also send me this article from the ABENDZEITUNG via email?
Thanks already
Felix
Comment by Felix Baier — September 7, 2007 @ 7:12 am
Ups here my email adress
baierfeli@aol.com
Comment by Felix Baier — September 7, 2007 @ 7:13 am
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the webpage. My husband and I were also on this flight. We were the ones getting married, he wore a orange Clemson sweatshirt. Can you keep us posted on what happens to your claim? We were also offered $600 each for a voucher, but are fighting that. We do not want to fly USAir again and since we live in Europe, we cannot use this vouchure, until we fly to the US again, which happens to be next year in October, and the vouchure will be expired by then.
Do you have the direct number for the customer service? We live in Munich and I am tempted to go to the airport to talk to Carol, the lady who gave us the information about the EU law, to see what we can do.
Comment by Susan — September 16, 2007 @ 3:55 pm
Hi Rick,
Press the claim with the German National Enforcement Body.
I have a site http://www.flightmole.com dealing with the complexities of EU 261/2004 and especially the “extraordinary circumstances” defence. Its a very involved area and there are many misconceptions about it.
There is currently a reference being made by a Danish court to the European Court of Justice which I canvass on the site.
The interesting point is not that aircraft suffer from technical problems-of course they do- but how precisely any particular technical problem arose and how an airline responds to that technical setback. For example in response to an unserviceable aircraft should an airline have “standby” aircraft capacity available.
It is curious that most observers (probably not lawyers) regard the supposed “ambiguity” of EU 261/2004 as prejudicing the passenger and not the airline. Why is that?
In English common law an ambiguity in an exemption clause in a contract is construed against the party who seeks to rely upon it.
This is just the case we have here. The extraordinary circumstances provides a defence or exception to the airline’s obligation to provide compensation. Any vagueness or ambiguity in this defence is likely to be construed against the airline.
Another interesting factor is the variation between individual National Enforcement Bodies of the EU member states. For example Denmark and Belgium appear to investigate these complaints much more thoroughly for example than the UK
Comment by Hugh Stewart — September 25, 2007 @ 10:42 am
6 hour delay on USAirways Flight 706 (PHL->MUC) on 09/28 !
ur flight was delayed from 8pm Fri evening until 2am in the morning, no compensation was offered, gate personnel was completely overwhelmed.
My neighbor called the airline after 5h and their call-center rep did say that there are no rights, and that we should be happy since other flights have 12h delays.
This airline is a complete failure !
The only thing they told us while waiting is that they had to fix the A/C - and made several unsuccessful attempts at that. After 4.5h of delay they finally wheeled in some carts with water bottles and crackers (wohoo!), after the Phili International terminal had been shut down and all restaurants etc were closed for hours.
During the incresingly ridiculous hourly updates they told us that they were fixing the A/C for _us_ the passengers and that for sure would not want to fly without an A/C, wouldn’t we ? :-))
Nice how they try to roll back their failure to maintain their equipment on those pesky and demanding passengers.
When we finally boarded, they were still working on the A330 - it was a horrible mess in the plane, seats fixed with duct tape, A/C vents overgrown with a lint/mold combo … brr..
Other airlines have their issues as well, but being at the hub of an international carrier something like this just should not happen.
My 3rd class ticket cost my employer around 1400 Euros or 2000 USD … I will most certainly never fly that airline again !
PS: The crew that has been waiting for 8h before taking off for their 8h flight to Munich (-> legal issues, max time on duty) did not really impress either, as they were trying to run their show..
Comment by Thorsten B — October 4, 2007 @ 5:46 am
I had booked the same desastrous flight US 707 MUC PHA. We got to Denver on 08/03/07 ! without the help of US Airways.
We received the same e-mail denying any responsibility or compensation, (Except a 600 voucher) We had a Hotel booked in PHA, but wont get any refunds.
Is there anyone trying some legal action?
Could you keeping me informed?
Jrgen Mayer
Comment by Jrgen Mayer — November 9, 2007 @ 7:24 am
Hi
with the help of a lawyer i got everything i fought for now….
866$ check cash, and 200$ voucher us airways + im still waiting for the check for my lost luguuage.
us airways sent me such a friendly letter, it sounded totally not like them.
But this case is closed now, and im relieved i got what i deserved.
Comment by Felix Baier — November 9, 2007 @ 8:45 am
I was also on the Aug. 1st flight 707 and have now (5 months later) been offered a $600 voucher. I am hesitant to take it. Has anybody settled for the 600euro or can anyone offer any advice on how i can proceed?
Comment by jordan — January 4, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
rick,
did you take the voucher?
Comment by Carrie — February 8, 2008 @ 6:13 pm