The Romance of Travelling is gone

Travelling can be very romantic, awakening a thirst for adventure and holiday feelings. Nowadays, you buy a ticket online at home and are on your way. You arrive at your destination on time, as planned, relatively relaxed and safe. How nice!

Or rather: "How nice it would be!" In all the decades I have frequently flown within Europe and to other continents, this expectation of a traveller has usually been fulfilled. And if there were any problems, the airline or travel provider felt responsible for helping the passengers. Today, as I recently learnt on my return flight from Berlin to London, you can expect neither safety nor care. It was a bitter experience and not the only one of its kind.

Deutsche Bahn - beware of the unexpected!

It all started in Berlin on the way to Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER). On the advice of my Berlin friends, I opted for the regional train as the fastest and most reliable means of public transport to BER on the outskirts of Berlin. The problem-free journey was already over at Zoo station.

The platform information board informed travellers that there could be longer delays at Zoo station and between Ostkreuz and Frankfurter Allee stations due to signal faults. A difficult-to-understand loudspeaker announcement confirmed this information every two minutes.

I had no idea where the voice on the loudspeaker had its office or where I could have asked someone at the station for more detailed information. I didn't want to waste time looking for information. The phrase "could" was vague, but I didn't want to risk getting stranded somewhere in the middle of the route and only being able to wave goodbye to my flight.

So a quick decision had to be made. On my last visit to Berlin, I travelled to the airport by underground and bus, much to the amazement of my Berlin friends, because the underground stops at many stations and therefore makes slow progress. The bus frequency from the Rudow terminus to the airport is pretty poor. If you're unlucky, you must wait a long time for a connection.

Nevertheless, the underground seemed to be the safest form of public transport in this situation, transporting hundreds of thousands of passengers daily without breaking down. Once I was in Rudow and no bus turned up, I could always take a taxi.

Now, of course, my local knowledge from decades of living in Berlin and regular visits to the city came in handy. 

I packed my trolley and raced off: first down into the basement to the U9 underground line to Berliner Straße, then changed to the U7 to the Rudow terminus. No problem for someone who knows the area and doesn't have to search long for tracks, routes, and directions! The connections worked, and I got a seat despite the rush hour. The journey passed quickly, and when I came back out of the underground and onto the street after 45 minutes, an airport bus was just pulling up, and I reached it with some legwork.

We reached the airport within 15 minutes. The whole journey took an hour. That's how long the regional train would have taken.

I was proud of myself and took my successful problem-solving strategy as a good omen for the rest of my journey home to London.

But I was wrong.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport - a service desolation

It was 7 pm. My flight was due to depart at 9 pm. So I had plenty of time. The newly built Berlin Brandenburg Airport has nothing in common with the convenience or the touch of luxury of other airports such as London Heathrow, New York, or even Munich. This airport has never really been able to shed the desolate image of the old East Berlin Schönefeld Airport. It feels more like a railway station: functional, a fast transit area for passengers with only the bare essentials.

There are no cosy cafés or seating areas that invite you to relax and make the wait more bearable. But I wasn't planning to stay here for long anyway. However, I would have liked to buy a snack for the journey or a souvenir for my husband, David. However, the only supermarket was more of a kiosk and had nothing worthwhile to offer. Too bad, David, no German sausages this time!

So I went straight to the security checkpoint with my hand luggage. The machine promptly recognised my boarding pass on my mobile phone, and the barrier opened in "open sesame" style. I walked through and joined the queue of waiting passengers at the security checkpoint.

Security staff and passengers - a relationship reduced to functionality

The staff were well organised, and we moved quickly. In front of me, a very busy man kept talking loudly on his mobile phone. He didn't stop talking as he packed his suitcase, watch, keys, change, laptop, jacket, liquids, etc., into the designated boxes on the conveyor belt with the help of a security officer. Even when he stood in the scanner and was patted down by another security guard, he continued his conversation undeterred.

Unbelievably rude! I commented to the security officer while he was helping me with my hand luggage. He shrugged his shoulders and said I was the first person to speak to him today. Excuse me?

