<p>I am very happy with Air Canada’s handling of this mess though. Their website is updated constantly, they have extra personnel, and they’re planning to send extra planes…two sitting empty in Paris right now. Problem is Heathrow is limiting the slots. And they rebook passengers on future flights.</p>
<p>Got through to an agent and he confirmed D was booked on a LHR to Vancouver to LAX flight on the 27th, then saw in front of him a seat open on the 25th thru Calgary and grabbed it. Plus she’s on a list if they can get more planes there earlier, and will email passengers with info and instructions if that’s the case.</p>
<p>He also said the scene there is like the 3 stooges shoveling piles of snow around from one spot to another. They have no snow melting equipment or protocols.</p>
<p>Right now I’m hoping that London does NOT have a White Christmas.</p>
<p>I flew Icelandair this year, and D is on an Icelandair flight as we speak about to land in Boston. I will say, don’t be lulled by the mellow Reykjavik airport. Sometimes there is a massive line for the passport checks you have to go through going to or from the US. I nearly missed my connection when flying home due to a line of hundreds of people (literally). So… if you fly Icelandair to or from the US, go get in that line immediately even if you think you have tons of time til your flight. I told D, hold the potty stops and food pickup until after that process is done! Every flight we took WAS late departing from Reykjavik, so I think it is true that they hold flights a lot of times. But the fares were good, and flying over Iceland was fascinating. </p>
<p>Another note - if you don’t see the round trip you want on the website (one leg to a US airport is missing), they don’t fly to every US airport all year around. D and I flew out of Minneapolis in August, but they don’t fly into Minneapolis in the winter (hence the Boston leg today). I was confused by the website, and thought maybe it just wasn’t posted yet because the flight was months away when I was looking. Turns out it does not exist in the winter.</p>
<p>Sequoia, I’m glad to hear that Air Canada worked out well for your D. My neighbor picked up her D at the airport here in Toronto today. Hers was one of the few that departed Heathrow successfully today. The pilot came out at the same time as my neighbor’s D and they were chatting. He said that it truly is chaotic at Heathrow and that they are woefully ill-equipped not only for the snow removal but for de-icing of planes. He complained that after last winter, he would have hoped that they’d be better prepared this year. He was more understanding about the issues with snow removal but he said that there’s no excuse for the lack of de-icing equipment and procedures, as this is a safety issue. His last comment was that everyone touts the fact that the airlines are forced to provide accomodation and food there due to weather but that no one is forcing the airports to do anything that would improve the situation. I’m so happy that my D got out last week a couple of days early. Some of her friends are still there and are doubtful of making it out before the 26th or 27th.</p>
<p>The more I read about the situation at Heathrow, the happier I am my kid is not flying through London. Also, she is on Swiss Air. Fingers crossed, as the mess in London has a ripple effect.</p>
<p>As the parent of a student who is planning to study abroad in Europe Fall 2011, I am learning a lot from this thread. Hoping for a break in the weather for all of you!</p>
<p>We avoid both British Air and Heathrow with bad past experiences although none caused by winter weather, just other travel issues. We have been very lucky and have had great experiences travelling through Madrid on Iberia, which is now affiliated with British Air and the Madrid airport is really a pleasure and very easy to negotiate. As with all European airports, just allow a minimum of 2 hours. When my daughters returned from study abroad we were lucky to have no weather issues. Older daughter had actually been in London for a few days visiting other friends in a planned stop and younger daughter had direct non-stop from Vienna. Just recently flew to Amsterdam and changed planes in Paris but had no issues-had left enough time to cover possible late departure from JFK at home but plane took off on time and arrived early , Air France/KLM/Delta all one company now.</p>
<p>I’m following an aviation forum that I’m familiar with, which has mostly pilots posting.
Unfortunately I can’t link it, I think it’s against TOS. They are having a field day with the snow removal inadequacies and mess of LHR compared to other European airports.</p>
<p>Ugh, and I’m reading that Heathrow is running out of de-icing fluid, which evidently comes from France. And France has banned all truck travel due to road conditions. I guess it’s transported via ships?</p>
<p>An interesting tidbit I’m learning is that Oslo’s aprons have heating elements, melts snow, water taken away by machines, …and a superb snow removal protocol. Has only been closed once since 1998 even with their often severe conditions.</p>
<p>Add airports to the list of “Things That Shouldn’t Be Privatized” (or “privatised”, if you’re British )
According to this article, the for-profit owner of Heathrow seems to be largely to blame for its problems: [FT.com</a> / Comment / Op-Ed Columnists - Britain shamed by Heathrow?s terminal misery](<a href=“Subscribe to read | Financial Times”>Subscribe to read | Financial Times)</p>
<p>excerpt- "BAA, the operator at Heathrow, owned all the big airports in southern England. BAA’s owner, the Spanish Ferrovial, had borrowed heavily to buy the airport operator. It had big debts to service. Thus BAA shunned investment in basic infrastructure in favour of quick profits. The only real money spent on Heathrow went on expanding the terminals’ lucrative retail concessions. In all this, BAA was aided and abetted by the regulatory hopelessness of the Civil Aviation Authority.</p>
<p>The analysis was right as far as it went. And, in a way, you could hardly blame BAA for extracting monopoly rents. That is what companies do in such circumstances. But the operator was too greedy, and public clamour at the appalling state of Heathrow led the competition authorities to order BAA to sell its two other London airports."
