BA passengers complain after flight cancellation confusion
British Airways passengers have complained that they have been unable to contact the airline following confusion about flight cancellations ahead of next month’s pilot strike.
British Airways pilots are due to strike on the 9, 10 and 27 September after failing to reach an agreement with members of the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) over pay and working conditions.
Read more: Travel chaos set to hit London aiports as BA pilots vote to strike
There was confusion yesterday after the airline sent an email informing some passengers that their flights were cancelled despite them not falling on the strike days.
BA admitted that the emails advising passengers to book new flights and seek refunds were sent in error. It has since reinstated the flights.
In the second email that the airline sent to passengers informing them that their flights had not been cancelled, no link was provided to help them rebook on to their original flight, forcing customers to contact the airline directly.
Passengers expressed frustration at having to change flights needlessly, and some took to social media to vent their frustration and not being able to get through to customer services.
Read more: British Airways IT glitch rounds of a terrible week for the airline
Adam French, consumer rights Expert at Which?, said that BA had caused a “lot of confusion and anxiety” in the way it handled yesterday’s cancellations.
“It is vital that the airline ensures that any customer who was initially informed that their flight was cancelled and has booked an alternative flight is not left out of pocket,” he said.
“British Airways must now put all resources necessary into sorting out this mess as soon as possible.”
BA, which is celebrating its 100th birthday today, apologised to customers and said it was trying to handle a large number of calls and complaints via social media.
“We are sorry that some customers received an email in error to say that their flight had been cancelled on non-strike days,” it said. “We emailed all those customers within a few hours to clarify that their flight will go ahead as planned.
“We’re extremely sorry that some of our customers are having difficulties trying to re-arrange their flights. Our teams have been working tirelessly to help as many of our customers as possible, in these unprecedented circumstances.
“Our teams have been providing our customers with as many options as possible, as quickly as possible, including a full refund or re-booking to a different date of travel or airline.”