British Airways cancels over 200 Heathrow flights in latest IT collapse: what are your rights?

Passengers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to accommodation, meals and cash compensation

Going places? Heathrow Terminal 5, BA’s main base (Simon Calder)

Once again British Airways’ Heathrow operation is in disarray due to an IT failure. The Independent calculates that more than 200 flights, mainly domestic and European, were cancelled between Thursday 25 and Saturday 27 May as a result of the systems failure.

Many flights were also delayed for many hours.

The number of passengers directly affected by cancellations is likely to be around 30,000 – with many more seriously delayed and/or encountering missed connections.

Passengers whose trips are cancelled are entitled to accommodation, meals and cash compensation.

What went wrong?

“A technical issue,” according to a British Airways spokesperson. It is believed to involve the internal IT system that handles everything from passenger data to aircraft dispatch.

While some parts of the airline’s operation can be handled manually, so much depends on computers communicating with each other and the outside world.

Some IT specialists suggest that BA is vulnerable, like many big organisations, has systems in which cutting-edge technology coexists alongside “legacy” elements and processes that are almost prehistoric in computing terms.

How bad is it?

Not as dreadful as the 2017 IT meltdown over the same bank holiday weekend. On that occasion, during a routine systems upgrade, a switch was thrown that brought the entire British Airways Heathrow operation to a standstill: hundreds of thousands of passengers had their travel plans torn up.

This time, British Airways says: “The majority of our flights continue to operate as planned.”

The statement adds: “We’ve regrettably had to cancel some services at Heathrow.

“We’ve apologised to customers whose flights have been affected and offered them the option to rebook to an alternative flight with us or another carrier or request a refund.”

Which flights were cancelled?

When British Airways is obliged to ground large numbers of flights, it will usually aim for high-frequency routes: Edinburgh, Milan and Geneva top the BA cancellation league table.

Out of a total of 23 flights each way between the Scottish capital and Heathrow on Thursday and Friday, 43 per cent were grounded.

One of the flights that did depart was so badly delayed that it took off from Heathrow on the wrong day. BA1440 was due out at 9.15pm on Thursday but eventually took off just after midnight on Friday, arriving in Edinburgh at 1am.

Milan also experienced 10 cancellations, but these were split between Linate (six) and Malpensa (four).

To Geneva, eight of the scheduled 23 flights were grounded – 31 per cent of the total.

Three airports have seen six cancellations each: Belfast City, Nice and Paris CDG.

However, some holiday flights with limited alternatives were also hit. One of three flights from Heathrow to Faro on the Portuguese Algarve, and one of four to Malaga on Spain’s Costa del Sol, were grounded on Friday.

Many of the cancellations are to and from destinations with multiple frequencies, such as Dublin, Hamburg and Paris CDG, or serve domestic airports such a Manchester and Edinburgh where rail alternatives are available.

My flight has been cancelled. What are my rights?

You could just cancel and get a refund, but most people will want to travel despite the cancellation. There are three elements to BA’s obligation to you:

• A flight as soon as possible on any airline (or train) that can get you to your destination as close to the original schedule as possible. If British Airways is unable to find a seat on the same day, then it must search for a flight on a different airline.
• Meals and, if necessary, hotel accommodation as appropriate until you are on your way. British Airways is supposed to provide this care, but in practice during severe disruption many passengers fend for themselves and then claim back later.
• Cash compensation, which ranges between £220 and £520 per person, depending on the length of the flight.

How is the compensation calculated?

It’s tricky. For a straightforward cancellation with less than two weeks’ notice and no alternative flight offered, the rates are:

• Under 1,500km: £220
• 1,500-3,500km, £350
• Above 3,500km, £520

In many cases, though, British Airways will have provided a replacement flight.

If the alternative “allows you to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach your final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival” then no compensation is due.

If you arrive between two and three hours late for a flight of 1,500-3,500km, or between two and four hours late for longer flights, the cash compensation is halved.

How do I claim?

The British Airways website does not make it particularly easy or obvious, but this link should take you to the right portal, where you can also claim related expenses such as hotels which BA did not book for you.

Because of the sheer number of passengers affected, payments are likely to take months rather than weeks.

My flight wasn’t cancelled but I missed my connection and ended up many hours late. Do I still get compensation?

Yes. If you arrive at your final destination at least three hours late, you get the same payment as for a cancellation (except for long-haul flights between three and four hours late, for which the payment is halved to £260).

How much damage will this cause to British Airways?

The financial hit will run into millions of pounds: lost revenue from passengers who simply cancel their trips; costs of accommodation and meals for customers who have to wait for onward flights; and compensation under European air passengers’ rights rules.

The reputational damage to BA is considerable; the timing, at the start of half-term for many schools, is especially unfortunate, with some families having invested thousands of pounds in holidays which are now at risk.

But as BA has the majority of slots at Heathrow, the world’s most desirable international airport, it retains a huge structural advantage over other airlines, and is likely to continue to prosper despite this latest failure.