Yes, most passengers wouldn't even glance at him and were far too busy with themselves. This shocked me, and I also felt guilty for often not making eye contact with the security staff. I resolved to be more attentive in future and exchange a few friendly words with them.

I started to wonder. Is this lack of communication and interaction, even rudeness, down to us travellers? Are we focused on ourselves and our journey and snootily or indifferently ignore the people who provide services along the way?

Do we no longer see the staff who usher us through long queues as people but as technical cogs in the airport operation?

That would be pretty shameful.

On the other hand, I have often experienced that I didn't feel like a human being during the security process before departure. Security officers and passport control officers frequently have an aura of aloofness or display authoritarian behaviour.

Is it the boredom of watching the long queue of travellers pass by day in, day out and doing a monotonous job? Or envy? Or insecurity and pressure? The job requires extreme concentration to avoid any potential security risks. Every passenger must be seen as a possible risk. Is the rigid behaviour and barked instructions, as well as the detachment of the security officers, supposed to have an intimidating effect like the authority of the officials? 

I remember with horror an experience at New Orleans airport when our luggage was thrown onto the conveyor belt for scanning, and my husband David tried to help the security officer. Still, the officer reacted extremely nervously, pointed a machine gun at David and called for backup.

On the other hand, how good it feels when security officers smile, say a friendly word, or make a funny remark. It loosens up the intimidating atmosphere and makes it more people-friendly. When the man at the scanner at Munich airport wished me bon appétit after the grilled chicken legs that my mum had packed for me appeared on his screen, it lifted the mood immensely.

Yes, even when an extremely precarious incident at Hamburg airport was resolved, the security staff and I were able to laugh heartily about the mistake. The scanner at the security checkpoint had raised the alarm because it suspected explosives in my hand luggage. Armed riot police rushed over and inspected the hand luggage under the strictest security precautions. The suspicious object was shrink-wrapped sausages that I had bought as a souvenir for my husband at the Edeka supermarket at the airport. Fortunately, we were all able to see the joke after this scene.

Both parties probably suffer from the crowds. The security staff have to process the endless queues of passengers every day. The passengers are annoyed by the exhausting queuing in a crowd of strangers and just want to get through the checks and then be left in peace. This is indeed not a pleasant aspect of travelling. 

After the security check, I didn't find anything inviting in the duty-free area of BER either, so I went straight to the border control and finally to my boarding gate to wait for the boarding instructions. I still had an hour to spare.

Lack of Information at the airport

You wouldn't believe how many information channels one has to keep open when flying from Berlin to London. My husband David and I are very well versed in this area, so I was sometimes better informed by him sitting at his computer at home in London than by British Airways via mobile phone app or the BER airport staff. And woe betide anyone who doesn't have an internet-enabled mobile phone or doesn't know how to use it!

This evening, the situation was as follows:

Time passed, the specified time for boarding passed, and nothing happened. David informed me at 8.30 pm that, according to the Heathrow departure list, my plane was half an hour late. Interesting. We passengers on the ground in Berlin were not informed of this. Shortly before 9 pm, a loudspeaker told us that the arrival of the aircraft from London, on which we would be flying back, would be delayed by around 20 minutes due to thunderstorms over Europe. As soon as it had landed and been cleared, we could board. Okay, so at least we knew and waited patiently. Time passed. No further information was forthcoming.

Dave texted at 8.37 pm to say that he had fired up the barbecue and was grilling chicken legs that would be waiting for me at home. Nice. I was looking forward to it. I also learnt from David that our plane had already landed and that it wouldn't be long before we would leave.

My British Airways app informed me by mobile phone at 9.10 pm that our flight would depart at 9.20 pm with a slight delay. Shortly afterwards, we were called to board. By 9.30 pm, I was strapped into seat 29b, in the penultimate row with little legroom where the budget passengers were accommodated. I was looking forward to departure and the chicken drumsticks that awaited me. The flight was packed to the last seat, and my trolley was in the overhead compartment in row 24, so I made a mental note not to forget it when I disembarked.

