British Airways error sends fake flight cancellation letters

British full-service airline British Airways apologized to customers after sending an e-mail informing passengers that their flight had been canceled.

The e-mail was supposed to be sent only to customers who were flying the days of the strike and presumably to flights likely to be affected. Instead, British Airways sent the e-mail to passengers whose flights would be operated normally, indicating that their flight had been canceled and that they had to make a new booking or request a refund.

This major mistake comes after the British Airways pilots decided to call for a strike on 9, 10 and 27 September.

British Airways pilots strike for three days in September

The three-day strike, the first ever by British Airways pilots, comes after a dispute between the pilots' union (BALPA) and British Airways.

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Calling the strike of last resort to the frustration of having to deal with British Airways management, 93 percent of BALPA members voted for industrial action.

The Guardian newspaper has published a quote from the Pilots' Union which reads as follows: "In recent years, BA pilots have made sacrifices to help the company, including cutting back on pay, increasing productivity, ending the pension plan, giving up annual vacation days, establishing a new workforce management system and reducing its remuneration.

The airline offered pilots an 11.5 percent pay increase over three years, said British Airways President and Chief Executive Officer Alex Cruz. "fair exchange" and called the strike by BALPA "disappointing."

Although the exact number of passengers who have received false e-mail is not known, you can be sure that many booked trips have now been disrupted. Asked about the mistake made by the Guardian, a British Airways spokesman said:

"We are sorry that some customers have received a wrong e-mail stating that their flight was canceled without a strike. We are contacting all these customers this afternoon to make it clear that their flight will be as planned. We are sorry for the confusion and inconvenience this has caused. "

The spokesman added that anyone spending money on alternative flights should contact British Airways directly and that each case would be handled individually.

As a result of these instructions, passengers used social media to express their frustration at not being able to speak to a British Airways representative, despite repeated calls.

Some customers received a second e-mail stating that their flights would operate normally.

Ellie Kormis, who had booked a holiday in Greece with British Airways, told the BBC that she had spent all day Saturday trying to reach the airline's call center.

She added that she had finally had to book new flights, which would add three days of vacation to the family, which would cost them £ 2,000 more. "You find yourself in a situation where you can not talk to anyone – and you worry about losing your vacation or being left out," she says.

British Airways contacted him by email later on Saturday to inform him that his flight had not been canceled and that it would operate normally. Ellie said that he was "An epic mess on their part", joking that she had lost all hope of talking to someone from BA.

British Airways confirmed to the BBC that passengers who incurred false fees due to a false email had to submit their receipts to BA for a refund.

Kaelee Matthews of Cardiff, another passenger in the deceptive email, said that BA had told her that she would not reimburse her for tickets purchased by Virgin Atlantic as her flight was not canceled.

"We are disgusted with BA," she said. "We do not know what to do now. Virgin can not pay us back, but we understand that. Travel insurers say that we are not covered either. "

summary

British Airways has no one to blame but themselves for this epic disaster.

From the moment the email was sent to tell people that their flights had been canceled, the airline should have taken the phone. British Airways needed to get on board to fix the situation, but like many big companies these days, just excuses are enough.

Instead of doing so, BA asks passengers who may have been misled to call them. Even during a good day, you can spend hours trying to reach BA on the phone, not to mention the day when tens of thousands of people try at the same time.

Offering free flights, airline miles or even upgrades to affected passengers would show how sincere the airline's apology is.

Will it happen? I doubt it; What do you think? Please let us know in the comments.