British Airways travelers still facing cancellations
LONDON — British Airways said “many” of its IT systems were back up and running yesterday, but travelers still faced cancellations and delays after a global computer failure grounded hundreds of flights.
BA chief executive Alex Cruz said the airline was running a “near-full operation” at London’s Gatwick Airport and planned to operate all scheduled longhaul services from Heathrow. But he said there will still be delays, as well as some canceled short-haul flights.
BA canceled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick Saturday after the IT outage, which it blamed on a power-supply problem. The glitch threw the plans of thousands of travelers into disarray, on what is a holiday weekend in Britain.
BA operates hundreds of flights from Heathrow and Gatwick on a typical day — and both are major hubs for worldwide travel.
Cruz apologized in a video statement, saying “I know this has been a horrible time for customers.”
Passengers faced hourslong lines to check in, reclaim lost luggage or rebook flights at Terminal 5, BA’s hub at Heathrow. Cruz said that to reduce overcrowding, travelers will only be let into the terminal 90 minutes before their flights.
Passengers — some of whom had spent the night at the airport — faced frustrating waits to learn if and when they could fly out.
“Everyone is upset. There’s people in tears,” said Melanie Ware, who flew in from Los Angeles and was trying to get to Venice on her honeymoon.
“We rebooked for Venice for tonight, which they also have canceled now,” she told Sky News. “So we have no way of getting out of Heathrow and they haven’t compensated us for anything, and we’re stuck and this is the worst honeymoon ever.
“British Airways has ruined our honeymoon.”