27 May BA IT outage miscellaneous discussions thread
May 28, 2017, 9:38 am
#151
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: US of A
Programs: Delta Diamond, United 1K, BA Blue, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, Amex Platinum
Posts: 1,775
May 28, 2017, 9:38 am
#152
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 5
Help! I am stuck in London!
Hi! I am one of the poor saps directly impacted by this. This is a disaster of epic proportions. After being stranded on the runway upon landing from LAX we are now going on our second night of hotel. BA is not accepting phone calls. We cannot rebook our flight Cape Town online. We are truly stuck. A friend of mine just bought another BA ticket to her destination (Venice) and left today. Question - if I booked a ticket from LHR to CPT directly on BA so I can leave tomorrow do you think they would refund me if I fought it with my cc company? It's over 10k for biz class but that seems to be the only way for the stranded to self reaccomodate. Thoughts?
What a travel nightmare!
Jeff
What a travel nightmare!
Jeff
OK - let's be clear - the message relayed here was from BA's internal messaging system. This has NOTHING to do with any press or public communications.
He basically means there are four sets of people in BA right now:
1) Those fixing the problem directly
2) Those working!! and supporting the business out of the problem
3) Those sitting at home and not working on it
4) Those sitting on the messaging system discussing the issue (when they should either be working or sitting at home).
The point Alex is making is that if you're in category 4 - right now - you're not helping.
If, internally, the relevant policies haven't been made clear? Sure - let's get them clarified and that's something the communication team could help with.
If, internally, they haven't updated people on the status of the relevant systems - that's something that could be done.
But no one, except the team fixing it and their mgmt, needs to know the root cause today. And if anyone from another team starts asking about it - guess what - that's a distraction!
No one, except the teams rebooking customers and their mgmt, needs to know the intricate details of the policies for rebooking. And if anyone else is saying "why can't we do ..." that's a distraction.
And right now - I can't think of anything else you could be asking about the problem that is in the slightest bit relevant. Everyone seems to expect to know everything immediately these days thanks to Twitter etc. You aren't entitled to know the intimate details of a problem while it's occurring. Power failure - we're rebooking - that's enough right now.
I used to work in a business that had a warehouse that was struggling to scale. Roughly once every 3-4 weeks on our peak day the WMS software would crash with a new scaling problem. It became pretty predictable - frustrating - but predictable.
On that day - head office got divided into 3 groups. Group 1 - fixing the problem (and that was a pretty small group). Group 2 - supporting the warehouse team to get product out the door. Group 3 - calling customers who needed contacting to apologise. That's it - there wasn't a "group 4" sitting around talking about it and there wasn't another group who was just doing their normal job - even CEO/CFO would be hands deep in the warehouse or phones. Everyone was either resolving the problem or digging the company out of it.
And once we got past it - the following day - a company meeting was held and everyone was informed about the problem and what's been done to prevent it. THEN everyone had a chance to discuss it ("Wouldn't it have been better if ..." type stuff).
M.
He basically means there are four sets of people in BA right now:
1) Those fixing the problem directly
2) Those working!! and supporting the business out of the problem
3) Those sitting at home and not working on it
4) Those sitting on the messaging system discussing the issue (when they should either be working or sitting at home).
The point Alex is making is that if you're in category 4 - right now - you're not helping.
If, internally, the relevant policies haven't been made clear? Sure - let's get them clarified and that's something the communication team could help with.
If, internally, they haven't updated people on the status of the relevant systems - that's something that could be done.
But no one, except the team fixing it and their mgmt, needs to know the root cause today. And if anyone from another team starts asking about it - guess what - that's a distraction!
No one, except the teams rebooking customers and their mgmt, needs to know the intricate details of the policies for rebooking. And if anyone else is saying "why can't we do ..." that's a distraction.
And right now - I can't think of anything else you could be asking about the problem that is in the slightest bit relevant. Everyone seems to expect to know everything immediately these days thanks to Twitter etc. You aren't entitled to know the intimate details of a problem while it's occurring. Power failure - we're rebooking - that's enough right now.
