A technical issue caused dozens of British Airways (BA) flights to remain grounded Monday evening, leaving passengers stuck across Europe, missing connecting flights and even just waiting in the cold on the tarmac.
The problem, that has since been solved, affected communications the airline’s communications systems, affecting contact channels between pilots and operations centres and even internal phones.
“Our flights are currently operating but are experiencing delays as our teams work to resolve a technical issue affecting some of our systems. We’ve apologised to customers for delays to their flights and ensured they were able to reach their destinations as planned”, an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport air traffic control had to manage the hectic situation and not let the delayed BA flights affect the rest of its operations. “The technical issue impacting British Airways has now been resolved. Our teams remain on hand to support British Airways to help passengers on their way as quickly as possible”, the airport said after the issue was fixed.
The problem, which lasted from around 5:45 pm to 8:45 pm GMT not only affected departures, but also the airline’s website and app. In the lack of any live updates, passengers took to the BA website and app to check if they can find any information, probably causing the company’s systems to overrun, leaving both the website and app inaccessible, just showing the message: “We are experiencing a high demand on ba.com at the moment. Thank you for your patience.”
Passengers took to social media to express their dissatisfaction and frustration with the airline. “Absolute shambles three flights cancelled this month and now being made to stand on the tarmac in a very cold Verona waiting for an already delayed flight. What has happened to the nations airline? Not fit for purpose”, one person wrote on X.
“British Airways appear to have had a major IT outage…again. Flight currently grounded, captain currently furious. Sass flying at about 45,000 feet as he gives fantastic passive aggressive updates. He can’t get hold of anyone for an update @British_Airways can you help?” another shared, amused by the pilot’s own frustration with the lack of communications.
Although most of the flights to and from Heathrow Airport were delayed for up to two hours, it does not seem any cancellations ensued from the IT outage. According to the Independent, around 8 BA flights to and from the London travel hub were cancelled on Tuesday, but these are believed to be unrelated to the Monday evening issue.
