British Airways says it is operating a full service out of Gatwick and a full long-haul service out of Heathrow today, following a worldwide computer system crash.
It is not yet clear what caused the outage. Speaking to customers via videos posted on the BA Twitter account, the company's chairman and CEO, Alex Cruz, said, "I know this has been a horrible time for customers."
— British Airways (@British_Airways) May 28, 2017
This is not the first time the airline's IT infrastructure has caused severe issues. Last September a 'glitch' with the check-in systems saw thousands of passengers face huge delays.
When asked what caused that particular issue at the time, a spokeswoman for BA said: “It is patchy.”
Grillin
Passengers who are facing into the third day of uncertainty have taken to Twitter to vent their frustrations.
@British_Airways We can't rebook flights, or file lost baggage claims, either online or on the phone. Always preferred BA for customer service. Never again.
— Stu Chapman (@StuChapman) May 28, 2017
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk this morning, Sky News reporter Enda Brady said it has been a disaster weekend for the airline and, indeed, the passengers.
"It's a bank holiday here, it's half term so the kids are off school. A lot of families go away to France, to Spain, to Italy, to Greece this week. Many, many people haven't gone anywhere because of British Airways and this system glitch that they've had."
It is thought that the amount of compensation paid out to customers could add up to some £100 million.
The company's chief executive, Alex Cruz has not come out to speak with media or customers directly. Brady told Pat Kenny that the company is managing its PR in a very controlled way.
"Reporters and journalists aren't getting the chance to grill him or just ask why did this glitch happen and why wasn't there a backup system in place?"
