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British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

bbc.co.uk

71–80 of 117 posts

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#71
post #5

I was stuck in exactly this situation with my father last year going from UK to Portugal via Heathrow. Hundreds of people past immigration counters joined the lines to get back into the country, stuck in there for about 5 hours in an extremely congested, slow moving crowd. Some of the younger people were so outraged they took to Twitter and Instagram and began a campaign to refund and sue. About 3 hours in, BA decide…

Remember, this is the same airline that just placed a huge order for Boeing 777MAX airplanes. It's obviously run by incompetents, so I'd stay far away.

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#72

I'm stuck in London right now trying to get to Athens on British Airways because of this IT failure. I went to a gate of an earlier flight where they had opened up a couple of seats, and the gate agents were trying to get me on, but the computer system didn't let them do it and they had to let the flight leave. It's interesting to see the breakdown of automation. Lines are long yes, but they also don't move because e…

If your time is at all valuable to you, I strongly advise not depending on the airline for anything. Book your own hotel immediately; don't wait for a voucher. Arrange your own transport to your destination; don't wait in an hours long line. You may be able to get compensation later, but the important thing is you'll have a place to sleep and arrive at your destination long before you otherwise would. Case in point..…

Were you able to get them to reimburse you for the rental car?

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#73
post #71
post #5

I was stuck in exactly this situation with my father last year going from UK to Portugal via Heathrow. Hundreds of people past immigration counters joined the lines to get back into the country, stuck in there for about 5 hours in an extremely congested, slow moving crowd. Some of the younger people were so outraged they took to Twitter and Instagram and began a campaign to refund and sue. About 3 hours in, BA decide…

Remember, this is the same airline that just placed a huge order for Boeing 777MAX airplanes. It's obviously run by incompetents, so I'd stay far away.

[deleted]

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#74
post #71
post #5

I was stuck in exactly this situation with my father last year going from UK to Portugal via Heathrow. Hundreds of people past immigration counters joined the lines to get back into the country, stuck in there for about 5 hours in an extremely congested, slow moving crowd. Some of the younger people were so outraged they took to Twitter and Instagram and began a campaign to refund and sue. About 3 hours in, BA decide…

Remember, this is the same airline that just placed a huge order for Boeing 777MAX airplanes. It's obviously run by incompetents, so I'd stay far away.

What's wrong with the 777 Max planes?

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#75

[Controversial post] This is what happens when you treat "IT" as a cost centre and outsource it to India with TCS, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Accenture etc. In the case of BA; its Tata Consultancy Service (TCS). I can't comment on outsourcing to Phillipines, Ukraine or Malaysia. I've worked with two companies that did their outsourcing to India and it was a shitshow. First and foremost there is the cultural barrier, sure…

I agree with most of your points. However, these two stuck out to me:

> Fourthly, when the offshoring occurs, the transmission of knowledge sharing is very hard. The local people who are being let go won't be too facilitating in this documentation as well which is understandable.

This sounds like a setting expectations issue. Developers are expected to write code, write tests, and troubleshoot issues. Why not also expect them to produce written documentation? Every job I've ever applied for states "must be proficient in written / oral communication" in the job requirements.

Just be clear about your expectations up front (when you are signing the contract) and this will not be an issue.

If it does become an issue, sue them for breaching the contract. It's the same way any other B2B sale would work - if the company I hire to clean my offices uses a toxic cleaning product, I'm going to sue them for creating a hazardous workplace.

> Finally, just the geographical aspect. Teleconferencing, skyping etc. really adds an overhead and slows down productivity.

I strongly disagree with this. It sounds like a company culture problem. Plenty of companies are fully remote, and many companies have remote workers. Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, and Slack are all really great at allowing people to communicate.

If anything, it might be a lack of training on how people can use these tools.

Now geographically it does make a difference. You need to be more deliberate about planning your meetings - someone in EST needs to schedule meetings with someone in India in the afternoon only. They can't just schedule a meeting whenever they please.

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#76
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe they still check IDs at the gate, even for internal flights. (I am pretty sure they checked my ID the last time I did one) - It is not an passport check, just an ID check at the gate to match person to ticket (as the security in UK airport just check boarding passes, not IDs)

Not BA, although I haven't flown domestic for a few months. Airlines like Ryanair do check photo ID on domestic, but that's for revenue purposes (to stop people selling tickets on the black market)

Ah, it is just Common Travel Area that needs ID, but not passport.

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#77
post #5

I was stuck in exactly this situation with my father last year going from UK to Portugal via Heathrow. Hundreds of people past immigration counters joined the lines to get back into the country, stuck in there for about 5 hours in an extremely congested, slow moving crowd. Some of the younger people were so outraged they took to Twitter and Instagram and began a campaign to refund and sue. About 3 hours in, BA decide…

> An exact repeat of this situation makes it seem like such failures are becoming routine for BA.

An even more 'routine' practice is overbooking. In my latest trip to Warsaw (using Polish Airlines / LOT) they overbooked by 10 people in a plane with less than 100.

We bought the tickets one month in advance and had reserved seats, but it seems until you check in you are not guaranteed to be on board. Truly disgusting practice.

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#78
post #71
post #5

I was stuck in exactly this situation with my father last year going from UK to Portugal via Heathrow. Hundreds of people past immigration counters joined the lines to get back into the country, stuck in there for about 5 hours in an extremely congested, slow moving crowd. Some of the younger people were so outraged they took to Twitter and Instagram and began a campaign to refund and sue. About 3 hours in, BA decide…

Remember, this is the same airline that just placed a huge order for Boeing 777MAX airplanes. It's obviously run by incompetents, so I'd stay far away.

737 I think you mean.

Definitely dodgy, Airbus were not even invited to tender.

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#79
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember, this is the same airline that just placed a huge order for Boeing 777MAX airplanes. It's obviously run by incompetents, so I'd stay far away.

What's wrong with the 777 Max planes?

He meant 737 Max (order was about 200 jets).

https://simpleflying.com/british-airways-737-max/

Re: British Airways passengers facing delays after IT failures

#80
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember, this is the same airline that just placed a huge order for Boeing 777MAX airplanes. It's obviously run by incompetents, so I'd stay far away.

737 I think you mean. Definitely dodgy, Airbus were not even invited to tender.

They said the reason Airbus was not invited for the offer was because they are always months late with their delivery
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