British Airways has confirmed its regular check-in processes are back up and running this morning after an unexplained IT glitch caused widespread delays on the carrier’s network on Monday.
Check-in systems at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports went offline for several hours at the start of the week, forcing staff to process tickets manually.
According to the airline, the check-in process at the two gateways was “taking longer than usual”, and passengers were being urged to check-in online instead.
The carrier apologised for the inconvenience yesterday and confirmed in a tweet that customers are now being checked-in as normal at Heathrow and Gatwick.
“We are sorry for the delay to their journeys.”
British Airways
We are checking in customers as normal at Heathrow and Gatwick this morning.
— British Airways (@British_Airways) September 6, 2016
This is the second time in less than a month that IT issues have affected air travel. Last month, Delta Air Lines cancelled over 800 flights when its global network went offline.
In true delay-style, travellers took to Twitter to share their frustration and in some cases humour as they waited for their flight.
Neal Spinks re-directed the blame away from the airline and on to technology with this hilarious tweet:
British Airways check-in be like… pic.twitter.com/E1ozrM6OTD
— Neal (@nealspinks) September 6, 2016
While, Adrian wonders what the conversation between head office and the IT department would look like:
https://twitter.com/adriangreetham/status/773044432224587776
Dana Al-Qatami may not have enjoyed the delays, but she seems pretty proud of her manual boarding pass:
https://twitter.com/Dnd00n/status/773037531654946817
While MisterAdamLad was a little less impressed:
Sat boiling in my own sweat after @British_Airways board us (after 4hr delay) then tell us it'll be 45mins before the luggage is loaded 😡
— MisterAdamLad (@MisterAdamLad) September 6, 2016
And Anna Walters Hewson was so over the wait:
Seriously @DENAirport and @British_Airways we've already been delayed 3hrs, now PLEASE give us our bags pic.twitter.com/Q4MkWlACIC
— Anna Walters Hewson (@AnnaHewson1) September 6, 2016