TheFrankFlyer

I am flying to PMI on Friday the 4th of August, a strike day. Any thoughts on calling BA and getting rebooked from LHR or LCY? Has anyone knowledge on what they might do to accom passengers? thanks.

gcuk

As and when BA cancels flights, I'm sure normal rebooking rules will apply.

orbitmic

As far as I can see, there is no pre-emptive rebooking option meaning that unless specific flights get cancelled, if you want to change yours, you'd be charged the full change fee and price difference based on your ticket conditions.

This might of course change later if things look bad, but at this stage, I see no reason to expect very significant risks of cancellations and as a result, I'm not convinced BA will necessarily allow free changes for non-cancelled flights.

drpabs

Out of interest (self-interest actually since I am supposed to be flying LGW-MLA on 7th August), why do you see no reason to expect very significant risks of cancellations orbitmic? Please put my mind at rest as 7th August is the only day I can fly to MLA.

orbitmic

It's just that in my experience, ground staff strikes tend to be less likely to lead to mass cancellation than pilot, crew, or air traffic control staff strikes.

Talks are ongoing, but if the strike goes ahead, I would have thought it will lead to delays and luggage issues. Airlines may choose to pro-actively cancel a few flights (notably when a destination is served by multiple daily flights) to lower pressure, but I'm not convinced mass cancellations would be needed as not everyone will strike and I would have thought some contingency will be put in place to keep as many flights as possible.

Saeagle

As the 1st set of strikes could occur within 2 weeks, if BA were to cancel flights, would passengers be able to claim compensation as well as the refund?

Do Aer Lingus use the same ground handlers as ba and so are they likely to be affected? Whilst we are booked all on one ticket/pnr the short haul part is with them and just wondered who wpuld update us if that part was cancelled. It has a ba flight number but operated by Aer Lingus.

corporate-wage-slave

GGS, an IAG company, is the relevant ground handler here, and they are part of this Unite strike. I imagine BA will claim this is out of scope for EC261, but in my view it is not since BA could use another handler, or meet the union's demand.

Having said that, there have been very many strike threats in the UK around aviation, very few end up having an impact on passengers, and some strikes have even improved passengers' experiences.

sunshinebob

I asked yesterday if I could swap an inbound Malaga-Gatwick flight from the 4th to the 3rd of August and was told that there is no policy in place to accommodate me at the moment. I assumed as much as its early days but called anyway.

Saeagle

In the instance where people may be booked on partner airlines but all booked with a BA flight number who has the responsibility to inform the passenger.

If Aer Lingus decide they are not operating the 1st flight of our segments is it down to them to let us know or BA? More importantly would BA's system pick up for example that thay flight had been cancelled in advance and affect the whole itinerary? Or do they rely on Aer Lingus to inform us?

Apologies if this is an easy answer. 1st time we are flying as part of a code share

Thanks

Confus

It doesn’t actually go by flight number, it’s the ticketing carrier who bears responsibility as they are the ones who hold your money until you travel and can arrange for rebooking if necessary. You can see this by looking at your ticket number, if it begins 125- then it’s BA.

If a flight is cancelled in advance then notifications do tend to trigger down the line and you’ll get an email within a day or two. If it’s cancelled on the day this is less likely - but in this case you’ll likely be at or close to the airport and the operating carrier will be able to reprotect you under the IATA on-the-day rules anyway.

Saeagle

Thanks @Confus. Our tickets are all 125 so that makes sense.

If Flights are canceled is the likelihood that BA cancels the whole trip including the return? Or is it more likely that they'll just cancel the outbound and rebook? In this instance do we have a right to get BA to book us on any routing or do they have to be part of the alliance?

This may all really be pointless questions and nothing changes, just trying to be ahead of the curve as is easier with 2 kids to be prepared

Thanks

corporate-wage-slave

I would not overthink this, August is in aviation terms a long way away (so is next Tuesday!). But usually BA's robots will rebook automatically, and leave the return without changes. Being a codeshare may give the robots cause to pause, but either way, an automated rebook does not have to be accepted, unless it is actually an acceptable answer. As to the options, it depends somewhat on the route, but since it seems to involve Aer Lingus it's presumably Joint Business across the Atlantic? In which case BA, IB, AA, AY are all options. If you get less than 24 hours notice then you will have a wider list of airlines. Plus the option to cancel for a refund, which is sometimes overlooked as a way forward but it may give the best outcome. This guide has more details, but again it may not happen.
Disruption Assistance thread - signposts and what you need to know

Saeagle

Thanks CWS. In usual circumstances we would go with the flow. Its really only because of the 2 little ones, was probably thinking too much about it and wanting to be prepared.

As you say, it may come to nothing, but really appreciate the feedback and links.

Thanks again