Staff reporter(wp):
Disruption from a major British Airways IT failure that affected more than 1,000 flights on Saturday has continued into a second day, leaving more passengers stranded.
After all the airline’s flights from Heathrow and Gatwick were grounded on Saturday, services resumed but with cancellations and delays.
By 11am, 36 flights from Heathrow had been cancelled and 36 had departed, the BBC reported. There were no cancellations at Gatwick but passengers experienced delays of about 30 minutes.
Both airports advised passengers to check the status of their flights after terminals became congested on Saturday with travellers hoping to get away for the long weekend and half-term school holiday.
Welsh international table tennis player Chloe Thomas, whose 7.30am flight to Germany for the World Table Tennis Championship in Düsseldorf was cancelled at the last minute after she arrived four hours before the scheduled departure time, described chaotic scenes.
“It’s chaos, people are running about all over the place trying to rebook,” she said. “There’s no one to help, no leadership. There are lots of people everywhere. There’s nowhere to sit, so people are just lying on the floor, sleeping on yoga mats.”
She said airport staff had handed out the mats, as well as thin blankets, for people who were stuck there overnight. She added that one of the shops had already sold out of food. Passengers faced long lines to check in, rebook or find lost luggage.
Melanie Ware, who flew in from Los Angeles and was trying to get to Venice on her honeymoon, told Sky News: “We rebooked for Venice for tonight, which they also have cancelled now. 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.”
King’s Cross station in London was packed with people trying to make their way north, with travellers queuing out of the doors and on to the platform for the 9am train to Edinburgh.
Those that could not get on ran to the doors of the next service at 9.30am when the platform was announced, but were met with a warning from the train guard that seats could not be guaranteed for all passengers.
Some passengers lucky enough to board one of the few flights taking off on Saturday later found their luggage had not made it on to the plane with them.
Terry Page, 28, from London, flew from Heathrow to Fort Worth, Texas, where he and about 50 other passengers were told they would have to wait until Monday before being reunited with their bags.
BA, which is facing huge compensation costs as a result of the disruption, was unable to say how many flights would be cancelled or how for long the disruption was likely to continue. Experts predict the knock-on effect, with many planes not in the right place, could continue for several days
The airline said it was aiming to operate a near-normal schedule at Gatwick and the majority of services from Heathrow on Sunday.
A spokesman said: “Our focus is on updating customers and doing what we can to get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.”
The glitch is believed to have been caused by a power supply issue and there is no evidence of a cyber-attack, the airline said. It has denied a claim by the GMB union that BA’s decision to outsource hundreds of IT jobs to India last year was behind the problems.
There were issues with its online check-in systems in September and July last year, causing severe delays for passengers.
Cancelled flight? Know your rights
Passengers have some rights under EU law to claim compensation for delayed or cancelled flights for services that departed within the EU or were operated by a European airline.
Delays of more than three hours for short-haul flights (up to 1,500km or 930 miles) get compensation of €250 (£218); while the figure is €400 for medium-haul trips (1,500km to 3,500km).
For long-haul flights (more than 3,500km), delays of between three and four hours have compensation set at €300; for delays longer than four hours the figure is €600.
Airlines are required to give passengers food and drinks for delays of more than two hours, as well as hotel accommodation for overnight delays and transfers.
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