British Airways passengers are facing a second day of delays after staff shortages and technical problems led to the cancellation of 30 flights at London's Heathrow Airport on Monday. Travellers reported chaotic scenes and some slept overnight at the airport.
The airline said it was making arrangements to put short-haul passengers on alternative flights.
BA, which has just averted one strike, said it was currently recruiting 60 more check-in staff.
BA has cut 13,000 jobs, almost a quarter of its workforce, in the past three years.
Have you been affected by the disruption at Heathrow?
This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.
The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:
As a BA crew member I can agree with some of the comments here but also disagree with a lot of them. I am saddened by the comments of "disgruntled customer" who accuses all BA staff of being rude. The check in staff and cabin crew are under a lot of pressure and are not helped when a minority of people blame us for their difficulties. On the Rome service yesterday, an American man said he would urinate in his seat, when I told him he could not use the toilet while the seat belt signs were on. It's no wonder the staff aren't always polite when passengers act like that. Today the Lisbon service was delayed because a catering truck hit an engine and we had to switch aircraft. This was for safety reasons yet people still complained. Would passengers prefer to travel on a damaged plane?
BA cabin crew, Slough, UK When will BA learn that they can't exist without their employees? Sure, it's nice to have online check in, self service machines etc but at some point there has to be real people on the ground as well. Airlines aren't just the people that fly the planes.
Will, New York, USA
BA has too many chiefs and not enough indians! One of my friends works in Customer Relations. She has been under tremendous pressure due to short staffing. Managers expect the same performance with fewer staff. Wake up managers, get back to the shop floor - reality bites!!
Danny, London - UK
I choose to fly BA. They are as cheap as the no-frills companies and their service on the plane is better. Yes, on my flight to Brussels on Monday, we were delayed at take-off but it was handled with grace and good manners by the personnel and frequent updates were given. My flight, leaving an hour late arrived with a delay of 35 min. Give BA a break!
Roswitha Gans, Belgium
How much of the staff shortage was caused by people taking sickies?
John K, Cambridge, UK
I was booked to fly on Friday but with the vision of strikes contacted BA last week who kindly changed my flight to a day earlier - at no cost to myself. The guy (Matt H) at customer services was a delight to communicate with, he remained courteous and polite at a time when I am sure the call centre was inundated. Please don't diss this British treasure - it's not the people who are working faults - its the ones who haven't turned up.
Satisfied BA Customer, Tyneside
BA's customer service is far too reactive - they have a Customer Relations team that only deal with issues after flight, not before or during.... what kind of customer service culture is that?
Yet another unhappy customer of BA, London UK
BA has an appalling record on customer service and employee relations. It is time we all voted with our feet and moved to another national airline. BA is an embarrassment to the country, Virgin would do a much better job of flying the flag.
Duncan, Reading
 |  Until we are given the support and the resources we need, things won't improve  |
As a member of the BA Heathrow ground staff, I would like to thank those who have been understanding to the problems we face. Unfortunately, we are often not given much if any info and so can't pass anything on to our passengers. I can honestly say that most of us will try our best to find out what is happening to help passengers. To those persons who think that the staff shortages are due to staff purposely calling in sick or due to action resulting from the pay talks, then think again. Even on a good day, the airline is understaffed.
I like many others in the airline, have not had one sick day for the year. We try our best to get everything running smoothly, but it isn't always possible. As for the problem of flights arriving and taking sometimes up to an hour before passengers can get off, that is out of our control. We have to wait for Heathrow Airport to assign us a gate and if none are available, then it means waiting. Unfortunately, in cases such as these, it then means we have staff tied up waiting on these arrivals and not being available for other duties. This situation then leads to delayed departures.
BA staff generally enjoy their jobs and serving the customers, unfortunately, it is not always possible given the tools we have to work with. As many persons have recognised, we have a management team that has not a clue what it is like in the terminals and what we have to go through each day.
