BA removes couple in their 80s from overbooked flight
The Independent|October 17, 2024
Elderly pair weren’t informed of their right to compensation
SIMON CALDER
BA removes couple in their 80s from overbooked flight

After British Airways sold more tickets than there were seats available on a plane to France, the airline chose to offload a couple in their eighties to solve the problem. The decision to turn away the pair, both aged 82, was not made at some distant airport with little BA representation; it was taken at the airline’s main base, London Heathrow.

The couple have asked to remain anonymous. Their dismal journey began at lunchtime on Friday 27 September. They were booked on British Airways flight BA368 from Heathrow to Marseille, due to depart from Terminal 3 at 3.10pm. One of them has a pacemaker “and stress has to be avoided at all costs”. The other said: “I am a little unsteady on my feet and I also have medical problems exacerbated by stress.”

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