British Airways’ CEO writes a letter to clear the air

Susan Spano’s Postcards From Rome

My recent posting about flying on British Airways to London Heathrow shortly after Terminal 5 opened on March 27, a day that will live in airline infamy, deserves updating.

At the time, I said that chaos at the new terminal caused BA to cancel hundreds of flights and lose thousands of suitcases, including three of mine.

One bag arrived in Rome, my destination, the day after my flight. The others finally turned up almost two weeks later, during which time I repeatedly called BA customer relations and sent faxes with receipts for purchases I had made while waiting for my luggage.

For a month, I heard nothing.

But, lo and behold, I just got a letter of apology from the airline.

“As Willie Walsh said, it wasn’t our finest hour,” wrote customer relations agent Andrea Blumhagen. Never mind that I had to Google “Willie Walsh” to find out he’s BA’s chief executive officer, the letter came with a travel voucher for $225.

It also said that BA would reimburse me for essential purchases I made while my bags were lost to the tune of $374, even though the airline’s usual limit for stopgap purchase reimbursement is $90. So I have to call that handsome.

After my experience, I vowed never again to fly BA. And, certainly, I’d rather spend the night at the Mexico City bus station than change planes at Heathrow.

But I’ve got that voucher now, and my principles are weakening.

–Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Andy Rain / European Pressphoto Agency]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 5:00 am by Susan Spano and is filed under Business Travel, Europe, Frequent Flier, Great Britain, Italy, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.