When will they learn? Chaos at airports worldwide as British Airways' new IT system suffers a FIFTH glitch in just THREE MONTHS causing heavy passenger delays at check-in desks
- Many passengers travelling with British Airways today are facing delays after IT glitch affected check-in
- Airline suffered a major IT malfunction with check-in systems affected worldwide - particularly in the U.S.
- The technical issues meant airline staff were forced to check passengers in by hand at some major airports
- Pictures show chaotic scenes at airports with travellers left in lengthy queues with their bags at check-in
- British Airways' new 'FLY' check-in system has been besieged by problems - crashing five times in 3 months
Passengers travelling with British Airways today face significant delays as yet another IT glitch caused serious problems with the airline's check-in systems around the world.
Travellers across the UK and U.S. have already complained of lengthy queues due to the technical problem, and passengers are warned the heavy delays may continue.
It is the latest in a series of technical glitches with BA's new 'FLY' check-in system which was rolled out in June in a bid to speed-up passengers' journeys. However, the system has been besieged by problems with five serious malfunctions in just three months causing huge delays to thousands of passengers around the globe.
Pictures of the chaos posted online today show passengers stranded with their bags at check-in desks in major airports around the world including London Gatwick, Heathrow, Edinburgh and Newcastle in the UK, and Chicago O'Hare International Airport, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Atlanta and Seattle in the US.
The 'worldwide computer glitch' is also causing problems in the Bahamas, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Toronto, Berlin, Vienna, Rome and Durban, South Africa.
One irate passenger said his 'five hour delay' was 'unacceptable' as a BA spokesman confirmed the check-in process at the British airports was 'a bit slower than usual'.
Scroll down for video
Travellers across the UK and U.S. have already complained of lengthy queues due to the IT glitch which is affecting British Airways check-in desks around the world. Passengers are being forced to wait while each is checked-in manually. Pictured: Seattle International Airport
Pictures of the chaos posted online show passengers stranded with their bags at check-in desks in major airports around the world including London Gatwick and Chicago O'Hare International Airport, San Francisco, Atlanta and Seattle in the US (the latter is pictured)
This Twitter user complained of a 'long night' ahead in the BA lounge at Seattle Airport, U.S., as she waited among scores of other passengers for the delayed flight back to London Heathrow
This graphics shows the airports around the world where passengers suffered some sort of delay due to the technical glitch
British Airways began installing its new system at airports across the world in October and the roll-out was completed around two months ago.
BA, which is run by parent company IAG after it merged with Spanish giant Iberia in 2011, is in the process of cutting costs, including across its IT department.
However, the new IT system has caused a host of problems with workers complaining that it crashes 'all the time'. One source claimed earlier this year that check-in staff have even been reduced to tears by regular glitches.
The latest computer glitch is the fifth BA systems failure in just over three months, with similar problems on June 19, July 7, July 13 and again on July 18.
Earlier on today, Ewan Crawford, of Glasgow, told how he was stranded at Chicago's International Airport.
He tweeted: 'Never a good sign when they deliver water to the gate! Waiting at ORD for @British-Airways 296. Worldwide computer outage apparently! Hmm.'
Michelle Poole added: '4 hrs delayed & still @ gate. Baggage loading machine broken. Check in system crashed. @BritishAirways you can do better than this.'
Another passenger, flying from Scotland, complained of the delays ahead of her flight to London's Heathrow.
She wrote: 'Shocking service this am checking in for LHR. Even had to look after a sick passenger cos of the long wait to check in,' before sharing a number of 'angry face' emojis.
Another passenger stranded at Toronto Airport in Canada said: 'I guess the check in application is down and it's worldwide.'
Matthew Walker said he waited for more than two hours to board his flight back to London's Heathrow Airport from San Francisco overnight.
The 29-year-old financial analyst, who lives in London but is originally from Australia, checked in online before arriving to catch his flight but said staff on the ground could not access their computer systems to see which passengers had gone through security.
Speaking from the airport, he said: 'People were lining up, some had already checked in and got through security, but others, when this thing happened, whatever it is, were stuck in the check-in queue.