Today, I wanted to treat myself to a small bottle of sparkling wine, as my visit to Berlin was great. However, after studying the BA menu, I decided against it. I didn't want to pay £8 for a 200ml sip of bubbly. I thought the price was outrageous. I could have that cheaper at home in no time. I texted Dave to put a bottle of red wine in the fridge because, in the current heatwave, our attic flat was about 32 degrees, and that was definitely too warm for red wine. I could see through the small window that it had started to rain. A friend wrote to tell me that her open-air concert in Berlin had been cancelled due to heavy rain. Fortunately, we were sitting on the plane in the dry.

 Aircraft traffic jam on the runway

Shortly before 10 pm (an hour late), we took off. We taxied to the runway and joined the queue of waiting aircraft, ready to take off - and waited.

Then, the flight captain informed us that the Berlin airport authorities had stopped the ground staff from working for safety reasons due to the heavy thunderstorms. But, as soon as it was possible, they would resume handling the aircraft. Okay? As far as we could see from our window, it was only drizzling, and only a few flashes of lightning could be seen in the distance. Perhaps this safety measure was a little over the top, but the experts would know what they were doing. And so we continued to wait.

After a while (I still had Internet), I checked the tube connection home from Heathrow Airport, given the increasing delay. The quickest was the new Elizabeth Line, which ran until just after midnight. The last tube from Tottenham Court Road Station, where I had to change to get home on the Northern Line, left at 12.34 am. That could be tight. If not, I would have to take the night bus home. Dave sent me the relevant night bus connections on my mobile phone. It would take me about 2 ½-3 hours to get home, and I wouldn't be home before 3.30 am. Dave had better put the chicken in the fridge. A taxi was too expensive for me. It probably cost over £100, which was money better spent elsewhere.

Dave suggested I stay at Heathrow Airport and try to find a bench to sleep on, as the first tube would leave at 5.09 am. That would be safer than getting into a dodgy mini-cab. Good idea. I could go along with that. It certainly wouldn't be comfortable, but I could do it once.

In the meantime, the plane was getting hotter and hotter because the air conditioning doesn't work when the aircraft is stationary. The flight attendants, who didn't have any more information than we did, handed out water and pretzels to cool us down and appease us.

Then, an unsettling thought occurred to me: the night flight ban in London! We Londoners are glad no flights are allowed between midnight and 6 am.

However, landing at Heathrow would no longer be possible if we couldn't take off in the next 10 minutes.

Dave, who was in London, obviously had the same idea because he had done some research and sent me the relevant information. In 1962, the UK government imposed restrictions on night flights at Heathrow, stating that no aircraft could land or take off between 11.30 pm and 6.00 am. This rule is still in place today, but with the addition, the rule can be extended in exceptional circumstances.

I reassured myself and my seat neighbour, who had shown a keen interest in my WhatsApp exchange with Dave the whole time. I was convinced that the airport authorities would make an exception, as British Airways was the national airline and would undoubtedly have priority when landing, I argued. This thought reassured my seatmate and me somewhat until I remembered that a friend had recently been stuck in London because her flight was delayed and Berlin airport closed at midnight. My online search confirmed a night flight ban in Berlin from midnight to 5 am with a flexibility of 30 minutes.

It was now just before midnight. I firmly believed that the airport authority would follow common sense and be flexible enough to keep the airport open until all the waiting planes departed.

Airport closure - what now?

But my firm belief moved neither mountains nor our plane into the air! The captain told us we couldn't take off because the airport had closed. There were 20 aircraft ahead of us in the queue, which would now have to be processed back before us. He hoped that he would be able to reach ground staff who would let us out of the aircraft and unload our luggage. He would inform us as soon as he had more information.

What now? Wait! And hope! But for what? The passengers around us became nervous and restless. Many complained and voiced their displeasure loudly.

The captain told us that the Italian football team that had played in Berlin in the Europa Cup was also stuck in the queue on the plane in front of us. Later, I heard that the FC Bayern Munich team had also been stranded at BER that evening. How reassuring. So, we were not alone in this predicament. 

Finally, we passengers received an email from British Airways informing us that the flight had been delayed and could no longer take off today. Well, that was no longer news. However, British Airways would cover reasonable hotel costs, up to £20 for food and drink and up to £25 for telephone costs. We would receive another email the following day telling us the new departure time of our flight.

