British Airways passengers face more chaos as airline workers consider a summer holiday strike.
The news comes mere days after the beleaguered carrier was forced to cancel 8000 flights in its March-October schedule.
On top of this, 15 to 20 per cent of BA travellers on cancelled flights still won’t be at their destination 24 hours after they were meant to arrive..
With airline workers set to vote on possible industrial action in coming days, the situation could get worse before it gets better.
So how did things get so bad – and is the end in sight?
How many flights has British Airways cancelled?
British Airways has had a difficult couple of months.
Under short-staffing pressure, the airline announced last week that it had reduced its schedule by 10 per cent – around 8,000 round trips – between March and October.
The carrier insisted that customers would be notified of these pre-planned cancellations in advance, and would be entitled to seats on other flights.
If the cancellation was announced less than a fortnight in advance, passengers are also entitled to financial compensation.
But social media is nonetheless full of BA customers venting their fury.
“It’s shocking that you can just ruin someone’s holiday that they’ve worked hard to save for by sending a text 12 hours before departure! BA should be ashamed of itself,” social media user Michael posted on Friday.
Other customers complained about being kicked off flights at the very last minute.
“Absolutely appalling,” tweeted Lucy Jones, a British journalist.
“Just got to Heathrow Airport to be told by @British_Airways they’ve overbooked our flight and we can’t fly. How do they allow this to happen?!!”
A BA spokesperson conceded that recent weeks have been “challenging for the entire industry.”
“At British Airways we’re completely focused on three priorities: our customers, supporting the biggest recruitment drive in our history and increasing our operational resilience,” they said.
“We’ve taken…