It's always frustrating to find out your flight is canceled. Far more frustrating? Receiving word while mid-air, on the first leg of your trip, that the second part of your flight is canceled. That's what happened to a trio of British Airways passengers last week. The three golf fans were headed for the British Open by way of Austin, Texas, where they boarded a flight destined for London's Heathrow. They were scheduled to fly on from there to Edinburgh. That London-Edinburgh flight was canceled, and the passengers were sent an email shortly after the first plane departed — but they didn't receive it until landing in London. "We were unable to rebook your trip from LHR to EDI," read the American Airlines (AAL) email. The group had booked tickets through American Airlines in a codeshare arrangement with British Airways, which operated both flights. The email instructed them to "please call to book a new flight." Ultimately the passengers traveled to Edinburgh by train without their luggage, arriving about 12 hours late. American Airlines, which sold the tickets and sent the email, said, "These flights were operated by British Airways, so you would need to contact them for information." London Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest, has been plagued by severe delays in recent weeks.<br/>
oneworld
The head of Qatar Airways on Monday said an "epidemic" of home working has contributed to staff shortages that are being widely blamed for travel disruption in Europe this summer. The aviation sector is struggling to secure staff needed to cope with a post-pandemic surge in air travel, prompting London's Heathrow Airport to impose curbs on capacity to avoid delays, in a move that led to a public spat with Dubai's Emirates. Speaking to reporters at the Farnborough Airshow, Qatar Airways CE Akbar Al Baker declined to comment directly on Heathrow, where he is on the board of directors. The Qatar Investment Authority owns 20% of Britain's busiest hub. "We face the same problem in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany," he said. "So it is actually an epidemic in our industry. This all happened because people learned to get easy money from working out of their homes, and fewer people now want to come and do the jobs that they were doing," Al Baker said. "This has all brought a huge impact on airports, right across Europe, and of course Heathrow is is one of the larger hubs in Europe." Unions in Britain have accused airlines and airports of using the opportunity of the pandemic to cut jobs and pay. Airlines and airports meanwhile accuse each other of failing to prepare adequately for a post-pandemic surge in travel demand. According to recent data, there are 400,000 fewer workers in Britain than at the start of the pandemic.<br/>