'So they (the staff) have the problem that they didn't know who had already gone through the gate because all the systems literally just had a meltdown, basically.'
Angry travellers across the UK and U.S. have already complained of lengthy queues this morning due to the IT glitch which is affecting British Airways check-in desks around the world. Pictured: Travellers wait with their bags at the check-in section of Seattle Airport, U.S.
Pictures of the chaos posted online show passengers stranded with their bags at check-in desks in major airports around the world including London Gatwick and Seattle, U.S. (above)
Anna Walters Hewson shared this image of her sleeping child as she begged British Airways to resolve its delays. She was travelling from Denver Airport, U.S, back to London Heathrow. She wrote: 'Seriously @British_Airways we've already been delayed 3hrs, PLEASE give us our bags'
British Airways has suffered an IT glitch on its new 'FLY' check-in system around the world. This image was taken at San Francisco Airport by a traveller waiting to fly back to Heathrow
Meanwhile, one passenger shared a letter on Twitter which appeared to have been handed out by British Airways staff to passengers hoping to travel to London Heathrow from San Francisco today.
It said the airline had been forced to switch to a 'manual' check-in process after the IT glitch wiped out its entire online system - meaning all passengers would be checked-in by hand.
The letter said: 'Please accept out apologies for the delay to check-in today. At this time we are experiencing problems with the computer systems.
'As a result, in order to continue to check-in, in absence of the computer system, we will be using a manual fallback process.
'Once we begin, check-in will be slower than normal, as information has to be recorded by hand.
The airline added: 'We have been in contact with the relevant departments who are doing all they can to rectify the problem as soon as possible. However, we are unable to ascertain a time when we might expect the systems to be functional again.
'Whilst we endeavour to provide as close to a normal service as possible there are some aspects that we will not be able to fulfill, such as seat changes after check-in, we as for your understanding with this please.'
A flight radar graphic shows the British Airways flights currently in situ around the world
BA check-in systems at London Gatwick Airport were shut this morning due to the IT glitch
One passenger shared a letter on Twitter which appeared to have been handed out by British Airways staff to passengers hoping to travel to London Heathrow from San Francisco today
British Airways also took to Twitter to assure passengers it was doing 'everything possible' to resolve the problem, although it was unable to confirm when it would be fixed.
A spokesman said: 'We apologise to our customers for the delay and we appreciate their patience as our IT teams work to resolve this issue.
'Our colleagues are doing everything possible to check in customers for their journey.'
The airline was still suffering technical issues at 6.15am. It added on Twitter: 'Hi there, our IT team are continuing to work behind the scenes to resolve the issue.
'In the meantime our outstations are doing all they can to support our passengers locally, and check-in has been enabled at some airports.'
Staff with clipboards were writing manual boarding passes for passengers, one delayed traveller at Seattle Airport said.
Passengers were quick to take to Twitter to bemoan the lengthy queues and check-in delays. It is not known where this picture was taken, although it shows lengthy delays this morning
A BA spokesman confirmed passengers were being checked in at London Heathrow and Gatwick but said the process would be 'a bit slower than usual'.
Asked where the IT problems are, the spokesman said: 'It is patchy.'
Passengers at Heathrow Terminal 5 reported waits of about 45 minutes to check-in.
Elaine and Paul Barnett, who had come from Sheffield to travel to Sardinia, said the process had taken 'longer than usual' and they had been required to give extra details once they reached the desk.
'You really have to get here early and expect that it's busy,' Ms Barnett said.
Meanwhile, Patrick Darby, from Dulwich, who was travelling to Russia, said he had not kept track of how long the queue had taken.
'There was a hold-up when nothing seemed to happen but that has eased up now,' he said.
A BA spokesman added to MailOnline: 'We would encourage customers to check-in online before they reach the airport.
'We had a problem with our check-in systems which affected check-in for flights from the US. The check in system is now working and customers are being checked in as normal in London and overseas.
'It affected a number of our airports but we are now checking in normally.'
One passenger showed their 'manual' check-in boarding pass while others moaned of delays
The technical glitch comes just months after British Airways bosses were told their new computer check-in system, called FLY, was 'not fit for purpose'.
