Shack37
21st Nov 2005, 10:00
BA1303 / 20 Nov. 2005
Let me start by saying that every member of BA Ground Staff at ABZ I spoke to by phone during the following episode was extremely professional, courteous and helpful. To them I am grateful, I can only imagine what abuse they may have been facing at the time from disgruntled pax face to face across the information desk.
This in short is the order of events yesterday:-
At 0745 I waved Mrs S37 off through departures at ABZ at the start of her journey to the sun, BA1303, ABZ to LHR then BA7087 (IB4143), LHR to SVQ. The first leg was scheduled to depart ABZ at 0825. At LHR she had 1hr 15mins to stroll from T1 to T2, no problem with baggage checked through to SVQ and both boarding passes issued at ABZ.
At 0900 Mrs S37 called from ABZ to say flight delayed due to fog at LHR but hoping to depart soon. At 1020 I checked teletext for LHR T1 flight ETAs to find that BA1303 did not have one. I rang BA at ABZ and was told that the flight was now boarding and that any pax missing onward connections due to the delay would have alternative flights arranged by the airline. Feeling somewhat relieved I relaxed and waited for my wife to call home on arrival in Seville.
When, by 1700 I had heard nothing from Mrs S37 I phoned BA at ABZ again and was told that she had been rebooked on BA6972 (LGW to SVQ) which was due to depart at 1715. Once again I relaxed, (this time with a small glass of the local produce) confident of receiving a call from a tired but happy wife in about 3 hours time to confirm her arrival in Seville. IT WAS NOT TO BE!!!!
At 1830 Mrs37, yes tired but not too emotional, called me from her hotel near LHR.
The big airline had pushed the boat out, she and some 150 other delayed pax had been accommodated in the Renaissance.
Needless to say she was surprised to hear she was already half way to SVQ from Gatwick.
She had spent 6 hours in a queue at Flight Connections before being sent back to T1 to be told of the overnight arrangements and flight rebooking for today.
Unfortunately her bag was still at LHR (we hope) and she was left without any toiletries etc for her unexpected overnight stop in London. No one offered any help on this
She will have fully recovered by this morning and her holiday enjoyment will be unimpaired. No lasting mental scarring has been caused, I hope the same can be said of the BA staff involved in yesterdays chaos because they must have had a truly horrendous day, especially in LHR Flight Connections.
On a more serious note, I find it a bit worrying that my wife was shown as being (booked) on BA6972 LGW to SVQ only 15 minutes before its scheduled departure time when she was actually somewhere between LHR and the hotel booked by BA.
Shack37
Epilogue
Flight arrived 1 hour late WITHOUT said pax luggage.
Who to blame? BA or Iberia?
Any airline people reading this? Would appreciate advice.
S37
Let me start by saying that every member of BA Ground Staff at ABZ I spoke to by phone during the following episode was extremely professional, courteous and helpful. To them I am grateful, I can only imagine what abuse they may have been facing at the time from disgruntled pax face to face across the information desk.
This in short is the order of events yesterday:-
At 0745 I waved Mrs S37 off through departures at ABZ at the start of her journey to the sun, BA1303, ABZ to LHR then BA7087 (IB4143), LHR to SVQ. The first leg was scheduled to depart ABZ at 0825. At LHR she had 1hr 15mins to stroll from T1 to T2, no problem with baggage checked through to SVQ and both boarding passes issued at ABZ.
At 0900 Mrs S37 called from ABZ to say flight delayed due to fog at LHR but hoping to depart soon. At 1020 I checked teletext for LHR T1 flight ETAs to find that BA1303 did not have one. I rang BA at ABZ and was told that the flight was now boarding and that any pax missing onward connections due to the delay would have alternative flights arranged by the airline. Feeling somewhat relieved I relaxed and waited for my wife to call home on arrival in Seville.
When, by 1700 I had heard nothing from Mrs S37 I phoned BA at ABZ again and was told that she had been rebooked on BA6972 (LGW to SVQ) which was due to depart at 1715. Once again I relaxed, (this time with a small glass of the local produce) confident of receiving a call from a tired but happy wife in about 3 hours time to confirm her arrival in Seville. IT WAS NOT TO BE!!!!
At 1830 Mrs37, yes tired but not too emotional, called me from her hotel near LHR.
The big airline had pushed the boat out, she and some 150 other delayed pax had been accommodated in the Renaissance.
Needless to say she was surprised to hear she was already half way to SVQ from Gatwick.
She had spent 6 hours in a queue at Flight Connections before being sent back to T1 to be told of the overnight arrangements and flight rebooking for today.
Unfortunately her bag was still at LHR (we hope) and she was left without any toiletries etc for her unexpected overnight stop in London. No one offered any help on this
She will have fully recovered by this morning and her holiday enjoyment will be unimpaired. No lasting mental scarring has been caused, I hope the same can be said of the BA staff involved in yesterdays chaos because they must have had a truly horrendous day, especially in LHR Flight Connections.
On a more serious note, I find it a bit worrying that my wife was shown as being (booked) on BA6972 LGW to SVQ only 15 minutes before its scheduled departure time when she was actually somewhere between LHR and the hotel booked by BA.
Shack37
Epilogue
Flight arrived 1 hour late WITHOUT said pax luggage.
Who to blame? BA or Iberia?
Any airline people reading this? Would appreciate advice.
S37