So now it was official that we were stranded. At first, I didn't know what to make of it. But I quickly concluded that this was probably the better option. I wasn't too keen on the prospect of taking a 2½ - 3-hour journey on three different night buses in London or spending a sleepless night on one of the cold and hard metal benches at Heathrow Airport. But now I was faced with the problem of finding a bed for the night from the aircraft. British Airways offered no assistance in this regard.

At this time of night, I couldn't possibly wake my friends, with whom I had spent the last three nights, from their sleep. A hotel near the airport was the best option. This would also have the advantage that I would be quickly accommodated tonight and ready for departure at BER on short notice the next morning.

Around me, widespread horror gradually set in as everyone realised the implications of this news. Some people went into hyperactivity; others were paralysed or collapsed. Two rows in front of us, a woman had a severe asthma attack and a stewardess attended to her.

My seat neighbour to my right was booking a hotel near the airport on his mobile phone. Good idea! I should do that straight away. I asked him for the name of his hotel and set about booking there too. Unfortunately, only the booking details for the next day or night appeared on my display. The app didn't offer the option to book for the current night. I wouldn't find out the reason until later. 

My neighbour to my left was luckier, and she quickly booked a room for both of us in another hotel, paid with her credit card and received the booking confirmation. Wonderful! We were saved! We had a place to sleep. We were relieved.

Shortly afterwards, I received a WhatsApp message from a friend in Berlin enquiring whether I had landed safely in London. I wrote to her about our situation. She was shocked and offered to get in the car immediately and pick me up. I thanked her, saying it wasn't necessary as we had just booked a hotel at the airport, which would be paid for by BA.

I later regretted this careless cancellation. But then, I didn't know how the night would turn out.

I informed David of the latest developments and told him he could eat the chicken himself or put it in the fridge. He could go to sleep with peace of mind. I would contact him in the morning and keep him up to date. He was reassured and thought that was the best option.

 Stranded in the chaos at BER airport

However, there were still a lot of planes ahead of us, and it was foreseeable that it would take a while before the ground staff released us from the overheated aircraft. There were 180 passengers on our plane, and with 20 jets, at least 3,600 passengers were to be processed and their luggage to be unloaded. (Good thing I only had hand luggage!) Our plane was at the very back of the queue.

These masses were later all in front of us at the border control as we had to re-enter Germany from no man's land; this was unavoidable. Many passengers didn't understand the logic because, in their opinion, they hadn't left Germany yet and were grumbling under their breath, arguing amongst themselves and quarrelling with the passport control officers. Small children were screaming. Hundreds of people sat on the ground, tired and at a loss as to what to do. Some were crying, and others looked exhausted, angry, and disappointed. I felt particularly sorry for the families with children who now had to look for somewhere to stay.

No sign of British Airways or the Berlin airport staff could have given us help and support. We were entirely on our own.

At passport control, the effects of Brexit became clear once again.

As a German citizen, I could simply go to one of the almost empty electronic checkpoints reserved for EU citizens, while most people had to join the long queue for non-EU citizens.

I waited on the other side too, but for my neighbour, as we had a joint hotel booking. I could have loyally stayed with her and used her passport control desk, but I wanted to enjoy one benefit of Brexit for once and not wait in a crowd of frustrated people for a while. She suggested that I go ahead to the hotel, but I thought it was better to get through this situation together.

I waited and tried to remember her face, as we hardly knew each other. Finally, after 45 minutes, she emerged as one of the last passengers. We recognised each other immediately and, relieved that we only had hand luggage, pushed past the crowds of people waiting for their suitcases on the conveyor belt at baggage reclaim.

We, on the other hand, eagerly joined the taxi queue. There was almost a brawl when a few people tried to jump the queue. The nerves were on edge.

(Not) a bed for the night?

The hotel was nearby, and after a 15-minute drive, we arrived at 1.30 am. We joined the long queue that stretched out into the street. Hundreds of stranded people were ahead of us.

But we were relaxed and looking forward to our hotel bed because, luckily, we had our hotel booking and confirmation. But then we heard a rumour that all room bookings made after midnight were null and void. The hotel was full. People had been turned away.

