Has BA lost the confidence of the British public? Fed-up passengers turn on airline after latest IT failure
The computer delays are just one of several gripes that passengers have had with the airline in recent months
PASSENGERS flying with British Airways face long queues and delays at London Gatwick, City and Heathrow Airports this morning after the computer system crashed.
Disgruntled travellers complained in their droves on social media about queues eight rows deep, which caused some travellers to miss flights.
The IT failure was the seventh time in 12 months that BA has suffered a glitch, having introduced a new check-in system last summer.
In May, a global computer crash grounded BA flights from Heathrow and Gatwick airports - sparking chaos for 200,000 holidaymakers.
A BA whistleblower later said a dodgy computer system was to blame for the delays.
The computer delays are just one of several gripes that passengers have had with the airline in recent months.
Last year, the decision to scrap free in-flight meals on short-haul journeys also caused upset.
BA now sells Marks And Spencer food on those flights – which is considered to be far tastier by many.
However, there have been numerous cases when there is barely enough food for the first two rows of the plane, let alone the entire aircraft.
The news the BA is also shrinking its legroom in Economy from 30 to 29 inches – which would make it more cramped than the no-frills Ryanair and the same as EasyJet, was also met with concern.
MOST READ IN TRAVEL
By minimising the leg room for passengers, BA will be able to add two extra rows in the Economy section of the cabin, allowing for up to 12 extra passengers.
The standard amount of legroom on short-haul flights is between 31 and 32 inches.
The airline’s posh passengers aren’t happy either, following the news that cost-saving measures was leading to a number of perks being removed from the First Class cabin.
Free amuse bouches and fresh flowers in the toilets were both scrapped, according to The Sunday Times.
The changes are already taking effect on the reputation on the “world’s favourite airline.”
BA dropped 14 places in the 2017 World Airline Awards rankings this year, now sitting at 40th place on the list.
The recent problems have led to questioning why BA Economy fares are more expensive than the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet.
BA does still stand head and shoulders above the rest in some areas though - it is praised for the excellent service of its cabin crew, and it has not resorted to asking customers to pay to sit next to each other like Ryanair.
But many have questioned if that is enough.
One passenger called Tushar Chaturvedi said: “How can you behave like a low cost airline when you aspire to be premium carrier.”
Another called Mark Cuthbert added: “The world’s favourite airline’ is a million miles away.”
A BA spokesperson told Sun Online that much of their customer feedback had been about lowering fares, so they had been striving to achieve that with the recent cutbacks.
They said: "British Airways provides choice and value for all customers.
"Our customers tell us they want low fares. Being more efficient, through measures such as increasing the number of seats in economy cabins on some aircraft and changing our catering product for short-haul economy customers, enables us to do this.
"This week, we released 65,000 seats on routes from Gatwick for fares under £40.
"Being more efficient also allows us to invest in the areas that our customers value the most.
"Over the last three years we have taken delivery of 40 new aircraft and plan to receive another 50 by 2020, and later this year we will start to introduce WiFi on our fleet.
"We don’t always get everything right, but we are listening to our customers so that we can meet their changing preferences."