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Beyond a joke, fumes businessman stranded after three cancelled flights
Anna Davis, Evening Standard2 Apr 2008
A businessman caught up in the travel chaos at Heathrow's Terminal 5 told today of his fury after his third flight was cancelled in less than a week.
Paul Trowbridge, from Yateley in Hampshire, flew out of Heathrow to Denmark on Monday - five days and two flights behind schedule. But the 52-year-old company director is now stuck there after his return flight was cancelled.
His problems started on Thursday when he and his wife turned up at Terminal 5 to fly to Copenhagen for their wedding anniversary to find their flight was cancelled.
They booked a flight for Friday, which was also cancelled, and the couple abandoned plans to celebrate abroad.
Mr Trowbridge then managed to get on a flight to Copenhagen on Monday alone, for a business meeting. He is now stranded in Stockholm after his return flight, due to leave tomorrow, was scrapped.
Mr Trowbridge said: "This has caused me and the company all sorts of grief. I need to be back in the UK on Friday, but I have just been told that my return flight on Thursday has been cancelled.
"I find it amazing that they know so far in advance that they will have to cancel flights. I am very angry. I have been a loyal British Airways flier for the last 20 years and in all that time I have never had a flight cancelled.
"Now I have had three cancelled in less than a week. It is beyond a joke and has removed any loyalty I had for BA."
He added: "Before this I was a real BA supporter, and on long-haul flights I felt like I was already halfway back to England once I had stepped on the plane, but the way they have handled this has destroyed all that."
Mr Trowbridge's wife Federica Monsone, 35, said: "We were so excited about going to Copenhagen for our fifth wedding anniversary. But in the end we stayed in Yateley. I was so upset."
The terminal has been plagued with problems since its opening on Thursday. Hundreds of flights were cancelled after problems with the new baggage handling system.
British Airways apologised to Mr Trowbridge and said it was working hard to get him back as quickly as possible.
A spokeswoman said: "We continue to work towards increasing the number of services in the days ahead."
Reader views (1)
Those poor Darlings, they look so happy together, and their 5th Wedding Anniversary too.. and Mr Trowbridge a loyal long-haul customer of 20 years too. BA should be ashamed of themselves.
I think they should be flown to Italy Business Class and put up in a top hotel Free of Charge by BA for a nice weekend away as compensation.
Perhaps whilst they were out there, they could even visit the site where BA are working to sort those 28,000 lost bags to give the workers a morale boost?
- Steve Wood, London, UK, 02/04/2008 17:12
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