Gumleaf
September 26th, 2010, 02:40 AM
16:56 AEST Sun Sep 26 2010
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8056161/virgin-blue-delays-as-software-goes-down
Thousands of Virgin Blue passengers' travel plans were ruined on Sunday when the airline's reservations and check-in systems crashed, causing chaos.
The carrier said the systems failure occurred just after 8am (AEST), forcing staff to switch to a manual system as queues of frustrated passengers lengthened.
Virgin Blue has urged passengers to delay non-essential travel for the rest of the day, while those left stranded would be provided with a bed for the night.
"The manual check-in process has meant that our customers regrettably have been inconvenienced with delays and flight cancellations," Virgin Blue Group of Airlines group executive of corporate communications Danielle Keighery said in a statement.
The technical difficulties were yet to be resolved.
The airline said Navitaire, the external supplier of its reservations and check-in systems, had a computer hardware failure which forced the switch to the slower manual check-in system.
The computer problem had disrupted Virgin Blue flights at airports across the country, as well as the web check-in service, and some Virgin Pacific international flights.
"I would like to take this opportunity to express my apologies," Ms Keighery said.
She said Virgin Blue would be providing overnight accommodation and complimentary airport transfers for anyone not in their home town on Sunday night.
"Guests who have experienced a delay in excess of four hours will have their travel both reimbursed via a credit with the airline and transferred to another day and time," she said.
"If your travel is not essential today, you should consider delaying travel to another day."
© AAP 2010
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8056161/virgin-blue-delays-as-software-goes-down
Thousands of Virgin Blue passengers' travel plans were ruined on Sunday when the airline's reservations and check-in systems crashed, causing chaos.
The carrier said the systems failure occurred just after 8am (AEST), forcing staff to switch to a manual system as queues of frustrated passengers lengthened.
Virgin Blue has urged passengers to delay non-essential travel for the rest of the day, while those left stranded would be provided with a bed for the night.
"The manual check-in process has meant that our customers regrettably have been inconvenienced with delays and flight cancellations," Virgin Blue Group of Airlines group executive of corporate communications Danielle Keighery said in a statement.
The technical difficulties were yet to be resolved.
The airline said Navitaire, the external supplier of its reservations and check-in systems, had a computer hardware failure which forced the switch to the slower manual check-in system.
The computer problem had disrupted Virgin Blue flights at airports across the country, as well as the web check-in service, and some Virgin Pacific international flights.
"I would like to take this opportunity to express my apologies," Ms Keighery said.
She said Virgin Blue would be providing overnight accommodation and complimentary airport transfers for anyone not in their home town on Sunday night.
"Guests who have experienced a delay in excess of four hours will have their travel both reimbursed via a credit with the airline and transferred to another day and time," she said.
"If your travel is not essential today, you should consider delaying travel to another day."
© AAP 2010