British Airways IT failure ‘was made worse because inexperienced staff outsourced to India didn’t know how to launch back-up system’
Source told The Sun that problem could have been avoided had staff kick-started back-up system sooner
THE British Airways IT crash was caused because inexperienced staff in India didn't know how to kick-start the airline's back-up system, sources have claimed.
Thousands of BA passengers remain stranded in London over the bank holiday weekend as cancellations continued for a second day.
And one source close to the airline said the problems could have been limited had IT staff outsourced to India known how to get its back-up system online quickly.
The source said the system "failed to take over when the primary [IT system] failed due to a power cut."
They added: "The third-party support providers are generally quite inexperienced meaning it makes a situation like this difficult to recover."
most read in news
A second source close to Britain's national carrier told The Sun: "BA have had six major IT failures in 12 months, 12 months since outsourcing their IT.
"That's appalling. No major company should be in a position where 300,000 of its customers were stranded, with little to no information.
"A whole terminal having to be evacuated after most had checked in and then sent home without bags, staff stranded and being bused hours to hotels for the night."
"It's a shambles. Heads should roll for this."
BA's GMB union has already said outsourcing IT jobs to India could have made the problems worse.
The union spokesperson said it could have been avoided had "hundreds of dedicated and loyal" not been replaced by cheaper Indian staff in 2016.
BA denied the accusations and insisted it would "never compromise the integrity and security of our IT systems".
The spokeswoman added: "IT services are now provided globally by a range of suppliers and this is very common practice across all industries and the UK Government.
"British Airways employs around 35,000 people in the UK providing high skilled and well paid jobs. It hires 1,000 people a year and has a strong apprenticeship programme."
Thousands of Brits have suffered bank holiday travel agony as hundreds of flights from Gatwick and Heathrow were cancelled yesterday.
Problems continued into today as more than a third of flights were cancelled.
Among those affected was a couple whose dream wedding on the Greek paradise island of Santorini had to be postponed because guests were stuck in the UK.
Laura Thomson and Sam Sciortino, from Surrey, planned a Sunday ceremony in the Greek island of Santorini but will now marry on Monday.
Bride Laura said: "I have been in tears with our dream of how it should of been slowly fading away, knowing I can’t share the day with my family the way I imagined, my sister in law and nieces no longer able to be bridesmaids, my brother no longer with his suit”.
“We are looking on the positives that at least they will all be here at the last hour.
“I’m so sorry they have been through such hell at terminal 5 and all the worry and fear.
“I just hope you all can enjoy Monday once it finally arrives and hopefully the topic of conversation on our special day isn’t BA.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368