Heathrow chaos as British Airways IT failure leaves passengers stranded on planes
26 June 2024, 08:05 | Updated: 26 June 2024, 08:29
Heathrow has been mired in chaos after an IT failure left passengers stranded on planes and unable to collect their luggage.
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The airport said that passengers travelling from Terminal 5 "may be impacted" by the defect in BA's allocation system, although no other airline had been affected.
Footage from the airport on Tuesday showed massive queues forming in the baggage pick up and customer assistance desk.
The problems stretched into Wednesday morning, with customers complaining of feeling like they were in a "third world country" and sharing stories about their children having panic attacks.
Others said they had landed at their destination without their luggage. BA later apologised.
The problem was resolved later on Wednesday morning, Heathrow confirmed - although there were still concerns that BA customers at Terminal 5 would be affected by ongoing issues.
BA said in a text to passengers on Tuesday: "We're sorry to inform you that, due to a technical issue with our baggage allocation system at Heathrow, we can't guarantee that your bags will have travelled with you on your flight today."
Heathrow said around 7am on Wednesday: "Earlier British Airways experienced a technical issue with their Allocation System, this has now been resolved.
"We advise passengers to check with BA before travelling to the airport as BA passengers in Terminal 5 may still be impacted. No other airline is impacted."
Many passengers complained to BA about their travel plans being ruined by the delay, and asked for compensation.
One said: "I landed in Venice yesterday with no bag. My accommodation today and tomorrow is in the mountains which I physically can’t get to without the bag and clothing."
Another passenger said they were coming home from her wedding and honeymoon with her husband, enduring a "less than fabulous end to what is meant to be a trip of a lifetime."
They told MailOnline: "BA cancelled our flights home yesterday with 1.5 hours notice. They tried to put us on a six hour flight via Madrid but we refused this.
"We re-booked onto a flight this evening which was delayed two hours. Now two hours waiting in baggage claim without clear timeline or communication on when things will be resolved. Staff here are trying their best and it's clearly not their fault.
"Long time flyer with BA and use them as a more 'premium' carrier to avoid the classic air carrier tropes but clearly huge issues systematically with their customer support, staffing levels and IT systems".
A third person said their child was having an anxiety attack because of having to wait around for so long.
He said: "My family have been stuck on a plane that landed from Madrid 90mins ago. Absolute disgrace.
"My daughter is having a panic attack and the pilot is not being given any updates."
A British Airways spokesman said: "We've apologised to those customers who were unable to travel with their luggage due to a temporary technical fault that was outside of our control.
"This issue has been resolved and we've brought in additional colleagues to support our teams in getting bags back to our customers as quickly as possible."
It comes after a power cut at Manchester Airport caused all flights to be cancelled on Sunday.
