British Airways passengers get mid-air email canceling their connecting flight

Three golf fans heading to the British Open were victim to airport cancellations, mid-flight. Photo / Unsplash

There is no great time to discover your flight is cancelled but while you're mid-air and flying to the connecting flight is arguably one of the worse times.

Three British Airways passengers had this very experience last week when heading to the British Open golf tournament in Edinburgh.

Raynee Graeff, Victoria Esparza, and Robert Esparza were scheduled to fly from Austin, Texas to Edinburgh via London's Heathrow, according to Business Insider.

However, things took a turn when they received an email from American Airlines saying their London-Edinburgh flight was not only cancelled but could not be automatically rebooked.

"We were unable to rebook your trip from LHR to EDI," read the email, which was sent right after their Texas-London flight had departed.

The golf fans only received once they landed in London, just two hours before the next flight was supposed to depart.

Despite booking with American Airlines, the flights were operated by British Airways through a codeshare agreement.

In the email, they were told to "please call to book a new flight."

Fortunately, the golf enthusiasts reached Edinburgh by booking a train but they arrived around 12 hours late, without their luggage.

According to Graeff, they would receive compensation for the cancelled flights, train tickets and other items they had to purchase, but had not yet received any money.

When approached for comment, American Airlines, who sold the tickets and sent the email, said, since the flights were operated by British Airways, they should be contacted for information about the incident.

British Airways reportedly did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As one of the world's busiest airports, London Heathrow has experienced some of the worst travel disruptions. In an effort to ease the pressure, the airport announced it was capping departure numbers, and forcing airlines to cut ticket sales for the coming months.

Certain airlines, like Emirates, have openly criticised the tactics.