Maintenance Mistake Causes Airport Delays

Image: PHOTO: Manchester International Airport in England. (photo via Flickr/Pete)
Image: PHOTO: Manchester International Airport in England. (photo via Flickr/Pete)
Donald Wood
by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:35 AM ET, Tue June 13, 2017

Passengers attempting to fly out of Manchester Airport in England were forced to wait in long lines for hours Tuesday after the check-in system at the facility suffered a technical failure.

According to BBC.com, a total of 12 Thomas Cook Airlines flights were delayed after employees at Manchester Airport were forced to switch to a manual check-in system. The technical failure caused delays of two hours or more.

In addition to the problems in Manchester, there were also two flight delays at East Midlands Airport Tuesday morning. Other affected carriers included Virgin, Scandinavian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines.

Airport authorities are blaming an issue with overnight maintenance as the cause of the delays.

"We're very sorry for the frustration caused to our customers at Manchester Airport check-in this morning," a Thomas Cook spokesperson told BBC.com. "Our system is back up and running and we're working hard to catch up and get our customers on holiday as soon as possible."

[READMORE] READ MORE: Which Airports Are Worst for Summer Flight Delays?[/READMORE]

Passengers at Manchester Airport claim they waited for as long as three hours before being able to check in for their flights, which caused arguments among passengers and with employees trying to figure out the technical glitch.

"Due to a technical issue this morning several airlines are having to check in passengers manually, which can take longer than normal," a spokesperson for Manchester Airport said.


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