We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
BRITISH AIRWAYS SAYS it hopes to resume most flights out of London’s major airports today after a computer systems failure caused chaos for thousands of passengers on a busy holiday weekend.
It warned of some “knock-on disruption” to schedules as aircraft and crews are out of position around the world.
“At this stage we are aiming to operate a near-normal schedule of flights from Gatwick and the majority of our Heathrow services,” it said in a statement.
It advised passengers not to come to the two airports unless they have confirmed bookings.
BA cancelled all its flights out of Heathrow and Gatwick on Saturday after the IT failure, which shut down all of the carrier’s check-in and operational systems and affected call centres and its website.
However it did not appear to be a cyber-attack, according to a video statement by chairman and chief executive Alex Cruz.
Britain is still recovering from a ransomware attack that crippled crucial infrastructure earlier this month.
“We believe the root cause was a power supply issue,” said Cruz, adding that IT teams were working “tirelessly” to fix the problems.
Full refunds will be given to customers who decide they no longer wish to travel, Cruz said.
The outage came on a busy weekend in Britain, where Monday is a public holiday and many schoolchildren are beginning their mid-term break.
An AFP photographer at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 on Saturday said many travellers were waiting outside the departure area with their luggage in “chaotic” scenes.
They were not being allowed inside the terminal for health and safety reasons, prompting some of them to leave in taxis.
“None of your staff know what the heck is going on. Nor do your passengers. Can we have some info please? Chaos here,” tweeted Chris Ship, Royal Editor for ITV News, to BA.
Chris Ship / TwitterHello @British_Airways. None of your staff know what the heck is going on. Nor do your passengers. Can we have some info please? Chaos here
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) May 27, 2017
The carrier said it was “extremely sorry” for causing inconvenience over the holiday period.
The airline has suffered other IT glitches recently, leading to severe delays for passengers in July and September last year.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say