Until we are given the support and the resources we need, things won't improve. It is easy to blame staff shortages, but it is time management get serious about giving us the resources we need. We love BA, but that love is constantly tested.
BA Employee, London
'A bit more backup when things go wrong'. That's what their TV advert claims! Flagship Carrier Hmmm!
Anon
Whatever disrupts flyers and distresses BA is a good thing. Their noise and pollution is not acceptable, and its about time people realise they have no God-given right to dirt-cheap holidays.
Non Flyer, UK
All airlines at Heathrow are delayed. BA are just a lot bigger than most of the others and therefore affect more people, hence why they are in the news. Heathrow is the world's busiest airport and is in need of massive expansion, expansion which has been needed for years. Terminal Five has been in planning for over 10 years yet construction has only recently begun due to the ridiculous public enquiry which had to take place first.
BA Cabin Crew, Slough, UK
Typical of BA. They told us our flight was 'delayed' (from Edinburgh to London) but would board in 15 mins, 15 mins later another excuse, then another, then another, turned out flight hadn't left London yet! Do they think we are all stupid? We don't have mobile phones or internet access?? We can't check for ourselves that our plane is still in London and not 'being prepared'? The journey home took longer then the train journey up there! BA NEVER AGAIN - EVER!
Andrew Baker, Kent, England
Seems to me that British Airways is the only company on Earth where you can't tell the difference between Industrial Action and Business-As-Usual.
Ian, Brit in USA
I still have nightmares about my last trip in 2002 to Australia courtesy of BA for part of the journey. The details are too gruesome for those of a sensitive disposition, as the BBC put it. To paraphrase Bill Bryson "I would rather be taken into a wood and have bowel surgery performed with a blunt stick" than travel BA. On the bright side we will at least for a while, be spared those awful smug TV adverts fronted by PJ O'Rorke.
Dale Archer, Newport, Shropshire
It's sad to see all this negative comment about the company I work for. Ashamedly, I have to agree with all that has been written. I urge those with sway in the city to lobby for the dismissal of the man who sits on top of this embarrassing mess. The Director of Customer Services has made himself visible throughout the day to the media. Perhaps he could publicly fall on his sword the next time he's interviewed by Heathrow's perimeter fence?
Anon (BA will fire me if I leave my name), Surrey, UK
| Goodbye BA you'll be a long time dying and it will be painful for all |
My father flew aircraft for this airline before he retired early seeing the writing on the wall. Once again another great British company that got infected by that virus to end all company life "the accountant". With their heads in books and computer terminals their idea of life is remote as their sense of humour. Where ever the bean counters go and where ever management listens to them alone then customers will vote with their feet. Goodbye BA you'll be a long time dying and it will be painful for all except the usual bonus fuelled senior management.
Karl Hutchinson, London We are BA employees based at the Glasgow call centre and are currently swamped with the influx of calls caused by the disruptions this week. We always try to give the best possible service under very difficult circumstances and contrary to popular opinion we do care about our passengers. I just hope that any passengers calling us names, swearing and giving us general abuse when we answer their call would spare a thought for the few hundred staff in our office who will be losing their jobs after November due to the cost cutting measures implemented by BA earlier this year. We know we are losing our jobs but we are still here doing what we can for you.
BA Employee, Glasgow
It's not just yesterday & today at Heathrow where there are problems with BA. 7 out of the last 9 BA flights from/to Manchester I have taken recently have been delayed by more than 2 hours (with little or no communication). The BA Management have completely lost the plot in Manchester too.
Michael, Manchester
What kind of management allows half the workforce to go on holiday during one of their busiest weeks?
Chris King, Huntingdon, UK
I regularly fly the Manchester to London Heathrow route on a Monday Morning and return back on a Thursday Night. Out of the last 56 flights I have taken, only 4 have been on time, and 1 early. My experience of BA is that they are incompetent and the staff are consistently rude.
Disgruntled Customer, Manchester
Has anyone flown on a domestic flight recently in the USA? Do that for a few months and THEN fly BA. I can assure you it makes the BA experience all the more enjoyable; even when they are having a bad day. We have an airline of which to be proud in a time when airlines are having to savagely cut costs or face going to the wall.
