Air Traffic Control Airport Misery

[LongDarkTeatime]

Is anyone else sitting at home after having their holiday cancelled today?
We haven’t had a ‘proper’ holiday in 6 years and we’re so looking forward to going away. Waited all day at the airport just to be cancelled just after the plane that was supposed to take us landed. So disappointed.
Well done to everyone who managed today with young kids. All the families around us coped so well.

I’m so sorry this must be gutting. Actually cancelled or postponed ? Where you booked in a package holiday?
DS is off Weds. He has an Airbnb booked. Feel bad that his holiday might well not happen.

Thanks @Awittyfool
Totally cancelled package holiday. No option to go tomorrow or Wednesday.
Guessing there’ll be chaos for the next few days moving all the people who are delayed. So no option to re-book this week.
Wouldn’t be so annoyed if the company hadn’t kept us hanging an extra 3hrs after they must have known they didn’t have the crew hours to take us.

Must have been terrible not knowing what was happening for that length of time. Although I suppose the tour operator and airlines probably have to thrash out a plan themselves.
So what happens now…do you get rebooked or refunded?

We're in Spain wondering if we are going to get home tomorrow, there's me, dp and 3 dc, it's very stressful. Sorry you lost your holiday op, it's all going to be a nightmare for anyone going and coming from holiday atm.

It’s a full refund on cost of holiday. Nothing for any of the other costs like getting to airport, parking, kennels/cattery, or even food (cancelled just under the 3.5hr cutoff).
Today must be costing all the companies a fortune, unless they are very well insured.

*just remembered travel insurance … off to check if kennels/carpttery are covered 👍

Good luck @lostinmaze
Hope you get home OK. Having watched the different companies today:

• EasyJet were first to make up their minds on flights
• TUI we’re next to decide and handed out food vouchers, but lots of outlets wouldn’t accept them (only arguments we heard were people who’d queued 30+ mins for food to find out vouchers weren’t useable)
• Jet2 seemed to keep us dangling the longest and no vouchers

Good luck

Our flight EasyJet flight was cancelled. 😞
Also lost out on our hotel booking as we had booked separately and won’t be receiving a refund.😢

@Honeylemonandginger won’t your travel insurance cover the hotel?

Jesus, just checked my phone , several friends have messaged if we got away OK and I had no idea what they were talking about
What time did this happen ?
Our flight was first out today

The companies/airlines will make a claim from Air Traffic Control, who will be well insured for events like this.

I'm glad I wasn't involved - I'd be in unbearable pain stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours, or hanging round the airport all day. One of my worst nightmares!

We flew back from Malaga first thing this morning. Border force guy told us we'd just made it and were very lucky!

Ah we waited 40 minutes on the tarmac
BA flight, thought it was unusual

Just landed back from Morocco. Only a 2 hour delay so I guess we were one of the lucky ones.

I'm guessing national security event

NATS computer issue but you just keep guessing.....

By christ, I'm in the arse of nowhere now, I'd of been out of my seat and jogging down the run way if I'd known any of this before
Thank God for limited Internet

Let's be honest, they are hardly going to officially announce it are they ? Especially for operational reasons etc, based on history books how many times or events we read and then it's oh that was e.g. Mi5, or that was Gchq, or that was special branch, or that was Hereford ect

We guess because they are our primary line of defence, and history shows that what we know and what the public know are two different concepts

@Hawkins0090 Ah, I know what you are thinking now, makes sense

I'm a fan of spooks, then the biography of Stella Remington, previous head of mi5, then the biography of J Edgar Hoover etc.
So basically trust no one, and especially never truly trust the media.

Would you mind sharing?

Yep was due to fly to Alicante at 5.50am, should be at the airport now with excited dc. Tried to book on another flight but it wouldn't show me the changes to confirm it's all correct and sent me a new itinerary but still with the cancelled flight on it 🙄

@LongDarkTeatime
Do you actually have the money back? Last year tui cancelled us 24 hours before. We rebooked independently, easyJet flights and directly with the hotel for cheaper, so it worked out well but they didn’t give us the money back for a month. Before you get the animals from kennels can you see where else you could go?
It sucks, I’m so sorry.

@LongDarkTeatime im so sorry - you must be gutted. We’re on the way to Gatwick for a flight to Mykonos for DD’s 18th birthday ☹️. The flight is showing ad ‘scheduled’ on the Gatwick live info page and ‘on time’ on the easyJet live info page but I very much doubt it’s either. So sad.

@WinterDeWinter I’m looking at Gatwick departures and all the first flights out this morning are saying “taxied” or “last call” so it looks like they are going. You may be fine.