System outages resulted in hundreds of British Airways (BA) flights being canceled or delayed Aug. 7.
Problems began early in the morning and affected online and airport check-in systems, forcing ground staff to revert to a manual system that created long lines.
A second system outage affected flight departures. A BA spokesman said no further details were available on the nature of the second problem. Passengers posting to social media from delayed aircraft sitting on the ramp, however, said flight deck crews told them they were unable to receive information necessary to finalize departures.
Both issues have been resolved, BA said shortly after 4 p.m. local time.
The spokesman was unable provide the number of flights affected. The BBC reported at least 117 flights had been canceled at London Heathrow and 10 at London Gatwick, with around 200 services delayed.
The latest problem was BA’s third major IT outage in recent years.
The UK flag carrier said last month it plans to contest a £183 million ($230 million) fine imposed by the UK’s data regulator following a cyberattack in September 2018 that led to the personal data of around 500,000 passengers being compromised.
In July 2018, a problem with what the airline described as “a supplier IT system” led to dozens of flights being canceled. And in May 2017 a power surge resulted in a two-day shutdown of the airline’s IT systems.
During the latest problem, BA offered passengers booked on short-haul services departing from Heathrow, Gatwick or London City a refund or opportunity to rebook on another date. BA was also rebooking passengers on to other airlines.
“We apologize to all our customers caught up in the disruption, and appreciate how frustrating their experience has been,” the airline said. “Our teams have been working tirelessly to get the vast majority of customers on their way, with most of our flights departing.”
Operations were returning to normal, but the airline warned of follow-on problems resulting from earlier cancellations and delays. Passengers were advised to check the BA website for information.
Source:ATW
