Why were short haul flights cancelled this morning
I would like to start a new thread as the thread I started yesterday to ask this question had its title changed to “UK weather disruption 05 Feb proactive cancellations to some short haul services”. It then became an advisory post for people who had had flights cancelled, and clearly many FTers have found this a worthy and useful post.I myself however had a slightly different question to ask and apparently offended some of the moderators when I attempted to bring the conversation back to my original topic. So here goes again and I guess apologies in advance if I cause offence!So last night I received a text informing that my flight had been cancelled. The line from BA was”Due to forecast snow and ice across many parts of the UK on Monday, we have proactively made some adjustments to our short-haul schedules.
During cold weather conditions aircraft have to be de-iced prior to departure to ensure that they are safe and additional measures are taken to ensure the safety of our operation is maintained at all times.”Now that all seems very reasonable. However I would like to make a few points - The forecast for this morning, at around the time I was informed of the cancellation was 0 degrees C with a 16% chance or precipitation falling, which as the morning went on to reduced to 4%
This morning at the time I was due to take off the actual weather was exactly what had been forecast and I would venture what pilots would often refer to as “as beautiful day to fly” during their pre take off welcome.
- Secondly the a temperature of zero degrees C is fairly common in February in the South of England and therefore one could expect BA and BAA to be prepared to have to de-ice aircraft. As I said in my first post most of the flights I have done on this route for the last 3 months have been de-iced, (Which for the record is at least one flight every other week)
BA stated that “aircraft have to be de-iced prior to departure”. This is obviously true but also I would argue a fairly standard procedure during winter months, one which I would expect them to have factored into the turnaround times. I'd imagine FTers would be slightly shocked if you were told cancelations were due to aircraft having to be refueled.
So this begs the question I originally posed, “Why were flights cancelled?” on a day where the weather forecast was spot on to the actual weather and was, what I would describe, as a typical February morning.One rumor I did hear in the queue from a fellow passenger was that there was not enough de-icing equipment, but obviously I can neither confirm nor deny that. In closing I guess I am a little shocked at what is happening across the board at BA over the last couple of years and I would also venture that if a rail company had done what BA had done today it would be front page news complete with VOX POX of passengers complaining about the costs of travel and calls from the union to renationalise the railways.So answer on a postcard…