A recent experience has given me a fascinating window into how British Airways is guilty of a shocking and damnable assault on its Israeli customers.
Earlier this year, my wife and I bought BA business-class tickets from and to Tel Aviv to the US via London. When a Houthi rocket landed on the grounds of Ben-Gurion Airport on May 4, BA canceled all flights involving Israel, understandably. My wife and I paid $7,700 for the two journeys – a rare treat for a special occasion. We patched together alternatives for the Tel Aviv-London legs on Israeli carriers, in economy, for an additional $1,800.
The expectation at that point was that, when an airline cancels flights it sold you, you receive a refund. You might think they would do this quickly. It’s not complicated; why delay unless your business plan is to sit on customers’ money?
Because we booked via our travel agent, Tali, BA insisted on only dealing with her. Tali sent repeated emails and made phone calls for weeks. Nothing. Not for us, nor for her other clients in Israel with canceled BA flights.
Only after I wrote to BA’s press office on August 4, identifying myself as a journalist and noting the consumer story I intended to write, did the airline rediscover an ability to reply. On Aug. 9, “Ryan” of the “Premium Escalations Team,” wrote uselessly: “We are unable to view your fare and its rules, which are determined through your travel agent. You will need to contact your travel agent directly to discuss your options or request a refund.” This, though I had already explained that she had been repeatedly ignored. I connected Ryan and the press office both to Tali, providing again receipts for the flights.
The result of the provision of a new form for the travel agent to fill out. Eventually, by late September, Tali was informed of our refund amounts. $970 for my wife and $480 for me. The difference stems from the fact that I was offered a replacement flight from London to Larnaca, Cyprus, from where I needed another flight home. In my desperation, I had accepted it.
I wrote back on September 27, referring to my wife’s more straightforward case. “The issue is quite simple: You will not sell her a new business class ticket (from Tel Aviv) to London for this sum. In the best-case scenario, you will ask for double the sum. So how on earth can you think this will - in a manner of speaking - fly?”
A few days later, I received a reply from “Aiste”, ignoring the argument. “I’ve taken time to make sure our response is accurate and up-to-date. Based on this, our decision hasn’t changed, and the responses you’ve received about the eligibility of your compensation claim are correct,” she wrote. She went on to reference Article 5.3 of the EU Regulation 261/2004 and The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licencing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which she argued “means you’re not entitled to compensation under the EU Regulation for your cancelled flight.”
“We’re unable to respond to any further requests for compensation or refund,” she wrote, inviting me to try with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, but warned that this would mean forgoing the proffered half-refund, and also that “there are some disputes they cannot deal with.” This was labelled “our final response.”
I tried once more to ask simply if they would give us, instead of money, a ticket to London: “May we have a replacement business class TA–LON–TA ticket for Iris Perry… which would appear to be the baseline requirement of a business not engaged in thievery? If no, explain why not, given that we paid for a product you did not, or could not deliver.” BA has not replied after almost a month. The promised partial sum has not been received, nor has BA explained how to go about getting it.
So what is going on?
The obvious pattern is to stonewall for months, then offer token payouts and threaten to pull even those if a passenger dares to seek independent review. But I suspect more, both against customers in general and those in Israel.
BA knew I’d write about this and clearly doesn’t care. The company prices in a bit of bad PR, plainly because accountants have calculated that the money they pickpocket more than balances out that damage.
What about the assault on Israeli customers specifically?
But it is beyond dispute that no other class of passengers has been so grievously affected. Throughout the conflict, BA suspended service to Israel multiple times, stranding travelers and invalidating tickets. Israel is almost certainly the only first-world country in modern times where such prolonged interruptions of air service have occurred because of war. For a geographically isolated and diplomatically besieged nation, direct connections to Europe, and especially to major hubs like London, are vital, so the customer can be abused.
I assess that the largest number of claims and unhonored tickets British Airways will have faced this year, and likely in many years, involve Israelis.
This inevitably raises the question of motive, particularly in a British environment where tolerance of militant Islamic rhetoric has grown disturbingly common, where anti-Israel and openly antisemitic discourse have seeped into the mainstream, and where accusations of “genocide” against Israel are voiced casually.
Against that backdrop, you don’t need to be paranoid to suspect BA’s behavior fits neatly into a pattern. In a year when Israel has been uniquely isolated and targeted,
Either that, or someone at the airline is very deeply stupid and should be fired.
Dan Perry is the former chief editor of the Associated Press in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. He is the author of two books and has never been treated this way Virgin, United, Lufthansa, Turkish, Emirates, El Al, or any other airline.