Excuse me? I couldn't believe it. Determined, I walked past the long queue to enquire at reception in person.

What I was told shook my confidence in the reliability of digitalisation: Booking.com had made a mistake. The portal should not have accepted bookings for that night after midnight. The booking had, therefore, been accepted for the next night. The hotel was full. He could not help us. We would have to contact Booking.com directly to get our money refunded. But that was the least of our worries at this point. Where were we supposed to go at this time of night?

Everyone who had booked after midnight was turned away and had to look for another hotel. That was most of them. We had booked at 00:07. So it affected us too.

I tried to negotiate with the stressed man at reception. I asked if there wasn't a spare cupboard somewhere that he could let us use. Unfortunately, no. Hundreds of people surrounded the poor man, many with children, who urgently sought somewhere to stay. He was utterly overwhelmed and felt the concentrated anger and disappointment.

We sat in the hotel lobby and tried to find a hotel for the two of us. My neighbour and new friend called the hotel where she had spent the previous night but to no avail. They were fully booked. Then we searched the Internet. But you could only book online and therefore only for the next night because you can't explain to a programme that you are stranded at the airport after midnight and now have no accommodation for that night. You can only explain that to a person, and you will need a telephone number. However, most hotels could only be booked via online booking agencies, and we couldn't find a telephone number on the hotels' websites either. If telephone numbers were given, they were 0801 numbers from call centres in the USA. They would have been just as helpful in solving the acute problem as the online agencies. That is, not at all!

Gradually, a paralysing tiredness set in and suppressed the rising panic. I just wanted to lay my tired head down somewhere and was about to make myself comfortable in the lobby and sleep, hoping not to be kicked out before 5 am.

One phone number - one person - one solution!

At the Hilton, a real person finally answers.

But then I thought about which hotel names I knew. I lived in Berlin for 20 years and never stayed in a hotel. Even on my frequent visits, I stayed with friends. But I couldn't help but think of the name of some classic, well-known hotel! Hilton! Surely Berlin had a Hilton Hotel? I googled Hilton - and lo and behold, I found a phone number. A real person on the phone said that two rooms were still available and promised to hold them for us for the next 45 minutes. Wonderful! All tiredness was gone. We rushed onto the street, and an Uber taxi took us to the city centre. At 03:30, we checked into the Hilton Hotel on Mohrenstrasse.

Shortly afterwards, at 04:00, I sat contentedly in my freshly made-up bed in my hotel room, having showered with the Hilton's fragrant shower gel and used their wonderfully scented body lotion, and savoured my mini bottle of red wine, which I had bought earlier from a vending machine in the lobby as a nightcap to calm my nerves. I set the alarm for 06:30 to check whether an email from British Airways with the new flight details had arrived and fell into a deep sleep. I received an email at 06:30 announcing the new departure time at 14:55, which meant I could turn over and go back to sleep.

Breakfast in the Hilton - a moment of relaxation in the chaos.

At 10 am, I met my new friend and fellow sufferer for breakfast. With a view of the historic building of the German Cathedral on Gendarmenmarkt, we enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast and even treated ourselves to a glass of sparkling wine to celebrate this extraordinary experience. That's how you can endure it! We were reconciled to the situation.

I made myself another sandwich to take with me. An emergency supply - just in case!

We took a taxi back to BER airport at noon and were pleased that we would soon be home. 

Back at the airport - chaos and a lack of crisis management

The airport was full of stranded people from the previous day, many lying on the floor, surrounded by their luggage. Children were either running around or crying. Many passengers had not found a hotel for the night and, therefore, had to spend the night sleeping on the floor at the airport.

Even those lucky enough to have spent the night in a hotel bed were now again faced with confusion and uncertainty. Our flight did not appear at all on the electronic departure board. We began to doubt whether the information in the British Airways email was correct. However, no one from the airline or BER was here to inform us about the next steps.

Some passengers had had a new boarding pass issued at the check-in counter but afterwards realised that yesterday's date had been given. They queued up again at the check-in counter to correct this mistake and get a boarding pass with today's date. 

