Save over 40% when you secure your tickets today to TNW Conference 💥 Prices will increase on November 22 →

This article was published on May 27, 2017

British Airways cancels flights after major IT outage


British Airways cancels flights after major IT outage

There’s travel chaos this bank holiday weekend, after British Airways canceled hundreds of flights as a result of a major IT systems outage.

The issue, which the airline has described as a “major IT system failure” and a “global system outage, has caused “severe disruption” to British Airways’ worldwide operations. Passengers are unable to check in, and parts of the British Airways website is down.

Hundreds of passengers are also sat on the tarmac, as outbound aircraft are unable to vacate gates.

The airline has suspended all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick until 18:00 BST today.

It’s not immediately clear what is the cause of the outage. Several passengers have reported hearing that the issue is due to a “cyber attack.”

According to Sky News, the airline has denied this, saying that there’s “no evidence that it’s a cyber attack”.

On its official Twitter page, the airline apologized for the disruption, and promised to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Angry passengers have also taken to Twitter, in order to complain about delays and cancellations to their flights, and issues with checking-in.

A similar computer outage with American airline Delta’s systems caused chaos last August, with tens of thousands of passengers stranded. Delta eventually made things right with their passengers. It remains to see what British Airways will do for those passengers that have had their vacations and travel plans disrupted.

UPDATE: BA flights from Gatwick and Heathrow have been canceled for the rest of today.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.