VillageFlyer

It hasn't snowed in London since Saturday.

dmsdfw

I got rescheduled from AA91 DFW->ORD on Saturday to AA6148 (BA codeshare) tomorrow. Now that's canceled and I'm on AA155 to BOS on Wednesday. Two really poor things though are:
1. I had to find out about the cancelation by looking on the BA website. I got no notifcation from AA.
2. When I phoned the EXP desk to rebook they could not find anything else. I found the Boston flight on aa.com while talking to them, much to their surprise. They still couldn't see it so I had to put it on hold and they then merged the new locator into my old trip somehow.

The BAA/LHR situation is just unbelivable. Less than one hour's snow on Saturday before noon and the airport is virtually closed for four days. Heads need to roll. Not least that of Andrew Teacher, BAA spokesman, who is clearly a complete idiot. He did one interview for the BBC where he likened closing the world's busiest international airport for several days to the cancelation of a couple of football matches, suggesting that the latter justified the former.

NotSoSuper80

I was on AA 98 which made it into LHR about two hours delayed today. It was snowing when we landed. My onward flight to EDI was canceled, and LHR is not a happy place right now, so I headed to Kings Cross to catch a train for EDI.

Right after we landed, the runway was closed as trucks went onto the runway to spray something. They look like dump trucks outfitted with crop dusting equipment. Being from ORD, it didn't look like much snow, but for folks not used to it, certainly a major event.

Patience is needed at LHR. It's a mess of very angry people.

Abscam

NSS80 sorry to read you've flown into the fly trap. It is very sticky here. I was delayed Thursday inbound missing my US flight Friday. Saturday was spent at the airport and it didnt snow but for a furious hour or so. Very few people were at the airport as BA cancelled all flights. You'd have thought the few other airlines could have benefitted from this...not so much.

Safety, is of course, paramount but now BAA is wrapping this debacle around safety trying to paper over ineptitude, a complete lack of planning for the wx, the people, the aftermath, etc. And to think the volcano incident isn't very long ago.

Those that have remained at the airport have had a pretty rough time of it and it is good to hear and read that the authorities, airlines, and others finally gotnaround to the attention of those stranded. I know it took me quite a while just to get out of the airport, let alone get to a hotel.

I've been here since Friday and will be lucky if I get out on the 22nd. I'm told the UK govt sold LHR and other airports to private parties. The lack of planning and capability for Europe's largest airport is appalling.

Good luck to you!

Bonaturtle

Looks like all flights got out today LHR-ORD, and BA flights are getting priority all over Europe. In AMS for example, all flights into LHR on KLM were canceled, while all BA flights, at least in the morning, went off without a hitch.

I fly BA AMS-LHR and then AA onto ORD on Thursday morning, hopefully all will be kosher by then.

WNLuvr

Here's a link just posted from their Facebook page with ex-LHR anticipated flights for 21 dec:

http://www.americanairlines.co.uk/i1...p?locale=en_GB

Looks like travelers out of LHR will need some sort of printed flight confirmation to even gain access to the terminal...

theoz1419

i was planning to go to London on the 18th from Ord on AA90. I was able to get a flight the next day on AA90, that to was cancelled. I am booked on flight AA86 on the 21st.

Hopefully that flight gets out of ORD. My Girlfriend flew into London on 17th from Malaysia and we have had to change all our travel plans to Europe.

ExpatExp

Just landed in JFK off 115 from LHR. Happily, this was my originally scheduled flight, so I was one of the few who didn't have to make any changes or sleep on the floor at LHR. However, it was not without problems! Here's what happened:

