Call for an instant quote 0345 90 80 161
Open Mon to Fri 09:00 - 17:30 | Sat 09:00 - 16:00 (GMT)
Or call 0345 90 80 161
02 June 2017 09:02
BA flights were heavily disrupted over the weekend
British Airways has revealed the cause of an IT shut-down which led to major flight disruption over the Bank Holiday weekend.
The airline indicated that the issues were the result of an "uncontrolled return of power" following an outage, with servers at its data centre physically damaged.
The announcement followed flight cancellations over the weekend, with thousands of people thought to have been impacted.
With the group unable to resume its full schedule until Tuesday (May 30), many of those caught up in the incident will likely be checking over their travel insurance policies.
Questions remain
Initially, the GMB union suggested that the IT problems might have been caused by the contracting of work out to India.
Chief executive Alex Cruz has confirmed that the outsourcing of jobs was not behind the "catastrophic" power failure.
While announcing the real cause of the problems, BA is yet to say what led to the initial power outage and subsequent surge.
Commenting in a statement, the airline said: " There was a loss of power to the UK data centre which was compounded by the uncontrolled return of power which caused a power surge taking out our IT systems. So we know what happened, we just need to find out why.
"It was not an IT failure and had nothing to do with outsourcing of IT, it was an electrical power supply which was interrupted. We are undertaking an exhaustive investigation to find out the exact circumstances and most importantly ensure that this can never happen again."
Cost implications
Experts have indicated that the carrier could face significant compensation costs, potentially running into many millions of pounds.
The group has already emphasised that all relevant European compensation rules will be followed, with extra staff added to its customer relations department.
On Saturday night, some passengers were forced to sleep on yoga mats at Heathrow and Gatwick, as BA flights were cancelled.
Anyone impacted by the weekend's disruption can call a freephone number set up by BA to discuss their issues. The number is 0800 727 800.
02 March 2019
A Flybe flight was forced to abort take-off due to the cabin filling with "smoke" while it was accelerating along the runway at Exeter Airport.
[more...]
01 March 2019
Holidaymakers will soon be able to take advantage of the first direct flight from London to Scotland's Western Isles after Loganair announced three new routes.
28 February 2019
Over one in five women in the UK wrongly think a smear test can detect ovarian cancer, new research has revealed.
27 February 2019
One in 10 UK adults over the age of 40 is living with Type 2 diabetes, new analysis suggests - but the real figure could be much higher.
26 February 2019
British Airways has revealed the second of its series of retro liveries being recreated as part of the airline's 100th birthday celebrations.
23 February 2019
The price of a prescription in England is set to rise again, the Government has announced, in a move some campaigners have called disappointing.
22 February 2019
Just half an hour of exercise every morning could be as effective as drugs at lowering daily blood pressure, research suggests.
21 February 2019
A British man accidentally used the wrong passport to fly from Prague to the UK, leaving his friend stranded in the Czech capital.
19 February 2019
Hundreds of passengers have had their travel plans cancelled following the collapse of airline flybmi.
16 February 2019
Holidaymakers were left fuming after a "lack of clarity" over Brexit led a Romanian airline to cancel flights from Liverpool's John Lennon Airport.
15 February 2019
British Airways celebrated Valentine's Day with a special flight where all members of the cabin crew were couples who work for the airline.
14 February 2019
The "concerning" level of stigma surrounding the human papilloma virus (HPV) could be putting some women off going for vital check-ups, campaigners are warning.