British Airways lost my father’s vital life-saving machine

He needs a dialysis machine to survive, but on a flight it was first damaged, then it was lost

My father suffers from terminal renal failure and relies on a highly specific dialysis machine every night to survive. British Airways’ check-in staff twice insisted on checking this fragile 20kg lifeline into the aircraft hold where it was first damaged, then lost.

When his outbound flight arrived at Heathrow, it was returned broken resulting in a frantic search for a loan unit and hours spent in A&E so my father’s blood could be monitored. On the return flight to Rome, the machine could not be found. My parents waited until 2am before being told to go home without the equipment that keeps my father alive.

He had to borrow another unit from a hospital. His was finally delivered three days later with the protective case unsealed and critical internal components disconnected.

The sheer terror and stress of missing a treatment, not knowing if the A&E could accommodate him in time, and fearing that his health had already been severely compromised, was indescribable.

British Airways has missed all deadlines to address our complaint and is now ignoring our correspondence. DL, London

Your father did not need to use the fragile unit during the flight but was concerned, rightly as it turned out, it might suffer damage in the hold.

BA, in common with most airlines, allows vital medical equipment to travel for free along with its owner, provided it does not exceed the dimensions of cabin baggage. It’s essential for safety reasons that belongings can be stowed under a seat or an overhead locker.

Your father’s device was too large, and I believe it was reasonable for BA to check it into the hold if the flight was full. If, however, there were spare seats, it could have allowed it to travel on one. It has since told you a seat could have been bought.

The real shocker is that such vital kit was mishandled not once, but twice. The impact on your father could have been grave had loan units not been found. BA’s response was, at best, cavalier.

When you wrote to me, a month had passed since your initial complaint and you’d heard nothing besides auto-generated acknowledgments.

The company got its act together when I questioned its attitude. An operative called you to apologise and it managed, at last, to reply to your emails. However, you are unimpressed by its offer of £300 in e-vouchers to, in its words, “put things right”. I’ve suggested it convert this into cash and consider a sum that better reflects the impact on your father. It told me it will be in touch to discuss a “gesture”.

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