Originally Posted by
SpeedbirdLHR
Publicly available seats are exactly what airline staff use to rebook, even in invol situations. There is no hidden availability that agents use. If there was no visible availability, then agents are unable to process any rebooking.
With regards to other carriers, there are agents who would assist in doing this, either in advance or to assist front line staff via telephone.
With respect, this misses the point completely. There were publicly available seats on EI and Flybe, and there was also availability - specifically for invol changes (if one believes the reason BA gave for ceasing public sale) on two BA BHD/LHR flights.