BA cancels 25 flights

Flights cancelled by BA shortage
BA passengers face a second day of delays after staff shortages and
technical problems forced the airline to cancel 25 flights at Heathrow.
Twenty-two short-haul flights were cancelled on Monday when BA failed to
open check-in desks due to a lack of staff. Ten were called off on Tuesday.

BA, which has just averted one strike, said it is currently recruiting 60
more check-in staff.

Customers reported chaotic scenes and some slept at the airport overnight.


I would say it was a shambolic chaos with no-one giving any information
out - they just say delayed and cancelled
Andrew Williams

Three US-bound flights were the first to be cancelled after technical
faults.
The disruption worsened BA's current staff shortages, leading to the
cancellation of flights from Heathrow to a number of European airports, as
well as arrivals from those destinations.

Andrew Williams, who stayed in overnight accommodation on Monday night after
his flight was cancelled, described the scene at Heathrow as "shambolic
chaos".

He told Radio Five Live: "Some people were shunted off to try and book extra
tickets to find the ticket office all shut up with no luggage and nowhere to
go.

"They've been asked to phone a ticket hotline and that doesn't open until
6am."

The customer service desk was "six or seven deep" and police had to be
called because some passengers were "losing their cool," he added.

Overnight accommodation

British Airways said it was making arrangements to put the short-haul
passengers on alternative flights.

Some were accommodated on later flights, some were provided with overnight
hotel accommodation and seats on flights on Tuesday, while others simply had
to rebook.


This is a time when BA should be making a mint
Simon Calder
Travel editor
The Independent

Simon Calder, travel editor of the Independent newspaper, said the situation
would "have to get worse before it can get better."
The company's management would try to resolve it by offering "very large
inducements" to staff to work overtime, he told BBC Breakfast.

"This is a time when BA should be making a mint.

"Instead, it's having to pay a fortune to put people up in hotels and it's
losing customers because the flights which were cancelled yesterday, most of
them were due to come back in this morning."

'Busiest period'

A BA spokeswoman apologised to customers affected by Monday's disruption.

"Due to a number of operational reasons we have cancelled 25 flights and
some services have been delayed", she said.

"August is the busiest period of the year for British Airways and services
at Heathrow are stretched.

"We have also had some technical problems with our aircraft and these
combined has resulted in the cancellations," she added.

However, it was having more trouble arranging alternatives for the long-haul
passengers whose flights were cancelled.

Ten flights scheduled for Tuesday were also cancelled.

Strike averted

The three trans-Atlantic flights cancelled were to Chicago, New York and
Philadelphia.

Passengers flying into the airport on Monday night also had long waits on
the tarmac, before being allowed to disembark.

At the weekend, the airline struck a pay deal with the union representing
check-in staff and baggage handlers, narrowly averting an August Bank
Holiday strike.

The deal was struck in the early hours of Saturday after days of
negotiation.

The airline agreed an 8.5% pay increase over three years as well as £1,000
in three payments to September 2006.

Leaders of the Transport and General Workers Union and the GMB will now back
the deal in fresh ballots of the thousands of BA workers affected.

About 100,000 people will travel with the airline every day over the holiday
weekend and a strike would have cost it an estimated £10m per day.

Have you been affected by disruption at Heathrow?

Send us your comments below.



Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/3592894.stm

Published: 2004/08/24 07:39:35 GMT

© BBC MMIV

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:40:28 +0100, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:



Andrew Williams, who stayed in overnight accommodation on Monday night after
his flight was cancelled, described the scene at Heathrow as "shambolic
chaos".


So business as usual at BAA's airports :-)
--==++AJC++==--

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:40:28 +0100, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:



Andrew Williams, who stayed in overnight accommodation on Monday night after
his flight was cancelled, described the scene at Heathrow as "shambolic
chaos".


So business as usual at BAA's airports :-)
--==++AJC++==--

AJC writes:

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:40:28 +0100, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:

Andrew Williams, who stayed in overnight accommodation on Monday night after
his flight was cancelled, described the scene at Heathrow as "shambolic
chaos".


So business as usual at BAA's airports :-)
--==++AJC++==--

Why pick on BAA? Edinburgh, my local BAA airportm may be busy but
I've never seen it "shambolic". There have always been check-in staff
when they've been needed, in my experience. Isn't this more likely to
be a London, or a Heathrow, or a British Airways problem, than a
problem with BAA airports?
--
-- Chris.

