United Kingdom: British Airways (BA) passengers has faced widespread delays on the 18th of November evening due to a technical issue that disrupted the airline’s computer systems. The problems commenced around 17:00 and left many travellers stranded on tarmacs and in terminals across the UK and internationally.
Passengers took to social media to voice their frustration, with reports of delays at airports including Hamburg, Naples, Lyon, and Dusseldorf. One passenger explained waiting in the cold on the tarmac in Verona for an already delayed flight. Others reported being unable to check in or book flights due to system failures.
Downdetector, a platform that follows technical issues with websites, showed a significant point in complaints related to BA’s website after 17:00. While BA demonstrated that no flights were cancelled, the delays reportedly impacted tens of thousands of passengers, with waits of one to two hours on average.
The airline attributed the disruption to a system issue concerning the generation of loading data for aircraft, which also hindered communication between pilots and staff. Although BA has since resolved the issue, the airline warned that delays in the evening could dribble into next day’s flight schedules.
In a statement, BA apologized to passengers, ensuring them that they were able to attain their destinations. Heathrow Airport confirmed it was aware of the BA issue but stated that its systems were functioning normally. This incident is not an isolated case for the airline, which has suffered multiple IT failures in recent years, including significant disruptions in 2017, 2020, and 2023.
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