Calder’s Cancellation Challenge: airlines with the best and the worst cancel culture
The Man Who Pays His Way: Rapidly losing patience with airlines that ground flights and make passengers foot the bill
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To have one intercontinental flight cancelled 80 minutes before departure is unfortunate. To have two in a row grounded at such short notice looks like carelessness with my choice of carrier. But that is exactly what happened on my trip to Australia this week.
First British Airways failed to get me from London Heathrow to Singapore because of a technical issue, which was called just as I was starting to make my way through security. Then Jetstar, the budget brand of Qantas, did the same with my onward trip from Singapore to Melbourne. With Qatar Airways doing the same in November and Delta in December, that makes it four longhaul flights cancelled in three months.
Time for a Cancellation Challenge, in which I rate each airline’s performance when leaving people in the lurch.
Qatar Airways, Kathmandu-Doha (with a connection to London Heathrow)
Cause: Slot restrictions at Kathmandu airport because of expansion work.
Notice given: Five days, but because I was in the mountains and well off-grid, I found out only the day before – by which time the non-cancelled flights had all filled up.
Care: Qatar Airways offered a flight about a week later. No hotel or meals.
Costs triggered: An unexpected night in a hotel, a painfully expensive $1,000 one-way flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok, a mad taxi rush across the Thai capital from one airport to the other, and a £500 ticket to London on British Airways. Taking into account the refund from Qatar Airways, I am about £550 down.
Aggravation index: 8. I felt the airline was of no help.
Delta, Atlanta-London Heathrow
Notice given: Flight DL36 was over an hour into its journey to Heathrow when it became clear that not everything was going as planned. Neither meals nor drinks had been served – because, as it later turned out, the cabin crew had been warned of a mechanical issue. The elderly Boeing 767 made a U-turn 630 miles after take-off and returned to Atlanta in the early hours of the morning.
Consequences: Delta provided some passengers with accommodation, but I was left to sort myself out. A gentleman with a car who called himself an Uber driver said he would take me to a downtown hotel for $50. The Delta app allowed me to book on a shiny new Virgin Atlantic plane the next night.
Costs triggered: About $300, which I believe Delta is refunding.
Aggravation index: 9. The whole fiasco was dismally managed.
British Airways, London Heathrow-Singapore
Notice given: 80 minutes, in a text explaining that the Airbus A380 “SuperJumbo” had gone tech.
Consequences: As I had arrived at Heathrow only 85 minutes before the flight, I was still “landside” when the message arrived. With only cabin baggage, I legged it to a BA desk where I was rebooked a couple of hours later on Singapore Airlines.
Two days later in Singapore, I met some of the less fortunate passengers on BA11. They were the ones who were already checked in and waiting at the gate. “Mayhem,” is how Shelley and Phil described it. With confusion reigning and the need to reclaim luggage, they were too late to get on a flight that night, and stayed overnight at a Heathrow hotel.
So I was lucky; sometimes arriving relatively late at an airport brings benefits. If a flight is cancelled, being “airside” slows everything down.
Costs triggered: Nil. In fact, if the British Airways website ever allows me to complete the online form, I shall claim £260 in compensation under air passengers’ rights rules for the cancellation and subsequent late arrival.
Aggravation index: 2, but Shelley and Phil would put it nearer 10.
Jetstar, Singapore-Melbourne
Notice given: 80 minutes, blaming a “crewing issue”. It turned out one of the pilots had fallen ill. A replacement was flown in from Australia, but required statutory rest on arrival. A new flight was arranged for 20 hours after the plane was originally due to leave – with arrival in Melbourne at 3.55am. No thanks; I am due to be meeting friends for a big evening event, for which I had allowed 12 hours for things to go Tango Uniform.
After the cancellation I spent an hour at Singapore airport trying to find something going overnight. Unfortunately the grounding came so late that I couldn’t find anything below £1,600 for a seven-hour flight on Qantas. But during the night I managed to find a seat on Emirates for about half that. The plane was delayed leaving, but I should at least arrive “only” 16 hours late and catch some of the event.
Costs triggered: I will be £500 down once the £300 refund of the Jetstar flight comes through.
Aggravation index: 8. Jetstar, owned by Qantas and with Qantas “codeshares” applied to its flights, would not countenance rebooking passengers on Qantas. I will not be rushing to book again.
Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.
