Weather: Europe / UK Snow/Weather & AA Flights Dec 2010 (consolidated)
#46
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AAdvantage EXP 2.9MM, Fairmont PC Platinum, HHonors Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 92
Looks like the chaos at Heathrow will continue through Monday at least. Closed for all arrivals and most departures on Sunday, 12/19.....
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Heathrow Airport update
Heathrow Airport will be not be accepting arrivals on Sunday, and will only manage a handful of departures as our airfield team continues to deal with the impacts of yesterday's bad weather and prepares the airport for a full re-opening on Monday.
We are extremely sorry for the disruption this will cause to passengers and airlines and we stress that passengers must check with their airline before travelling to the airport. We will provide regular updates.
In the last few minutes, we have listened carefully to the advice of our airside operations team and have reluctantly judged that while Heathrow's northern runway remains clear, the change in temperature overnight has led to a significant build up of ice on parking stands around the planes and this requires the airfield to remain closed until it is safe to move planes around.
We have 200 aircraft parking stands and have a team of several hundred people working to treat these airside areas and to keep passengers in the terminal as warm and as comfortable as possible while we do everything we can to get Heathrow moving.
We are removing 30 tonnes of snow from each stand, but the temperature remains firmly below zero and Heathrow's capacity is limited to the extent that all parking stands are occupied by aircraft, making the job of clearing and treating them more difficult.
Safety is our first priority and we hope this course of action will allow us to offer a fuller service to passengers and airlines using Heathrow tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------
Heathrow Airport update
Heathrow Airport will be not be accepting arrivals on Sunday, and will only manage a handful of departures as our airfield team continues to deal with the impacts of yesterday's bad weather and prepares the airport for a full re-opening on Monday.
We are extremely sorry for the disruption this will cause to passengers and airlines and we stress that passengers must check with their airline before travelling to the airport. We will provide regular updates.
In the last few minutes, we have listened carefully to the advice of our airside operations team and have reluctantly judged that while Heathrow's northern runway remains clear, the change in temperature overnight has led to a significant build up of ice on parking stands around the planes and this requires the airfield to remain closed until it is safe to move planes around.
We have 200 aircraft parking stands and have a team of several hundred people working to treat these airside areas and to keep passengers in the terminal as warm and as comfortable as possible while we do everything we can to get Heathrow moving.
We are removing 30 tonnes of snow from each stand, but the temperature remains firmly below zero and Heathrow's capacity is limited to the extent that all parking stands are occupied by aircraft, making the job of clearing and treating them more difficult.
Safety is our first priority and we hope this course of action will allow us to offer a fuller service to passengers and airlines using Heathrow tomorrow.
#47
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Austin TX.
Programs: AA GLD (1MM), Hyatt PLT, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 782
With LHR closed tomorrow I find it unbelievable that AA sent AA98 out of ORD at 10:20 tonight. It was diverted to quickly BOS then to JFK. You have to feel sorry for the passengers.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL98
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL98
#48
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: ORD,LAX
Programs: AA LFT. PLAT
Posts: 290
With LHR closed tomorrow I find it unbelievable that AA sent AA98 out of ORD at 10:20 tonight. It was diverted to quickly BOS then to JFK. You have to feel sorry for the passengers.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL98
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL98
as of now they are still sending pax to lhr tonight on 98. the current departure time is 200A EST... I will update my post if the status changes...
#49
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Downers Grove, IL
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, AA Advantage
Posts: 5,983
With LHR closed tomorrow I find it unbelievable that AA sent AA98 out of ORD at 10:20 tonight. It was diverted to quickly BOS then to JFK. You have to feel sorry for the passengers.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL98
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL98
#50
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 102
darn
my flight has been cancelled. trying to figure out when to go because it looks like snow on Monday as well. at least I'm not stuck in an airport..
#51
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Downers Grove, IL
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, AA Advantage
Posts: 5,983
#52
Join Date: May 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, UA 1K, Marriott/SPG Platinum Elite
Posts: 774
the wait to get through to an agent is insane... been holding for over 30 minutes now and that's for the EXP line. i got a text message saying "FLIGHT CANCELED. REBOOK IN PROGRESS. WILL UPDATE YOU SHORTLY" followed up by another text message that said "UNABLE TO REBOOK, PLS CALL TO RESCHEDULE"
#53
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 102
please continue to hold
I've been on hold for over 1 hour, but they apologize for the delay in answering my call, so it's all good.
original: ORD - LHR AA90
original: ORD - LHR AA90
#54
Join Date: May 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, UA 1K, Marriott/SPG Platinum Elite
Posts: 774
got through after an hour and ended up with a very unhappy agent.
#56
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: LON / GVA
Programs: BA Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 21
Have been on hold this morning for over 1 hour 20 minutes already and still not through to an agent. Allowing online changes for international flights would save a lot of pain and aggravation. BA lets you change online, c'mon AA get with the program.
#57
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: AA EXP, Priority Club Platinum
Posts: 89
70 mins and still waiting to get through to the EXP line. Does anyone know if EXP calls overflow to the main number? If there are only a few EXP agents on at this time of the night I wonder whether calling the main number (or UK number) would get a quicker result. Not prepared to risk hanging up and trying it though!
#58
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: LON / GVA
Programs: BA Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 21
i'm on the phone to both lines - US and UK. same hold music. it's like listening in stereo. so not sure if there are different queues.
#59
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 5
An hour in, Still on hold :/
The connecting flight is meant to leave in a few hours.....
The connecting flight is meant to leave in a few hours.....
#60
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: SJC/VCE
Programs: AA PLT (2.9+ MM), HH GLD, Hyatt Diamond, SPG PLT
Posts: 10,161