British Airways may still sue Heathrow operator

British Airways has reportedly reserved the right to initiate a lawsuit against BAA, London Heathrow Airport’s privately-owned operator, for the chaos that followed the opening of Terminal 5. Yet BA is hardly the only carrier pondering legal action against BAA-other airlines have also been affected by the travel mess that dogged the airport’s new terminal at the end of March and in early April, mainly because British Airways had to halt its move from Terminal 1 and Terminal 4. This meant that the other carriers were unable to take advantage of the additional space that they had been promised.

Yet BA chief Willie Walsh pointed to another problem as well. The fact that the construction of the terminal was delayed meant that the airline was not able to offer staff members the degree of training that would have been necessary in order to avoid the travel chaos that led to 20,000 pieces of lost luggage and hundreds of delayed or cancelled flights in a period of less than a week. Although Walsh did not overtly blame BAA, he suggested that the United Kingdom’s flag carrier “reserved its position in relation to compensation.” Walsh then went on to observe that it only dealt directly with BAA, rather than with anyone else involved in the Terminal 5 construction efforts, indicating that if the airline does seek legal recourse, it will do so specifically against Heathrow’s operator. Walsh went further to say that BA’s reputation was “clearly damaged” and that the airline suffered £16 million in damages, due to cancelled flights and lost baggage.

www.britishairways.com