[News] Flying from Heathrow today (Fri 21 March) or picking up please read

[Thunder Bolt]

My lad is returning home from 6 months in Australia, a week Monday - really hope its all sorted and back to normal by then!

Flights resuming this evening but only certain ones. BA have lost 329 flights alone including my daughter’s. They offered her a flight on Monday returning next weekend so basically 4 days in the Maldives!

 

[portlock seagull]

Normal TV vox pop interviews with Joe Public, who as always are just so boringly entitled and naive in their complaining. Shit happens. Deal with it.

 

[BluesRockDJ]

Hope it's sorted by the time our South American contingent travel back Weds/Thurs !

 

[AmexRuislip]

On coming home tonight, Picadilly trains only going as far as Hatton Cross.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Seems flights are slowly starting up tonight

Won't be back to normal till Sunday I imagine

 

[dstanman]

Seems flights are slowly starting up tonight

Won't be back to normal till Sunday I imagine

Hope so due to fly back into Heathrow on Sunday morning with BA. Will be happy with divert to Gatwick though

 

[Dave the OAP]

Glad the airport had a decent DR plan to keep running Needed you in charge @Dave the OAP

To be fair when I woke up and heard it I was bloody amazed

we used to run simulations of outages for the CAA etc and the single point of failure was power outages. The recommendations of multiple access points to the national grid was not something that was followed as it was not economically viable. ALLEGEDLY.

when the outage that took down the air traffic control system was analysed everyone knew that money was being pumped into anti hacking systems, the basic “ air con units dripping water on to cabinets in data centres” was not even in the DR plans.

one trouble with retiring is you take so much, in my case over 30 years, Of experience with you and frustration with it!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

To be fair when I woke up and heard it I was bloody amazed

we used to run simulations of outages for the CAA etc and the single point of failure was power outages. The recommendations of multiple access points to the national grid was not something that was followed as it was not economically viable. ALLEGEDLY.

when the outage that took down the air traffic control system was analysed everyone knew that money was being pumped into anti hacking systems, the basic “ air con units dripping water on to cabinets in data centres” was not even in the DR plans.

one trouble with retiring is you take so much, in my case over 30 years, Of experience with you and frustration with it!

Is it the CAA’s responsibility though? They’re just hired hands at Heathrow. Is it their responsibility to ensure there’s power at an airport they don’t own or operate?

 

[pasty]

Hope so due to fly back into Heathrow on Sunday morning with BA. Will be happy with divert to Gatwick though

Many many years ago I was flying back into Heathrow with my ex-wife and after we’d been circling quite a while, I said I hope we get diverted to Gatwick.

She replied yeah, but we’d still have to go back to Heathrow to get our luggage though

 

[Dave the OAP]

Is it the CAA’s responsibility though? They’re just hired hands at Heathrow. Is it their responsibility to ensure there’s power at an airport they don’t own or operate?

It was a multi operational scenario and CAA were the main sponsor.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Flights resuming this evening but only certain ones. BA have lost 329 flights alone including my daughter’s. They offered her a flight on Monday returning next weekend so basically 4 days in the Maldives!

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.
After turning down half a holiday, they’re going in two weeks, and upgraded to an over the water villa, free.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Thoughts and prayers for Big Jet TV guy.

He still managed a broadcast

 

[North of Robertsbridge]

Due to fly to Marrakech on Sunday morning from LHR, fingers crossed

When Gatwick was closed due to a drone incident (December 2018 if I remember correctly) we got a couple of extra days in Buenos Aires, covered by insurance. It not always all bad

 

[The Fits]

Club World Problems.

 

[Guinness Boy]

The flight I was due to take Sunday is no longer needed due to the client cancelling the meeting. Helpfully, the BA app says to call the contact centre to cancel but the contact centre is “too busy to put me through”.

 

[Flounce]

The flight I was due to take Sunday is no longer needed due to the client cancelling the meeting. Helpfully, the BA app says to call the contact centre to cancel but the contact centre is “too busy to put me through”.

I rest my case that booking through a travel agent is the best option when these problems occur. However it could be that if you are on a non refundable ticket and your flight is scheduled to depart on time BA won’t refund anyway? In which case you’d just be handing the hassle of checking to the travel agent.

 

[dazzer6666]

Confirmed ’no suspicious circumstance’. You may all remove your tin foil hats

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I rest my case that booking through a travel agent is the best option when these problems occur. However it could be that if you are on a non refundable ticket and your flight is scheduled to depart on time BA won’t refund anyway? In which case you’d just be handing the hassle of checking to the travel agent.

I know you strongly support travel agents, which is fine, but needing one to help you check the type of ticket surely isn’t necessary? Can’t you just look at it? Or maybe even simply remember what it was you bought? Surely this is easier than waiting for the High Street travel agent to open and calling them, and hoping one of their lines is free?

 

[Algernon]

 

[Flounce]

I know you strongly support travel agents, which is fine, but needing one to help you check the type of ticket surely isn’t necessary? Can’t you just look at it? Or maybe even simply remember what it was you bought? Surely this is easier than waiting for the High Street travel agent to open and calling them, and hoping one of their lines is free?

You misunderstand me. If the ticket is refundable or the flight is non operational the agent can claim the refund for you, you don’t have to try and call the Airline if they won’t let you do it on the app. I was just commenting on GB being unable to get through to BA, which could go on for a while I guess he already knows if it’s a refundable ticket or not under normal circumstances. Most agents have 24 hour phone assistance, we are no longer in the 70s