Richard Gribbin, London
| Spare a thought for the call centre staff which when anything happens at the airport they take the brunt of it! |
There are over a hundred calls in queue from passengers wanting information on their flights and their baggage. The staff answering these calls are being stretched like never before having to listen to a lot of understandably unhappy passengers. Spare a thought for the call centre staff which when anything happens at the airport they take the brunt of it! Yes senior management should be at the airport, but they do have a business to run and a few problems to sort out with staff shortages to name but a few.
BA Employee, Manchester I agree partially with the comments posed by the BA employee from Manchester. Call centre staff do take quite a bit of abuse especially when it comes to strikes and delays at the various airports. However imagine for a moment, we in Toronto are not only dealing with North American bound customers but we have also handled UK overflow calls in regards to baggage and delays and even general flight bookings for the last few months and many employees here are fed up. We get pathetic wages that barely pay the rent and my diet consists largely of non-perishable food items because they are the cheapest to purchase.
BA Employee, Toronto, Canada
Waterside, BA's HQ is on the perimeter of Heathrow. When the management realise that they haven't enough staff to check-in their passengers and operate their flights, why can't they leave the luxury of Waterside, get to the terminal and muck in? Are they afraid that their pay packets will be shrunk to the meagre size of the operational staffs'?
Chris, London
| It is in the wrong place, for a world class airport |
I have flown with BA many times and always the flight staff and cabin crew are great. The problems often relate to Heathrow. It is in the wrong place, for a world class airport. This is because it is situated in a very, very expensive and congested region. Essential but semi-skilled staff can not afford to live near-by, nor want to (noise and other pollution) and the transport links are either highly congested or expensive. It will get worse with T5. Someone must take a "joined up" look at this.
Simon Hardy, London Having been part of the delays yesterday and seeing that my boss' trip to the UK was cancelled today, I can say with some confidence that I won't be using BA again. I booked via Iberia and thought that I would be travelling with them. I will check more closely in future! At least I now know what flight numbers to avoid. When will airlines recognise that there is significant competition between carriers? We must simply use our right of choice and not use those which provide such a dismal service.
Simon, Madrid, Spain
| The vast majority of people I work with personally care passionately about the service we offer |
As a BA employee I am desperately saddened and frustrated by events like these, and if, which at the moment it not entirely clear, these have been exasperated by the actions of my colleagues taking unauthorised absence, I feel deeply let down. I know that this will be no comfort to anyone who has suffered disruption, but the vast majority of people I work with personally care passionately about the service we offer our customers and our brand. You could be forgiven for thinking that we are workforce deeply demoralised and resentful of the BA management. Clearly there are some issues but this simply isn't true in my experience. The biggest demotivator is the very harsh press our business and people receive when often going to great lengths to recover difficult situations.
Craig H, Brighton, UK I frequently fly around Europe on business but try and avoid Heathrow preferring to use City Airport where possible. The problem is not just with BA. The basic fact is there are too many flights either arriving or taking off from Heathrow, and consequently the airport is running at full capacity. The slightest problem, whether terrorist alert, bad weather or strike action, just brings complete chaos.
Philip, London, UK
What BA hasn't told people is that they have spent over 80 million on a new engineering system. Since it became live in mid-July we now have two 747s and one 777 grounded due to hundreds of robberies! The rest of the engineering department is under so much pressure to actually get parts for our aircraft. It is now so bad that we can't actually deliver aircraft to service our operation. This is only the first stage of this system, just wait until we launch phase two.
Rob, UK
I flew out of Heathrow T4 this morning on my regular 06:55 commute with BA to Copenhagen. There appeared to be no leftover problems at all. The queues were short, the terminal was empty and all the flights were leaving on time. Seems that things have recovered very quickly.