A survey by GMB of 700 staff in June found that 89 per cent said training was poor, 94 cent suffered delays or system failures and 76 per cent said their health had suffered because of stress or anger aimed at them by frustrated passengers.
Last month, TV presenter Phillip Schofield had an online meltdown after missing his British Airways flight on one of the busiest flying days of the year.
The TV star, 54, waited for two hours after the airline's check-in computer system stopped working at the flagship Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow, before having to go home again.
The IT glitch also hit Gatwick and caused huge queues as hundreds of thousands of families start going away for their summer holidays. Long queues snaked across terminal buildings as irate passengers said BA workers were nowhere to be seen or 'pretending to be on the phone'.
In a series of social media posts, Mr Schofield said: 'In the queue two hours and not one member of staff to talk to. Love you usually, today you are s***'.
He added: 'There's no announcements, no info when the planes left, no help at all'.
BA WERE WARNED BY STAFF THE NEW CHECK-IN SYSTEM WAS 'NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE' - SO, WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUSHING THROUGH THE TROUBLED OVERHAUL?
Last month it emerged hundreds of staff at British Airways are set to lose their jobs after an Indian firm was hired to manage its computer systems. A raft of IT workers were already made redundant in February when Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) signed the contract with BA.
The company, which also owns Ireland's Aer Lingus, has been amalgamating the buying, IT and finance departments as a cost cutting measure.
It has set up a new division of its business in Krakow, Poland, and the airline has begun flying in staff from India to replace UK workers after signing a contract with Tata Consultancy Services to provide IT support, the GMB union claims.
Top brass: IAG's Global Head of IT Operations is Adrian Steel, pictured with Kylie Minogue, who describes himself on LinkedIn as a 'transformational leader' while Steve Harding, right, is Head of IT Operations and Infrastructure at British Airways
IAG's Global Head of IT Operations is Adrian Steel, who describes himself on LinkedIn as a 'transformational leader with the experience, energy, enthusiasm'.
He also says he is 'responsible for driving the creation of a world class shared services' between BA and its other airlines including Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus.
Mr Steel, who lives in Spain, posted a picture of himself with Kylie Minogue at a charity gala, and is a football fan who secured tickets for several of England's Euro 2016 games and travelled to France in June.
He has regularly flown to Krakow and India to work with the company's business partners there.
Steve Harding is Head of IT Operations and Infrastructure at British Airways.
He describes himself on LinkedIn as a 'charismatic leader with excellent communication and motivational skills'. He has worked for BA's IT department since at least 1999 and is based in London.
It is not known if either Mr Steel or Mr Harding are in charge of the problematic check-in system. BA has previously refused to 'confirm details of individual members of the company'.
A few hours later, having given up, he said: 'On our way back home then @British_Airways'.
British Airways began installing its new system at airports across the world in October and the roll-out was completed around two months ago.
BA, which is run by parent company IAG after it merged with Spanish giant Iberia in 2011, is in the process of cutting costs, including across its IT department.
However, the new IT system has caused a host of problems with workers complaining that it crashes 'all the time'. One source claimed earlier this year that check-in staff have even been reduced to tears by regular glitches.
The latest computer glitch is the fifth BA systems failure in just over three months, with similar problems on June 19, July 7, July 13 and again on July 18.
WHY IS BA'S NEW CHECK-IN SYSTEM SUCH A FAILURE? WITH FIVE FAILURES IN THREE MONTHS, THE IT SYSTEM THAT WAS MEANT TO MODERNISE CHECK-IN IS A DISASTER
It was finally introduced in June after months of being installed with hopes it could modernise airport check-in.
But BA's new check-in system 'FLY' has been besieged by problems - breaking down a whopping five times in less than three months and bringing miserable delays to thousands of passengers around the world.
The airline had branded its new system 'intuitive' and 'legacy replacing' but staff say it crashes 'all the time' and is not fit for purpose. Work began to install it from October and it was finally rolled out worldwide in June.
The software is meant to be able to conduct every aspect of a passenger's check-in, from the seats they are allocated and the baggage they are allowed to bring on. It is also meant to be capable of handling the checking of documents such as passports - or photo ID for UK flights - as well as visas for countries like the US.
