BA brings in FedEx to restore order
British Airways cancelled 50 flights at London Heathrow airport's new Terminal 5 and brought in US courier firm FedEx to help reunite passengers with about 20,000 delayed bags.
By Bloomberg |
LONDON: British Airways cancelled 50 flights at London Heathrow airport's new Terminal 5 and brought in US courier firm FedEx to help reunite passengers with about 20,000 delayed bags.
The airline scrapped 13% of scheduled flights from the terminal on the sixth day of disruption at Europe's busiest airport. Another 50 flights will be cancelled tomorrow, British Airways spokeswoman Amanda Allan said.
Cancellations caused by the failure of the ��4.3 billion ($8.5 billion) terminal's computerised baggage system total more than 300 since it opened on March 27. The number of bags waiting to be reunited with their owners has risen by about one-third in the past two days, though the airline is now making progress in working through the backlog, British Airways said.
"We are clearing more than is building up in the back, but it's going to be a slow process," said a spokeswoman for the London-based carrier who declined to be identified. Hundreds of volunteers from the company and a "number" of courier firms, including FedEx, have been drafted in to forward bags, she said.
British Airways rose as much as 8.25 pence, or 3.5%, to 242.5 pence and was trading at 242 pence as of 11.37 am in London, whose CEO Willie Walsh says he accepts responsibility for the chaos,
The stock has dropped 22% this year, reducing its value to ��2.79 billion. The airline had been counting on Terminal 5, which took 20 years to plan and build, to help ease journeys and retain passengers put off by Heathrow's overcrowding.
The company took possession of the complex in September from BAA, which is owned by Madrid-based Grupo Ferrovial, starting what it described as "exhaustive" customer trials that month. "From a publicity point of view clearly, this is very bad," Stephen Furlong, an analyst at Davy Stockbrokers in Dublin with British Airways on his "focus list", said on Monday.
"It does put a bit of pressure on management."
Following the failure of an automated baggage screening system, bags that have been unloaded at Heathrow are being re- screened manually. In some instances, this requires the luggage to be driven to London Gatwick airport for the security checks.
The carrier has yet to give guidance on flight cancellations for the rest of the week. Tuesday and Wednesday's reduced service is intended to act as a "firebreak" to allow the carrier to contain the disruption and get Terminal 5 running as originally planned, spokeswoman Allan said on Monday.
The disruption may cost the carrier as much as ��50 million, Andrew Fitchie, an analyst at Collins Stewart in London with a "buy" rating on the shares, said in a note to clients on Monday. It will clip annual earnings by three-to-five pence a share, he said.
Cancellations are being restricted to short-haul locations to which British Airways has multiple flights, according to the airline, so that passengers may be able to book on later services.
British Airways, Europe's third-biggest carrier, is already the continent's worst for lost luggage and the second-worst for delayed bags, according to the Air Transport Users Council.
The airline scrapped 13% of scheduled flights from the terminal on the sixth day of disruption at Europe's busiest airport. Another 50 flights will be cancelled tomorrow, British Airways spokeswoman Amanda Allan said.
Cancellations caused by the failure of the ��4.3 billion ($8.5 billion) terminal's computerised baggage system total more than 300 since it opened on March 27. The number of bags waiting to be reunited with their owners has risen by about one-third in the past two days, though the airline is now making progress in working through the backlog, British Airways said.
"We are clearing more than is building up in the back, but it's going to be a slow process," said a spokeswoman for the London-based carrier who declined to be identified. Hundreds of volunteers from the company and a "number" of courier firms, including FedEx, have been drafted in to forward bags, she said.
British Airways rose as much as 8.25 pence, or 3.5%, to 242.5 pence and was trading at 242 pence as of 11.37 am in London, whose CEO Willie Walsh says he accepts responsibility for the chaos,
The stock has dropped 22% this year, reducing its value to ��2.79 billion. The airline had been counting on Terminal 5, which took 20 years to plan and build, to help ease journeys and retain passengers put off by Heathrow's overcrowding.
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The company took possession of the complex in September from BAA, which is owned by Madrid-based Grupo Ferrovial, starting what it described as "exhaustive" customer trials that month. "From a publicity point of view clearly, this is very bad," Stephen Furlong, an analyst at Davy Stockbrokers in Dublin with British Airways on his "focus list", said on Monday.
"It does put a bit of pressure on management."
Following the failure of an automated baggage screening system, bags that have been unloaded at Heathrow are being re- screened manually. In some instances, this requires the luggage to be driven to London Gatwick airport for the security checks.
The carrier has yet to give guidance on flight cancellations for the rest of the week. Tuesday and Wednesday's reduced service is intended to act as a "firebreak" to allow the carrier to contain the disruption and get Terminal 5 running as originally planned, spokeswoman Allan said on Monday.
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The disruption may cost the carrier as much as ��50 million, Andrew Fitchie, an analyst at Collins Stewart in London with a "buy" rating on the shares, said in a note to clients on Monday. It will clip annual earnings by three-to-five pence a share, he said.
Cancellations are being restricted to short-haul locations to which British Airways has multiple flights, according to the airline, so that passengers may be able to book on later services.
ADVERTISEMENT
British Airways, Europe's third-biggest carrier, is already the continent's worst for lost luggage and the second-worst for delayed bags, according to the Air Transport Users Council.
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