Gary, London, UK
| Voice your complaint in a manner which has to be acted upon |
Believe me when I say that there are hundreds of BA staff reading this BBC News page (we get better information from you than through our own communication channels) and can I say that we have a choice to get rid of the poor BA management which is behind all of this chaos. It's called the BA AGM and we can vote people off the board. I suggest when your voting slip comes through next year, you think about it and voice your complaint in a manner which has to be acted upon.
Paul, London, UK In these days of modern technology, would it not be easy for BA to take mobile phone numbers during booking and then simply send passengers an SMS message with updated information. Regular updates could easily be sent at very low cost.
Ben Rose, Addlestone, Surrey
The big problem with people in the UK is that they put up with "service" like this. Vote with your feet, boycott them. Complain at their AGMs. Take your business elsewhere and don't go back!
Michael Launders, New York, USA
It took BA nearly four hours to advise me that my flight had been cancelled - by which time it was a nightmare getting back to my temporary home as they did not offer a hotel. Had it not been for the constant supply of tuna fish sandwiches and beer I would have expired.
Donald Hine, Dusseldorf, Germany We came back from Malaga last night. We had a delay of only 35 minutes. The BA staff were fantastic. The only sign of aggression came from the passport staff as we tried to get back into our country - which we thought was amusing. The captain on our flight even trialled the Instrument Landing System at Gatwick, to prove its effectiveness for fog landings - needless to say it worked fine.
Martyn Grimes, Farnham, Surrey
I spent 5 hours sitting at Heathrow waiting on a flight to Helsinki to then be told that the flight was cancelled at a time when I could make no alternative plans. I missed my meeting and while fortunate to get a hotel room, flew back to Glasgow this morning. The people in the exec lounge were helpful but it was clear that they did not know anything more than we did. The staff at the connection desk were overwhelmed with the numbers they had to deal with after the cancellations and looked like they did not expect this. The staff I dealt with were helpful as far as they could be but BA management must have a long hard look at this operation!
Donald MacLennan, Glasgow
| A number of my clients have had their flights cancelled |
I am a business travel agent and a number of my clients have had their flights cancelled. They have phoned up asking what is going on and I can't tell them as nobody ever lets travel agents know what is going on!!! I have just cancelled all the flights with BA as they get a full refund and rebooked with other carriers!!
Helz, Southampton I've been flying a lot recently to Heathrow using e-tickets. When everything is working okay, it's a great service. However in the last few months I've suffered delays and cancellations every time I've flown back to Glasgow. I'm flying there tomorrow and for the first time with British Midland. I can't afford any delays with this trip. Maybe, I'll go back to BA if they sort themselves out. The point is, if they had provided the service they're supposed to this wouldn't have happened. Their employees won't get much of a rise if they lose all their customers
John Miller, Ayr, Scotland
I flew into Heathrow from Edinburgh last night on a very delayed flight, due to we were told, to an emergency landing earlier in the day by BA at Heathrow that had closed off a runway.... When we finally came into land about 10pm after circling for ages, the captain had to abort the landing at the last minute and climb rapidly due to the landed aircraft in front of us not moving quickly enough! Very scary at what disaster could have happened and no mention of any of this anywhere, only of delays!
Jessica Price, Reading
As a current victim of the BA chaos, stranded by a flight cancellation in T4, this is a depressing situation. My morning Zurich flight was cancelled; the offered alternative is over four hours later, offered after 30 minutes queuing at the ticket desk. Result - a day's lost meetings and appointments.
Ian Gordon, Wellingborough, UK I think that the staff at BA have acted in a disgraceful manner. Having had a deal agreed to avert a strike, they have then cynically orchestrated a wave of "sickies" as an unofficial form of industrial action. As someone who had some sympathy for the low wage workers at BA I have to say this sort of stunt turns the average person against their cause.
Edward Griffin, London, UK
As a result of the cutbacks, BA no longer operates standby aircraft and crews so in the case of technical failure they are no longer able to wheel out a spare plane. Typical for an organisation run by bean counters who have no idea of the effect their decisions have on BA's customers.
