Then the unthinkable happens. A system-wide meltdown grounds all flights and tempers begin to flare as queues snake out the door and your holiday dreams are evaporating before your very eyes.
It’s a scenario that’s played out twice on opposite sides of the planet in less than a week.
An apparent major IT system failure at British Airways caused chaos at London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports.
In the same week, an outage of passenger processing systems halted the travel plans of international passengers in Australia and New Zealand because their passports couldn’t be checked.
While for some passengers, a delay of a few hours may not completely ruin their travel plans, others aren’t so lucky. Missing connections could mean missing the holiday altogether, or at least missing the special occasion that was the reason for going in the first place.
So what are your rights when a flight is delayed and what kind of questions should you be asking the airline? Here’s what you need to know.
