British Airways chief executive has said that the systems meltdown experienced over bank holiday weekend could be due to the actions of a technician.
The airline has ordered an independent investigation into the matter that left 75,000 people stranded and without a flight.
When British Airways’s data system was shut down, hundreds of flights were cancelled. BA are expected to face a compensation bill of up to 150 million.
Willie Walsh has said that the technician responsible “wasn’t authorised to do what he did”.
“You could cause a mistake to disconnect the power – it’s difficult for me to understand how you can mistakenly reconnect the power.” he added.
When the power was restored, it was done in “an uncontrolled and uncommanded fashion that caused physical damage to the servers and distribution panels”.
“That in itself was a problem that we could have overcome probably in a couple of hours, I don’t think it would have led to any cancellations.”
“It’s damaged us, but it hasn’t destroyed us in any way. We’ve recovered from worse. The BA brand is incredibly resilient.” he added.
When speaking at the International Air Transport Association global summit in Mexico, Walsh said on the matter: “It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anybody or any airline, when you see the customers who have suffered. I’m hoping people will be able to learn from the experience we’ve had and we’ll all be better as a result.”
This is not the only criticism the airline has faced recently. This year BA announced plans to end free food and drink on short-haul flights. They have also squeezed more seats onto air crafts.
“If you look at the advances in technology – trillions of dollars invested in new aircraft, lounges and equipment – there needs to be balanced about the changes that are beneficial to business and consumers and those that are regarded as retrograde. We invest a lot of money in new aircraft, we’ve got to fund that through profitability.” Walsh defended.