Unexpected destinations - diversions on BA flights.
May 17, 2020, 1:19 am
#16
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: South Yorkshire, UK
Programs: A3*G, LH FTL, VS Red, Avis Preferred, Hertz President's Circle, (RIP Diamond Club)
Posts: 2,364
During the volcano thing in Iceland our New York flight made several course changes and altitude changes and ended up short on fuel. We landed at Stewart Airbase in upstate New York for a few hours. We were parked fairly near the runway with fighter jets landing and taking off so it wasn’t boring.
May 17, 2020, 1:20 am
#17
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: ba exec club
Posts: 126
A few years back when BA operates the MCT-AUH-LHR we had a very miserable trip home.
The plane from MCT-AUH diverted to Al Ain as fog had rolled into AUH and the crew hadn’t brought sufficient fuel to hold.
This resulted in the aircraft arriving about 3.5 hours late into a foggy AUH. We boarded the plane and sat on the tarmac for 4 hours before finally taking to the runway (thanks to an additional failure of the AUH taxiway lighting system).
Over the Black Sea the captain came on to tell us that due to the flight crew running out of hours they would be diverting to VIE - where we ended up waiting for 6 hours whilst a new crew were flown out from LHR.
Not gonna go into all the detail but the situation was a joke from the initial diversion and for the ‘well experienced’ flight deck, compliancy ruled the day.
I escalated the situation after finally getting home and ended up getting a call from someone in operations about the decisions made that day. A satisfactory compensation was arranged.
The plane from MCT-AUH diverted to Al Ain as fog had rolled into AUH and the crew hadn’t brought sufficient fuel to hold.
This resulted in the aircraft arriving about 3.5 hours late into a foggy AUH. We boarded the plane and sat on the tarmac for 4 hours before finally taking to the runway (thanks to an additional failure of the AUH taxiway lighting system).
Over the Black Sea the captain came on to tell us that due to the flight crew running out of hours they would be diverting to VIE - where we ended up waiting for 6 hours whilst a new crew were flown out from LHR.
Not gonna go into all the detail but the situation was a joke from the initial diversion and for the ‘well experienced’ flight deck, compliancy ruled the day.
I escalated the situation after finally getting home and ended up getting a call from someone in operations about the decisions made that day. A satisfactory compensation was arranged.
May 17, 2020, 1:52 am
#19
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: GLA
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 2,964
My shortest flight was PIK-GLA after a diversion caused by a fire alarm in the tower at GLA. Apparently the tower was only closed for a few minutes but we had to wait ages for fuel before taking off again.
The stewardess looking after us in CE was a bit confused, however... after take off from PIK, she hit up and started prepping for a drinks run, and 30 seconds later got the “cabin crew, 5 minutes to landing” message as we were able to fly straight into GLA from the south, rather than the usual approach from the north of the city.
The stewardess looking after us in CE was a bit confused, however... after take off from PIK, she hit up and started prepping for a drinks run, and 30 seconds later got the “cabin crew, 5 minutes to landing” message as we were able to fly straight into GLA from the south, rather than the usual approach from the north of the city.
May 17, 2020, 2:06 am
#21
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,851
Strangely I've never had a diversion on BA, not even a BACF SEN. I have on AF, KLM, Lufty, Cubana and one of the Burma airlines. My nearest on BA was a LHR-NCL sector turning into LHR-LHR, it turned out there was a serious fault with the aircraft, sufficiently serious that no-one was prepared to say what it was. It was memorable because I was badly airsick on the service whilst being sat next to Cheryl Cole (or whatever she was at the time), who was lovely about it.
I've got the numbers of hotels for Lajes, Gander, Goose Bay and St Johns stored in my phone, so I secretly want to end up there on one level, but particularly for Lajes it won't be good news if I ever get that sort of diversion.
I've got the numbers of hotels for Lajes, Gander, Goose Bay and St Johns stored in my phone, so I secretly want to end up there on one level, but particularly for Lajes it won't be good news if I ever get that sort of diversion.
Last edited by corporate-wage-slave; May 17, 2020 at 2:29 am
May 17, 2020, 2:21 am
#22
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, M&M, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,223
Never had diversion on BA, but AA took me once to Wichita Falls instead of Dallas. Captain was personally distributing pizza ordered for passengers. I missed BA flight due to diversion and spent 24h waiting for next one.
May 17, 2020, 2:27 am
#23
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 5,596
My first visit to Grenada was back in time on that old BA subsiduary DAN-AIR. On finals at AGP following an AV8A there appeared in front a puff of smoke and a black blob rose out of the AV8A, which promptly pancaked on to the runway in front and turned into a mass of bits.
The lovely old Captain I was with leaned over and said "I think you'd better go around". The black blob blossomed into a fine white parachute and the Flight engineer nearly fell off his chair.
So we went to Grenada and watched the gong show play out.
The lovely old Captain I was with leaned over and said "I think you'd better go around". The black blob blossomed into a fine white parachute and the Flight engineer nearly fell off his chair.