More at link</p>
<p>Anyone have a sense for how things are going today? D1’s flight is scheduled to leave tomorrow. We will all be very disappointed if she gets canceled and can’t get back before Christmas. She was already a little homesick; this will crush her. </p>
<p>Trying not to obsess over things out of my control, but this is a bit stressful. </p>
<p>Glad to hear that some of your kids are starting to make their way home, though.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, my D who arrived home last week heard from one of her friends this morning who is still stuck in London. Apparently, the PM has called in the British army to assist in clearing the second runway at Heathrow, which he has promised will reopen within hours. That sounds like good news, although it will still take time to catch up with the huge backlog.</p>
<p>I almost feel guilty to say that my D is enroute on final leg from Boston, knowing many flights still being canceled. D’s bf and a few classmates left Heathrow this a.m. on Continental flight–I’m following flight and they are half way over Atlantic–relief. But many classmates still waiting…and at least the start of today, Heathrow only using one runway.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4…google “Heathrow Airport” and look at departures… if it says “contact airline”…that means it’s not going. Kind of a sad list…</p>
<p>Hopefully, with temps above 32 degrees, things will get moving. Thursday forecast is for partial sun…now if they can just get planes into Heathrow! Airport has relaxed nighttime restrictions a bit, allowing landings until 1a.m. to try and deal with backlog…
and if Army helping, things possibly looking up. </p>
<p>Hoping for the best for all our traveling kids…</p>
<p>My D was rebooked on a flight today…we did not get notification in time…ofcourse she missed it. Finally got thru to an agent scared that her seat for 25th was canceled. Agent said that today’s flight was canceled at last minute anyway…passengers were ready at gate, but Heathrow wouldn’t let the plane go.
Fortunately still confirmed for 25th thank heavens.</p>
<p>Hope indeed that the army is involved in clearing runways.</p>
<p>I hope all your kids make it home safely. I was worried my Mum’s groceries would not be delivered (she is pretty much housebound and I order them online for her). But they managed to deliver them, albeit several hours late, despite the snow and horrible conditions and up the very steep hill she lives on. Perhaps Tesco’s needs to give the airports some tips!! Good luck to all of you.</p>
<p>According to the LHR site:
“The southern runway at Heathrow is now open. Airlines are currently operating a significantly reduced schedule while they move diverted aircraft and crew back into position.”</p>
<p>Still, the “significantly reduced schedule”…I hope that’s temporary for today.</p>
<p>Hoping to hear good news for all of you soon! Mine landed in SF this morning at 2:30 am after starting her journey Saturday afternoon with her flights into Gatwick and out of Heathrow canceled. She is exhausted and worried about friends still there, but VERY glad to be home. </p>
<p>It seems they should have had the army clearing runways DAYS ago - hopefully the army will get things cleared up and the planes will start streaming out of London very soon.</p>
<p>Sequoia, I just KNOW yours will be home soon.</p>
<p>^ alamemom…I will choose to believe that you really do KNOW because you are gifted with some supernatural connection to the powers that be…and that “soon” means before Sunday.
I’m that desperate.
I hate this uncertainty.</p>
<p>What you should NOT try is re-routing via Paris and Eurostar. The queue to get into the station was more than a mile long today. They are turning away even passengers with reservations at both ends (the weather in Northern France is just as bad as England).</p>
<p>You can fly into/out of the UK from the southern airports - Southampton, Bristol and Exeter. There are some delays but things are almost normal. </p>
<p>London Stansted has been operating normally. </p>
<p>All of these are small airports which won’t have many, if any, flights to the US. But they may enable you to connect to a US flight via somewhere else in Europe. </p>
<p>Brussels and Amsterdam Schipol have been pretty bad so I wouldn’t advise re-routing via there, or via anywhere in Scotland or Northern England (though I went to Southampton airport tonight to meet up with my family and flights to Newcastle and Glasgow were departing but delayed). Dublin is looking pretty bad too.</p>
<p>I’ve just googled Manchester airport (normal with delays) and Birmingham (sounds like a nightmare!)</p>
<p>If you don’t have a confirmed flight, don’t go the Heathrow. One of the reasons for all the problems is thousands of people are turning up for cancelled flights and the airport is full to bursting. The tripadvisor link at the top of my post suggests some accommodation if necessary.</p>
<p>I hope you have travel insurance. Most people in Europe do (it is sold in supermarkets in the UK!), but in my experience most Americans don’t.</p>
<p>Delta flies London Gatwick to Atlanta and Cinncinati… Gatwick is open with delays but most flights are going, especially the long haul ones…maybe worth investigating…</p>
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