A failure in the information technology which is crucial to the operations of British Airways at its London Heathrow Airport hub, London Gatwick Airport hub, and London City Airport hub forced the beleaguered airline to delay, cancel and reschedule greater than 500 flights earlier today, Wednesday, August 7, 2019…
Another System Failure Impacts British Airways Operations August 7 2019
…and the “domino effect” has spread to airports which serve Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, and many European destinations when incoming flights failed to arrive.
The system issue has been resolved, according to this message which was posted at the official Internet web site of British Airways:
We have resolved the temporary systems issue from this morning which affected a number of our flights today.
We apologise to all our customers caught up in the disruption, and appreciate how frustrating their experience has been.
https://twitter.com/British_Airways/status/1159030654979530752
The damage, however, has been done and is still occurring.
Affected customers on short-haul flights may rebook their flights for another day through Tuesday, August 13, 2019 with no penalty. According to this message, which was also posted at the official Internet web site of British Airways:
Summary
We have resolved the temporary systems issue from this morning which affected a number of our flights today.
We apologise to all our customers caught up in the disruption, and appreciate how frustrating their experience has been.
More information
Our teams have been working tirelessly to get the vast majority of customers on their way, with most of our flights departing.
Our flights are returning to normal, however there may be some knock-on operational disruption as a result of the issue earlier today.
We continue to advise customers to check ba.com for the latest flight information before coming to the airport.
Check the status of your flight
The situation may be liable to change at short notice, so please keep checking the details of your flight before travelling to the airport.
> Check the status of your flight
You can also check your flight status on your mobile phone.
What to do if your flight has been cancelled
If your flight has been cancelled, please do not travel to the airport. We have a policy in place outlining the options available to you and how to make changes to your booking.
Tens of thousands of customers — many of whom experienced winding long queues and were either stranded or delayed — who were affected by the system failure are obviously not happy; but at least members of the social media team at British Airways have been proactive in responding to disgruntled passengers.
So Alex Cruz's IT system again!!!!! Seriously he has to go. All the old IT wizards left saying the system was useless & what has happened since?????!!!! They have already been fined $183m over the system,failure after failure & now this. Seriously the man has ruined BA.
— Martin Keeping (@Cmdr_Sparks) August 7, 2019
@British_Airways @BBCNews – here we go again! Chaos! This is only half of one queue! My flight cancelled as are 100’s of others. I had checked-in so need my bag back – others told as checked-in can’t leave T5 without checking out! Happy 100th anniversary #BA pic.twitter.com/xr0DRUieQh
— Darren Rowe (@djrowe149) August 7, 2019
Still sitting on the runway, an hour after landing at Heathrow. 9 hours on a 4.5 hour flight! Nice one BA.
— Carri Mallard (@CarriMallard) August 7, 2019
Not the First System Failure
This is not the first time that the system which is critical to the operations of British Airways has failed. A significant global disruption of the operations of British Airways occurred on Saturday, May 27, 2017 for many hours due to what the airline called a “major IT system failure”.
The airline is also far from the only one which has suffered a technological meltdown which affected its operations in recent years. Two of many examples include Delta Air Lines — which suffered from a system outage in 2016 and again in 2017 — and United Airlines also experienced one in 2017.
Not the Only Headache For British Airways
https://twitter.com/cyclepervert/status/1159032882737926144
For an airline which will be celebrating 100 years in business on Sunday, August 25, 2019, it has experienced what seems to be more than its fair share of disruptions and impediments:
- An emergency landing of a Airbus A321-200 airplane — which operated as British Airways flight BA422 from London Heathrow Airport — occurred at its destination of Valencia in Spain on Monday, August 5, 2019 after the cabin reportedly filled with smoke while the aircraft descended during the remaining ten minutes of the flight.
- The British Airline Pilots’ Association — which is also known as BALPA — revealed the results of a ballot on Monday, July 22, 2019 through which 93 percent of the turnout of 90 percent of pilots who voted are in favor of industrial action and may go on strike. This potential industrial action is one of at least five other strikes which may affect travel to, from or within the United Kingdom, most of which are centered around pay disputes.
- If you were one of the greater than 380,000 customers who may have been affected by a breach of the security systems of British Airways in September of 2018, you may qualify to claim up to £1,500.00, if one law firm is successful in its class action suit against the airline.
Summary
Remember that the legislation of European Union regulation EC 261/2004 requires airlines operating in Europe to ensure that passengers are rebooked on flights to reach their final destinations at the earliest opportunity possible — even if those flights are operated by other airlines. That is another option which is available to you if you are affected by the aforementioned system failure. If you do decide to file a claim and the airline refuses it, you can complete and submit this complaint form…
…and as outlined in Article 9 of that regulation, you may also be eligible for what is known as Duty of Care during an extensive delay of your flight — which may include the reimbursement of such items as meals and lodging after you first pay for them.
As for British Airways, I hope that the airline can resolve as many of its issues as possible so that its 100 years in business can truly be celebrated in a positive manner on Sunday, August 25, 2019; and that the airline will improve overall thereafter.
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
