Flight Disruption Claim Help

Hi all,

We recently had an over 5 hour delay for a flight from Canada to the UK. There was a delay in the first connection, which led to missing the second flight - this is what caused the overall 5+ hour delay from start to finish.

I submitted the claim; however, Air Canada came back saying, "After investigation, we have determined that the root cause of your flight disruption was weather, a reason that was outside of our control."

However, at the airport, they gave two different reasons for the delay. Initially (the first notice of delay) it was:

"This flight is delayed because the cabin crew needs more time to prepare for departure. Cabin crew departure preparation delays can happen when the crew is waiting for additional documentation, or when it takes longer than expected to complete cabin safety checks and crew briefings."

Later on, they said the same flight is delayed further due to weather:

"This flight is delayed because weather conditions are causing high air traffic demand at the destination airport. Weather delays can happen during thunderstorms, snow, fog, low clouds, or wind gusts. This could prevent aircrafts from landing safely at the destination airport."

As you can see, the second reason given at the airport was weather, but the first was not. Should they be giving compensation in this case? How do I go about ensuring they do so?

Thanks!