BA's decision to stop flights because of the snow has been criticised by aviation experts.
My much delayed flight to Stockholm finally took off at 18:00 (almost 4 hours late).
I finally got to the bottom of the reason for the delay. It seems that a combination of heavy snowfall and a lack of de-icing equipment in Frankfurt caused the delay.
Whilst BA cannot be held responsible for the weather or probably the lack of de-icing equipment, BA should have communicated the reasons for the delay to their customers.
On board, despite that fact that it was well past "teatime", afternoon tea was served.
Catering is now provided by DHL who, so I am advised, aren't very good at "customer care".
The two finger sandwiches were an inadequate repast, and were of poor quality (total lack of taste and frozen bread).
That is what you get when you hire a logistics company to provide the catering!
A further delay in the departure of my flight to Stockholm has just been announced, it will now depart (unless this estimate is wrong as well) at 17:02 (almost 3 hours late).
BA staff still have no explanation for the delay.
It seems that today is going to be a tedious travel day, courtesy of BA.
My flight to Stockholm, originally scheduled to depart at 14:15, is now scheduled to depart at 16:15 (a further delay of 30 mins from the earlier delay notice posted by BA).
I have asked BA staff here as to why there is a delay, they do not know.
In keeping with tradition, the flight is delayed by 1.5 hours.
I concur with the comments made by the Chairman of BA wrt certain security measures at airports in Europe, eg the removal of shoes etc, undertaken at the insistence of the USA.
Why, if these checks are so vital, do US airports not enforce these on their own internal flights?
Could it be that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel in the seemingly never ending dispute between BA and Unite?
BA has said that, as from 26 October, it will restore basic travel concessions to cabin crew who went on strike earlier this year.
However, because those who went on strike lost their seniority, it is not clear as to who will receive the perks.
The concession is also conditional on Unite making a commitment not to pursue any legal action against BA.
As to whether this means that there will be a BA strike free Christmas remains to be seen.
Unite has announced that it will take legal action against BA over the removal of travel concessions from cabin crew who have been on strike.
Seemingly the core of their case will be that travel perks are a "human right", and that to remove the perks breaches the EU's human rights legislation!
British Airways cabin crew have voted, albeit in a low turnout of less than 50%, to reject BA's latest pay offer by 3,419 votes to 1,686.
This means that there will be more strikes, even though technically less than 50% of the union have voted in favour of continuing strike action.
I see that, aside from the problems caused by the ongoing BA strikes, hapless air travellers may also be subjected to further misery as a result of possible strikes to undertaken by employees of British Airports Authority (BAA) this summer.
Whilst these two disputes may, at first glance, seem to be unconnected it should be noted that the union that is stirring up the BAA workers is in fact Unite (the very same union leading the BA strike action).
No, this is in fact Unite opening a second front.
Yesterday's BA AGM was a somewhat turbulent affair; as, unsurprisingly, the subject of the strike dominated the proceedings.
During the 3 hour meeting, Willie Walsh expressed his frustrations at being compared to Hitler and the devil.
He was jeered by the crew members; who accused the management of "bullying", engendering a culture of "fear and loathing" and "damaging the BA brand".
It is doubtful as to whether the investors, and indeed hapless customers, are impressed by either the company or the strikers.
This is a power struggle which may be won, eventually, by one side. However, it will be at the cost of the brand and a large number of jobs.
The UK airport operator, BAA, has experienced a fall of 1.7% in the number of passengers using its airports in June (compared with June 2009).
BAA blame the ongoing BA strike for this fall, rather than the fact that the airports are truly dismal places and that people do not enjoy using them or flying.
Willie Walsh has told Il Sole 24 Ore that, in the event of another strike, 100% of flights will be guaranteed. He added that "British (Airways) will not only not lose money it will end up saving.
Walsh said that flight personnel costs had been cut by 45%.
"In terms of annual savings the benefit to the company is £65M per year."
"BA will struggle to weather the fallout from this bitter dispute. Our brand, our reputation and our integrity as an employer have all been damaged – indeed continue to be damaged – as this dispute rolls on with no sign of a resolution or closure. The road ahead will be fraught with challenges – challenges that we will all have to deal with. It will be an uphill struggle and it will not be easy.
Those BA staff who have chosen to volunteer as cabin crew have unwittingly prolonged this dispute and, in all probability, hastened their own demise. Their actions have allowed BA to keep flying rather than to reach a negotiated settlement.
As Unite prepares for another ballot and, in all probability, more industrial action, many managers are trawling through employment websites, desperate to find anything that will enable them to leave the bedlam that is now BA.
For anyone who really wants to understand what it is like to work for the world's favourite airline, I would suggest reading George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four."