BA blames flight cancellations on Covid-19 and refuses to pay compensation
May 10, 2022, 10:14 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2018
Programs: BAEC Gold, Emirates Skywards Silver
Posts: 170
Beware- BA now blame flight cancellations on Covid-19 and refuses to pay compensation
Just came across this article (see link below) published in The Independent 10 May 2022.
Seems to me that BA has just come up with a self granted license to get away with murder.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/british-ai...162001711.html
Seems to me that BA has just come up with a self granted license to get away with murder.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/british-ai...162001711.html
Last edited by lall; May 10, 2022 at 11:01 pm Reason: Improvement
May 10, 2022, 11:47 pm
#2
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Krakow
Programs: BAEC Silver, Miles and More(FTL), IHG(Platinum), Accor, HHonors(Diamond), SPG, Hertz Five Star
Posts: 5,937
Just came across this article (see link below) published in The Independent 10 May 2022.
Seems to me that BA has just come up with a self granted license to get away with murder.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/british-ai...162001711.html
Seems to me that BA has just come up with a self granted license to get away with murder.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/british-ai...162001711.html
I suspect anyone who pushes this will be successful but if 50% of thousands of claimants give up then they save a fortune.
My own opinion is that the behaviour is disgraceful
May 11, 2022, 12:31 am
#4
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,930
I’m not convinced this is as capricious a decision as suggested. There is an arguable basis in law to defend and given the vast sums of money involved you can’t blame an airline for trying. Do I think this defence will succeed? Very unlikely, but there is an arguable case.
May 11, 2022, 12:31 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Ambassador
Posts: 168
Just came across this article (see link below) published in The Independent 10 May 2022.
Seems to me that BA has just come up with a self granted license to get away with murder.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/british-ai...162001711.html
Seems to me that BA has just come up with a self granted license to get away with murder.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/british-ai...162001711.html
May 11, 2022, 12:40 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
I am sorry but BA shouldn't be able to blame staffing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yes, it's true that BA has reduced staff to save some money due to the pandemic but they should be responsible for their actions.
Yes, it's true that BA has reduced staff to save some money due to the pandemic but they should be responsible for their actions.
May 11, 2022, 12:49 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,364
The phrase "getting away with murder" is a set phrase that is not normally to be taken literally. The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as follows:
to be allowed to do things that other people would be punished or criticized for:
Originally Posted by Cambridge Dictionary
get away with murder
informalto be allowed to do things that other people would be punished or criticized for:
- He's so charming that he really does get away with murder.
May 11, 2022, 12:49 am
#8
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,930
Why not? Are you suggesting the pandemic is not the reason for the shortages? The question is if this is an extraordinary circumstance that might offer a defence in law under EC261.
May 11, 2022, 1:04 am
#9
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Krakow
Programs: BAEC Silver, Miles and More(FTL), IHG(Platinum), Accor, HHonors(Diamond), SPG, Hertz Five Star
Posts: 5,937
Added to that we have heard that hiring has not gone as well as they had hoped, so inability to hire rather than covid.
I would have much more repect for them if they held their hands up, apologised and paid the compensation.
I find this tactic disgraceful
May 11, 2022, 1:23 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
We would see all together if courts and law officials would count this situation as an extraordinary circumstance or not but I would not expect them to count this as an extraordinary circumstance as if BA could have estimated the amount of staff to furlough or to terminate their contract for cost-savings back in 2020; they could have also calculated the amount of staff needed when reinstating more flights into their schedule. Even they could have predicted this issue when making adjustments to their summer schedule back this winter but the airline went for a last minute cancellation path and blame COVID-19.
May 11, 2022, 1:58 am
#11
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,683
BA used the pandemic to dramatically reduce stuff numbers. They then blame sickness amongst the remaining staff for their problem, if only they knew that the pandemic increased likelihood of sickness. BA knowingly scheduled flights for which they had insufficient staff. They published the schedule to suck cash in, with minimal regard to whether they could operate it. They seek to blame gov background checks for delays in hiring, but I wonder about this being another not my fault, from a company that excels in denial of responsibility.
