Complaint – British Airways

Dear Sir/Madam

I appreciate that the strikes were not the fault of British Airways, and I have laid full blame at Balpa, including sending them a letter of complaint.

However, I was supposed to be flying back from my holiday on 27th September – and was waiting to arrange the rest of my holiday, as I had other hotels and a ferry to book too.

Finally I received note that my flight on 27th September was cancelled – so I arranged to change it to the week after. Thankfully the one hotel I had booked let me change dates without charging me, and everything else was still available.

Then I realised after doing so, that I would financially have been better off cancelling and rebooking – the return flights were £196. I had paid £242.54 – so I feel like I have missed out on £46.54 worth of flight.

I don’t want to complain too loudly – I enjoyed the flights and am especially in appreciation of the M&S food and Brewdog beer that is available, not to mention not being harrangued every few minutes like on Ryanair. I just feel that I have been left a bit short – my next holiday is to Japan and it does leave me questionning whether booking with BA is the right thing to do (the strikes make me nervous in choosing this too).

Oh and why am I always the last to get a drink on your flights? The plane was only a third full on the way out, yet took a good 1 hour 20 minutes for the cabin crew to reach me.

Kind regards
James Winfield

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[7 whole weeks later…just how many complaints do BA get nowadays?]

Dear Mr Winfield

Thanks for contacting us about your flight from Kerkyra on 27 September. I’m sorry your journey was affected by industrial action by the pilots’ union BALPA on 27 September.

The strike action had a significant impact upon our operation. Following the announcement, we immediately reviewed our flight schedule and it was necessary to make a large number of cancellations, including some on non-strike days.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused by the temporary change to our schedule due to the strike action. We value your loyalty to British Airways and your support as a Blue member of our Executive Club. We’re looking forward to welcoming you on board soon. Please feel free to contact me directly, using the blue link below, if I can help you with anything else.

Best regards

Tejas Pawar
British Airways Customer Relations