Technical Issue Causes Delays at MAN
Jackie Reddy June 14, 2017
Blurb: A glitch with the facility’s check-in system was behind long lines and frayed tempers on Tuesday at England’s Manchester Airport.
Passengers arriving at Manchester Airport (MAN) on Tuesday experienced long lines due to the “technical failure” of the facility’s check-in system, the BBC reports. Due to this fault, airport staff resorted to a manual check-in process, a procedure that resulted in delays of approximately two hours.
The failure affected a dozen Thomas Cook flights as well as those operated by Singapore Airlines, Virgin, Cathay Pacific and SAS.
Speaking of the glitch, a spokesperson for Thomas Cook was quoted by the news outlet as saying, “We’re very sorry for the frustration caused to our customers at Manchester Airport check-in this morning. Our system is back up and running and we’re working hard to catch up and get our customers on holiday as soon as possible.”
The carrier intimated that the failure was due to “an issue with overnight maintenance,” but recommended that passengers continue to come to MAN as planned. While Thomas Cook was evidently eager to carry on as normal, passengers spoke of their frustration in the face of these technical issues.
Passenger Dannii Martin, bound for Bourgas, Bulgaria, said, “At check-in we were told so many different things and no-one could agree. Passengers were shouting at each other and arguing, people pushing in.”
Traveler Lorna McDonald tweeted, “Absolute ridiculous situation with @ThomasCookUK at Manchester airport! Systems are down complete and utter mayhem!! #no backup.”
MAN issued an apology, saying, “Due to a technical issue this morning several airlines are having to check in passengers manually, which can take longer than normal.”
[Photo: Shutterstock]
