jenbo1

I spent 14 hours in TXL yesterday due to THREE flight cancellations on airberlin. Was connecting to Warsaw from JFK so very long day...which continues as they put me up in a terrible nearby hotel. Anyway, I'm curious if anyone has insight into why there were all the cancellations. I'm rebooked through another airline for the morning, but it's a tight layover and I'm debating taking the train if the issue may be tied to something at TXL and not just the airline. Customer service has been awful on this so any insights/tips would be terrific. Even more frustrating is that having Ruby status didn't help me at all; I know it's the lowest level but it's still something and they should treat loyal oneworld customers politely. (My one silver lining: I'm hoping to receive compensation for each of the 3 flights under EU law. Doesn't make it right, but it's something.)

SK2751

Tegel+AB has been a big problem for several months now, ever since AB changed the handling company. But I never experienced three cancellations to the same destination. This is quite unusual. And usually rebooking was quite effective on other airlines. I am connecting in TXL tomorrow, after a super long trip across three continents, and would like this to go uneventful ...

SK2751

I checked that indeed yesterday 3 out of 4 flights TXL-WAW have been cancelled. This is quite unusual. It seems that only AB8216 flown, and on Q400 which is a relatively small machine, given that the three other flights have not departed. Today AB lists only two flights (strange), and one of them is already cancelled, while the other seriously delayed. A very worrying development.

waffle

You got off easy! When I landed in TXL on Sunday night, I was greeted by a queue of what I estimate was at least two hundred people waiting to be rebooked shortly before midnight. It looks like they cancelled about twenty flights that day (including the evening service to Abu Dhabi), quite a few of them at short notice or even after boarding. And while twenty cancellations might have been exceptional, five or even ten isn't. It's really worrying.

The last flights of the day seem to be the most affected, so I think the problem is partly caused by a build-up of delays over the course of the day so that they miss the last departure slots.

ralfkrippner

This doesn't look good - I'm hearing from lots of friends and colleagues with cancelled flights in the last week or so, also from and to DUS.

I hope AB gets this straigtened out quickly as otherwise many customers will be lost.

TT-Jones

I believe we are seeing a combined effect of:
1) An overstretched fleet (after having shifted 38 planes to Eurowings)
2) The abysmal ground handling desaster in TXL, their homebase
3) Many staffers having checked out mentally already and/or having become tonedeaf to the daily craze going on at AB

As a result I made my decision - taking my business to LH.

worldiswide

I'm looking to book a flight from Ord to txl and then to vienna in late August. I have a 3 hour layover in Vienna with a flight to Sarajevo on Austrian airlines. It does not seem like i can buy the full trip on Air Berlin. Im wondering if it makes sense or any difference to have a travel agent write the ticket so it is a single ticket or just purchase a more flexible vienna to sarajevo ticket in case of delay. These posts give me cause for concern of delays at txl. We won't have checked baggage and will be in J if that matters but ground delays seem to be more than baggage. Im open to suggestions but know there is a lot of chance built into the equation that is anyone's guess. The joys of travel..

irishguy28

It doesn't work that way. You are one passenger on one journey. You receive one amount of compensation based on how late you arrived at WAW in comparison to what your original ticket said.

SK2751

If it is sold as one ticket, with one ticket number by a travel agent, the airlines, to my best knowledge, should still protect you. If these are different airlines, and to make it worse cross-allied airlines, it is a bit harder, and usually more stressful, to argue your way, but typically works.

I would not risk a long haul connection of 3 hours on separate tickets in TXL right now. Have been routed through TXL quite a few times last two months, and I think only one time was successful. The other cases were (in the best case) seriously delayed, or cancelled, or I got rerouted by AB using a different connection.

Also note, that quite likely the Austrian flight will be on time, as this is not the entire TXL that has troubles to the best of my knowledge, just AB.

TPJ

+1 (sadly as I even liked AB)

SK2751

I am still suffering AB next 4 weeks or so, systematically burning all my award points. Once this is done, I will give them at least 6 months break, switching to SK, in my case as a more convenient option. Then I will reconsider, depending on the situation.

largeeyes

My wife is SERIOUSLY po'd. Booked direct flight home from JFK and they canceled AB7455, AB7249 is full and now she has to connect in DUS. Not sure she even received a notification.

worldiswide

Thanks for the advice. The flights are actually ord-txl-vienna on one ticket on ab - that I can buy on AB. The Vienna to Sarajevo ticket is on Austrian and I was deciding what to do. I would take a different connection but obviously if my AB ticket also goes to Vienna that is all AB would be responsible for.