British Airways has drafted in almost 100 extra staff to deal with a flood of complaints from customers trying to rebook flights and chase refunds in the run-up to next month’s pilot strikes.
The airline said it had about 730 staff handling thousands of calls and social media messages after customers were told their flights would be affected by pilot walkouts on 9, 10 and 27 September. About 640 customer service workers usually handle queries on a normal day.
A number of passengers received emails from the airline on Friday mistakenly telling them their flights were affected. Many scrambled to arrange alternative flights – only to learn hours later that the email was sent in error and their original travel plans were unaffected.
Customers who were expected to fly on strike days have been given the option to rebook or receive a full refund but BA said customers affected by the email error would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
My flight to Europe is cancelled. All I’m being offered is an alternative flight or vouchers. Is this legal?
No. But that hasn’t stopped a number of airlines doing exactly that. All flights on EU carriers within, or into the EU, and all flights leaving from an EU airport, are protected by the EU’s “denied boarding” rules, which require a full refund in seven days when flights are cancelled.
The problem for consumers is that enforcing these rights is proving very difficult. After initially promising to refund passengers within 20 working days, Ryanair has now said passengers should accept vouchers valid for 12 months, or wait until the Covid-19 pandemic is over for a refund.
Refunds at British Airways are only being processed by customer services which, of course, is impossible to contact. easyJet, initially only offered refunds through customer services but now has a web portal to request refunds.
Note: the EU cancellation rules do not apply to non-EU carriers where the flight started outside the EU – for example, a Korean Air flight from Seoul to London.
In the face of a no-refund policy, what should I do?
Taking the offer of replacement vouchers in the current climate is highly risky given the airline may not be around in six months. While some will be happy to accept vouchers, many will not.
Coby Benson of the specialist flight compensation lawyers, Bott and Co, advises passengers to submit their refund request in writing, using the following text:
I understand that my flight [fight number] on [flight date] has been cancelled and I therefore request a full refund pursuant to articles 5(1)(a) and 8(1)(a) of EC Regulation No.261/2004. You are reminded that the refund must be made within seven days. For the avoidance of doubt, I do not accept a travel voucher.
If the airline does not respond or does not agree then the passenger can either issue court proceedings or use Alternative Dispute Resolution.
If your flight cost more than £100 and was booked using a credit card, you can hold the card provider jointly liable. When things calm down we suspect many passengers will be forced down this route.
My flight operated as scheduled but I was unable to go on it. What then?
The fact that the government advised against all but essential travel means travel insurance policies should pay foreign trip cancellation claims provided you bought your policy before the pandemic was declared on 11 March.
Miles Brignall
Numerous passengers said they were struggling to get through to customer services after the pilot walkouts were confirmed on Friday. It came after BA failed to settle a long-running dispute with the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa), with the union calling for a 11.5% pay rise for members over three years.
BA said it received more than 60,000 phone calls and 52,000 Twitter messages over the bank holiday weekend, when it had 500 customer service staff on hand.
Adam French, a consumer rights expert at Which?, said: “BA must urgently get its act together and ensure that anyone whose flight is cancelled is rerouted, regardless of whether it is with a different airline or not.
“The airline also needs to do right by passengers who spent hundreds of pounds on new flights when they were wrongly told that their original flights had been cancelled and make sure they are not left out of pocket.”
The company was deluged with Twitter messages, as customers complained they were missing weddings, holidays and honeymoons as a result of the strikes.
One customer tweeted that they had been unable to use the online booking system in the three days since the pilot strike was confirmed and were unable to get through to BA customer service by phone. “Shame on you,” the user said.
@British_Airways is the worst. 3 days since the #bastrike announcement, the online booking system is still down and I cannot get through the BA customer service (in any country) to rebook. Shame on you.
— Teodora Lekic (@teodoralekic) August 26, 2019
“I’m up to over 30 call attempts. Just get cut off. Ironic that it’s your 100th birthday as your customer service is straight from the early 20th century,” another complained.
A BA spokesperson said: “We’re extremely sorry that some of our customers are having difficulties trying to rearrange their flights. Our teams have been working tirelessly to help as many of our customers as possible in these unprecedented circumstances.
“Our teams have been providing our customers with as many options as possible, as quickly as possible, including a full refund or rebooking to a different date of travel or airline.”
The Civil Aviation Authority has been in contact with British Airways over how it has dealt with customers affected by cancellations. “[We] are seeking an explanation to confirm how it complied with its rerouting obligations to consumers,” said the regulator’s director, Richard Stephenson.
Customers should be offered reimbursement for cancelled flights, alternative travel arrangements that included flights on other airlines or a new flight at a convenient date , the CAA said. “We also expect airlines to proactively provide passengers with information about their rights when flights are cancelled.”
The authority said passengers who were mistakenly told their flights were cancelled should not be left out of pocket and that any reasonable cost of rebooking flights should be claimed from British Airways.