I used to work in a business that had a warehouse that was struggling to scale. Roughly once every 3-4 weeks on our peak day the WMS software would crash with a new scaling problem. It became pretty predictable - frustrating - but predictable.
On that day - head office got divided into 3 groups. Group 1 - fixing the problem (and that was a pretty small group). Group 2 - supporting the warehouse team to get product out the door. Group 3 - calling customers who needed contacting to apologise. That's it - there wasn't a "group 4" sitting around talking about it and there wasn't another group who was just doing their normal job - even CEO/CFO would be hands deep in the warehouse or phones. Everyone was either resolving the problem or digging the company out of it.
And once we got past it - the following day - a company meeting was held and everyone was informed about the problem and what's been done to prevent it. THEN everyone had a chance to discuss it ("Wouldn't it have been better if ..." type stuff).
M.
May 28, 2017, 9:46 am
#153
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: Avios
Posts: 18
Is it true that BA did not even try to book hotels for stranded passengers. From the beginning it was.....book it yourself and claim it on ba.com
This is shocking if true.
Most airlines will make as many hotel bookings as they can before their suppliers run out of rooms. Then it is book your own and claim later.
This is shocking if true.
Most airlines will make as many hotel bookings as they can before their suppliers run out of rooms. Then it is book your own and claim later.
May 28, 2017, 9:49 am
#154
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: The Hague, NL
Programs: GMLFL, Life 2.0 - Mucci Premiere Classe & des Chevaliers Toulousiens
Posts: 22,911
May 28, 2017, 9:50 am
#155
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Switzerland
Programs: AY+ Platinum, SK Gold, BAEC Silver, airbaltic VIP, Radisson VIP
Posts: 6,529
Is it true that BA did not even try to book hotels for stranded passengers. From the beginning it was.....book it yourself and claim it on ba.com
This is shocking if true.
Most airlines will make as many hotel bookings as they can before their suppliers run out of rooms. Then it is book your own and claim later.
This is shocking if true.
Most airlines will make as many hotel bookings as they can before their suppliers run out of rooms. Then it is book your own and claim later.
May 28, 2017, 10:20 am
#157
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: The Hague, NL
Programs: GMLFL, Life 2.0 - Mucci Premiere Classe & des Chevaliers Toulousiens
Posts: 22,911
I spotted this on Twitter purporting to be from Alex Cruz
https://twitter.com/BAsolidarityMF/s...41463924314113
https://twitter.com/BAsolidarityMF/s...41463924314113
May 28, 2017, 10:26 am
#158
Join Date: May 2009
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,741
As a BA staff member I feel not just disappointment but also shame that you feel this way.
As a person and a long serving BA employee I fully understand and am infuriated that BA has dropped to this appalling level of service.
As one of my colleagues said to me there is only so many times you can kick a dog before you lose their loyalty. I fear BA have kicked to many times to warrant loyalty from anyone.
As a person and a long serving BA employee I fully understand and am infuriated that BA has dropped to this appalling level of service.
As one of my colleagues said to me there is only so many times you can kick a dog before you lose their loyalty. I fear BA have kicked to many times to warrant loyalty from anyone.
May 28, 2017, 10:26 am
#159
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: ABZ
Programs: BA Gold, IHG Spire Ambassador
Posts: 98
My family and I were due to travel from Aberdeen to Hong Kong yesterday. I had to cancel entirely (I was only staying for two nights, so cutting it to one didn't make it worthwhile), but the rest of the family was rebooked.
Today's Aberdeen flight (BA1309) was delayed by almost three hours. BA1308 was delayed coming up and, in the turnaround, it transpired that BA1309 did not have flight deck crew to take it back down. After 30 minutes, the crew who flew up on BA1308 piped up on the PA system and said that, rather than disappoint customers, they would pilot the flight back down to Heathrow, so as not to strand the Aberdeen passengers for another day. Seriously above and beyond the call of duty, I think.