So we went to Grenada and watched the gong show play out.
May 17, 2020, 2:30 am
#24
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 5,596
Strangely I've never had a diversion on BA, not even a BACF SEN. I have on AF, KLM, Lufty, Cubana and one of the Burma airlines. My nearest on BA was a LHR-NCL sector turning into LHR-LHR, it turned out there was a serious fault with the aircraft, sufficiently serious that no-one was prepared to say what it wes. It was memorable because I was badly airsick on the service whilst being sat next to Cheryl Cole (or whatever she was at the time), who was lovely about it.
I've got the numbers of hotels for Lajes, Gander, Goose Bay and St Johns stored in my phone, so I secretly want to end up there on one level, but particularly for Lajes it won't be good news if I ever get that sort of diversion.
I've got the numbers of hotels for Lajes, Gander, Goose Bay and St Johns stored in my phone, so I secretly want to end up there on one level, but particularly for Lajes it won't be good news if I ever get that sort of diversion.
May 17, 2020, 3:04 am
#26
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 556
May 17, 2020, 3:18 am
#27
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Madrid
Programs: BA GfL
Posts: 157
Pedant mode on.
[QUOTE=rapidex;32382059]My first visit to Grenada was back in time on that old BA subsiduary DAN-AIR. On finals at AGP ..... /QUOTE]
Rapidex, I think you meant Granada, not Grenada. A diversion from Malaga to Grenada would have ensured a pretty gruelling journey in an old DanAir plane!
Pedant mode off.
I hope you managed to enjoy Granada a bit, the beautiful Alhambra and the cathedral with such an amazing history. Plus, of course, some great tapas.
And I diverge a bit - if you are visiting the area and plan to go to the Alhambra, it's wise to book well ahead. It's 'slot restricted' and tickets can sell out months in advance. And if you're visiting in the summer months book the earliest time available. Granada in the summer can be hot, hot, hot.
[QUOTE=rapidex;32382059]My first visit to Grenada was back in time on that old BA subsiduary DAN-AIR. On finals at AGP ..... /QUOTE]
Rapidex, I think you meant Granada, not Grenada. A diversion from Malaga to Grenada would have ensured a pretty gruelling journey in an old DanAir plane!
Pedant mode off.
I hope you managed to enjoy Granada a bit, the beautiful Alhambra and the cathedral with such an amazing history. Plus, of course, some great tapas.
And I diverge a bit - if you are visiting the area and plan to go to the Alhambra, it's wise to book well ahead. It's 'slot restricted' and tickets can sell out months in advance. And if you're visiting in the summer months book the earliest time available. Granada in the summer can be hot, hot, hot.
May 17, 2020, 3:24 am
#28
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: London, UK
Posts: 121
Both of mine were weather related. On approaching Beirut from Khartoum (bmi days), huge storm clouds had us divert to Larnaca. The dispatcher in LCA was quite excited to see us and we gave him an in-flight magazine as a souvenir before continuing onwards to BEY.
The second was also thunderstorm related, finding ourselves in VIE rather than the planned BUD. The passengers knew about the diversion before the cabin crew had been informed, as the moving map updated the destination to VIE! Cue much confusion until we’d had the chance to speak to the Capt.
The second was also thunderstorm related, finding ourselves in VIE rather than the planned BUD. The passengers knew about the diversion before the cabin crew had been informed, as the moving map updated the destination to VIE! Cue much confusion until we’d had the chance to speak to the Capt.
Last edited by smiles in the aisles; May 17, 2020 at 3:59 am
May 17, 2020, 3:32 am
#29
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Belgium
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 146
Does a 'near-diversion' also count? I only experienced it once, in 2014 on a London - Dallas (DFW) flight. In Dallas I would continue my journey to Salt Lake City. About 90min before landing everything was going fine, pilot even announced expected landing time. About 45min later, the pilot addressed the cabin again: "we're very sorry but to do a storm hitting the airport of Dallas, we are diverted to ... (could not make up the location due to noice in the cabin)"; On the flight map, one could see the diversion and based on the altitude the descent was ongoing when the pilot spoke once again: "we're very lucky, the weather has improved in Dallas so we can turn back land after all".
I was even able to make it to my flight to Salt Lake City, probably a bit lucky immigration was completely empty and only took a few minutes.
I was even able to make it to my flight to Salt Lake City, probably a bit lucky immigration was completely empty and only took a few minutes.
May 17, 2020, 3:37 am
#30
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NE England
Programs: BAEC Gold; Priority Club Gold
Posts: 448
My first ever flight was a school ski trip with Orion, Luton to Milan in about 1980. We had a very late go-around at Malpensa due to a contaminated runway (it was snowing), and diverted to Linate. We then had a long wait whilst the coach battled through the traffic and the snow to pick us up.
Hundreds of flights later, that is my only diversion.
Hundreds of flights later, that is my only diversion.