Others returned from security disappointed. They had been turned away because they had tried to check in with their boarding passes from the previous day. We were at a loss. None of these efforts had cleared the way to the gate. Had we been booked on a ghost flight that would never come? Or had we simply been forgotten?

I saw no point in joining the long queue at the check-in desk and suggested that we go together to the less busy business class desk and put some pressure on there.

Seven people, prepared and determined not to be turned away, marched towards the counter. This made an impression. The friendly gentleman at the counter explained that using yesterday's boarding passes was correct. He had just passed the relevant instructions to the security staff by telephone. They should now let us through without any problems. We wanted to believe him but remained sceptical. And promptly, our boarding pass didn't work at the security gate. But one of the officers took us aside, " I see, you're the stranded people from yesterday!" checked our boarding passes and passports and let us through. Phew! It takes understanding people to solve specific problems!

This hurdle had already been cleared. Next, we went through security and then on to our gate. It was supposed to be the same as yesterday, C17. Indeed, at gate 17, London Heathrow was on the display board, with our flight number and the departure time of 2.55 pm.

We sat there and waited. Our small group had grown in the meantime. We increasingly recognised yesterday's fellow sufferers, and they joined us.

Our departure time of 2:55 pm had long since passed when someone happened to see information flash up on the display board. Our flight was leaving in 10 minutes from another gate. Nobody had told us. Full of panic, we ran with our hand luggage. I quickly gulped down my far too hot tea, as I didn't have a hand free to hold the cup, and dashed off. We didn't want to miss our flight under any circumstances.

When we arrived at gate C12, out of breath, more familiar faces from the previous day were waiting. The information board correctly displayed the flight number, departure time 2:55 pm, and destination, London Heathrow, but there was no sign of any British Airways aircraft or BER staff. 

We sat in an ever-growing group and waited for what would come. The mood fluctuated between hope, despair, anger, hysteria and gallows humour. We didn't even dare go to the toilet for fear of missing important information or our flight.

Finally, a young lady from the ground staff at Berlin Airport arrived. Our hopes for information were bitterly disappointed as she knew nothing about our flight. Instead, she asked us for the information we had received from British Airways by email so that she could pass it on to other passengers. We hadn't received any communication from British Airways since the 6.30 am email and the BA app was silent.

It was complete chaos. The departure board informed us of three British Airways flights from Berlin to London Heathrow that afternoon. But there was no mention of our flight.

Many flights are delayed but ours is not even listed. Have we been forgotten?

Had we been forgotten? Long after our scheduled departure time had passed, the BA app finally popped up on my mobile phone and informed me that our flight would be leaving at 17:00. However, there was no sign on the ground that this was reliable information.

Dave contacted me from London to ask if he should take the sea bass out of the freezer for a BBQ that evening. After our experience yesterday, I was cautious and suggested we do the BBQ with fish the following day and leave the fish in the freezer.

We finally got some information: our flight was due to leave at 6:00 pm. At 6:15 pm, we finally boarded the plane, fastened our seatbelts, and the aircraft joined the queue of waiting planes to the runway. The captain informed us that yesterday's crew had exceeded their working hours due to the waiting time and had stood down. He and his crew had received a call at 7 am this morning that they were to fly to Berlin as passengers on an aircraft and fly our plane back. They had just arrived at BER airport and immediately took over the aircraft. As we had already drunk the water and eaten the pretzels yesterday, there were no more supplies. But we would be leaving soon and would be home soon. That wasn't a problem for us. We were grateful to the captain. At last, there was someone who signalled that he was looking after us. At last, someone was talking to us, and we finally found out what was happening. And I was okay because I still had my bread roll from the Hilton Hotel.

And sure enough, at 7:30 pm, our plane took off. We cheered and clapped. The passengers talked animatedly about how they had got on. New friendships had been forged. I was also glad I had found my young seat neighbour, and she was happy to have my support. The adventure had been more bearable as we could support and distract each other as a team of two.

The flight attendants, endeavouring to calm the passengers' tempers, now offered various drinks free of charge. So now I could have my glass of champagne after all. I found that I deserved it.

