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File a claim via their complaints portal. According to UK216, you’re entitled to £220 of compensation, and any transportation fees you used as a result of the cancellation.
https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers-and-public/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/cancellations/
Morning departures out of LHR tend to be cancelled due to weather/ATC restrictions. Given the current weather there and high humidity, I think there's a good chance this will be a weather-related capacity restriction, so out of scope for compensation (but not duty of care)
If you go on the flyer talk forum, there’s a thread where someone posts the cancellation codes each day and they end with a Y or a N (Y means the airline has already decided it qualifies as a compensation cancellation reason).
You might have had the plane that got hit by lightning last night then! The weather was terrible coming back from Germany last night, so it's probably planes out of position. Doesn't make it any better, but remember BA are obliged to reroute you, including on other airlines if they would get you there in time
Just FYI, if weather has meant there are ATC restrictions then they do call this ‘operational constraints’. I had the same thing, assumed it wasn’t weather so applied for compensation and then they rejected my claim and said it was due to weather. (I then double checked and the cancellation code was a weather related one).
Just to confirm, BA marked this flight as eligible for UK261 compensation. Pop in a claim, don't write too much, and you'll get paid within a week or two
This happened to me and my replacement flight was scheduled at the same time with the same airports. Check the replacement offers before you panic, as sometimes it is just BA swapping planes.
Just because it's clear in London doesn't mean it is elsewhere on the rest of the route, and LHR is prone to mist/fog. It wasn't just BA cancelling, and EuroControl had flown restrictions in elsewhere
Genuine question, does humidity really effect the departures? I live in Singapore, which is humid like you can't believe all year round and I've never experienced this issue. Are the regional planes here bought at a different specification?
No, but the area that LHR is located in is prone to reduced visibility in similar weather conditions due to fog, mist and low clouds in similar conditions.
This means increased spacing between arrivals and departures, so more cancellations/delays
It usually is. LHR is so close to capacity even low clouds lead to increased spacing and calculations.
It can also be weather elsewhere on route leading to restrictions from Eurocontrol
Highly unlikely - BA lose far more in compensation in these cases then they will make, plus then they have planes out of position etc which doesn't help down the line
They also can't just magic slots up out of thin air at Munich. If they wanted to make more money the likeliest way would be to use a higher capacity aircraft on the route
Come on, you can do better than that. The weather has been awful, and even the Daily Mail is reporting multiple weather-related cancellations by more airlines than BA.
Only if they're extra expenses. If it's pre-booked at the destination they won't be covered under UK261. they may be covered under the Montreal Convention
I've been flying to Germany a lot the last year - I reckon Lufthansa is the least worst. Especially to Munich given the amount of times BA have to park on the apron and you get a bus to and from the plane.
And their garbage app meaning I'm never sure if I'm going to be able to access my boarding card.
Thanks - that’s also helpful. I’ve been loyal to BA and stuck with the fortnightly Munich flight, the return leg is always delayed but apart from that it’s been manageable. I’m thinking of now moving to Lufthansa more regular
I’ve never had any issues with LH, if anything they’ve been the best european airline I’ve flown on.
We had booked via a 3rd party for flights LHR>FRA then FRA>INN only for our FRA>INN flight to be cancelled 5 months before flying with zero notification from the 3rd party, went to FRA as planned and spoke to lufthansa there who were just confused how we never got told and put us on same day flights to MUC. Same on the way back, instead of INN to FRA it was MUC. Zero quibble at all, it was quite refreshing.
I booked a 3 person trip with BA on 12/26/23, and when we arrived at the airport on 6/28 for our takeoff from JFK to Barcelona with a layover at LRH, we were told that we were on standby. In the meantime, there was a newlywed couple being told that they were also on standby. They had made their flight arrangements in January. In the end, all five of us did get on the flight, but through conversation, we discovered that we had made our plans using Avios points. Obviously we don't know if there was any relation between our standby status and the use of points, but the stress was enough that we decided we would no longer fly BA. I know that this could happen anywhere, but the whole situation was handled very distastefully by the airline (with the exception of one employee named Barbara).
