Dozens of BA flights have been grounded and communications lost after a major IT glitch hit company software, causing chaos for thousands of passengers.
Hundreds of passengers have been seen standing in the cold waiting to board their flights, while others have been stuck on planes awaiting clearance to take off.
The IT issue meant that pilots were unable to file flight plans electronically and had to manually call into the operations centre at Heathrow.
Pilots have also been unable to file ‘load sheets’ which are critical to aircraft safety. This calculates the weight and distribution of passengers, cargo and fuel and is used to calculate performance and efficiency.
Passengers started to report problems at around 5pm on Monday, but some reported the problem online before then.
It is understood pilots have been trying to keep passengers informed of any developments, but that crew members are as much in the dark as everyone else.
The airline’s bug-ridden website has been taken offline and both the external and internal phone lines have been cut off, according to reports.
A message on the website currently says: ‘We are experiencing high demand on ba.com at the moment.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: ‘Our flights are currently operating, but are experiencing delays as our teams work to resolve a technical issue affecting some of our systems.’
Passengers queue in the cold on the tarmac in Verona as they wait to board their flight home (pictured)
Dozens of BA flights have been grounded after a major IT glitch hit company software, causing chaos for thousands of passengers across Europe
A screenshot of what the British Airways website is currently displaying as thousands of passengers have been impacted by a company-wide IT glitch
Andrew, 34, had just landed in Heathrow Airport when the outage struck.
He told MailOnline he’d been waiting 45 minutes for his luggage when staff announced that it would not be arriving and they had no clue how long it would be until systems were back up and running.
‘It’s like what can I do? These things can take five minutes or five hours and I’ve got better things to be doing than waiting for my baggage.
‘There must’ve been 50 people waiting and I imagine most will wait throughout the night.
‘There’s two staff available, both of whom have no information, they have no idea how long it will be, they couldn’t take reports and just gave me a generic brochure.
‘I am going to check myself into the hotel and hope for the best I can call someone about my luggage in the morning.’
One frustrated pilot on a packed BA jet at Valencia which was running more than an hour behind schedule said: ‘Apologies for this delay folks, there is a company wide IT failure and it means we have to call in our flight plans.
‘We are trying to speed things up but I don’t know how long it will take.’
On social media passengers also reported being stuck on the tarmac at Naples, Düsseldorf and Tenerife to make but a few locations.
Passengers are currently unable to access the BA website for online check-in and other services.
Alex Wedderburn, who is currently stuck at Verona airport, waiting for his BA flight home said: ‘British Airways, can you explain why you have hundreds of people waiting outside, in the cold, on the runaway, and there has been no communications, no collaboration from your staff, just silence and huge wait times.
‘All day, constant delays, and no indication on when you are going to board this plane.
‘This is flight BA 2591, Verona airport. Everyone here has just run the Verona marathon and is exhausted and frustrated.
‘Do you think this acceptable? Please find a solution asap!’
Passengers are currently unable to access the BA website for online check-in and other services
Another passenger wrote: ‘Absolute shambles three flights cancelled this month and now being made to stand on the tarmac in a very cold Verona waiting for an already delayed flight. What has happened to the nations airline? Not fit for purpose.’
In July last year airlines and travel were hit by travel chaos after a worldwide IT outage.
Footage posted on social media showed hundreds left stranded at Gatwick airport as they waited for information about their flights, and some being booked into hotels as the delays stretched overnight.
Passengers at London Heathrow were also hard hit, with British Airways cancelling a dozen flights to and from UK and Continental European destinations.
The technical fault, which was created by an update pushed out to customers of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, caused Windows software to shut down.
But this latest IT outage appears to be only affecting British Airways.
It is unclear whether it was a cyber attack or simply a computer malfunction and technicians were trying frantically to reboot computer systems at BA’s Heathrow HQ.
On X flight tracking app Flight Emergency said: ‘British Airways have lost all Communications to aircraft around Europe due to an IT outage, flights will be managed by Heathrow air traffic control to get inbound flights back to base.’
This is a breaking news story, more to follow.
