A BUSINESSMAN has criticised British Airways after its ground agents failed to load passengers’ luggage onto a London-bound flight leading to the cancellation of his trans-Atlantic trip.
The airline has indicated that high winds were the reason that the bags could not be loaded into the hold of the 7.05am flight to Heathrow on Monday.
Tim Coughlin, chief executive of mineral exploration and development company Royal Road, travelled on the flight with a colleague and the pair were due to fly on to Montreal later in the day.
Mr Coughlin said that on arrival in London, he received a text message and email from BA stating that luggage had not made the flight, and he was subsequently told that it could be three days before the bags arrived at his Canadian destination.
Having planned a four-day skiing and networking trip before attending an international conference that was due to take place this weekend, Mr Coughlin said it was not realistic to continue without the equipment and business materials in his checked luggage, and took the decision to return to Jersey. He now intends to travel to Canada via London on Saturday ahead of the start of the conference on Sunday.
“I travel a lot and I know that sometimes stuff happens and things have to be reorganised,” he said. “That’s not really the point; it’s the fact that we were knowingly separated from our luggage, and the airline must have known that before we took off, but we weren’t told anything until we landed.
“It was considered safe enough for passengers, including some elderly people, to go out of the gate and up the stairs to the plane, but not for burly luggage handlers to load our bags.
“I don’t like to think what would have happened for other passengers who may have had medication or other vital items in their luggage and were told they might not get it back for several days.”
A spokesperson for BA said: “We’re in contact with our customer to apologise for the inconvenience and help resolve the issue.”
It is understood that winds were above the threshold for the safe operation of the equipment used for loading at Jersey Airport, and that baggage would normally be sent on the next available service. However, it is not clear why ground staff at Heathrow indicated that Mr Coughlin’s bags might not reach him until Friday.
Mr Coughlin said: “Apart from the ridiculous and contradictory treatment of passenger versus workplace health and safety, the principal issue of perhaps even legal concern is BA’s deliberate and considered withholding of information regarding unloaded baggage, consequent neglect and potentially endangering the wellbeing of its passengers.”