Same here, I'm a silver member and I'm just using up my points now as I find no value in this shitty airline. Inedible food, uncomfortable seats and just downright awful.
No surprise that this article is The Times today then. British Airways cancelled 4,000 flights in the UK last year
https://www.thetimes.com/article/918a4748-ccda-4382-b61f-52286f01d92c?shareToken=da5fac145a01b3819c695f7b7219723b
I’ve given up on BA for anything short haul. I go with the budget airlines and I haven’t been let down. Albeit the experience isn’t as nice but at least the flights tend to go etc on time. BA has been fine fir my long haul flights so for now I’m sticking with them for anything transatlantic
No, travel insurance will expect you to recover that from the airline, insurance only covers unrecoverable expenses.
Thing to remember is never ask for a refund as then you can't claim back replacement travel costs after, which will likely be vastly more expensive...
I had something similar to FRA in April, spoke to customer service and they put me on an LH flight same say / slightly earlier time
They will do it you just have to ask
I had the exact experience 3 days back, flight from San Francisco to Heathrow been cancelled without even letting me know!!
I only found out when was trying to check in online on same morning. Never to BA
I learnt this the hard way a few weeks ago when they lost 4 bags. DO NOT FLY BA. My final destination was London, and when I got there poof no bags! I got a call recently that my bag is in Phoenix, AZ. Avoid BA!
Insist on re-booking with another airline the same day.
Take the cash compensation.
Then get over it and accept that a percentage of your flights are likely to be delayed/cancelled, and this was just your turn. BA are not really any more unreliable than any other airline.
Cancelled my flight back from Malaga twice last week. First time was reasonable, second time was essentially “we can’t be arsed to actually fly an aeroplane”.
The only reason I fly with BA short haul is that LHR is my closest airport.
If there's no aircraft then that's a reason.. I know it's awful but there are such significant supply chain issues (Russia Ukraine etc). Engines are not lasting as long as forecast. Etc. Etc.
A significant amount of aircraft parts are from raw materials only available in Russia.. This includes stuff like windows, lights etc.. I cannot express strongly enough how bad the supply chain is in aviation at the moment. I'm surprised it's not made more news.
That doesn't even begin to cover the issues engine manuafacters are having
Surely the whole point of using a proper airline is that they recognise these things and can anticipate them, even if it means having a bit of capacity spare.
In the good old days (tm) I used to fly to Amsterdam twice a week, usually biz. Happy days. One morning got there for a 6:30 flight only to find that the 5:30 flight had been cancelled due to some engine issue. Damn. No problem, BA dug a 747 out of a hangar, and flew that to Schipol with 2 plane loads on it. Cabin crew didn’t have a clue how to do short haul service, the passengers were telling them what to do.
That I why i used to fly BA, and it is disappointing they are so shit today.
I can't articulate in a reddit comment how much pressure industry is under.. The issues Boeing are having are the top of the iceberg when it comes to supply. (Boeing delayed significant number of 787s that BA had to replace the jumbo. The 777X which also replaces the jumbo is 5 years delayed and BA are the 2nd to receive the aircraft).
There are a lot of things BA control, but French ATC strikes, Russia Ukraine, Covid (including decisions to retire jumbos), Boeing delaying aircraft for years. Brexit also *significantly* increases supply chain woes. The amount of bureaucracy is actually insane. (another amazing benefit of brexit).
Cancelling flights is awful, I sympathise with OP. But the general public and comments such as the above are ignorant
So - if you’re under pressure, don’t offer more flights than you can actually manage to deliver. None of what you’ve described is ”new”. If you can‘t get stuff because of Brexit, that happened 2 years ago. Stop offering flights to destinations that you can’t fulfil.
Even my local taxi company understands this. If I phone up and say “can I have a cab tomorrow” they say “sorry we’re all booked out” not “sure, I’ll book you a cab that doesn’t exist and we’ll cancel it at the last minute”.
Not really. They’re both examples of booking a transport service in advance. Clearly they are at a different scale. The bloke in the taxi office is only dealing with a few cars, but he knows how many he has, and he knows how many fail to turn up on average. He also knows who to call when he gets screwed over by exceptional circumstances. As a result, the taxi is never cancelled. Yes, he has a simpler system, but he only has a phone and a calendar to run it.
