British Airways passengers were sent an email midair saying that the 2nd leg of their flight had been canceled

• British Airways passengers got an email mid-air saying their connecting flight was canceled.
• Staff couldn't locate their luggage at Heathrow and they had to travel to Edinburgh without bags.

Three British Airlines passengers say they got an email mid-air informing them that their connecting flight had been canceled.

The passengers told Insider that their flights from the US to Edinburgh, Scotland to watch the British Open golf tournament had been hit by the spate of cancelations affecting airlines worldwide.

Raynee Graeff, Victoria Esparza, and Robert Esparza left Austin, Texas on Sunday night for London Heathrow, where they were due to take another flight to Edinburgh in Scotland. They had booked their tickets through American Airlines, but the flights were being operated by British Airways – one of its codeshare partners in the OneWorld alliance.

However, Robert Esparza said that they received an email while they were en route to Heathrow saying that the flight to Edinburgh due to depart at 11:45 a.m. UK time had been canceled. The email American Airlines sent to Graeff was sent at 6:43 p.m. Austin time – just after their flight took off.

They didn't get the email until landing at Heathrow at about 9:50 a.m. – just two hours before the second flight had been due to depart.

The subject of the email read: "Please call to book a new flight."

"One of your flights was canceled and we were unable to rebook your trip from LHR to EDI," American Airlines said in the email, which was viewed by Insider. The email did not give a reason for the cancellation. "We're sorry for the change to your travel plans."

American Airlines said that passengers could call their helpline to rebook their flight, request a refund, or use the value of their ticket as credit for a future trip.

On Monday, Heathrow asked airlines to cancel 61 flights scheduled for that day, saying that it expected more passengers that it could cope with at terminals 3 and 5. British Airways uses terminal 5 as its main base.

Graeff had booked her trip in November and spent $1,291 on return flights, according to her booking confirmation viewed by Insider.

The passengers said that they had not been able to book seats on another flight to Edinburgh and instead took a train, arriving at their accommodation at about 1 a.m. Of the 12 BA flights from Heathrow to Edinburgh on Monday, five were canceled and only one departed on time.

All three passengers told Insider that they also hadn't received their hold luggage after landing at Heathrow and had to go to Edinburgh without it.

Graeff said that they had been told that they would be reimbursed for the canceled flight, train tickets, clothes, and cosmetics, within reason, but that she hadn't yet received any compensation.

Separately, two other passengers traveling with two small children told Insider that BA had canceled their Monday flight from Heathrow to Frankfurt, where they were due to connect with a flight to Hong Kong, with only a few hours notice.

They said this was the second time BA had canceled part of their flight back to Hong Kong, although they had received advance notice of the first cancellation.

The passengers said BA had no other flights available so were forced to book with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul. British Airways' flight tracker shows that three of its five flights from Heathrow to Frankfurt on Monday were canceled.

Have you been affected by current travel disruptions? Or do you work at an airport or for an airline that's swamped by staffing and cancelation chaos? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.