Delays and Drama - Are Our Flagship Carriers Any Good?

This article was originally published in The Detour in December 2023

Last week, I got an email from British Airways denying me a compensation claim I’d made. I always knew there was a chance they’d say no, but I was hoping, given the absolute chaos of it all, that they wouldn’t. Then again, even making the claim in the first place had felt a bit cheeky, since I’d booked the flight with Avios.

To give you a (not-so) brief summary of how the whole experience went down, my husband and I were flying home from our mini-moon (half-moon? Crescent moon?) in Turkey in early November, and all was looking good as we boarded at Istanbul Airport. We did notice ground crew running to and from the plane with bits of paper, but thought nothing of it.

Of course, boarding group rules hadn’t been followed, so there were people moving around the cabin in every direction. It took a while, but eventually we got moving. What I hadn’t appreciated, though, was just how far aircraft have to taxi at Istanbul airport—it took us around half an hour to reach our departure position near the runway.

We were sitting there for about 15 minutes before the pilot came over the loudspeaker to explain that we had in fact missed our ATC takeoff window, and the next one we could get was in 40 minutes. Cue grumbling from around the cabin.

“I’m sorry, but it gets worse,” he said. “Our aircraft was changed shortly before the flight, and we’re now travelling at maximum capacity, so we don’t have the extra fuel on board to wait here that long. We’ll have to taxi back to the stand to refuel. But as you know, that takes 30 minutes, so we’ll actually miss our next slot, too…” *groans*.

By around 1.5 hours into our tarmac-bound adventure, the cabin crew decided to serve us up our snack of a 250ml bottle of water and a flapjack. Most welcome at that point, especially since the plane’s air conditioning wasn’t exactly doing the job while static on the ground. Then, just past the 2-hour mark, the pilot said we had a slot in an hour, so we’d start taxiing in 30 minutes.

By that point, what had been a sunny morning when we’d arrived at the airport had turned into torrential downpours and strong winds. ATC were now limiting departure slots due to the weather. We were reassured that we’d probably be fine, though—and surprisingly, we were. Seemingly completely unaffected by the rain, we took off just over 3 hours late.

You’d think that’s where the saga ends, right? Wrong! Due to potential turbulence on the ascent, the cabin crew very sensibly stayed seated for longer than usual. They eventually began their service, approx. 2 hours after handing out complimentary refreshments. Except this is modern short-haul BA, and only the first one is free in economy (on most routes).

With a plane full of disgruntled, dehydrated and peckish passengers, everyone wanted to order something. And then the card machine started playing up. You can see where this is going…

Working their way from row 12 towards the back (we were in 27), it took them two hours to get to us. Not least, because the crew themselves needed a break during that time. They were exhausted, frustrated, and completely overwhelmed. Especially since we’d all started asking about what would happen to our connections once we arrived in Heathrow.

In the end, we landed 3 hours and 5 minutes late—just over the 3-hour requirement to qualify for compensation. They did manage to arrange alternative transatlantic flights for some passengers continuing to New York, but for most of us, it was a night in an airport hotel and the first flight home in the morning.

This was particularly frustrating, since our original connection had not yet departed. In fact, the gate hadn’t even closed. But Heathrow is big, and they weren’t able to hold the flight for the 15-odd of us heading to Glasgow. So off we went to spend our £10 meal voucher on 2 Boots Meal Deals each.

The flight the following morning was comparatively uneventful; the last minute gate change, more chaotic boarding and fog-bound landing seemed like small fry. We hesitated before hastily cracking into our free 250 ml bottle of water and breakfast bar this time, but given we were practically halfway to Scotland by that point, it seemed like a safe bet.

We landed safely around 12 hours later than planned, returned home to our feline friends, and spent most of the day fairly zonked on the couch.

Since we reached our destination over 3 hours late, we were entitled to compensation—unless the delay had been outside BA’s control. And what do you know, they blamed the weather at Istanbul. “But here’s a £50 voucher as a gesture of good will…”

This whole BA experience had been so different to my previous one, when I’d flown business class for the first time and felt like a proper VIP. In fact, I’d felt so fancy in the lounges, with my unlimited Diet Coke, and overly smiley cabin crew, that I began having notions of grandeur. Getting off the plane and having to catch the airport bus home with everyone else soon brought me back to reality.

But it got me thinking—is BA actually only good for business class passengers these days? Sure, we’d still have experienced the same delay in Turkey, but how bad would that have seemed if we’d been given a free coffee… or wine! The cabin crew wouldn’t have had to fight with technology to process payments, and they might have been able to keep smiles on their faces just a little longer.

None of this was a problem in business class, we noticed, as service was flowing all through the delay and as soon as it was safe after takeoff. Their dedicated crew member bobbed merrily up and down the aisle to replace empty wine bottles and food trays, his passengers blissfully unaware of the chaos behind the economy curtain.

Of course, the main benefit of my flight was the convenient connection from Glasgow right through to Istanbul. But had I not been collecting Avios and had a BA Companion Voucher to spend, I would probably have chosen a cheaper flight with KLM via Amsterdam, or non-stop from Edinburgh with Turkish Airlines.

It certainly seems that it’s a sort of outdated patriotism that keeps Brits returning to our flagship, rather than quality. The majority of us are not flying business class, so what is it that we're drawn to? Is it the convenient Heathrow departures/connections and decent flight times? The range of destinations?

I want to hear about your British Airways experiences, good and bad! Is it time for us to get over the flag carriers? And how does the BA experience compare to others, like Air France, Air Canada, or Lufthansa?

The US may not have a flag carrier airline, but what is it that keeps those of you travelling in the States returning to United, American, or Delta over cheaper alternatives?