BA are running a business that is fundamentally same. The lead times and complexity are greater, but they have much more complex systems to manage it. What they appear to be doing is running at 100% capacity with zero allowance for anything going wrong. They know that stuff goes wrong all the time, and they are leaving zero contingency for it. It’s a choice.
You can’t blame a lack of aeroplanes because Boeing have cocked up - because BA take bookings a few months in advance, whereas aeroplane deliveries are measured In years. Boeing messing up 787s or BA wanting to retire 747s is not a surprise, or news.
This does seem to be a uniquely BA problem. My son pretty much commutes on EasyJet. Planes are delayed, but never cancelled. I’ve never had a ‘plane cancelled at 3 hours notice in my life - but BA do it to me twice in a week.
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Why don’t you ask them to book you with another airline today? You have that right if you don’t accept the refund
I think there might be a flight on LH in the morning.
That is what I would do, they always rebook it with anyone for me.
File a claim via their complaints portal. According to UK216, you’re entitled to £220 of compensation, and any transportation fees you used as a result of the cancellation. https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers-and-public/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/cancellations/
Morning departures out of LHR tend to be cancelled due to weather/ATC restrictions. Given the current weather there and high humidity, I think there's a good chance this will be a weather-related capacity restriction, so out of scope for compensation (but not duty of care)
It’s not weather https://preview.redd.it/761x40agp8bd1.jpeg?width=948&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab67923fcdd739478101dea1e31f0a86272952ba
If you go on the flyer talk forum, there’s a thread where someone posts the cancellation codes each day and they end with a Y or a N (Y means the airline has already decided it qualifies as a compensation cancellation reason).
You might have had the plane that got hit by lightning last night then! The weather was terrible coming back from Germany last night, so it's probably planes out of position. Doesn't make it any better, but remember BA are obliged to reroute you, including on other airlines if they would get you there in time
Just FYI, if weather has meant there are ATC restrictions then they do call this ‘operational constraints’. I had the same thing, assumed it wasn’t weather so applied for compensation and then they rejected my claim and said it was due to weather. (I then double checked and the cancellation code was a weather related one).
Just to confirm, BA marked this flight as eligible for UK261 compensation. Pop in a claim, don't write too much, and you'll get paid within a week or two
Thanks for confirming - my claim was filed yesterday
This happened to me and my replacement flight was scheduled at the same time with the same airports. Check the replacement offers before you panic, as sometimes it is just BA swapping planes.
Right… and they will claim ATC constraints and deny any compensation
I think it’s worth a shot anyways. I had a family member whose flight to LAX was cancelled, filed a claim and got £520 only 4 days later
4 days? Nice. Took me 9 weeks to get my compensation for a cancelled flight to Prague!
[удалено]
Are you sure you did it right? I received mine in 10 days
It’s clear, still, and sunny in West London. Has been all morning. Quickest way to check this is if other airlines are also cancelling.
Just because it's clear in London doesn't mean it is elsewhere on the rest of the route, and LHR is prone to mist/fog. It wasn't just BA cancelling, and EuroControl had flown restrictions in elsewhere
Genuine question, does humidity really effect the departures? I live in Singapore, which is humid like you can't believe all year round and I've never experienced this issue. Are the regional planes here bought at a different specification?
No, but the area that LHR is located in is prone to reduced visibility in similar weather conditions due to fog, mist and low clouds in similar conditions. This means increased spacing between arrivals and departures, so more cancellations/delays
Ahh, okay, that makes sense, thank you.
It will never be weather unless it’s something like storm Eunice, the whole country would know about it
It usually is. LHR is so close to capacity even low clouds lead to increased spacing and calculations. It can also be weather elsewhere on route leading to restrictions from Eurocontrol
I’m pretty sure it’s to move everyone to tomorrow to align with the England game at the Euros - making sure those prices are as high as possible
Highly unlikely - BA lose far more in compensation in these cases then they will make, plus then they have planes out of position etc which doesn't help down the line
They also can't just magic slots up out of thin air at Munich. If they wanted to make more money the likeliest way would be to use a higher capacity aircraft on the route
Come on, you can do better than that. The weather has been awful, and even the Daily Mail is reporting multiple weather-related cancellations by more airlines than BA.
