As T5 security crisis looms, Virgin Atlantic allows rebooking (from T3) whilst BA (at T5) does not

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• roams84 says:

  27 Mar27 March 11:25

  I am outbound with wife and toddler on April 9th from T5 using CC. Should I simply re-book for the 10th now or wait and see?

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:30

    Unless and until BA offer the chance to rebook for free it could cost you a lost of money to change flights so I’d wait until (a) BA offers this or (b) see if the issue gets resolved and the strike called off. There are 2 weeks before you travel so plenty of time for either to happen.

    Not sure what ‘CC’ is.

    • roams84 says:

      27 Mar27 March 11:30

      Sorry I meant to say a companion voucher!

      • Paul says:

        27 Mar27 March 12:21

        Do your home work on most convenient route in the same class and be ready for the email if they do cancel. Then call and rebook on any airline. BA must do this if the seats are available irrespective of the basis of your fare. So a club avios on a 241 gets 2 x J seats on whatever airline is available.

        This is very important for those in regions and countries of the UK who may see only their s/h cancelled. KLM will probably be the best option for a reroute but LH and AF EI and QR are all options

        • NorthernLass says:

          27 Mar27 March 14:08

          At the risk of sounding like @JDB, it’s slightly more complicated than this. You at least need to give BA a chance to reroute you or show that you have made reasonable efforts to contact them or they may well deny any claims on the grounds that they could have re-routed you if given the opportunity. So if you rebooked yourself to MIA on Virgin, for example, BA might say that their policy would be to rebook you on AA and refuse to reimburse you. It would be wise to do as much research as possible on this (lots of info on HFP), before the travel date, especially if your flights are going to cost a lot to rebook in the event of a cancellation.

• Lisa says:

  27 Mar27 March 11:38

  I am outbound for Easter holiday with fam on April 2nd from T5. If trip is canceled I must cancel the hotel by 30th. What a nightmare. Much sympathy to everyone in a similar boat.

• Paul says:

  27 Mar27 March 11:50

  EU/UK261 legislation is a massive benefit to consumers but this issue demonstrates yet again, that airport authorities and ground handling companies should fall under is auspices. Heathrow airport would be far more incentivised to resolve this looming issue if they were on the hook for the same level of EU/UK261 compensation as the carriers. As it is because the airline is not on strike the airline can hide behind exceptional circumstances.

  Similarly, the subcontracting of many ground handling issues to third parties by the carriers, again moved strikes and disruption in those businesses away from airlines and into the sphere of exceptional circumstances.

  Now I am not naive to think the current chaotic self obsessed government have to much concern for consumer rights ( they are more keen on feathering their nests before unemployment looms) so it won’t happen but rather than minimum service standards it would probably be better if the public were compensated for disruption in the event of strikes.

  It would mean that the right to strike is not curtailed and that better industrial relations would have a significant financial incentive.

  • Richie says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:59

    But don’t airlines have a principal-agent relationship with their ground handlers? If so are they then not a third party?

    • Paul says:

      27 Mar27 March 12:22

      Has that been tested in court. I suspect BA and others would work very hard to avoid payments in such circumstances.

      • Richie says:

        27 Mar27 March 12:28

        I don’t know if it has been tested. Commercial businesses always work hard to avoid payments by fobbing off claimants.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        27 Mar27 March 13:24

        yes it has been tested in court where strikes by airline staff and their contractors don’t count as extraordinary circumstances but strikes by airport staff do.

        Airlines don’t generally specifically contract people like security clearance staff who are employed by airports.

        • meta says:

          27 Mar27 March 14:56

          It really depends on which staff. The strike by air traffic control are considered extraordinary and that has been ruled on, but strike by security guards and other staff has not yet.

  • JDB says:

    27 Mar27 March 13:55

    @Paul it’s very laudable to seek yet more consumer compensation requirements, but ultimately it is the consumer who has to pay, so there isn’t a straightforward case for this.

