Mary Sherrinfrom Dublin e-mailed about flying to New York for a weekend break
"On Sunday, May 25th, at 7am, a group of us checked in at Dublin Airport for Aer Lingus's 10.30am flight to New York. Thirteen hours later we disembarked, walked through arrivals and collected our luggage. We may have felt as if we had been to hell and back, but we hadn't even reached New York. We were still at Dublin Airport.
"The first indication that we were not going to take off on time was when a passenger spotted a notice on a monitor about a four-hour delay. If there was an announcement as well, none of us heard it. No explanation given. At 2.55pm we finally boarded our plane. It taxied for a few moments, then returned to the bay. There were computer problems, we were told. A new computer was installed. The engine even revved up at one stage.
"Several hours later, at 8.03pm, still on board and without anything to eat or drink, we were told the flight was cancelled. Aer Lingus offered us accommodation and a flight the following day. We took the flight. But we had lost one day from our short trip. Our Manhattan hotel charged us for rooms that none of us could use, as we weren't there.
"Aer Lingus's flight cancellation notice says: 'If you have any queries or complaints about your rights in the case of flight cancellation, please contact our customer relations department.'
"We have complaints. We shall be in contact."