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British Airways owner IAG says IT chaos cost £58m | British Airways owner IAG says IT chaos cost £58m |
(35 minutes later) | |
The IT failure at British Airways in May that left thousands unable to check in baggage cost it 65m euros (£58m), the airline's owner, IAG, has said. | |
About 75,000 passengers faced severe disruption when BA's system failed over the second Bank Holiday weekend in May. | About 75,000 passengers faced severe disruption when BA's system failed over the second Bank Holiday weekend in May. |
BA said it was caused by an engineer who disconnected a power supply. | BA said it was caused by an engineer who disconnected a power supply. |
Despite the extra cost, IAG still managed to report a 13.8% increase in half-year operating profits to 898m euros (£804m). | |
IAG, which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, said it expected operating profit for the whole of 2017 to show a double-digit percentage improvement. | |
It said the amount of money it was making per passenger was up 1.5%, the first rise since 2014. | |
'Strong results' | |
Costs included 65m euros of "additional compensation fees and baggage claims related to operational disruption at British Airways due to a power failure over the second May bank holiday weekend". | |
However, employee costs were down 3.9% across the group as a whole, thanks to what the company called productivity and efficiency improvements. | |
BA has been affected by a series of strikes by "mixed-fleet" cabin crew, who are paid less and employed on different terms to those of longer-standing staff. | |
IAG chief executive, Willie Walsh, told the BBC's Today programme: "I know we have had some individual issues and we clearly need to address those and apologise to our customers who were disrupted. | |
"But the truth is BA's underlying performance is actually very good, as are the performances of the other airlines within the group, so this is a very strong set of results and reflects a focus that IAG has on providing customer service at prices that customers are willing to pay." | |
Mr Walsh said Level - its new long-haul, low-cost airline which is based in Barcelona - was proving a success and the group planned to expand the operation. |