Originally Posted by
MileHighLawyer
As for what kind of lawyer I am, I'm not sure it's relevant, but as you're asking, I'm the "sort of lawyer" who is director of a FTSE 100 and who, due to the failure of BA to send the normal text message or email saying his flight had been cancelled, trapsed all the way out to LHR and when he arrived, was forced to queue up in a marquee in the cold (and mist) for two hours (catching a nasty cold which is slowly making its way down into his lungs and will probably end up as flu) without even as much as being offered a hot drink, who as a result missed the last Eurostar of the evening and had to wake up at 3.30am to get the first Eurostar the next day (6.09am), turned up at his meeting in Brussels to close a deal feeling like death (only slightly warmed up) and who may not now be well enough to go skiing next week (booked on BA, by the way, but then again there's no snow in Val d'Isere!).
Oh? So..... Cold and rain gives the flu? That's new for medical science! Last I heard, most colds and flus were from rhinovirus and adenoviruses and not cold and wet. You really need to stop listening to old wives tales.
Originally Posted by
MileHighLawyer
I'm sorry if this may upset some hard-working BA staff, but the one individual who I was speaking to at LHR Terminal 4 was not very helpful or sympathetic (this is the first time I've ever had a bad experience with BA staff, who are normally fantastic). And even then, we're all human and this person had probably had to deal with hundreds of irate customers, so I'm just putting it down to experience
Well, try magnifying that by thousands. I am the last person to be a BA apologist on this board and many will attest to that, but if you have had to sacrifice certain slots and place tens of thousands of customers onto other flights I think what happened is to be expected. I personally was involved in the biggest storm to hit HKG last August and let me say, it was much worse that what hit LHR and whilst I have several complaints (mainly due to baggage and overbooking) I tried to keep my cool and I feel I largely accomplished that. FWIW, I was travelling in F!
Originally Posted by
MileHighLawyer
As for the substantive question, an argument could be made that BA had discretion as to which flights to cancel. The authorities did not order BA to cancel any specific flights. There was therefore what is commonly known as a novus actus interveniens (or intervening act) between the "act of God" and the cancellation of my flight. This was a tactical decision, based on operational and / or commercial reasons. I don't blame BA for making the decision, but it was made at their discretion.
And if you were a carrier, what flights would you have canceled? If you were only able to operate a certain percentage of flights because air traffic control throttling the the number of take off and landing slots, what would you suggest BA do? Remember that weather is constantly changing and whilst the Bureau of Meteorology do a good job, even the airlines have to try and be optimistic which often means decisions are made at the last minute.
Sacrificing your flight may make 200 passengers inconvenienced, but sacrificing another flight may make 400 passengers inconvenienced. What would you do especially when the 200 passengers might have potentially other easier alternatives for BA to move those passengers to than long haul passengers?