I note also that this delay means the family will miss the BA31 flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong - I called up BA(EC Silver) line and they already mentioned the family was rebooked on BA27, which departs later this evening.
I know the big-picture communications from BA has been rubbish overall and that many people have had terrible experiences, but a major "thanks" to those BA staff working tirelessly to help out their passengers in a very difficult time...
May 28, 2017, 10:29 am
#160
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, BA Amex Prem, Amex Plat, Hilton Diamond, Sir Crazy8534 de l'ordres des aides de Pucci
Posts: 4,446
I spotted this on Twitter purporting to be from Alex Cruz
https://twitter.com/BAsolidarityMF/s...41463924314113
https://twitter.com/BAsolidarityMF/s...41463924314113
This guy got it right anyway...
Well this is terrible. I am not saying that he instituted the changes that have led to the deficiencies that caused this, or that it is directly his fault, but if you preside over such a catastrophic failure of your business you have to fall on your sword at some point. That point was passed. Alex Cruz needs to do the honorable thing here, early next week after the systems are up and running in the short term.
Somebody else needs to sort things out for the long term.
Somebody else needs to sort things out for the long term.
Front page of the Daily Mail website (shudder...!): "Inexperienced BA boss who oversaw cost-cutting drive is blamed for IT meltdown which could cost Ł150m"
Seems remarkably sensibly close to the money for that particular media outlet.
May 28, 2017, 10:35 am
#161
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: SoCal to the rest of the world...
Programs: AA EXP with lots of BA. UA 2MM Lifetime Plat - No longer chase hotel loyalty
Posts: 6,698
Hi! I am one of the poor saps directly impacted by this. This is a disaster of epic proportions. After being stranded on the runway upon landing from LAX we are now going on our second night of hotel. BA is not accepting phone calls. We cannot rebook our flight Cape Town online. We are truly stuck. A friend of mine just bought another BA ticket to her destination (Venice) and left today. Question - if I booked a ticket from LHR to CPT directly on BA so I can leave tomorrow do you think they would refund me if I fought it with my cc company? It's over 10k for biz class but that seems to be the only way for the stranded to self reaccomodate. Thoughts?
What a travel nightmare!
Jeff
What a travel nightmare!
Jeff
Have you been rebooked on that link? If not - TRY to see if you can rebook online on that manage my booking link - if not HIGHLY suggest get on Skype and call the US British Airways number - UK number isn't going to get you anywhere unless Gold status on BA. That number is : +1-800-247-9297 Don't assume your UK hotel will let you call a US toll free number for free - therefore use Skype!
*NOW* if you had your LHR-CPT booked by another airline like AA (even though it's on BA) call them as they hold the ticket and can rebook
Last edited by NickP 1K; May 28, 2017 at 10:55 am
May 28, 2017, 11:08 am
#163
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 159
I knew this was going to happen...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27480139-post42.html
I had the pleasure to work for BA for 3 years just before and during the implementation of FLY. I was very close to the project, not working on it directly but with access to all documentation. I can assure you that BA Senior Management knew there was a lot of risk of this happening and did nothing. I know they were aware because myself personally mentioned it to Bill Francis (CIO) and Garry Copeland (Director of Operations) in a few meetings. They did nothing.
The problem is not FLY, but the platform that supports it, together with the majority of BA's key systems. It is called the SIP.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27480139-post42.html
I had the pleasure to work for BA for 3 years just before and during the implementation of FLY. I was very close to the project, not working on it directly but with access to all documentation. I can assure you that BA Senior Management knew there was a lot of risk of this happening and did nothing. I know they were aware because myself personally mentioned it to Bill Francis (CIO) and Garry Copeland (Director of Operations) in a few meetings. They did nothing.
The problem is not FLY, but the platform that supports it, together with the majority of BA's key systems. It is called the SIP.