BA chaos: was cost cutting to blame?
LONDON: British Airways was accused of a “moronic” cover-up last night after an IT meltdown brought misery to 300 000 passengers.
The systems failure caused mass flight cancellations at the weekend, ruining the half-term holiday plans of thousands of families and causing chaos at airports.
But the airline has kept travellers in the dark about its cause, denying a cyber attack and blaming only a “power failure” at an undisclosed location.
Critics, however, blamed drastic cost-cutting – including a decision to axe 700 computer experts in the UK and contract out services to India.
There were calls last night for controversial BA chief executive Alex Cruz to resign amid condemnation of his “slash-and-burn” approach to costs and service.
Yesterday, he sent a gagging e-mail to staff in an unsuccessful attempt to stop them making public comments on the crisis.
On a costly day for the airline:
There were chaotic scenes at Heathrow and Gatwick as families were forced to queue outside the terminal buildings;
Families condemned the “awful” lack of communication from the airline;
Hotels near the airports were accused of cashing in on the crisis by hiking up their prices for desperate families;
BA’s compensation bill could reach a record £150 million (R2.4 billion);
MPs urged the airline to come clean about the cause of the IT failure;
Passengers were warned to brace themselves for further disruption this week.
Many families have lost their holidays, while others have been forced to sleep on the floor of Britain’s two biggest airports since the computer crash on Saturday.
Louise Wickham, who was travelling with her husband and two children, spoke for many. “There was no communication at all, it’s been a real shambles,’ she said.
“We had no idea what was going on, there was no information, they just kept saying wait for the gate. We were trapped and kept against our will in conditions that were just awful.”
The airline and Cruz have blamed the computer meltdown on a power failure.
The vague explanation has been dismissed by aviation industry insiders as “moronic”.
They said airlines made sure they survived power fail- ures by using a system known as UPS – uninterruptible power supply.
It means that if one mains power supply fails, the business switches automatically to a second supply.
Labour parliamentary candidate John Spellar called on BA and its boss to be honest with customers. “The failure to come clean on just where this problem occurred will fuel suspicions that it is linked to the decision to switch responsibility for computer systems to India,” he said.
A letter, reportedly signed by a senior BA pilot, called on Cruz to “take full responsibility for this calamitous day in BA’s history”.
It adds: “Please stand aside and let the skilled staff of BA put some common sense back into our operation.”
Rival airline Ryanair poked fun at BA on Twitter by featuring an image from the BBC’s Little Britain comedy series with the caption “Computer says ‘No’.”
Cruz has refused to answer questions on the crisis. Instead he has been hiding behind video apologies issued on Twitter.
Aviation workers, including BA staff, anonymously used a website called the Professional Pilots Rumour Network to vent their frustrations. Many were critical of Cruz.
One wrote: “He is a slashand-burn manager and his philosophy and aggressive cost-cutting has obviously been taken a step too far here and he has to go for the good of BA.”
Another said: “He is a rabid cost-cutter and frankly should be sacked.”
Industry analysts warned that the computer failure would come with an enormous bill.
James Walker, chief executive of the Resolver claims website, said: “The average claim will be around £300. That’s £90 million – a monumental amount. But when you add in the cost of hotels the airline has to provide, the cost could top £150 million. It could be the biggest compensation payout ever.”
BA’s parent company IAG reported profits of £2.2bn last year, and has said it expects an even higher figure this year.
The airline claimed flights out of Gatwick were returning to normal yesterday, albeit with long delays.
Long-haul flights out of Heathrow were getting back on track, but short-haul flights to the Med were cancelled.
A similar pattern is expected today. – Daily Mail