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| British Airways says IT chaos was caused by human error | British Airways says IT chaos was caused by human error |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| The boss of British Airways' parent company says that human error caused an IT meltdown that led to travel chaos for 75,000 passengers. | The boss of British Airways' parent company says that human error caused an IT meltdown that led to travel chaos for 75,000 passengers. |
| Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, said an engineer disconnected a power supply, with the major damage caused by a surge when it was reconnected. | |
| He said there would now be an independent investigation "to learn from the experience". | He said there would now be an independent investigation "to learn from the experience". |
| However, some experts say that blaming a power surge is too simplistic. | However, some experts say that blaming a power surge is too simplistic. |
| Mr Walsh, appearing at an annual airline industry conference in Mexico on Monday, said: "It's very clear to me that you can make a mistake in disconnecting the power. | Mr Walsh, appearing at an annual airline industry conference in Mexico on Monday, said: "It's very clear to me that you can make a mistake in disconnecting the power. |
| "It's difficult for me to understand how to make a mistake in reconnecting the power," he said. | "It's difficult for me to understand how to make a mistake in reconnecting the power," he said. |
| He told reporters that the engineer was authorised to be in the data centre, but was not authorised "to do what he did". | He told reporters that the engineer was authorised to be in the data centre, but was not authorised "to do what he did". |
| IAG has commissioned an "independent company to conduct a full investigation" into the IT crash and is "happy to disclose details" of its findings, Mr Walsh said. The name of the company involved had not been disclosed. | IAG has commissioned an "independent company to conduct a full investigation" into the IT crash and is "happy to disclose details" of its findings, Mr Walsh said. The name of the company involved had not been disclosed. |
| The BBC reported last week that senior company executives at IAG were pushing for an external probe into the computer meltdown. | The BBC reported last week that senior company executives at IAG were pushing for an external probe into the computer meltdown. |
| BA had said that a power surge caused the computer problem, but gave little further explanation. | BA had said that a power surge caused the computer problem, but gave little further explanation. |
| Scepticism | Scepticism |
| However, an email leaked to the media last week suggested that a contractor doing maintenance work inadvertently switched off the power supply. | However, an email leaked to the media last week suggested that a contractor doing maintenance work inadvertently switched off the power supply. |
| The email said: "This resulted in the total immediate loss of power to the facility, bypassing the backup generators and batteries... After a few minutes of this shutdown, it was turned back on in an unplanned and uncontrolled fashion, which created physical damage to the systems and significantly exacerbated the problem." | The email said: "This resulted in the total immediate loss of power to the facility, bypassing the backup generators and batteries... After a few minutes of this shutdown, it was turned back on in an unplanned and uncontrolled fashion, which created physical damage to the systems and significantly exacerbated the problem." |
| But the BBC's transport correspondent, Richard Westcott, has spoken to IT experts who are sceptical that a power surge could wreak such havoc on the data centres. | But the BBC's transport correspondent, Richard Westcott, has spoken to IT experts who are sceptical that a power surge could wreak such havoc on the data centres. |
| BA has two data centres about a kilometre apart. There are question marks over whether a power surge could hit both. Also, there should be fail-safes in place, our correspondent said. | BA has two data centres about a kilometre apart. There are question marks over whether a power surge could hit both. Also, there should be fail-safes in place, our correspondent said. |
| BA has already launched its own internal investigation, led by its chief executive Alex Cruz. | BA has already launched its own internal investigation, led by its chief executive Alex Cruz. |
| Following the computer crash, which caused travel chaos for people travelling from Heathrow and Gatwick, Mr Walsh gave his full backing to Mr Cruz. | Following the computer crash, which caused travel chaos for people travelling from Heathrow and Gatwick, Mr Walsh gave his full backing to Mr Cruz. |
| BA and IAG also rejected claims that the incident was due to Mr Cruz's decision to outsource the airline's IT department to India as part of cost-cutting measures. | BA and IAG also rejected claims that the incident was due to Mr Cruz's decision to outsource the airline's IT department to India as part of cost-cutting measures. |
| Also on Monday, Mr Walsh apologised again for the incident, saying: "When you see customers who suffered, you wouldn't want it to happen to any airline or any business." | Also on Monday, Mr Walsh apologised again for the incident, saying: "When you see customers who suffered, you wouldn't want it to happen to any airline or any business." |
| He added: "I wouldn't suggest for one minute we got communications right at BA, we didn't." |