What to Know
- Dozens of passengers were stranded at JFK Airport Saturday after their flight was diverted due to a mechanical issue
- The British Airways flight was supposed to be traveling from Orlando to London
- On Saturday morning, a number of passengers could be seen sleeping on the floor at the airport next to their baggage
Dozens of passengers who have been traveling since Thursday were stranded at JFK Airport on Saturday after their flight was diverted due to a mechanical issue.
The British Airways flight from Orlando to London had to be diverted to JFK “as a precaution, following a minor technical issue,” the airline said in a statement provided to NBC 4 New York.
Passengers told News 4 they spent the night in Orlando in hotels provided by the airline on Thursday because their plane was having issues.
After their flight was diverted to New York, however, the airline only provided around 20 passengers with rooms, according to the passengers.
On Saturday morning, a number of passengers could be seen sleeping on the floor at the airport next to their baggage.
Passenger Barry Laing told News 4 he felt there had been “a real lack of communication” between British Airways and his fellow stranded travelers.
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“We’ve had no food, refreshments, water,” he said.
In its statement, British Airways apologized for the diversion.
“We are sorry to our customers for the delay to their travel plans,” the airline said. “Our ground teams are looking after customers and arranging hotel accommodations and we are sending a relief aircraft out to New York to get customers to London as quickly as possible.”
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority,” the airline added.
Passengers said their new aircraft was expected to arrive at the airport around 7 p.m. on Saturday.
