pjsparlor

what are my rights? I want to go, but is there a chance they would book me on a non stop out of chicago on a different airline? compensation to getting back and forth to the airport in chicago now? I called Nortwest and they are not being helpful yet.

rex

What a shame to read this development. Is no one at RFD offering any assistance? I thought they had that big kitty of cash from NWA...

Hope it doesn't ruin your holiday season.

Best wishes,

Rex

ira

Hi pj,

>what are my rights?<

Your rights are to accept a full refund of any money that you have paid them.

Sorry.

rex

A court might think differently. RFD has engaged in a massive pubic advertising campaign that (mis?)led the public to believe that it was highly committed to maintaining major airline service.

There are, in certain cases, rights associated with being the victim of deceptive advertising. This may or may not be such a case.

pjsparlor

Well the compensation will be nill, since I used travel vouchers from compensation from another flight from hell with Northwest! I really feel like a fool for even booking Rockford to london. I guess sticking with the big o'hare is the best! I just thought they would have to rebook me on a flight from Chicago, and maybe compensation for bus to and from Rockford to Chicago.

ira

I respectfully disagree with learned counsel.

NWA has made a business decision regarding flights from RFD to London.

What harm has plaintiff sustained?

How is this different from having any other flight canceled?

pjsparlor

Thanks Rex, I think it is time to tell the Rockford newspaper about my wonderful experiences with good reliable Rockford "International" airport, what a joke!

rex

Hardly learned, and counsel to no one. Just describing the situation from my (firsthand, personal) experience. I think that pjsp... has legitimate losses, and the RFD authority has some liability in all this, through their over-aggrandized declarations to the public.

Intrepid1

I do not see how anyone can say the airport authority or anyone else for that matter has "liability" in this because NWA decided to cancel all flights.

Is there information that we are not aware of? Has the airline STATED they are cancelling service because of something the airport authority did or did not do?

And i also do not understand why there is no recourse for the passenger from the airline because coupons were used for the flight..the airline accepted the coupons and they issued a ticket and i would think the contract of carriage kicks in in terms of what the airline does and does not have to do.

Flyboy

pjsparlor, I see there are some particulars here concerning your trip. As Ira says, you have a right to a refund -- but that may be a little more complicated because you used vouchers. My suggestion is to work on reaccommodation. Don't fret too much about the bus to/from O'Hare. (You can try for that AFTER you get rebooked on something you can agree upon and it's small change.) In addition to O'Hare, take a look at Madison as a possible origin. It's easy enough from Rockford, the parking is cheaper and the airport itself is far less to deal with. Either ORD or MSN have regular Northwest service to Detroit, so it should be easy for Northwest, since your transatlantic legs would remain intact. That would be my approach.

The Rockford Airport Authority has invested heavily in trying to restore and restart scheduled air service. I'm sure they are no happier about this situation than anyone and it seems to be a case of "force majeure" for them. These are very difficult times for airlines and the rules are different when you're dealing with bankruptcy courts, etc. I don't envy any of the parties involved, but I think that this one will come out okay for the passenger involved because there are some options.

pjsparlor

Thanks for the concerns and help. I will have to wait until the weekend, that is what Northwest has advised me to do at this point for rescheduling. It is such a hassle, I was only going to LOndon for 3 days, and it was sweet to leave 10 min from my home. Now there will be driving time, parking ect. But travel can be a little frustrating can't it!

Lovejoy

The legacy U.S. carriers are still bleeding red ink and are all cuting back on flights in an effort to survive.Some of the first places they cut are the small regional airports.
Here are some stats that show how much capacity has been cut,or added,by the large U.S. carriers since last December.

Percentage change for large U.S. airlines and their regional partners:
Airline
percentage change
from Dec. '04
American
-3%
Continental
6%
Delta
-19%
Northwest
-11%
United
-3%
US Airways
-7%
AirTran
24%
America West
1%
ATA
-74%
Frontier
10%
Independence Air
-49%
JetBlue
29%
Southwest
3%

esm

pj, my husband and I flew to Paris after I saw your post about the special offers at Rockford. I am sorry you had such a bad experience with your original trip and now with this one. Today’s Rockford Register has an article that indicates it was a mutual decision by the Airport Authority and Northwest. Here’s a quote:

“the airport board approached Northwest to end the service because it was not as successful as airport officials had hoped, specifically among business travelers flying from Rockford to Detroit who typically pay a higher rate because of short-notice ticket purchases”

Is it possible to get the value of your vouchers back so you can use it for future travel?

pjsparlor

thank you ESM, I can use the vouchers but my flight was 300.00 out of Rockford. And I can use only one voucher at a time, I can use a voucher for my travel partner to use also. So unless the price is really cheap, the vouchers cannot be consolidated and it isn't worth flying Northwest. I have 1100.00 dollars in ECVs in 100 and 2 150 increments. They expire 6/12/2005. So they really ended up not being that big of a deal for me. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that Northwest just rebooks me out of O'Hare and connect in Detroit. Thanks again!

ira

Hi pj,

>..I used travel vouchers from compensation from another flight from hell with Northwest! <

You should, of course, be given new vouchers extending beyond the expiration date of those you have.

>...“the airport board approached Northwest to end the service".

Any lawyer in your town interested in a class action suit?

pjsparlor

An update: Northworst will only rebook me on V coded flights. No flights were left out of Chicago or Milwaukee, but I am scheduled out of Madison! So when Northworst tells you to wait and rebook when you here from them don't! I read about this in the newspaper today and couldn't rebook this morning when there were flights left still in Chicago that would qualify.So I tried again and they were only offering me a refund. So I did find the flights from Madison that qualify! So no more complaining, I am going! But what a hassle!

kleeblatt

After reading your posts, I'm a bit hesitant.

I'd like to fly direct from Zürich to Portland, Oregon this summer with Northwest. The price is right and there are no stops or layovers.

I usually fly into Seattle from Zürich with SAS but there is always a layover in Copenhagen. There are no direct flights from Zürich to Seattle.

I believe Northwest has only been flying direct from ZRH to Portland in the last year or so. Any possibility that this flight might be cancelled by summer? Is there any place that I can find out about any pending cancellations outside of newspapers?

Thanks for your response.

pjsparlor

Click on my name and read my other experience with Northwest. I fly internationlly three times a year, domestic once or twice a year. No problems until my last two flights on Northwest. No problems on British Air, American, Luftansa, Air France, United.BIG problems with Northwest

Flyboy

Rebooking via Madison seems like a pretty good option. It's not a podunk airport and O'Hare flights are subject to plenty of delays, too -- weather and otherwise. (I recently spent the night at the Crowne Plaza down at O'Hare, thanks to an overnight mechanical delay on a United Airlines flight. Ironically, I happened to be on that flight because Northwest had rebooked me to it after a delayed flight of their own. It's seems like there is no escaping issues sometimes in travel.)

I flew to Paris twice out of Rockford via connecting service with Northwest and when I add it together, I can tell you that the Rockford Airport Authority had more considerably cash into the deal than I had. You've clearly some frustrating issues with this service, but you can say the same thing. That is a huge statement about why this situation has come about.

Enjoy London! Looking on the bright side of things, you got a LOT for the money you put up on this little fiasco (two roundtrips to Europe for almost nothing, when you net out the FF miles against your outlays.) That's a heck of a lot more than the Rockford Airport Authority or Northwest can say right now!

pjsparlor

Thank you flyboy! I am looking forward to london, now if I can get tickets to Billy Elliot!