Travel has certainly rebounded recently as many people rush to go on vacations that were previously put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve seen bigger crowds in Disney World, and Disney CEO Bob Chapek confirmed that attendance is up at Disney Parks. But with surges in travel come other problems — most notably, airlines have been having trouble keeping up with demand.
Thousands of flights have been canceled in recent months
Many airlines laid off staff during the pandemic when demand for travel was very low. Now that the demand is back in full force, airlines are struggling to bring back enough staff to accommodate all the passengers who want to fly. As a result, we’ve seen many flight cancelations, problems with lost or mishandled baggage, and other issues at airports. Now, one airline is canceling THOUSANDS of winter flights in preparation for the holiday rush.
BBC News has announced that British Airways is going to cut 10,000 flights from their winter schedule. These flights will be mostly “short-haul flights to and from Heathrow Airport” in London between “late October and March,” but some long-haul flights could also be impacted. This is an 8% cut of the airline’s original winter schedule.
©BBC
If you’re planning to fly to Orlando from Heathrow Airport, you may want to double-check your flight to make sure it hasn’t been impacted by the changes.
These cancelations are meant to minimize last-minute flight cancelations over the holiday season and reduce the long delays in luggage return that Heathrow Airport has been grappling with over the last several months.
Orlando International Airport
In addition, the cancelations should ensure that the airline won’t exceed their share of the limit for passengers per day from Heathrow Airport. This airport has a policy to limit passengers traveling through the airport to 100,000 per day. The limit is to reduce flight cancelations and other issues caused by staffing shortages, and the airport has said that “the cap has worked, resulting in fewer last-minute cancelations and delays, and better baggage delivery.” Although the 100,000 passengers per day limit was going to end on September 11th this year, it has been extended until October 29th.
Heathrow Airport ©Getty Images
British Airways cut over 30,000 flights this summer, and their plan to reduce that to 10,000 cuts in winter is part of a “slow ramp-up” back to their normal schedule. According to the airline, most of the winter cancelations will be “on routes which have other daily services to the same destinations.” So if you’re trying to get somewhere on a certain day and your flight is canceled, there should be a different flight to the same destination that day.
Flights are being canceled left and right.
British Airways has also announced that “passengers affected by the changes will be offered an alternative flight with BA or another airline or a refund.”
Heathrow Airport isn’t the only airport experiencing issues. The Orlando International Airport recently ranked in the top 10 airports with the most delays in the US. If you’re planning on flying soon, you may want to find out which airlines are the most and least reliable right now. We’ve also got a list of the airlines that are MOST likely to bump you off your flight. And about those baggage troubles? Check out how you can be prepared for mishandled baggage just in case it happens to you.
Time to pack!
We’re always looking out for the latest news that could impact your trip to Disney World, so stay tuned to DFB for all the updates.
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I have a flight booked on Delta which doesn’t leave for Europe until November 3rd this year. It has already been changed 3 times by the airline, increasing my flight time by 3 hours and 45 minutes in extra layovers. So this does not surprise me that BA are also cutting or changing flights.
Also, I recently flew into Dublin and my luggage was “mislaid” for several hours. So be prepared.