Yahoo News Chaos at Gatwick Airport as information screens fail and staff forced to write flight details on WHITEBOARDS
Passengers at Gatwick Airport this morning have needed good eyesight after flight details were handwritten on whiteboards due to an IT failure.
Staff at the airport have resorted to manually writing out crucial information such as gate numbers for each departure.
However, a ‘handful’ of passengers have missed their flights due to the issue, according to a Gatwick spokesman.
We are sorry, but due to an IT issue our flight information is not displaying correctly. Please use the temporary flight boards in the departure lounges or listen for airline flight announcements. We are expecting to resolve the issue soon and apologise for the inconvenience.
— Gatwick Airport LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) August 20, 2018
This tiny whiteboard is the only departures information in Gatwick Airport right now; every screen is offline. Utter chaos. This is a signature flourish at the end of a short trip that’s been full of reminders of how badly the UK’s infrastructure is crumbling. pic.twitter.com/6r7CDVheLf
— Rob Fahey (@robfahey) August 20, 2018
Gatwick Airport feels like an old school trading floor this morning – buy low sell high! #techfail #delays #onlygoingtocornwallfortheday pic.twitter.com/vuc1xBKp2x
— Hunter Ruthven (@hunterruthven) August 20, 2018
He said: ‘Due to an ongoing issue with Vodafone – a provider of IT services for Gatwick – flight information is not being displayed correctly on the airport’s digital screens and is currently being displayed manually in the terminals.
‘Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers affected and expects Vodafone to resolve the issue as soon as possible.’
Rob Fahey, who was flying from the airport, wrote on Twitter: ‘This tiny whiteboard is the only departures information in Gatwick Airport right now; every screen is offline.
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‘Utter chaos. This is a signature flourish at the end of a short trip that’s been full of reminders of how badly the UK’s infrastructure is crumbling
Disgruntled passengers hoping to fly away on holidays or those jetting back home bombarded the airport’s Twitter feed with questions and complaints:
Come on Gatwick this little whiteboard isn’t doing the job!! @Gatwick_Airport pic.twitter.com/CwXp5HxIja
— Gina (@GinaMurrin) August 20, 2018
@Gatwick_Airport two whiteboards for the entire south terminal on a monday morning! #gatwick pic.twitter.com/XRa7PkWVUn
— Ayla Herbert (@AylaHerbert) August 20, 2018
Dear @Gatwick_Airport you should be tweeting this every 5 minutes! pic.twitter.com/e6UZyi5stc
— Edmund von der Burg (@evdb) August 20, 2018
Appalling @Gatwick_Airport with broken monitors and a tiny white-board for announcing gates. Thank goodness I have eagle-vision and can read messy writing from a distance. Why not pre-assign gates like Canadian airports? #laughable #typicalbritain #frustratedpassengers pic.twitter.com/uSKDWN8ooX
— Elizabeth Humphries (@lizmezzo) August 20, 2018
A delayed aircraft and little information and no self service was a stressful combination for my daughter. She is now taking off – hope your day gets better
— Debra Lilley (@debralilley) August 20, 2018
I’m at Gatwick airport and the screens are broken, so they are announcing boarding gates with a white board! 😂
They have a guy listening to a walkie talkie, erasing and updating the table! pic.twitter.com/AoxSpmQfHy
— Raúl Marcos (@raulmarcosl) August 20, 2018
However, those at the airport praised staff for their handling of the situation:
Screens not working @Gatwick_Airport !!! Hope everyone manages to get to the gates on time. Poor staff shouting out the destinations!! pic.twitter.com/JE8iwRbkh7
— Surinder Manku (@SurinderManku) August 20, 2018
Fair play to your staff.. managed difficult situation well.
— Mandy Hunt (@mandyhunt23) August 20, 2018
Nice on Gatwick! White boards – why not! The art of the white board when your digital screens go wrong. Emergency signs at Gatwick! https://t.co/kFtUgNtouE @signlink @SLOnlineEd @BSGAUK @Sign7TV @SignLinkEditor @BBCBreaking https://t.co/cOj6Dj2jv8
— Harry Speed (@HarrySpeed5) August 20, 2018
Gatwick are using whiteboards to update flight info!!! Fantastic
— Regards, management. 🇬🇭 🇯🇲 🇿🇼 (@LaurandOrdre) August 20, 2018
August is one of the busiest periods of the year for the West Sussex airport as many families embark on summer holidays.
