News
Passengers vent fury at BA over strike chaos
By Helena Horton
BRITISH Airways was yesterday ac-
cused of “ruining” bank holiday week-
end as thousands of holidaymakers
attempted to salvage travel plans in the
wake of the planned pilots’ strike.
Passengers vented their fury at the
airline as some claimed they spent up
to four hours on the phone trying to
contact the customer services depart-
ment to cancel or reschedule flights.
Ben Pywell, an exasperated travel-
ler, told the BBC he called BA on more
than 200 occasions without success,
while others demanded compensation.
Ellie Kormis, from Surrey, spent al-
most £2,000 rebooking flights for her
holiday to Greece – only to be told her
original flights hadn’t been cancelled.
Jon Sopel, BBC’s North America edi-
tor, was also caught up in the chaos,
saying: “Dear British Airways. This
morning you wrote saying our flight
was cancelled from Washington, andthat we needed to rebook. We re-
booked. Now you’ve written to say our
flight is not cancelled after all. So what
the ... are we meant to do now? Thanks.”
The airline was told on social media
it had “ruined” the bank holiday over
its handling of the planned pilots’
strike, which the British Airline Pilots
Association (Balpa) said would take
place on Sept 9, 10 and 27.
The airline’s customer services was
jammed as passengers were mistakenly
emailed about cancellations on days
strike action was not planned for.
No online link was provided for peo-
ple to rebook online, meaning custom-ers had to make contact directly. In the
24 hours after the airline sent emails on
Friday, BA said it received close to
40,000 calls.
Anger over the planned strike con-
tinued to simmer yesterday, which
came as BA marked its centenary.
Simon Calder, a travel expert, said:
“British Airways: on the airline’s 100th
birthday, thousands of prospective pas-
sengers are stressed, upset and out-of-
pocket as a result of BA’s botched
communication about the impending
pilots’ strike.”
British Airways is now braced to re-
ceive a series of financial claims as trav-ellers demanded to be compensated.
Adam French, consumer rights expert
at Which?, said the issue had caused “a
lot of confusion and anxiety”.
“It is vital that the airline ensures
that any customer who was initially in-
formed that their flight was cancelled
and has booked an alternative flight is
not left out of pocket,” he said.
A British Airways spokesman told
The Daily Telegraph that those who had
rebooked flights after the error were
eligible for a refund. She added that
customers should keep all records.
Rival airline Virgin Atlantic was
seemingly quick to spot an opportu-nity among frustrated passengers. The
firm wrote on its social media page:
“Has British Airways cancelled your
flight on the 9, 10 or 27 September due
to their pilot strike? We’d love to help
keep your travel plans on track.”
The British Airline Pilots Association
(Balpa) claimed on Friday that strike ac-
tion was a “last resort” borne out of
“enormous frustration”. The union also
suggested further walkouts could still
be announced.
BA has told passengers affected that
they can request a full refund, rebook
flights, or use the value of the fare to fly
to a different destination.Flight delays more than double since 2014 Grandfather, 69, killed in daylight stabbing
FLIGHT delays have more than dou-
bled, leading to millions of passengers
suffering holiday woes, a new report
has found.
Data from 2014 to 2018, produced by
the Civil Aviation Authority, analysed
by Which?, found that eight of the UK’s
10 busiest carriers have seen an increase
in delays of more than an hour – with an
estimated 17 million passengers affected
last year alone.
Ryanair, Wizz Air and easyJet delays
have doubled over the last four years
while Thomas Cook is the worst airline
for delays overall.
Which? says it is concerned that some
airlines and airports have failed to
match the rapid growth in the number
of flights with the resources needed to
handle an increase in traffic.
Delays of one hour or more with Ry-
anair have more than doubled since
2014, from three per cent to nearly eight
per cent. easyJet saw an increase from
under five per cent to almost nine per
cent, and Wizz Air went from three per
cent to over six per cent.
But Thomas Cook passengers on av-
erage faced a delay of at least an hour,
with a one in nine (11.5 per cent) chance
of a 60-minute delay.
Thomas Cook, Ryanair and easyJethave all increased the number of flights
they operate by between 30 per cent
and 70 per cent since 2014, according to
the aviation authority’s data.
When it came to the airports, Stan-
sted was the UK’s worst for delays by
some margin – with more than twice as
many departing flights delayed by an
hour than at Heathrow, the busiest air-
port in the country.
Thomas Cook and easyJet both
claimed factors beyond their control
were to blame for the delays, such as
airspace, weather and strikes, while
Ryanair claimed the Which? figures
were “inflated and inaccurate”.By Berny TorreA GRANDFATHER and part-time rugby
coach who was stabbed to death in day-
light hours while walking home from
his local pub was a victim of an unpro-
voked attack, neighbours have claimed.
Allan Isichei, 69, a director of a build-
ing firm, was stabbed yards from his
home in Southall, west London, on Sat-
urday evening.
Mr Isichei, said to be a part-time
coach for Wasps Rugby Club, was seen
drinking and reading a newspaper at
the Plough pub just minutes before.
Pubgoers insisted there were no signs ofaggravation before he left the pub, as
neighbours claimed he fell victim to an
unprovoked attack.
A pub regular added: “It is a real
shock. Allan was a loving father and
grandfather. He was seen leaving here
and walking normally on his own.Nobody followed him and there were
no signs of aggravation.”
Neighbour Raj Grover said Mr Isi-
chei, a keen jazz musician, called for his
wife when he staggered to his doorstep
moments after being stabbed.
He said Mr Isichei suffered one stab
wound to the right of his lower chest
and another on the right hand side of his
lower back.
He added: “His wife was saying to
him, ‘It will be OK, don’t worry every-
thing will be fine.’ We did our best, but
unfortunately we lost him.”
A man in his 30s was arrested on sus-
picion of murder.SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY; JACOB KING/PA WIREDiving right in Competitors come up for
air during the World Bog Snorkelling
Championship in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales.
Hundreds of competitors wore fancy dress,
including dinosaur and lobster outfits, while
swimming two lengths of a murky trench.
The annual contest has been described by
Lonely Planet, the travel guide publisher, as
one of 50 ‘must-do’ events worldwide.Travellers given conflicting
information as they
struggle to rebook flights
threatened by pilots’ action
Allan Isichei was
stabbed yards from
his home in Southall,
west London, after
leaving his local pub10 ***^ Monday 26 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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