Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs One of the thousands of passengers stranded at Heathrow airport today told Newsweek there’s been “a lot of confusion, not many answers.”Newsweek spoke with several passengers stuck at nearby hotels after their flights to the United States were canceled.A father is worried he will miss spring break with his children, a scientist is moving his presentation at a chemistry conference, a musician is missing out on his songwriting trip to Nashville, and a family is hoping to still make it to their Caribbean cruise after being up-charged hundreds of pounds for their extra night in an airport hotel.Over 1,300 flights were canceled at the airport today after the nearby North Hyde electrical station caught fire. The fire knocked out power at the airport, which hosts over 200,000 passengers daily.Counter-terrorism police are investigating the fire.
A handwritten sign at a Heathrow Airport tube station in London indicates the airport is closed on Friday March 21, 2025, following a fire at the North Hyde electrical substation the previous night.
A handwritten sign at a Heathrow Airport tube station in London indicates the airport is closed on Friday March 21, 2025, following a fire at the North Hyde electrical substation the previous night.
James Manning/PA via AP
Chemist Aaron spoke with Newsweek in the cafe of the Heathrow Premier Inn about his situation after his trip to a chemistry conference in San Diego, California, was canceled.He said he “woke up to a message from my friend actually that said ‘Oh my God, have you seen the news?’ Of which I thought, ‘Who’s died? Has the war kicked off? You know, what’s happening?'””Looked at my phone, and I was like, ‘Oh, Heathrow is canceled, and I’m currently at Heathrow airport,'” he said.Aaron added that there has been “a lot of confusion, not many answers, but it’s a big thing, you know, so would we expect that many answers at the time? I’m not too sure.”Aaron said he’d received a message from British Airways stating that his flight had been canceled, but he has not heard anything else from the airline regarding his next steps.However, he was able to contact the third-party company through which he booked his travel, and they said they could get him a flight for Tuesday. He will miss his presentation on Sunday.”Thankfully, it’s quite a long conference, so I’ll make it there for a good chunk of it, and I’ll be able to present,” Aaron said.He stressed that “there is no one to blame” and that “we naturally want answers, but they’re not always there.”
Smoke rises from the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire and resulted in the closure of Heathrow Airport on March 21, 2025.
Smoke rises from the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire and resulted in the closure of Heathrow Airport on March 21, 2025.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo
Another person currently stranded in the Heathrow Premier Inn is musician Cal Ruddy, who is missing his university’s songwriting trip to Nashville. He said the police sent him away when he arrived at Heathrow, despite the British Airways website saying flights were going ahead.”It’s just been really an unfair experience,” said Ruddy. “I can appreciate it’s nobody’s fault but I just wish there was better communication from the airway, really.”The sentiment of frustration around communication was shared by passenger Caesar Campbell, who was supposed to fly from London to Columbus, Ohio, today and is now stuck in the Heathrow Sheraton Hotel.He said he woke up to an email saying the airport was closed, which he “thought was a joke.”Campbell told Newsweek: “Unfortunately though my flight was not canceled so that was a bit confusing. So my colleague and I…we just waited around to see if we could probably get to the airport but everything we read on social media and…news outlets online said the airport was closed, but our flight on British Airways remained uncancelled which was thoroughly confusing and quite a little bit discouraging.”While there has not been “not enough adequate communication” from the airline, Campbell said he believes they are doing the best they can and hopes they learn from this for future situations.Campbell wants to make it home in time to go to Florida for spring break with his “beautiful family and kids who will be disappointed that Dad’s not there today.”Nikoo Sarrafan, another person trying to make the most of the Heathrow Sheraton, told Newsweek: “We were due to fly to Miami…to board a cruise from Miami. Obviously, the ship leaves at a set time so we’re going to miss the start of the cruise now.”He said he and his parents will try their best to make it to Jamaica for the next leg of their cruise on a new Virgin Atlantic plane from Heathrow, which they hope will take off tomorrow.To Sarrafan, the most frustrating part of this experience was that the hotel tried to charge him £400 ( about $516) for a room tonight after charging him £80 last night before the chaos erupted. He said they did not end up paying that much for the room, but dealing with that change was “another stress this morning.”Newsweek reached out to Sheraton and Marriott via email for comment.Chantelle and Kelly, two flight attendants on vacation in the U.K., spoke to Newsweek about their unique predicament. They are airline staff, meaning they travel on standby for free, but only if there are empty seats on the plane they are trying to catch.Given the cancellation of thousands of flights, there are no empty seats on any planes heading back to Nashville, where they are from. They showed Newsweek a list of the European airports where they have been trying to find a flight.
A list of all possible European airports Chantelle and Kelly are trying to find flights from, written down on a napkin.
A list of all possible European airports Chantelle and Kelly are trying to find flights from, written down on a napkin.
Sophie Clark
“We’re used to [standby complications] anyway, but now it’s just making it harder because even if we get to any of these places in Europe, we can’t get out. So Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Paris—even if we get over to Canada, we can’t get out. So yeah, we just need to get back to the U.S.,” they said.Their advice for stuck travelers?”You’re just gonna have to bear down and realize that it’s gonna take the airlines multiple days to get everything back online,” they said. They explained that not only are travelers stranded, but “you have crew members that are completely stranded all over the world at this point.”Due to flight diversions, crew members are either not in the right place to work on their next scheduled flight or must fulfill their rest requirements before re-boarding a plane.Kelly and Chantelle warned that it could take up to five days to get everyone’s schedules back to normal.Despite the frustration, the lack of communication, and the delays, passengers shared a desire for people to be patient with the airline staff.Campbell told Newsweek: “I hope we have enough grace in our hearts to extend to those that are working hard to try to get this resolved.”
