Quote from Guardian (free app)
"An investigation into the power outage that led to chaos for British Airways over the bank holiday weekend is likely to focus on human error rather than any equipment failure.
A contractor doing maintenance work at a BA data centre is said to have inadvertently switched off the power supply, knocking out the airline’s computer systems, according to a report in The Times.
Quoting a BA source, the newspaper said the power supply unit that prompted the IT failure was working perfectly but was accidentally shut down by a worker. An investigation into the power outage is likely to focus on human error rather than any equipment failure, it said.
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BA had to cancel all flights from London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports last Saturday, leaving 75,000 passengers stranded. It blamed a power surge that knocked out its computer system, disrupting flight operations, call centres and its website.
Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways’ parent company IAG, on Thursday praised BA bosses for “doing everything possible” after the IT meltdown.
Walsh’s comments came amid reports that the BA board is demanding an external inquiry into the fiasco, which is expected to land the airline with a compensation bill of more than £100m.
He said the investigation would take time but insisted that BA’s management, led by the Spanish chief executive, Alex Cruz, “did everything they could in the circumstances”.
The airline has been criticised for not promising full compensation to all those affected, but Walsh pledged: “Our focus will be on making sure that any of our customers who experienced disruption are satisfied with how we handled things. Clearly we will do everything we can to make up for the disruption that they suffered.”
However, customers have been further angered by BA’s online claim forms, which instructs them to first seek compensation via their travel insurance – leaving many liable to pay an excess. The Association of British Insurers has complained to the airline that it is giving misleading information and that BA should be the first point of call.
What level of compensation the airline intends to provide will be of intense interest to customers still waiting for their bags to be returned – even though they were unable to fly."