BA flights were brought to a halt at Heathrow and Gatwick on Saturday with 75,000 people affected by the three days of disruption, blamed on a “power surge” by chief executive Alex Cruz.
PR expert Paul Charles, a former Virgin Atlantic communications director, said BA’s situation was “serious”: “Rebuilding [the brand] will come with some very good flight offers and things like upgrades for frequent fliers. Long-term, the brand damage will be high – they have to prove they have robust policies in place.”
Referencing the “power surge” explanation, Charles asked: “Why didn’t BA have a second or third back-up somewhere in the world? Bookings, manifests and onboard systems should all be in different places. You have to question whether too many cuts have been made in the wrong places.”
Speaking to media in London this week, Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs claimed his airline had its IT systems spread across three different locations, with each one ready to kick in if a failure were to occur.
Law firm Bott & Co has estimated that compensation for the IT crash will cost the carrier £100 million and care and assistance to stranded passengers will cost another £50 million – more than 10% of BA’s £1.6 billion profit last year.
Elsewhere, agents expressed their disappointment with BA’s handling of the situation.
Paul Smith, owner of WOT Travel in Twickenham, went as far as to suggest Cruz should step down from his role following the incident.
“BA did not want to know [about my stranded customer], they wouldn’t help him and it’s clear he wasn’t alone,” said Smith.
Despite the potential backlash, BA can bank on its dominance at Heathrow to persuade passengers to return, and even Jacobs questioned whether the impact would be long-term: “BA is a strong brand with a strong heritage so [I don’t think] customers will be saying BA ‘never again’,” he said.
BA told TTG it would consider “reasonable expenses” and fulfil its obligations under EU 261.
Cruz has insisted he will not resign, but apologised to those affected. He told the BBC: “I am profusely sorry… there was a back-up system which did not work at that particular point in time… we will make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
