British Airways Airbus A320-232
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

Another System Failure Impacts British Airways Operations August 7 2019

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.

a screenshot of a computer
Click on the image for an enlarged view. Source: British Airways.

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.

> Re-booking options if your flight has been cancelled

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.

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:

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.

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