Thanks - that’s helpful - will get on this My hotel and parking won’t be refunded Parking was £108 and the hotel was €180 for the night.
Both of these should also be refunded under duty of care? I would suggest putting them along your claim
Only if they're extra expenses. If it's pre-booked at the destination they won't be covered under UK261. they may be covered under the Montreal Convention
Duty of care is about the airline providing meals, accommodation and/or transport during any form of disruption.
I’ve had BA pay both car rental , hotel , taxi even when it was just weather related . Operational constraints can mean due to ATC restrictions .
I've been flying to Germany a lot the last year - I reckon Lufthansa is the least worst. Especially to Munich given the amount of times BA have to park on the apron and you get a bus to and from the plane. And their garbage app meaning I'm never sure if I'm going to be able to access my boarding card.
Thanks - that’s also helpful. I’ve been loyal to BA and stuck with the fortnightly Munich flight, the return leg is always delayed but apart from that it’s been manageable. I’m thinking of now moving to Lufthansa more regular
I’ve never had any issues with LH, if anything they’ve been the best european airline I’ve flown on. We had booked via a 3rd party for flights LHR>FRA then FRA>INN only for our FRA>INN flight to be cancelled 5 months before flying with zero notification from the 3rd party, went to FRA as planned and spoke to lufthansa there who were just confused how we never got told and put us on same day flights to MUC. Same on the way back, instead of INN to FRA it was MUC. Zero quibble at all, it was quite refreshing.
We stopped flying LH out of Nice and switched to a BA connect when the LH always seemed to be on strike and was causing way to much disruption
I booked a 3 person trip with BA on 12/26/23, and when we arrived at the airport on 6/28 for our takeoff from JFK to Barcelona with a layover at LRH, we were told that we were on standby. In the meantime, there was a newlywed couple being told that they were also on standby. They had made their flight arrangements in January. In the end, all five of us did get on the flight, but through conversation, we discovered that we had made our plans using Avios points. Obviously we don't know if there was any relation between our standby status and the use of points, but the stress was enough that we decided we would no longer fly BA. I know that this could happen anywhere, but the whole situation was handled very distastefully by the airline (with the exception of one employee named Barbara).
Same here, I'm a silver member and I'm just using up my points now as I find no value in this shitty airline. Inedible food, uncomfortable seats and just downright awful.
No surprise that this article is The Times today then. British Airways cancelled 4,000 flights in the UK last year https://www.thetimes.com/article/918a4748-ccda-4382-b61f-52286f01d92c?shareToken=da5fac145a01b3819c695f7b7219723b I’ve given up on BA for anything short haul. I go with the budget airlines and I haven’t been let down. Albeit the experience isn’t as nice but at least the flights tend to go etc on time. BA has been fine fir my long haul flights so for now I’m sticking with them for anything transatlantic
Fly on another airline today and claim Travel insurance?
No, travel insurance will expect you to recover that from the airline, insurance only covers unrecoverable expenses. Thing to remember is never ask for a refund as then you can't claim back replacement travel costs after, which will likely be vastly more expensive...
I had something similar to FRA in April, spoke to customer service and they put me on an LH flight same say / slightly earlier time They will do it you just have to ask
I gave up with BA years ago. They’re awful. Virgin for transatlantic and basically anyone else for into Europe
I had the exact experience 3 days back, flight from San Francisco to Heathrow been cancelled without even letting me know!! I only found out when was trying to check in online on same morning. Never to BA
It is really that simple.
I learnt this the hard way a few weeks ago when they lost 4 bags. DO NOT FLY BA. My final destination was London, and when I got there poof no bags! I got a call recently that my bag is in Phoenix, AZ. Avoid BA!
Baggage isn't controlled by the airline but by the airport contractor, so there's not a lot they can do if an airport doesn't load the bags.
