Storm season triggers unexpected connections and lots of surprises for airline passengers

“Periodic shower and storm chances and continued heat and humidity”: that is the forecast for the rest of this week from the National Weather Service in Chicago.

Like so many places in the US, the “Windy City” is prone to violent summer storms that cause havoc at airports. And that can spell miserable times for travellers – as reader Tim Worrall found. Flying back from Indianapolis to London, he expected a single swift and simple change of plane, but ended up with an exhausting four-flight zigzag back to Gatwick.

“I have just returned from the US on an open-jaw flight booked with British Airways, with flights within North America on American Airlines. The itinerary was London Gatwick to New York JFK to Toronto outbound; inbound, Indianapolis-JFK-Gatwick.”

What could possibly go wrong – or right? As it happens, plenty.

Worrall had booked on the British Airways link from Gatwick to New York partly because he lives in West Sussex – but also because it is reliably much cheaper than other BA flights to the US. Alliance partner American Airlines will have been happy to fill a seat on its JFK to Toronto service in return for a decent number of dollars.

By being prepared to accept a longer journey and the inconvenience of having to change planes (plus the nightmare of US Customs and Border Protection at JFK), Worrall gained a healthy discount on the London Heathrow-Toronto nonstop fare.

The Gatwick-New York link is prone to being cancelled when the BA schedule is under pressure; passengers can be transferred onto the numerous flights from Heathrow to JFK, minimising disruption to travellers. Worrall’s flight was grounded. British Airways did the sensible thing and rebooked him from Heathrow nonstop to Toronto.

I enjoyed a similar bonus when Icelandair’s flight from LHR to Reykjavik went technical. I was connecting to New York, but managed to get transferred to a nonstop BA flight: faster, smoother and, despite the initial delay, arriving in JFK earlier than planned.

Worrall booked an “open-jaw” itinerary: flying out to one city, and back from another. He made his way overland from Toronto to Indianapolis. But before his journey began, storms unfolded in the northeast US. He reports: “I was given a complete runaround. British Airways told me to call American Airlines." Worrall was eventually routed from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh to Charlotte to Tampa to Gatwick, where he would arrive a day late.

Unlike European air passengers’ rights, US carriers are not obliged to provide care for travellers if disruption is caused by weather. One evening in Atlanta, when bad weather scuppered my plan to fly to Chicago, the best parting advice I got from a Delta agent was: “Tell the motel you’re a ‘distressed passenger’.” After a cheap but not entirely comfortable night, I eventually made it to the Windy City via Cincinnati.

Worrall spent an unexpected night in “the appropriately named Pittsburgh” – which he describes as “a proud city that has seen better days”. He spent much of the following day flying further away from the UK, heading slightly west of south to Charlotte and onwards to Tampa. By the time he reached the Florida city, he was an extra 700 miles from London.

Compensation is not due because the disruption was beyond the airline’s control. Worrall had booked through a UK carrier, British Airways. But that is irrelevant: the flight from Indianapolis to New York that succumbed to the storm was American Airlines, and it is always the “metal” that counts – the carrier doing the flying. But his travel insurance may make up for his out-of-pocket expenses.

To heighten his frustration, American Airlines had been unable to issue a boarding pass for the final transatlantic leg to Gatwick. “It wasn’t the ‘OneWorld’ experience I was expecting,” he says. But having started the journey with a piece of British Airways benevolence, he promptly received another one.

“I was last on the plane at Tampa after my connections,” Worrall reports. He was promptly “upgraded to the new Club seats and slept like a baby”.

"Flying with BA is a bit like a tempestuous relationship,” he concludes. “One minute it’s hell and they don’t seem to care and the next moment they surprise you with an upgrade. I’ve always found their cabin crew and ground staff wonderful, but their systems and inconsistent call centre service fall well behind the competition.”

As storm season converges with the peak air travel months of July and August, be prepared for delays and disruptions – but hope for the odd break, too.