Bob Peel, Maidenhead, UK
It looks like BA is becoming as bad as Air France in terms of strikes. Only at Air France you are given notice of them. At least my family would not have had to wait for me for 4 hours at Heathrow Airport when I came back from Nice yesterday.
Cl�ment Dabadie, Richmond, Surrey
A disgrace for our tourism. Just have a look at the headlines of the main European newspapers. El Mundo from Spain: Thousands of passengers trapped in London due to the lack of employees. 100 Spanish people sleeping at the airport.
John DBB, London
I arrived back from Athens at 9pm and as usual the lack of communication from British Airways showed how inept they really are when it comes to customer service. We were stuck on the plane on the ground until 11pm, with NO information or drinks. The flight crew tried to blame the airport and said that all airlines had the problem, which is a lie, when clearly it was a BA only problem. Then they had ONE poor person in the baggage hall to handle the passengers!! I must say he deserves a medal as he got hell from everyone and was extremely professional behind his bloodshot eyes! I left without my bag at 1am, can't get through to their helpline......
Neil Lobo, Northolt, London Senior management cut staff to boost profits and boost shareholder value. They expect their employees to cope with the increased workload and have the cheek to offer a lower pay offer than they awarded themselves. Morale must be bad at BA and not one senior manager appeared yesterday to take the responsibility. What will this publicity do to profits and shareholder value now?
Andy, Cheltenham, UK
The domestic departure lounge at Heathrow yesterday was a scene of chaos as well. Every single flight had delays of over one hour. When we finally boarded our plane, we sat for a further 30 minutes on the tarmac because there was no tug available to push us back off stand. They made excuses about the weather. I had no idea that there had been this much turmoil at Heathrow yesterday. But it doesn't surprise me.
Simon, London, UK
BA is blaming staff shortages and technical problems. If they paid their people more and treated them better they'd be no shortage of people wanting to work for them and they might even be able to maintain the aircraft better thus reducing "technical problems". BA will argue that increasing salaries would create wage inflation, but I've never heard the inflation excuse used to hold down airfares.
Kevin Laughton, Manchester I've recently been delayed, diverted and let down by BA. The front-line staff are in despair facing disgruntled passengers. Try to complain and one must write to an outsourced Customer Relations department in Saffron Walden who respond by sending out an automated response. BA has become a self serving bureaucracy, MBAs left right and centre but customer service disappearing down the tubes at an alarming rate.....
Steve, Bristol, UK
My wife was meant to fly from Manchester to London last night. The information from BA was very poor and they don't seem that interested in helping people. I have been a BA customer for 7 years and I am getting very frustrated with their plummeting levels of customer service and lack of leadership in customer interaction. Ever tried phoning their member support phone number?!
Paul Brooks, Stuttgart, Germany
I'm not a passenger but one of these very dedicated BA staff who simply would like to thanks those passengers for not blaming us "the check in staff" for not doing our duty...at least they've realised the real reason of all this shamble!
Cindy
I am constantly shocked by the expectations of BA staff. Working in private industry, the economic climate has been such that I have had only one automatic pay increase without associated promotion, since 1992. Now in the public sector I am delighted to be on a formalised pay system that projects an average 3% per annum. BA staff need to recognise that no one owes them wage increases and conditions far in excess of economic growth overall, and that by grounding their business and their customers they are severely limiting their own future employment by biting off the hands that feed them.
C Spencer, Calne, England
I arrived 2 hours late into Milan on BA566 last night and then discovered my bag was still in London. I was told it would arrive at 10pm and to call the office in the morning. It did not arrive last night, nor this morning and no-one can tell me when I am likely to receive it, or whether it will be before I leave on Saturday. I have also been told that it cannot be collected from Heathrow by anyone else - now MXP are tracing it, it has to complete the journey. I have also been informed that there are 2000 bags at LHR to be sent on. However, I have been offered �35 compensation which I may collect from the airport...
