Gatwick flightmare
Staff forced to write departure info on boards after IT glitch blanks screens
HOLIDAYMAKERS faced farcical scenes at Gatwick yesterday after an IT glitch left staff forced to write flight information on whiteboards or use megaphones.
The fault, blamed on a damaged cable, meant that the departure screens displayed the wrong information and had to be switched off.
The problem started on Sunday night, affecting passengers arriving at the North and South Terminals for the first wave of early morning flights yesterday. It was not fixed until just after 5pm yesterday.
Staff at Gatwick, the UK’s second busiest airport, were seen ‘scurrying around’ with marker pens and erasers so they could write flights details on whiteboards. Passengers looked on in bemusement as staff received flight information on their walkie talkies before writing it down with felt tip pens.
Staff then announced flight details on megaphones for those not close enough to read the handwriting.
Huge queues jostled for information to ensure they did not miss their flight.
Gatwick apologised for the debacle and blamed Vodafone, which provides the systems. It said only a ‘handful’ of passengers had missed flights and ‘tens of thousands’ had departed on time.
But the episode was met with frustration and ridicule from passengers, coming at the height of the summer break as many families flew off ahead of the August Bank Holiday. It is the latest in a string of IT glitches at major airports, including Heathrow and Stansted.
Ayla Herbert, 26, from Penryn, Cornwall, was at Gatwick for a Flybe flight to Newquay when she encountered a crowd gathered around two whiteboards after passing through security.
She said: ‘ Each flight was written down, flight number, time of departure, time of when boarding would be announced and eventually the gate number.
‘This crowd over the hours grew larger and larger. Being in the entrance way of the departures it got incredibly busy, people were agitated, yelling for them to tell them their flight info and to get more boards for the South Terminal. This was never done. The guys did well keeping everyone updated, but it was hard to see if you weren’t close to the board. They used megaphones to tell everyone of updated information.’
Many passengers expressed their frustration on Twitter, with one describing scenes of ‘absolute carnage’. Felix Renicks wrote: ‘Nutty scenes at Gatwick: All the departure boards are broken, so one poor man is having gate numbers dictated by phone to write on a whiteboard.’
Rob Fahey said: ‘ Utter chaos. This is a signature flourish at the end of a short trip that’s been full of reminders of how badly the UK’s infrastructure is crumbling.’
Elizabeth Humphries tweeted that the situation was ‘ appalling’, adding: ‘Thank goodness I have eaglevision and can read messy writing from a distance.’
Gatwick said some of the departure screens had begun to work normally after lunch and insisted the problem was gradually resolved.
A spokesman for Vodafone said it had identified a ‘damaged fibre cable’ used by Gatwick to display flight information. Both it and Gatwick apologised to the passengers affected.
‘Hard to see if you weren’t close’