British Airways experienced a major IT outage that temporarily grounded flights, took the airline’s bug-ridden website offline, and cut off both external and internal phone lines.
Passengers started to report problems at around 5:30 pm on Monday, with some saying that they were stuck onboard BA planes as they awaited clearance to take off.
In some cases, passengers said that the pilots had been trying to keep them informed of the developing situation but that the crew was as much in the dark as everyone else because the airline’s internal phone system had crashed.
The cause of the latest operational meltdown remains a mystery, but after several hours, the airline’s press team told us: “Our flights are currently operating, but are experiencing delays as our teams work to resolve a technical issue affecting some of our systems.”
Passengers trying to book or change flights and check in on BA’s website were greeted with a message telling them that the website was “experiencing high demand” and could, therefore, not be loaded.
Other passengers took to social media site X to voice their frustrations as they waited in line at check-in desks that could no longer process them due to the outage.
Dr Stephen Ashbury was stuck on British Airways flight 535 from Naples, which had been grounded because the pilots couldn’t get clearance to depart. “Captain – looking frustrated and embarrassed – came into the cabin to tell us that he cannot contact British Airways,” Dr Ashbury wrote.
Website problem tracking service Down Detector recorded a significant spike in issues with the British Airways website and app on Monday evening.
Of course, British Airways is no stranger to IT woes, having experienced a number of computer meltdowns in recent years. The two most recent issues were connected to a vital flight planning system that provides detailed route information and other essential data that pilots need before a flight can be despatched.
