Many passengers flying with British Airways found that their flights had been significantly delayed on Monday night after technical difficulties plagued the airline. The hold-ups concerned flights departing from the US and the Caribbean.
IT issues
British Airways have blamed flight delays and disruptions on a “technical” issue with its flight plans which left flights unable to take off. Dozens of the airline’s transatlantic flights were delayed and cancelled due to the problem, leaving numerous passengers affected just days before Christmas. Many had been trying to get home for Christmas but found that the British Airways malfunction had ruined their travel plans.
The airline explained that the complication was due to issues with its third-party flight planning supplier, with passengers experiencing delays in several US cities, including New York and Miami. Long haul flights between Heathrow Airport and the US and Canada were amongst the most badly affected, as well as arrivals from Cancun at Gatwick Airport. Fortunately, those on short-haul flights and flights that had already departed were unaffected by the issue as it was not a matter of safety.
Unhappy passengers
Amongst the thousands of British Airways passengers stranded worldwide was actress and model Elizabeth Hurley, who was left stuck in Antigua. Hurley was one of many travellers who took to social media to vent their frustration. Posting on Twitter, the 57-year-old actress detailed that her plane had been delayed by 20 hours. She also criticized the service received, complaining that they had “no food or water, taxis or hotels offered yet.”
Other passengers were reportedly made to wait on the tarmac for hours, with some opting to sleep in the aisles. There have also been claims that people must wait several hours for their luggage.
With the issues occurring so close to the border force strikes and soon after delays due to cold weather, there will likely be severe knock-on effects for those flying throughout Christmas.
BA Apologises For Technical Difficulties
Hours after releasing a statement on Tuesday morning which explained the issue, British Airways did confirm that the problem had been fixed. In a statement, the airline said, “Our teams have now resolved a temporary issue that affected some of our long-haul flight planning systems overnight, which resulted in delays to our schedule. We’re sorry for the disruption caused to our customers’ travel plans.”
Have you experienced anything similar with British Airways? Let us know in the comments.