• Knew LHR would be a zoo from BBC news reports, so decided to get there early. M4 motorway out of London to LHR was closed due to snow, so took the subway. No problems on the Picadilly line (though a bunch of other lines were suspended) and arrived at LHR around 5:30 am.
• Check-in area around AA and CX at T3 door B was absolutely packed. You could barely move around. AA ticket counters had not opened yet, but I asked two AA reps in passing if Flagship Check-in would be open, and they said yes, at 6 am. What a relief! It was cold outside, but much more pleasant than the crowded terminal.
• After waiting outside for Flagship to open until 6:15 (along with a bunch of other EXPs), another AA rep told us that Flagship would not actually be opening today. So, back inside to the melee.
• Waited in F check-in line and was finally checked in at 7 am. Baggage belts not working, and luggage was piling up.
• Went upstairs to clear security, and Fast Track was closed.
• Waited briefly in BA F lounge. Displays and AA.com indicated flight on time. Arrived at gate at 7:50 am, 5 mins after boarding scheduled to begin.
• Priority AAccess lane at gate lounge entrance not in use. One giant line.
• Waited in gate lounge until scheduled departure time of 8:30 am. No announcements made to indicate that flight would be delayed. The only clue we had as to what was happening is that a bunch of crew members walked through with their luggage and boarded around 8:35 am. About fifteen minutes later, another group did the same. It appears that they all just arrived at the airport, and did not get to the gate until five minutes after the scheduled departure time.
• Boarding began around 9 am, with no announcement about the fact that there was a delay, nor regarding the reason for the delay.
• When boarding was finished, an announcement was made that the fuel truck was frozen and they had to go boil a coffee pot full of hot water to get the fuel valves on the truck to work.
• Around 10 am, fueling was complete, and it was time for de-icing.
• Around 10:15 am, announcement made that there was so much snow in the engines that they had to stop de-icing to let a mechanic go inside and scrape out the snow by hand.
• De-icing began again around 10:30 am.
• Around 10:45 am, the de-icing truck ran out of de-icing fluid and had to leave to refill.
• We were finally ready to push back around 11:15 am, but then we had to wait for ATC as only one runway was in use.
• Finally took off around noon, 3.5 hours late.
• A few moments after flaps went down for landing at JFK, announcement made that a passenger was ill and asked for a doctor.
• Landed at JFK around 2:30 pm, 3 hours late.
• On arriving at the gate, had to remain seated while paramedics evacuated the passenger. Finally disembarked around 3 pm.
• Happy to say that my first piece of luggage arrived with the first half priority bags as soon as the belt started moving. Unfortunately, my second piece of luggage arrived with the other half of the priority bags, at the end of the unloading process.
• Connecting flight had already left by the time I got my luggage, and was not automatically rebooked, despite being EXP. AA ticket agent at JFK got me the last remaining seat on the last connecting flight of the day.

Before anyone starts flaming, I'm not annoyed and I'm not complaining. I just wanted to add to the info on LHR over the past few days, in case it helps anyone prepare. Basically, if you try to stay positive, even a series of problems can be manageable.

I'm happy that my originally scheduled flight went out and I didn't have to change anything. I'm really lucky compared to a lot of folks. However, there was a lot of room for improvement. Thank goodness the FAs on 115 were fantastic. Had a great flight in the end.

britenbsas

It's been snowing again for the last 4 hours in London and is now quite heavy. Expect a lot more disruption over the next few days

galaticos

cheers mate - atleast you made it...I'm trying to get from ORD-LHR-BOM since Dec 17...made it to LHR on 18th...was 10 mins away from take-off when the deicer ran out of fluid/broke down..had to wait for that to be fixed and by that time, it was too late...stuck at LHR since saturday morning...

BAA needs to get its people to ORD/MSP/DTW/DEN to see how its done..

galaticos

mate - point is that LHR is a huge international airport...any problem runs losses into millions...4-5 million pound investment to avoid that is well worth it...you cant say that this now a one in a million event as they have had this problem each year for the past 3 years...and whatever the arguement - 5 inches of snow shouldnt create this mess...read the other post about Gatwick clearing and operating a near full schedule today - same amount of snow, same tempratures - but they were proactive...its a management mistake...

Time traveller

Does anyone have any updates on AA flights to/from CDG, FRA and BRU?

CubsFanJohn

BRU is closed til Wed at least due to lack of de-icing fluid.

Howgart

+++1! Just had my BA flight to JFK for tomorrow, cancelled (rebooked from a cancelled Saturday AA 105 flight) The incompetence, blame-laying, and denial I see going on here is just incredible! The reality is that as the poster in the quote above said, this (type of weather) has been going on for several years now...one cannot, at this point, continue to bury one's head in the sand. (FYI...I have had multiple flights cancelled at Heathrow due to snow as far back as 5-6 years ago). BAA is perhaps the worst airport operator I have ever laid eyes on. (Having experienced the joys of flying through Heathrow on average, 12-15 times per year for the last 15 years or so..I think I have a good feel for their Management prowess!).

Through all this, trying to deal with BA has also been less than a stellar experience. One simply cannot get through to any of their call centres (you get a message apologising for the heavy volume, and they tell you to try again and then disconnect). The message also mentions trying their website instead...haven't been able to get that to work since Saturday either!

All in all, I have in the grand scheme of things, little to complain about...At least I was able to get into London and am holed-up in a pretty decent hotel, on company expense account 'till this ends. I attend meetings via phone, and get lots of backlog work done. I feel really badly for those relegated to sleeping at LHR since Saturday, who arrived at LHR in transit, with no visa, and perhaps also no plastic to use, Compared to those folks, or folks stranded at the airport with children, or elderly parents, I should just STFU!

Anyway, the one positive, is I have new found respect for my home airport, where feet of snow are regularly vanquished, with the airport at full operation, usually in less than 8 hours! Way to go Buffalo! To anyone else who has been stranded by this series of events, you have my complete sympathies.

LAXNYER

PrayIng that things stabilize.. I'm dew-lhr-AMS on thurs pm.