Elle Davison, London, UK
My wife is a flight attendant with BA and so I hear quite a bit from her and her friends. It seems that the management has no clue or even interest in what it is like in the real world. Cabin crew often receive very little support and are left with "take it or leave it" options. For those who feel no pity, long gone are the days of cabin crew being highly paid and having several days rest at destinations - nowadays it is often no more than one night stop only..
Simon, Hants
What a complete disaster. My father was due to land at 22:10. The screens then displayed an estimated arrival time of 23:35. At 23:45 the flight was shown as landed, it then disappeared from the screens. 15 minutes later, received a call from my father in Gatwick! At no point was this information passed to waiting family/friends.
Anuschka, Berkshire
I travel with BA a lot via Heathrow and am frequently staggered at the poor standard of service. If it's not delay to arrival or take-off caused by ridiculous taxiing across the airport where it's not uncommon to arrive at a stand up to 30-45 minutes after landing, then it's a problem with the aircraft (tyres, cargo door, etc). I just don't think its good enough, and unless they improve I will be taking my business elsewhere.
Chris Jepps, London, UK
This isn't new. I flew to and from Edinburgh last weekend, and flights were cancelled and delayed both ways. BA blamed the weather, but the lack of staff at check in (1 person in T1 on a weekday peak time) hinted at staffing problems. Isn't it a case of supply and demand? If you want to keep the staff, pay needs to be competitive.
Tony Stevens, Guildford, GB
If the BA head of Operations was not to busy trying to con his staff out of a decent pay rise maybe he could have averted this operational nightmare!
Pete, Sussex
It would be not surprising if at some time or another something would go wrong with any company. I run a multimillion dollar company and we of course have times when things are not going totally to plan. I really marvel at how ready the media is to knock things British such as BA. I have been travelling on BA with great regularity for years. No matter what you report my experience with BA has always been excellent. The best airline in the air.
Simon Bradden, Portsmouth
A combination of appalling management and Unions will be the end of BA. Like all Dinosaurs they eventually become so big, cumbersome and inefficient that they cannot continue and then die. There will always be something to fill the void so won't be missed. Roll on Virgin and Easyjet, why are they succeeding, is because they give the customers what they want.
Lindsay Clark, Daventry, UK My family are trying to get back to Stockholm/Sweden, they had a flight booked for yesterday (23rd) at 17.50 which was cancelled, they weren't told anything about the delay or cancellation at check-in and were not provided with overnight accommodation until 23.30 last night, i.e. after spending 8hrs at the airport! They have not been given any compensation or food vouchers and have only been told that they 'might' be able to claim it when they get back home. They are still in a queue at Heathrow waiting for more information about when they will be able to fly back.
Karolin Swardh, London UK
I was looking to fly to New York next month with BA, but now I'm not so sure. One of the main complaints made by the unions is that the management had a much larger pay increase than they offered to the check in staff, but when things go wrong as they have this week, the check in staff have to bear the brunt of it, without any back up from the very same managers. All of the comments from passengers have been complimentary towards the check in staff. It doesn't look as if the management have deserved their pay rise. Perhaps they should recruit some new ones?
Peter Guberg, Southampton, UK
If this keeps up and my flight to Austria for the World Cup qualifying game gets cancelled I will not be a happy bunny. Does BA think that their customers are happy to reach their destination 24 hours late or not at all? Do they think we are flying for the sake of it?
Ed , London, England
People should remember that British Airways check-in staff walked out last year and customers were badly let down by long delays and worse. Same thing - lack of information, misleading information and no assistance to those affected. It took me several weeks to get BA to reimburse the cost of buying tickets with another airline. I haven't flown with BA since.