Shortly after 8 pm, we landed at Heathrow after a 1 ½ hour flight (1 hour time difference). At 10 pm, I was sitting at home with Dave on our roof terrace, celebrating my return with a glass of wine and enjoying the chicken drumsticks that Dave had saved for me from the day before. (LL.)

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 How does such chaos come about, and why is it not managed by those responsible?

This experience stayed with me for a long time. Why did it all happen, and why couldn't it be better organised? Thunderstorms are nothing new. What was so special about this thunderstorm, which I hadn't experienced as being so severe? Were the health and safety regulations too rigid, was the bureaucracy at Berlin Airport too strict or the staff too inflexible? Were the flight communications between London and Berlin or European air traffic control in Brussels overwhelmed by a thunderstorm? Was it impossible to act in a crisis in the age of digitalisation? Obviously, computers can only solve standard problems. It would have taken competent people to manage the crisis situation.

Entitlement to cost compensation instead of help and support

The rights of passengers if a flight is cancelled or delayed are explicitly posted at every flight counter. They are also available on the Internet. Passengers are informed under which circumstances they are entitled to compensation or reimbursement, under which conditions they can book a replacement flight, and where they can find a form to get any costs incurred reimbursed.

'We will do everything we can to help get your travel plans back on track' is what you can read on the British Airways website.

This is all very laudable, but it doesn't work in the end.

My BA app offered me no help, not even information on what I could have done at that moment in that place to handle the crisis well. Passenger rights after a crisis are all well and good, but concrete support and helpful actions are needed in a crisis.

As a customer, I expect airlines and airports to be prepared for these crises, which are not exactly unique and extremely rare. There should be crisis plans and people in charge who implement these plans and offer support to stranded passengers. Instead, it seems that airlines and airports expect every passenger travelling by air to draw up their own contingency plans and carry them along; that every passenger knows where they can turn to, beyond the airline and airport company, and where they can obtain information. Because their contract partners do not really feel obliged to do so.  

But basic information should be made available, such as lists of hotels near the airport with telephone numbers, information about local shops and shops at the airport or nearby that are open to provide basic supplies for passengers in the event of a crisis, e.g. drinking water, food, nappies and food for babies, medicines, etc.

In my opinion, publicising passengers' rights seems to be a minimal mandatory exercise, as is often the case with several health and safety regulations. The main thing is that a sign has been put up saying that the floor is wet and there is a risk of slipping. If someone does slip and break a leg, it's their problem. The organisation is not at fault! The organisation cannot be held legally liable for not fulfilling its duty of care. However, the customer or passer-by must be shown a safe way to avoid danger. And the person stranded at an airport must also be offered an option for the excessively long waiting time, as in our case.

Not my problem

It seems that nobody took responsibility for this situation and tried to solve the problem, neither the ground staff at Berlin Airport, British Airways, Booking.com, nor the airport hotel we had booked with.

Nobody felt responsible.

The receptionist at the overcrowded hotel who turned us away didn't see it as his problem. He shrugged his shoulders. Sorry.

It certainly wasn't the first time someone had to book a hotel in the middle of the night. The system could not respond and accept a booking for the night after midnight. Many of the big hotels advertise 24-hour reception. So why can't you phone these hotels to explain the emergency situation to someone and either get a bed for the night or at least help find one? 

It looked to me like British Airways had made it easy for themselves.

In their email, they informed the passengers of the delay and offered to pay for any reasonable costs incurred. That's it! Duty fulfilled!

The airline no longer felt responsible for solving the problem; that was the responsibility of the passengers. They should take care themselves of by finding a hotel or somewhere to sleep.

This was not a problem for the locals, who went home and slept in their own beds. But the majority of the passengers were tourists or visitors. They were strangers in Berlin, had no home there and didn't know how to organise accommodation quickly at this time of night. They were left alone with their despair and panic by their contractual partner, British Airways. There was no crisis intervention by airline representatives or BER staff; at least, I didn't see anyone.

Those whose job was to organise a new flight for the next day failed hopelessly and acted unprofessionally.

The email from British Airways at 6:30 pm informed us of the new departure time at 2:55 pm. But, as we later learnt from the pilot, the captain and his crew had only been told at 7 am (1/2 hour after the email to all passengers) that they were to fly from London to Berlin as passengers and fly the plane and passengers back to Heathrow. They only arrived at Berlin airport shortly before 6 pm. It should already have been evident in the morning that a departure time of 2:55 pm could not be adhered to.