May 11, 2022, 2:10 am
#12
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,930
i would suggest that 2 years into the pandemic , not being able to plan a schedule that takes accouny of staff sickness levels is a problem, especially on the scale BA has. A small number of flights i may be more sympathetic
Added to that we have heard that hiring has not gone as well as they had hoped, so inability to hire rather than covid.
I would have much more repect for them if they held their hands up, apologised and paid the compensation.
I find this tactic disgraceful
Added to that we have heard that hiring has not gone as well as they had hoped, so inability to hire rather than covid.
I would have much more repect for them if they held their hands up, apologised and paid the compensation.
I find this tactic disgraceful
We would see all together if courts and law officials would count this situation as an extraordinary circumstance or not but I would not expect them to count this as an extraordinary circumstance as if BA could have estimated the amount of staff to furlough or to terminate their contract for cost-savings back in 2020; they could have also calculated the amount of staff needed when reinstating more flights into their schedule. Even they could have predicted this issue when making adjustments to their summer schedule back this winter but the airline went for a last minute cancellation path and blame COVID-19.
BA will have an uphill struggle with this, but nevertheless there is an arguable defence in law and given the serious financials involved it doesn’t surprise me they are trying to run that defence. Have no doubt, other airlines will be watching very carefully.
May 11, 2022, 2:34 am
#13
Join Date: Jun 2018
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 160
This is not really new, there are many repors of this the last couple of weeks in this topic: (The 2021/22 BA compensation thread: Your guide to Regulation EC261/2004 - FlyerTalk Forums). Many boardmembers, including myself, already made a case with the CEDR or MCOL.
May 11, 2022, 2:53 am
#14
Join Date: Jun 2018
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 160
And those are arguments, among others, that will be advanced by a claimant in court. IIRC BA was losing £20m a day during the lockdown, I read yesterday that IAG has lost €916m in the first 3 months of this year, and a whopping €10b since the start of the pandemic. Of course airlines have had to make tough financial decisions to help them survive, after all these are (were?) extraordinary times requiring drastic action for survival.
BA will have an uphill struggle with this, but nevertheless there is an arguable defence in law and given the serious financials involved it doesn’t surprise me they are trying to run that defence. Have no doubt, other airlines will be watching very carefully.
BA will have an uphill struggle with this, but nevertheless there is an arguable defence in law and given the serious financials involved it doesn’t surprise me they are trying to run that defence. Have no doubt, other airlines will be watching very carefully.
As an employer myself I am somewhat sympathic to the staff shortages of BA. Aviation is a sector that is hit hard by Covid, that there where layoffs and furlough was understandable. And although I am not completely informed about the job market in the UK here in the Netherland its almost impossible to recruit new employees. In almost every sector there are shortages, unemployment is low and there doesn't seem to be a lot of moment in the job market. Also, with the reopening / relaxing of the covid rules we have seen a lot of covid cases. Not as devastating to the public health as previous waves dut to vaccinations and the milder variant of covid but still we have had weeks this year with exceptionally high illness rates (and for me people can work from home so that lessens the impact of isolation/quarantine somewhat).
Where BA loses my sympathy is that they know they have a general shortage of staff, they are familiar with the risks of corona and still they expand the flight schedule. They reopen operation on Gatwick (for me AMS - LGW is no addition now, I rather have a reliably schedule to LHR). They cancel a lot of flights in the window that entitles compensation, I mean I would understand if they cancel for tomorrow due to acute crew shortage but if they need to cancel 10 days before the flight they surely could have done that also on 14 days or longer before the flight. They expanded quicker then they could ramp up the staff and they made commercial decisions to plan and cancel flights.
As far as I am concerned BA overextend and they made a commercial gamble that didn't pan out.
May 11, 2022, 3:00 am
#15
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Krakow
Programs: BAEC Silver, Miles and More(FTL), IHG(Platinum), Accor, HHonors(Diamond), SPG, Hertz Five Star
Posts: 5,937
After 2 years I think that is highly dubious .
Many businesses have had to rework plans to take the pandemic into account, including my own
I cannot go to my management now and say my teams deliverables are late because of the pandemic.
I could 2 years ago