    The current EC261 legislation is perceived not only by airlines but also many governments to be unduly onerous and costly in a way that damages the industry vs other competitors, but of course that’s not necessarily the view in Brussels. The result of that impasse is that airlines right across Europe know they can flout the rules with impunity as governments will not enforce the rules. It would actually be better overall to have simpler updated rules (not an old law and lots of judgments) and lower compensation that was applied more automatically / systematically.

    • Lady London says:

      27 Mar27 March 17:48

      I’d agree with automatic compensation even if lower. But I’m sure the airlines would delay payments and mess them up even then.

      What I’d like to see is explicit scope for compensation due to be multipled by 1.25, 1.5 2 them 3x if incorrectly denied, and uplifts for every day payment due does not appear in the passenger’s account.

      Currently there is absolutely no penalty on airlines for delay and denial and there needs to be.

    • Paul says:

      27 Mar27 March 23:04

      Have you seen what BAA charge you to us the airport? Have you bought a ticket recently. It’s all part of the costs of doing business.

• Jen says:

  27 Mar27 March 12:16

  I fly Into terminal 5 from Montreal on 2nd. Should I try to chsnge?

  • Rob says:

    27 Mar27 March 12:28

    Not if your trip ends in London, no. It looks like BA is sending out empty aircraft to bring people home even flights are nominally being cancelled.

• can says:

  27 Mar27 March 12:44

  Any idea if this would spread to Gatwick?

  • NorthernLass says:

    27 Mar27 March 13:28

    They’d have to ballot and then give 2 weeks’ notice, like with any strike.

  • C2K77 says:

    27 Mar27 March 22:35

    @can short answer: NO.

    Medium answer: Under NO circumstances could this “spread to Gatwick”. The striking staff aren’t BA staff, they are HAL/ LHR // 3rd Party contractors ( in small numbered circumstances).

    HAL/ LHR & GAL/ LGW are two totally separate entities. Whilst there may be varying levels of union crossover there would be no valid legal basis for LGW staff to strike due to failed pay negotiations at an airport not connected to them in any legal way & whose pay & conditions have zero baring on thier own.

    Even BA is, nowadays, a separated operating unit called Euro Flyer ( despite ironically being far from EU only flight Ops). Whilst the strike isn’t a BA thing persay so it’s kinda irrelevant, I make the point just to show you some more degrees of separation so as to reassure you more.

• Travel Strong says:

  27 Mar27 March 13:05

  ‘Could use public transport but choose not to’
  … make it comparable on price and I would LOVE to use it. As per Trevor above, 2 of us travelling via train and HIX ~£400. It isn’t even viable pricing for 1 person travelling.

  • Travel Strong says:

    27 Mar27 March 13:06

    Misthreaded reply. That’ll teach me to start writing a reply and send it 30 mins later.

• Emily says:

  27 Mar27 March 13:21

  We fly into LHR on Sunday from USA and then into CPH, just for the night (EX EU). We were looking forward to our night there, but if the LHR – CPH leg is cancelled, then that part of the trip is really no longer of use as it is so short. If we agreed to not be rebooked can I claim original route credit on the leg?

• Thomas Atkins says:

  27 Mar27 March 13:39

  Ok, my flight back from MIA is due in at T5 on 3rd April; I am stuffed? What are my options? Heard nowt from BA to date…

  • NorthernLass says:

    27 Mar27 March 14:12

    In principle you shouldn’t be too badly affected unless you need to clear security again at LHR for a domestic connection. In reality it’s hard to say as presumably some flights are going to be cancelled in the other direction which will have a knock on effect on people returning. You are entitled to duty of care though so maybe book a couple of fully refundable hotel nights in MIA and see if you hear anything by the weekend?

    • NorthernLass says:

      27 Mar27 March 14:14

      I think Rob said something about sending empty aircraft to bring people back in the article so you may be ok. Keep an eye on MMB, obviously, as sometimes this shows changes before the emails get sent out.

    • Thomas Atkins says:

      27 Mar27 March 15:05

      Thx NotthernLass; appreciated 👍🏿

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