BA vows 'never again' after costly IT collapse

British Airways said it would take steps to ensure there was no repeat of a computer system failure that stranded 75,000 passengers over a holiday weekend and turned into a public relations disaster. BA had been forced to cancel all its flights from Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, and Gatwick on Saturday after a power supply problem disrupted its operations worldwide and also hit its call centers and website. The airline was returning to normal on Monday, planning to run more than 95% of flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick, with only a handful of short-haul flights cancelled. BA CE Alex Cruz said the root of the problem, which also affected passengers trying to fly into Britain, had been a power surge on Saturday morning which hit BA's flight, baggage and communication systems. It was so strong it also rendered the back-up systems ineffective, he said. "Once the disruption is over, we will carry out an exhaustive investigation into what caused this incident, and take measures to ensure it never happens again," Cruz said. Over the weekend, some stranded passengers curled up under blankets on the floor or slumped on luggage trolleys, images that played prominently online and in newspapers. The company was left counting the cost of the disruption, both in terms of a one-off impact to its profit and the longer term damage to its reputation.<br/>