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Copyright 1996-2004 Elliott Publishing. All rights reserved.

A Virgin Delay
Fix My Trip · December 14, 2003

Q: I recently flew from Miami to London on Virgin Atlantic Airways. About ten minutes before our 6:40 p.m. departure, we were told that there would be a mechanical delay. Three hours later our flight was cancelled. At approximately 11 p.m., I was offered a voucher for a shared van ride home.

While other passengers were offered hotel accommodations close to the airport, I was told that I was ineligible, since I was a U.S. resident. Other than the van voucher, no other compensation was offered. But by far the greatest inconvenience was not being allowed to retrieve my checked baggage. Having my house keys in my checked baggage made it impossible for me to stay at my home. Instead, I had to call on friends for somewhere to spend the night. Additionally, I incurred the expense and inconvenience of having to buy extra toiletries and a change of clothes for travel the next day.

Back at the airport the next day, I discovered that other passengers from my flight had received a letter stating that accommodation, meals, calling cards and a discount on future travel would be offered. I received the letter only after I asked the Virgin ground staff for one.

I think Virgin has failed in its commitment to provide even the basics of acceptable service. I wrote to customer relations on September 20 explaining that the compensation was too little and too late, but to date I have not received any formal response to my complaint. Can you help?

-- Paul Venning

A: Ahh, the dreaded mechanical delay. It's probably the single-most mishandled incident in all of commercial aviation. Airlines are rarely as upfront about them as they should be - and passengers are rarely as understanding as they should be.

Virgin's policy is to offer assistance in the form of meals, hotel vouchers and transportation in the event of a flight cancellation. Normally, the airline gives these to all passengers unless someone says they'd prefer to go home instead of to a hotel. Then they're offered a van voucher.

When it comes to luggage, the airline usually keeps everything on the plane. "Off-loading and returning more than 600 bags is a monumental task," explained Virgin spokeswoman Wendy Buck. In fact, she says most passengers prefer to keep their possessions on the plane so that they don't have to drag them back to the hotel. However, baggage belonging to customers with special needs - for example, medication, baby clothing, and so forth - can be retrieved and returned "on a per-need basis," she added.

Virgin should have removed your luggage from the plane, because it contained your house keys. It should have also offered you a hotel, meal vouchers and transportation as it did the other passengers. You're right: It didn't offer you the service it should have.

But at the same time, what were you thinking when you checked in your keys? How many times do I have say this: Don't entrust an airline with your valuables. Ever. What if your bags were misplaced and never made it to London? How would you have gotten back into your house?

I also think you shouldn't have allowed Virgin to get away with sending you to a friend's house in a shared van while your fellow passengers bunked down at an airport hotel. Remember, under federal law you have the right to see a copy of an airline's contract of carriage - the terms of transportation between you and the carrier - and even suggesting that you wanted to examined it might have encouraged the ground crew to do the right thing.

Virgin apologized to you for the way everything turned out and offered you an additional $100 voucher good toward any future flight, which you accepted. As for the delay in responding to your first letter, Buck says a letter was written to you in early November - but for some reason it was also delayed.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler and the public radio show The Savvy Traveler. Do you have a trip that needs fixing? E-mail him or call him directly at (305) 453-4781. Your question may be published in a future story. Fix My Trip appears weekly on this site.

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