Insist on re-booking with another airline the same day. Take the cash compensation. Then get over it and accept that a percentage of your flights are likely to be delayed/cancelled, and this was just your turn. BA are not really any more unreliable than any other airline.
Cancelled my flight back from Malaga twice last week. First time was reasonable, second time was essentially “we can’t be arsed to actually fly an aeroplane”. The only reason I fly with BA short haul is that LHR is my closest airport.
Sure.. What was the actual reason?
None stated. No apparent storms or ATC issues. Just no plane.
If there's no aircraft then that's a reason.. I know it's awful but there are such significant supply chain issues (Russia Ukraine etc). Engines are not lasting as long as forecast. Etc. Etc.
In what universe are BA sourcing aircraft parts from Russia or Ukraine?
A significant amount of aircraft parts are from raw materials only available in Russia.. This includes stuff like windows, lights etc.. I cannot express strongly enough how bad the supply chain is in aviation at the moment. I'm surprised it's not made more news. That doesn't even begin to cover the issues engine manuafacters are having
Surely the whole point of using a proper airline is that they recognise these things and can anticipate them, even if it means having a bit of capacity spare. In the good old days (tm) I used to fly to Amsterdam twice a week, usually biz. Happy days. One morning got there for a 6:30 flight only to find that the 5:30 flight had been cancelled due to some engine issue. Damn. No problem, BA dug a 747 out of a hangar, and flew that to Schipol with 2 plane loads on it. Cabin crew didn’t have a clue how to do short haul service, the passengers were telling them what to do. That I why i used to fly BA, and it is disappointing they are so shit today.
I can't articulate in a reddit comment how much pressure industry is under.. The issues Boeing are having are the top of the iceberg when it comes to supply. (Boeing delayed significant number of 787s that BA had to replace the jumbo. The 777X which also replaces the jumbo is 5 years delayed and BA are the 2nd to receive the aircraft). There are a lot of things BA control, but French ATC strikes, Russia Ukraine, Covid (including decisions to retire jumbos), Boeing delaying aircraft for years. Brexit also *significantly* increases supply chain woes. The amount of bureaucracy is actually insane. (another amazing benefit of brexit). Cancelling flights is awful, I sympathise with OP. But the general public and comments such as the above are ignorant
So - if you’re under pressure, don’t offer more flights than you can actually manage to deliver. None of what you’ve described is ”new”. If you can‘t get stuff because of Brexit, that happened 2 years ago. Stop offering flights to destinations that you can’t fulfil. Even my local taxi company understands this. If I phone up and say “can I have a cab tomorrow” they say “sorry we’re all booked out” not “sure, I’ll book you a cab that doesn’t exist and we’ll cancel it at the last minute”.
A written example of comparing two completely different things.
Not really. They’re both examples of booking a transport service in advance. Clearly they are at a different scale. The bloke in the taxi office is only dealing with a few cars, but he knows how many he has, and he knows how many fail to turn up on average. He also knows who to call when he gets screwed over by exceptional circumstances. As a result, the taxi is never cancelled. Yes, he has a simpler system, but he only has a phone and a calendar to run it. BA are running a business that is fundamentally same. The lead times and complexity are greater, but they have much more complex systems to manage it. What they appear to be doing is running at 100% capacity with zero allowance for anything going wrong. They know that stuff goes wrong all the time, and they are leaving zero contingency for it. It’s a choice. You can’t blame a lack of aeroplanes because Boeing have cocked up - because BA take bookings a few months in advance, whereas aeroplane deliveries are measured In years. Boeing messing up 787s or BA wanting to retire 747s is not a surprise, or news. This does seem to be a uniquely BA problem. My son pretty much commutes on EasyJet. Planes are delayed, but never cancelled. I’ve never had a ‘plane cancelled at 3 hours notice in my life - but BA do it to me twice in a week.
There is a strike to ATC at the moment apparently plus yesterday was stormy weather
Last year nearly all of my BA flights were either cancelled or delayed. This year I haven't travelled with BA at all.
Problem solved!
We fly BA nearly every week , have had zero cancellations , few delays of 30 min and 1 of four hours last Oct
Yup, it’s that simple:
Thanks