Well, to be honest that is the first time he traveled with someone else than us so it never occurred to us that there might be this problem. I had all information on him, the flight, ticket number etc. his mother was ccd on the ticket issuing email by the airline. A simple information like "they are still in London" or "en route" would have been sufficient. With the ticket itinerary on my hand I can usually track the flight but this failed in this case. It's not I am calling without any information provided by me on the identity of the person, I had the ticket number and everything. There must be privacy etc I understand. But there must also some customer service and middle way, which I still think BA failed to provide. E.g. We were never told (probably in the 10 pages of 8 pint small print) that they would decline information.