Mick Fisher, London, UK
My family's first holiday to Munich with three small children ended in disaster after we arrived at 10am for a 13.45 flight. We were struck by a full and chaotic Terminal 1 with very few BA staff and some very dispirited BA ground staff who we spoke to and who were incredible angry about the "pay deal" which they saw as a "betrayal of their loyalty to BA". We had to wait then for the 17.25 flight to Munich which was then delayed until 20.30 and we boarded with three exhausted children only to hear that there were five unwanted bags on board which could not be located. Until 22.00 the baggage handlers could find all but one from a Singapore Airlines flight. After that the captain announced that due to inbound flight restrictions, he was unable to depart and that we would all get a refund and hotels and transport would be paid by BA. A long walk through a manic terminal, through passport control and hasty leavers down to the luggage department where hundreds of suitcases were just flung onto trolleys.
Reinhold Meinen, London, England
I have been a Gold Card member of BA for many years. They used to be a great airline. In the last 2 years, however, the scenes of chaos you describe are a regular event at Heathrow. I have been downgraded and had flights cancelled - with nobody from BA available to help even loyal customers. Like many former customers, BA is now an airline I avoid if possible.
Graham Dimmock, Z�rich, Switzerland It would appear that BA employees have forgotten that it is their customers that provide their livelihood. Customers have alternatives and long memories. Goodbye BA and stuff your Goldcard!
Bob Byers, Glasgow
BA has online check-in and self-service check-in facilities for all passengers. For those carrying hold luggage, fast bag drop points are available, which require less staff. If people just used these rather than a traditional check-in desk then surely there wouldn't be the need for the cancellations?
Matthew Aylmer, London, UK
I waited at the airport for 6 hours last night, continually being told the flight would go, the estimated departure time moved later and later, I finally went home. My 16:25 flight to Stockholm eventually left at 01:15. What happened yesterday appeared to be an unofficial strike, not technical difficulties. I suspect some staff are not happy with the deal struck by their union. They aren't doing their pay prospects much good by damaging their own airport. Extremely short-sighted.
Kara Lemont Sportelli, London, England
Instead of arriving home in London for 8pm we arrived at 4am some 8 hours late. I was given a voucher for 10 euros in Monaco, this was consumed within the first hours... Should I be compensated?
Tony Kennah, London
We arrived back from Athens at 21:00. The first we knew of any delays was when the captain said we had to wait for 7 planes to move before we could park the plane. 2 hours and several differing reasons later we arrived on a stand but then we had a further 2 hours plus wait in the baggage hall with all the people from the cancelled flights. It took longer to get from the runway to the taxi than it did to get from Athens, and I thought the traffic in Athens was going to be bad.
Mike Quinn, Henley-on-Thames, UK I spent 5 hours in the First Class lounge at Heathrow Terminal One last night. The BA staff on the front desk were pretty much despairing of their company as they tried (quite valiantly) to defend the indefensible to a milling crowd of movers and shakers (and, presumably, BA's best customers). They were clearly getting no good information and although the presence of senior management was demanded, it was clearly not going to happen. I never heard if my flight was finally cancelled - I had given up and gone home by then. Today I will be booking with Lufthansa.
John Tranter, Wantage, UK
My flight (BA1334) was delayed by 2 hours yesterday afternoon. The real cause of frustration among passengers was the lack of information.
Charles Marshall, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
BA are no longer the 'favourite airline'. My wife and I (plus 3 children) were delayed at Bordeaux last Sunday night (22nd August) for 7 hours, because of a cancelled flight, due to brake problems. I totally agree with Charles Marshall's e-mail which highlighted the complete lack of information, service, and understanding from BA staff (Bordeaux and Heathrow). People are losing all confidence with the airline, What is going on? BA are letting the nation down.
Ian Delaney, Richmond, Surrey
What a shambles last night. I was in T1 first class lounge and the staff on the desk there did as best they could. However, there was no sign of management anywhere and a complete lack of information for passengers. BA could not even give us a vague idea of boarding times and then the flight was cancelled with no reason given. When I eventually tracked down a duty manager in the check-in zone his only comment was "What can I say" - pretty much summed up the lack of management of BA. This by the way was exactly the same as the previous Monday when I was trying to get to Stockholm - again no gate staff was the reason given for the delays.
Owen Roberts, London
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