29-Hour Delay On British Airways

For passengers on British Airways flight 2613, a colossal 29-hour delay into London Heathrow was marked by a string of small problems that turned into a large nightmare.

A String Of Issues Leads To 29-Hour Delay On British Airways

Let’s break down what happened onboard BA2613, scheduled to travel from Naples (NAP) to London (LHR) on August 17, 2022 at 9:30am. The details were shared by passenger Paola Capobianco in La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper based in Rome,

• Passengers boarded the Airbus A320 (G-EUYK) on time and the aircraft prepared to take off
• Shortly thereafter, the captain announced a problem with the Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS)
• Three hours later, passengers were invited to step off the aircraft for a lunch break, but leave all carry-on items onboard the aircraft
• 2.5 hours later, passengers re-boarded the aircraft, only to experience a further delay
• At one point, a new mechanical issue was blamed while at another point congestion over London Heathrow was blamed for the further delay
• At 5:00pm, passengers were told the flight had been cancelled
• Passengers were rebooked the next afternoon at 12:30pm on a new flight utilizing the same aircraft
• Hotel rooms had been arranged in a town called Caserta, about 36 kilometers north of Naples
• Boarding again began on-time the next day, but by 1:05pm the aircraft still had not pushed back
• With passengers outraged, one flight attendant purportedly began to cry
• Passengers demanded to get off the aircraft, but the captain denied the request
• Capobianco, a lawyer, called the police, but before they could show up, the flight finally pushed back and took off
• The delayed flight finally arrived in London Heathrow at 4:22pm local time, 29 hours late

The drama was not over for Capobianco. She was scheduled to continue on to Mexico City but upon arrival in London, she was informed that her connection to Mexico was improperly booked and could not fly that evening. With her luggage also left behind in Naples, she simply decided to go home…but not before threatening a class action lawsuit.

There’s no doubt this was a terrible delay, but it’s not like the pilots could have risked taking off when there appeared to be a mechanical issue. The right call was made, though there’s no doubt the delay was excruciating and probably dragged out far longer than necessary.

CONCLUSION

Some passengers are now talking about a class action lawsuit, according to SimpleFlying, which first detailed the plight of BA2613. Those passengers should probably focus on obtaining EU261/2004 compensation first…that alone will take a huge fight.

image: British Airways