Follow-up originally published in The Detour in December 2023

Last week, I shared a recent experience of a less than stellar British Airways flight, and asked whether you had been through anything similar. One reader, very fairly, suggested that I was just having a whinge. The rest of you who wrote in, however, had plenty of unpleasant experiences to share.

Starting with customer service, many of you have been left wanting. From the in-flight…

“There is a level of complacency and arrogance now with BA in relation to the service that they offer. We found the crew to be miserable, lacking in urgency, disinterested in passengers and the customer experience.”

To the service counters…

“We land at London Heathrow and that's when the chaos begins. We all run down to make it to our connections. Turns out that our flight had been overbooked by a decent margin. They weren't ready to put a lot of us on that plane and just told us to go to the British Airways counter up ahead. This what they also told to folks arriving from Spain on Iberia and folks coming from the USA.

I told them that although I am resident in Ireland and can transit via the UK, I am a visa-required national and by law have to catch my connection that leaves Heathrow by 11:59 pm. The sad part was that it took me explaining this to the 4th person who knew about the rules! He pretty nonchalantly said,"Ah well, that's a pity. You're okay, though, the flight to deport back to Delhi will be free of cost." I felt my heart drop and felt giddy. Can you imagine hearing and experiencing that?”

To the call centres…

“Due to the drop in corporate travel in my industry post-pandemic, I lost my Silver status and am now Bronze. I have an outstanding lost/ missing miles claim that's been going on since September 8, and I keep getting sent to the same call centre where no one can help me or give me any other answer than 'due to exceptional circumstances, we are very busy. Your claim will take up to 8 weeks to resolve'.

I have filed a complaint, and they came back with... The same answer. And directed to me to the same call centre. I've given up/ lost the will to live in terms of getting these miles, and have recognised, like most things British, our flag carrier is obsessed with class and status, and once you drop down the ranks, good luck getting help.”

Lots of you wrote in to share criticism of the BA service, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom! So I want to make sure we shout out the good sides too:

“Earlier this year, I was traveling from Tokyo to Dublin. The flight from Tokyo to Heathrow was amazing. Then, lo and behold, my connection from London to Dublin was via British Airways. And of course the flight got delayed by 2 hours and we departed late. However, this time the ground staff was really nice, and it was a pleasant experience.”

“Having just flown out to Texas with American and returned BA, I have to say BA was much better. American flight was freezing cold, even the crew were wearing their fleeces, the seats were cramped and there were only 4 toilets for all of economy and premium economy, food was generally OK, but BA beat them in every detail!”

“From City Airport, British Airways is perfect. Obviously limited destinations, but the airport experience alone makes it worthwhile. Quick, easy and always on time.”

There was one issue in particular that seemed to be the crux of many of your complaints, though—the knock-on effect of BA’s hand luggage policies:

“The biggest issue for us, though, was the ridiculous policy of hold baggage charges and size of cabin bags. We were delayed and therefore missed our slot leaving because they had run out of space for bags in the cabin. As is our previous experience, there was the usual last minute pleas at the gate for people to relinquish their cabin cases to the hold free of charge, taken up by a few people who could then board quicker (not sure that's a positive bribe, but each to their own!). So, as general boarding began, we then spent 20 minutes or so standing in the queue on the air bridge waiting to get on to the aircraft whilst cabin bag space was being found.

When we eventually got seated, and squeezed our rucksack/bag under our seats, chaos continued to ensue with stressed cabin crew going up and down the aircraft trying to squeeze in more cases, of varying sizes.

An hour after our take off time, we eventually moved off. It was a similar experience coming home, but this time we were on a bigger aircraft and were not delayed.

Is it time for BA to consider scrapping their extra charges for putting luggage in the hold, on the basis that it will surely alleviate the time-wasting and inevitable delays? It seemed ridiculous to me that the full aircraft must have been flying with a near empty hold!”

Budget carriers have changed the way we travel by charging for both carry-on and checked luggage. We’ve all had to become pros at packing light. And while we usually see larger airlines including a carry-on as a bonus, it means that where there’s a free cabin bag, we will make the most of it. Planes simply don’t have enough space for that, and chaos descends.

What about the other big airlines, then? Is there a safe bet? Well, it’s a mixed bag, but aside from mentions for Aer Lingus and SAS, the major European and US airlines didn’t receive resounding support. As one reader pointed out, could this be the pervasive effect of low-cost carriers?

“I'm hard-pressed to think of a brand-leading European state airline, as they've all dumbed down in the face of competition from Ryanair, easyJet etc. Hard to beat the Gulf states in terms of state flagships nowadays.”

As someone who tends to travel with budget airlines due to better routes and affordability, at least I always know what to expect. Unfortunately, that means that when I pay more and fly with a traditional airline, I also expect more. So while Wizz Air et al. go up in my estimations with every new route and price drop, BA etc. go down. And I’m not alone:

“People hate on Ryanair, but over the last three years I’ve almost never had an issue. It seems as though they really paid attention to all the negative press (and feedback) and then proactively did something about it.”

To wrap up this extended whinge, we could list all the other airlines you’ve had bad experiences with (*cough* American, *cough* United). But let’s just go for the one that really caught my eye.

I’d like to thank reader Grant for now giving me something to worry about every day in the run-up to my transatlantic trip in February:

“As regards to US carriers, well probably American would be top of my list. DELTA however would be plumb last. Do you know what DELTA actually stands for?

Don’t Expect Luggage To Arrive”

Thanks, Grant. And thank you to everyone else who wrote in! Your experiences will help Jack's members everywhere, so please keep the travel tips coming.