Flight chaos at Heathrow as electronic departure screens FAIL... - heathrow 1.jpg ...

....leaving staff relying on whiteboards and causing delays and cancellations

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eens-FAIL.html

*UK's busiest airport said failure across all terminals was caused by an 'IT
glitch'

*Furious passengers have described standing in queues for hours

*Pictures of whiteboards with flight destinations and numbers have been shared

Heathrow airport was thrown into chaos this evening after its essential
electronic departure boards failed across all terminals for more than three
hours, causing delays and cancellations.

The UK's busiest airport said the failure was caused by 'technical issues' and
wheeled out whiteboards with flight information written on them in black board
marker.

Furious passengers described standing in queues for hours, sitting in planes
idling on the tarmac and an absence of staff on social media as airport staff
scrambled to get the boards working.

The airport's IT system came back online late this evening, less than ten
minutes before the last flight of the day was scheduled to take off.

Heathrow airport told MailOnline when its screens failed: 'We are experiencing
technical issues at the airport which we are working hard to resolve.

'To help direct customers to their gates, we have deployed additional Heathrow
colleagues across our terminals. We apologise for the disruption and will
continue to provide regular updates.'

Some electronic boards and check in systems were impacted, with passengers
advised to check their airline apps for the latest information.

British Airways cancelled at least twenty flights due to the disruption, and
offered customers refunds or a place on the next available flight to their
destination. Other flights also experienced cancellations and delays.

Flights were also disrupted this weekend due to Storm Dennis.

The IT glitch has affected all four Heathrow terminals. Terminal one was taken
out of operation in 2015.

Whiteboards displaying flight numbers and destinations have been pictured on
social media, while a note saying 'do not rely on any information on this board'
was placed on a board that appeared to be working.

A video showed BA staff updating flight information by rubbing out pen markings
and writing on new ones.

Holidaymakers trying to escape the UK for the half term period and travellers
took to social media to vent their anger and frustration.

One wrote: 'IT in London Heathrow down. All screens black and no one has an idea
on which gates the flights are.'

A second tweeted: 'No Heathrow colleagues to be seen and customer service desks
closed!

And a third said: 'Computer systems down at Heathrow. No electronic tickets
allowed, delays and no flight information on screens... Oh Blighty...'

One woman was shepherded out of a news report by Heathrow staff as she explained
she had watched her flight depart after being unable to find its gate due to the
IT glitch

A customer said staff were yelling instructions at people due to the board
failure, in a video posted on Twitter.

An announcement played over the airport speakers said: 'We would like to
apologise for the inconvenience we have caused you today and would like to thank
you for your continued patience.'

Other passengers appear to be stuck on the tarmac. One wrote: 'Flight BA461
arrived on the tarmac of Heathrow over 30 minutes ago.

'Can we please either dock with a terminal or you send a bus to collect your
passengers and staff? This delay is growing into unnecessary territory.'

Another said she had been stuck inside an airplane for 'three hours' after
landing.

British Airways said in a statement: 'Heathrow Airport is currently experiencing
technical issues that are impacting its IT systems across all terminals and
affecting a number of airlines. Heathrow are working to resolve the issues that
has caused disruption to our customers.

'We've introduced a flexible booking policy and have brought in extra colleagues
to help our customers, providing them with overnight accommodation if
needed.​'

Customer advice service Which? said passengers affected by the disruption at
Heathrow should have access to 'food, refreshments and overnight accommodation
for long delays'.

'If a flight is cancelled or delayed by more than five hours and you decide not
to travel, you should also be offered an alternative flight or a refund,' they
said.

'Those who do miss flights because gate information wasn't available should be
offered help by their airline to get to their destination on the next flight.'

Heathrow Airport said at 10.30pm that its IT had been restored, and that a
normal service is expected tomorrow morning.

However, owing to the glitch and disruption caused by the storm, some crew and
aircraft may remain out of place causing further delays. Heathrow Express is
expected to run a late service until 23:45 this evening.

'Today’s technical issue has now been resolved and Heathrow’s systems are
returning to normal. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused our
passengers,' they said.

'Our teams will continue to monitor our systems and will be on hand across our
terminals to provide assistance to passengers as we work to resume our regular
operations.'



*

Miloch wrote in
:

...leaving staff relying on whiteboards and causing delays and
cancellations

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...haos-Heathrow-
electronic-departure-screens-FAIL.html

*UK's busiest airport said failure across all terminals was caused by
an 'IT glitch'

*Furious passengers have described standing in queues for hours

*Pictures of whiteboards with flight destinations and numbers have
been shared

Heathrow airport was thrown into chaos this evening after its
essential electronic departure boards failed across all terminals for
more than three hours, causing delays and cancellations.


Heathrow has always been awful. No
planning, no organized layout, just
terminals cobbled together. Worst is
the dreaded Terminal 5, built as a
shopping mall with various gates at
odd places. And you don't board your
plane from it, you board buses (in
the rain, of course) that shuttle you
to your plane. Which you board via a
stairway (again in the rain).

Much nicer is Gatwick, which all
my flights went to in the 90's. Just
2 big terminals connected by a tram,
jetways for all flights, worked fine.