But desk staff have repeatedly complained about a so-called 'doughnut of doom' which can appear when they try to work through the system. And as they wait for it to catch up, lengthy queues form causing major delays.
TV presenter Phillip Schofield was among those to berate the airline for the delays when it suffered yet another IT glitch on July 18. He took to Twitter to blog his ordeal after missing his BA flight on one of the busiest flying days of the year
Delays were first reported at Terminal 5, London Heathrow just weeks after the system was rolled out. On June 19, the queues were seen snaking around the terminal building as airline staff desperately tried to combat the malfunctioning site
Some staff are said to be completely stressed out by the check-in software and even cry on the way to work because they fear what will happen if there are more problems.
The system first broke down on June 19, just weeks after first being introduced. Both of London's major airports were affected with people moaning of 'hour-long' delays when the IT glitch brought down the check-in systems and boarding gate systems.
The system then suffered another failure on July 7, with some holidaymakers even turned away from their flights due to the chaos. Two-hour, seven-lane queues formed at all BA check-in gates at Terminal 5 at London Heathrow as staff struggled to deal with the huge numbers of people. First and business class passengers were the worst affected.
The IT glitch came as several families were looking to get away on holiday after private and Scottish school terms ended for the summer. There were also claims that there were not enough seats on flights because of allocation problems with the booking system, while a couple was also turned away from a flight to Japan where they were due to marry.
Less than a week later and the check-in system broke down yet again. On July 13, lengthy queues formed once again at Terminal 5, Heathrow after the 'FLY' system suffered further technical problems.
British Airways customers (pictured) were left standing in huge queues at Heathrow after an computer problem on July 7
Two-hour, seven-lane queues formed at all BA check-in gates at Terminal 5 at London Heathrow on July 7 (pictured) as staff struggled to deal with the huge numbers of people. First and business class passengers were the worst affected by the issue
There were further delays at Heathrow (pictured) on July 7 when the system suffered its third outage in a matter of weeks
Five days later it broke down once again and on this occasion TV presenter Phillip Schofield was among those to berate the airline for the delays. He took to Twitter to live tweet his ordeal after missing his British Airways flight on one of the busiest flying days of the year.
The TV star, 54, waited for two hours after the airline's check-in computer system stopped working at the flagship Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow, before having to go home again.
The IT glitch also hit Gatwick and caused huge queues as hundreds of thousands of families start going away for their summer holidays. Long queues snaked across terminal buildings as irate passengers said BA workers were nowhere to be seen or 'pretending to be on the phone'.
In a series of social media posts, Mr Schofield said: 'In the queue two hours and not one member of staff to talk to. Love you usually, today you are s***'. He added: 'There's no announcements, no info when the planes left, no help at all'.
A few hours later, having given up, he said: 'On our way back home then @British_Airways'.
Today's latest glitch comes after BA, which is run by parent company IAG after it merged with Spanish giant Iberia in 2011, revealed it is in the process of cutting costs, including across its IT department.
Passengers were left bemoaning the check-in issues at Heathrow in July (above) after the system went down several times
Upset: Long queues snaked across Heathrow terminals on July 18 (pictured) as irate passengers said BA workers were nowhere to be seen or 'pretending to be on the phone' during one of the several IT glitches affecting the check-in system
Most watched News videos
-
Hillary Clinton is caught up in a marathon coughing fit and...
-
Heartbreak for Florida grandmother, 65, told to tear down...
-
Pit bull savages a tiny beagle in front of its owner who...
-
NYC teacher, 23, breaks her back after plunging off a 150ft...
-
Kanye West faces furious backlash after putting out casting...
-
Playboy model who mocked pensioner's body at the gym is set...
-
Legendary former Apple engineer, 54, is REJECTED for a job...
-
MMA fighter Marcus Kowal's 15-month-old son is killed after...
-
Burning Man on lock down: Cops closed the only road out of...
-
Is this proof that China is arming North Korea? Missiles...
-
Don't tell social services! How a new book proves that...
-
The moment Andrew Bolt is left speechless after US...
When IT systems were run and managed in the UK, the...
by iSay 109