Why wasn't a crew informed during the night when the take-off had to be postponed to the next day, or at least a later and realistic departure time scheduled? Were we passengers to be kept waiting or kept busy?

If it had been evident earlier that the flight could not take off until the evening, some passengers would have had the opportunity to book alternative flights to keep their urgent appointments. Like the woman in the row behind me, for example, who was desperate because she was stuck at Berlin airport all day with her daughter and couldn't get to London in time to attend the official farewell of her retiring husband. Another woman missed a long-planned hospital appointment. Others, like my seat neighbour on the right, could not meet their work commitments, had to notify colleagues, delegate tasks, postpone appointments and worry about their jobs, to name a few cases.

A contract is a contract

British Airways and the airport are responsible for the passengers. Purchasing a flight ticket creates a contract to which both parties are bound. The tickets are expensive enough and include airport duty. But nobody at the airport felt responsible or made any effort to help. The young woman at the boarding gate, a ground staff employee at Berlin Airport, was unaware of the situation. So she did the obvious thing for her: she asked the passengers about their knowledge so that she could pass it on to other passengers.

That was probably the maximum she could do on her own initiative. Otherwise, she was perhaps waiting for instructions from higher up. It seemed to me that she was not even annoyed about her lack of knowledge of the situation and the fact that she could not help the passengers.

I wonder whether this was her failing or whether she resigned herself to the fact that such situations are part of her everyday working life. Because there's nothing you can do anyway? Because that's just the way it is? Because nobody knows who is responsible for what anymore? Because even as a staff member you can no longer avoid the digital communication channels? Because you can't get any sensible answers beyond standard questions?

Empathy replaced by indifference

I am an experienced traveller and am not easily flustered. I'm used to solving problems and usually take challenges in my stride. But what about those passengers who are not so experienced?

I have seen many desperate and panicked people during these hours. What about those who don't have an internet-enabled mobile phone or a BA app? Who can't be informed of the new flight time via email?

What about people with mobility problems or children travelling alone? How can you leave vulnerable and needy people to their own devices in a crisis and expect them to manage somehow and sleep at the airport if necessary?

Where is the pride of the employees who want to handle passengers, their customers, competently and safely and get them from A to B? It is a strange development in which interpersonal relationships seem lost.

Empathy seems to have been replaced by indifference; an indifference to the fears and concerns of passengers and an indifference to the inability of airlines and airports to adequately manage a crisis and solve problems. 

In the age of digitalisation, are we so used to the computer taking care of everything? Is no one aware that software programs can optimise standard processes but that the problem-solving skills of competent and experienced people are needed for exceptional cases? Can no one imagine that a sympathetic contact person is extremely helpful and comforting in a crisis?

Or are we so convinced of the infallibility of computer-aided organisation that we have handed over responsibility for solving problems to this seemingly higher intelligence? And suppose this higher intelligence has no solution. In that case, we humans feel incapable of finding a solution, do not want to exceed our competencies and pass the responsibility and blame for the failure unapologetically on to the technology. We are not to blame, we are not responsible, and we are not sorry.

Well, the romance of travelling is truly gone.

PS I got my money back for the hotel from British Airways. But I didn't get any compensation because the reason for the delay was a thunderstorm - a natural event (an act of God) for which no one can be held responsible.

(LL.)

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Lufthansa at Munich Airport treated its passengers stranded on two flights on 3 to 4 August 2024 due to 'technical irregularities' and 'operational reasons' similarly rigorously. The airline announced that the Munich hotels were fully booked due to the tens of thousands of fans who had come to Munich for the Adele concerts. Passengers reported in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the service desks were closed after this announcement to passengers. Luggage was not returned to stranded passengers for the weekend while they waited. New departure times were not communicated, but - at least - blankets were distributed to passengers.

No further comment is necessary.

Source: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/muenchen-lufthansa-fluege-ausgefallen-hotels-adele-lux.BjuTYccNKfjKyT1fdaTGGW