Hundreds of British Airways passengers were left stranded in sub-zero temperatures at St. John’s International Airport in Newfoundland, Canada, after a medical event on board forced a flight bound for Houston to make an emergency diversion.
Stranded in Canada
The British Airways flight was heading to Houston, Texas, from London on Tuesday, April 2 when a medical emergency on board caused the flight to divert and land in St. John’s, in the Canadian province of Newfoundland. The island is notoriously cold and temperatures in the area had reportedly dropped to around -10 C at the time of the incident.
A “temporary technical issue” then forced the flight to remain grounded, and passengers were subsequently left stranded in the airport, without access to their luggage. Passenger John Shipman, who was travelling to Texas with his family to visit friends, criticised the lack of communication from the airline during the incident:
“When we finally got through, we were just left, we were just sat around waiting for news, and had to speak to local airport staff for help.”
They were then provided with nearby hotel accommodation and informed, alongside their fellow passengers, that the flight would now be leaving for Houston the following evening. However, when they arrived at the airport, the airline contradicted their original statement and stated that the plane would instead be flying back to London instead of its intended destination.
When passengers boarded, the flight was abruptly cancelled, only adding to the confusion and frustration felt by those on board.
It was only two days after the plane’s arrival in Newfoundland that travellers were put on a plane to Houston, their original destination.
British Airways responds to the incident
Responding to passenger complaints, British Airways apologised and offered all of those on board a £500 voucher in compensation. All expenses, including the hotel rooms were covered by the airline.
A spokesperson for the airline said:
“We’re very sorry to our customers for their experience and we’ve been in touch to offer a gesture to make things right.”
However, not all passengers feel that this response adequately compensates for the inconvenience caused. Shipman in particular feels that a voucher is not enough when his family’s entire holiday was ruined, saying:
“No-one was particularly aggressive, but everyone was frustrated, there were people with families and young kids who’ve been waiting around and sleeping on the floor, it just wasn’t very good from BA at all.”
It has not yet been reported exactly why the confusion following the flight’s diversion occurred, or why the flight back to London was cancelled.
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