A British Airways and Loganair passenger says she was left 'stranded' in Edinburgh for a week after an airport nightmare.
Alessa Catterall was due to fly from Stornoway to Chicago via flights to Glasgow and Heathrow earlier in the month, but after her initial flight to Glasgow with Loganair resulted in her seat being "involuntary" removed, several other cancellations forced her to abandon the holiday.
After arriving at the airport in Stornoway on Friday morning, March 3, Alessa said a fault with the aircraft meant Loganair had to use a smaller plane and several passengers were told to give up their seat.
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Alessa, travelling to the states to visit her partner who she had not seen in months, refused and was eventually 'booted' off the plane. After phoning British Airways to inform them she would not make her flight to Glasgow then on to Heathrow, she was half way through re-booking when the line apparently got disconnected.
She alleges that every reservation made with British Airways, including both her flights from Glasgow and Heathrow, and return flights from Florida at the end of the month, were subsequently cancelled as she claims she was put down as a no-show.
Having lodged an official complaint against British Airways since she fiasco, which saw her couch surfing in Edinburgh for a week, Alessa says she has been left in "shock" by the whole ordeal.
Since being contacted regarding Alessa's claims a spokesperson for British Airways said passengers connecting from one airline to a BA flight are urged to leave enough time before check-in closes. They added that they have refunded the flight in line with the fare rules of the ticket.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live Alessa said: "At the end of 2020 I met someone online and we met up for the first time in California but long distance relationships are tricky. I last saw her in October last year so it has been around five months.
"This trip was to go out and see her again so it meant a lot that everything went to plan. We started planning it back in January so I arrived at the airport in Stornoway and had booked a Loganair flight to Glasgow then a BA flight from Glasgow to Heathrow and across to the States.
"I showed up on time at the airport and the guy at the desk asked me if I'm going to Glasgow and when I said yes he basically looked at me and said nope. There was some sort of mechanical fault detected on Loganair's aircraft and they had to use a smaller one. They asked people to volunteer to come off the flight then they started doing it involuntarily.
"I made it very clear to the staff what my travel plans were and that this was important to me. They were unhelpful and re-booked me on a flight to Edinburgh on the same day with the theory that I could travel to Glasgow from there but obviously I would have missed my flight from Glasgow with BA.
"Alternatively my plan was to call BA to change my flight and I could go from Edinburgh as I knew I was never making it to Chicago that day. As soon as my girlfriend woke up I had to tell her not to travel to meet me as I was never going to make it in time."
Alessa then phoned British Airways while waiting to travel to Edinburgh and half way through making alternative arrangements, the phone reportedly got cut off leaving Alessa back to square one.
Loganair confirmed the short notice change of aircraft and thanked passengers for their patience and understanding.
"Nothing has gone as horrifically wrong as this," she continued. "What happened next was I got on the phone to BA again and they said they couldn't help me. By the time I called them for the third time, I was listed as a no-show for the flight to Heathrow. When they do that, it cancels the whole chain of reservations in the booking."
Alessa's flight to Chicago and return flight from Florida a few weeks later were supposedly also a casualty of the breakdown in communication and ultimately left her hundreds of pounds out of pocket.
She continued: "This became quite upsetting. I hadn't seen my girlfriend for five months and British Airways' customer service line were pretty much refusing to help. They offered me a tax refund which is a very small proportion of the original fare.
"I have also received a small amount of compensation from Loganair but none of that is sufficient to cover expenses and I was stranded in Edinburgh for the whole week and had to stay with friends.
"I kept thinking that I could just start from scratch the next day but I have a chronic illness and someone offered to act as an advocate for me on the phone to British Airways but they said no we don't allow this, you can't have someone on the line with you."
Alessa said it took a week for her compensation from Loganair to come through to book a flight back to Stornoway so she stayed in the capital until coming to the realisation that her plans to go to the states were in tatters.
Alessa has now filed a formal complaint against British Airways but reckons it will take several months to even be acknowledged. She has also booked new flights for May with a different airline having lost around £600 as a result of the initial airport nightmare.
"I've had delays in the past and stuff not going according to plan but this was next level. Honestly, I think I was just in shock and still feel in shock about it," Alessa added.
A spokesperson for Loganair said: “We can confirm an operational issue with flight LM0471 resulted in a short notice change to a smaller aircraft. This resulted in a small number of customers having their travel rearranged at short notice.
“We understand these rare situations can cause disruption to customers and thank the affected customers for their patience and understanding as we sought to rearrange their travel plans.’’
A British Airways spokesperson said: "Our teams have been in touch with the customer to resolve the matter."
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