AJC writes:

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:40:28 +0100, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:

Andrew Williams, who stayed in overnight accommodation on Monday night after
his flight was cancelled, described the scene at Heathrow as "shambolic
chaos".


So business as usual at BAA's airports :-)
--==++AJC++==--

Why pick on BAA? Edinburgh, my local BAA airportm may be busy but
I've never seen it "shambolic". There have always been check-in staff
when they've been needed, in my experience. Isn't this more likely to
be a London, or a Heathrow, or a British Airways problem, than a
problem with BAA airports?
--
-- Chris.

AJC writes:

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:40:28 +0100, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:

Andrew Williams, who stayed in overnight accommodation on Monday night after
his flight was cancelled, described the scene at Heathrow as "shambolic
chaos".


So business as usual at BAA's airports :-)
--==++AJC++==--

Why pick on BAA? Edinburgh, my local BAA airportm may be busy but
I've never seen it "shambolic". There have always been check-in staff
when they've been needed, in my experience. Isn't this more likely to
be a London, or a Heathrow, or a British Airways problem, than a
problem with BAA airports?
--
-- Chris.

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:04:08 +0100, wrote:

AJC writes:

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:40:28 +0100, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:

Andrew Williams, who stayed in overnight accommodation on Monday night after
his flight was cancelled, described the scene at Heathrow as "shambolic
chaos".


So business as usual at BAA's airports :-)
--==++AJC++==--

Why pick on BAA? Edinburgh, my local BAA airportm may be busy but
I've never seen it "shambolic". There have always been check-in staff
when they've been needed, in my experience. Isn't this more likely to
be a London, or a Heathrow, or a British Airways problem, than a
problem with BAA airports?

This particular problem may have been down to BA, but Heathrow could
be described as shambolic chaos whichever airline you fly. Gatwick is
little better, some would say worse. As for EDI, it was my local
airport for 5 years, I used it a lot, and it was delightful. Easy to
use, light, airy, view of the planes from the cafe/bar, observation
deck upstairs. When I returned after an absence of a few years I was
appalled at what BAA have done to the place. The public areas are
entirely closed in, the observation deck has gone, from the disgusting
eating area you get a view of the car park, car rental has been moved
just far enough away so that you need to take a shuttle bus (even LGW
doesn't require that).
--==++AJC++==--

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:04:08 +0100, wrote:

AJC writes:

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:40:28 +0100, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:

Andrew Williams, who stayed in overnight accommodation on Monday night after
his flight was cancelled, described the scene at Heathrow as "shambolic
chaos".


So business as usual at BAA's airports :-)
--==++AJC++==--

Why pick on BAA? Edinburgh, my local BAA airportm may be busy but
I've never seen it "shambolic". There have always been check-in staff
when they've been needed, in my experience. Isn't this more likely to
be a London, or a Heathrow, or a British Airways problem, than a
problem with BAA airports?

This particular problem may have been down to BA, but Heathrow could
be described as shambolic chaos whichever airline you fly. Gatwick is
little better, some would say worse. As for EDI, it was my local
airport for 5 years, I used it a lot, and it was delightful. Easy to
use, light, airy, view of the planes from the cafe/bar, observation
deck upstairs. When I returned after an absence of a few years I was
appalled at what BAA have done to the place. The public areas are
entirely closed in, the observation deck has gone, from the disgusting
eating area you get a view of the car park, car rental has been moved
just far enough away so that you need to take a shuttle bus (even LGW
doesn't require that).
--==++AJC++==--

AJC writes:

When I returned after an absence of a few years I was
appalled at what BAA have done to [EDI]. The public areas are
entirely closed in, the observation deck has gone, from the disgusting
eating area you get a view of the car park, car rental has been moved
just far enough away so that you need to take a shuttle bus (even LGW
doesn't require that).

Fair enough. I never buy food or drink at airports, or rent cars for
that matter, and whenever I'm there I'm aiming to get on planes rather
than watch them, so all this would have passed me by :-)
--
-- Chris.

AJC writes:

When I returned after an absence of a few years I was
appalled at what BAA have done to [EDI]. The public areas are
entirely closed in, the observation deck has gone, from the disgusting
eating area you get a view of the car park, car rental has been moved
just far enough away so that you need to take a shuttle bus (even LGW
doesn't require that).

Fair enough. I never buy food or drink at airports, or rent cars for
that matter, and whenever I'm there I'm aiming to get on planes rather
than watch them, so all this would have passed me by :-)
--
-- Chris.