Flights to Heathrow and Gatwick from the US, Asia and Africa are among those affected by the IT disruption.According to the Evening Standard, passengers have taken to social media with complaints about the airline and its poor service. One passenger commented ‘British Airways suffering yet another major outage in its computer network, grounding transatlantic flights, triggering delays and potentially preventing Gatwick from operating to schedule. BA can you tell us more? #BritishAirways’
The airline has apologised for the disruption and has advised their customers to check their website: ba.com for more information on flights and disruptions. BA are offering alternative flights and accommodation for those who have experienced delays to their journey.
If your flight is delayed, it is the airlines responsibility to provide you with alternative flights and overnight accommodation if necessary. They should also offer you a full refund on unused parts of your ticket if they cannot provide an alternative.
Regarding compensation, this will depend on the length of the delay and where you are flying to. Passengers who are travelling on an EU airline (such as British Airways or Virgin Atlantic), to an EU airport may be entitled to compensation if they are delayed. However, if for example, you are delayed by a connecting flight from Atlanta to Chicago on American Airlines, BA are only required to re-book you on another service. They do not have to pay any additional costs that you might incur i.e. food, transport or accommodation. Check the Civil Aviation Authority’s website for more information on amounts and eligibility.
Travel insurance policies may also offer affected passengers’ compensation if they are delayed. Generally, if the policy covers departure delay or cover for your return journey you will be able to claim a small amount of compensation for each set period of time you are delayed. For example; £100 for every 12 hours you are delayed, up to a set amount. Amounts and time frames will differ between policies. Read more about departure delay.
