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British Airways Marketing

BA boss says he won't resign over IT meltdown

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By Tony Connelly | Sports Marketing Reporter

May 29, 2017 | 2 min read

British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz has publically stated he will not resign and has refuted suggestions that the mass flight disruptions are a result of cutting costs.

Alex Cruz

BA could face £100m compensation bill to passengers affected by the flight cancellations

Cruz released a video statement yesterday (28 May) on Twitter where he apologised for the IT failure which grounded planes from Heathrow and Gatwick and left thousands of passengers stranded.

The statement failed to appease many customers though and BA was widely criticised on social media for its handling of the situation.

Speaking to the BBC, Cruz said the power surge "only lasted a few minutes", but the back-up system had failed. He also said he had been communicating with customers on social media and stressed there was no evidence of a cyber attack.

Cruz also stated that he would not resign over the issue and would " make sure that it doesn't happen again".

A leaked staff email revealed Cruz had told staff not to comment on the system failure and when asked about the email he told the BBC his message was clear: "Stop moaning and come and help us".

The airline is now close to full operational capacity after the problems, however it now liable to reimburse thousands of passengers for hotel and food expenses, which is estimated to around £100m.

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