British Airways has been criticized by passengers who suffered a 77-hour delay after their London-bound flight from Orlando was diverted to New York due to technical problems. It has been reported that, during their diversion, passengers weren’t offered accommodation and were left to sleep on the airport floor.
London-bound British Airways (BA) passengers have voiced their anger with the carrier for offering what has been described as “deplorable service” after they had to contend with a flight delay of nearly 80 hours, The Guardian reports.
While British Airways Flight BA2036 was initially meant to depart from Orlando on November 1st at 07:25 p.m. local time, its progress was hampered first by technical problems and then a later diversion to New York. The outlet reports that the flight, which was carrying over 100 passengers, didn’t touch down in London until November 4th, making it 77 hours overdue.
While passengers were offered accommodation during the delay in Orlando, during the course of the diversion to New York – which the outlet describes as being caused by a second “minor technical issue” –many travelers feel that they were not offered a reasonable level of care by the carrier.
It is reported that many were left to sleep on the floor of John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Speaking of her experience, passenger Ceri Todd, who has traveling with her children and husband, told the outlet, “There was a lack of leadership, a lack of strategy and there didn’t appear to be any plan in place for when things like this happen.”
Rosie Slater Watts, another passenger, added, “We were treated with contempt and like we didn’t matter. When we got on the aborted flight, the customer care manager advised us that they weren’t sure the aircraft had been fixed. No way would we ever use BA again.”
BA said that it was unable to source accommodation for passengers during the diversion to New York because of the city’s annual marathon.
In a statement, the carrier was quoted as saying, “We appreciate that this was an exhausting and frustrating experience for our customers, and we have apologized for the long delay to their flight. Customers were rebooked where possible and while there were limited hotel rooms available, our teams on the ground cared for customers in our first class lounge providing bedding, food and drinks to ensure they were comfortable during their stay.”
