Originally Posted by
bubu-SNA
Is fog considered an extraordinary circumstance? My interpretation is that BA made a commercially minded choice to cancel the flight along with a slew of other short haul flights in favor of preserving their long-haul departures. The whole airport was not shut down. I'm curious if I'm eligible for compensation outside of the promissory letter to reimburse expenses up to the predefined limits. Anyone have experience with this sort of situation & BA?
Yes it is extraordinary and has caused major problems today, not just at LHR but at LGW and AMS (there's a separate thread running about that).
Another BA flight has just had to divert to LTN because it couldn't get into LHR (there's a thread about that too).
In one of the threads (sorry can't remember which one but perhaps the AMS one) a flight deck crew member has explained why it is such a problem.
It also means that the flow rate for landing/departing is severely restricted allowing circa. 25 flights an hour as opposed to the usual 40. BA, being the biggest operator at LHR, takes the biggest hit on number of flights that have to be cut. And they have been running short haul services.
I don't think you should even think of compensation. As you say a BA staffer went above and beyond to help you and you've been given 2 letters advising you to submit your expenses. Others, as you yourself admit, may still be waiting at LHR to be helped.
Fog is not created by BA but by mother nature.