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
Love it.
Looks like brexit is working well after all
I was one time delayed 26 hours on a flight from Louisville, KY to Dallas on AA. It was an MD80 in 2011 or so. There were mechanical delays, etc, like there were here. I dont understand why this is being covered here or why there’s a class action lawsuit? Unfortunately these things sometimes happen. and in Europe they can get the compensation you mention. Not sure why this is post worthy?
But then you repeatedly demonstrate that you have no idea how business is done in Europe or that consumer rights exist so you wouldn’t understand would you?
It’s great that you continue to proclaim your ignorance and thank goodness the rest of the world is not the US.
EU261/2004 only applies to airlines based in the European Union, right?
No, also applies to non-EU flights operating from EU airport.
The UK has implemented identical regulations which they cleverly call UK261. BA is always on the hook.
I guess if you took the train, from over the English Channel, you would probably beat the airplane,
Sigh, another charmer from our friends at IAG. They should have a slogan contest, or at least some media outlet should start one. These bozos make Delta look good by comparison.