British Airways Cancels All Flights From London After Global IT Outage

British Airways canceled all flights from London"s Heathrow and Getwick airports scheduled before 6 pm, after a global computer system outage caused massive delays and left planes stuck on runways. Earlier on Saturday, there were reports of BA staff telling disgruntled passengers trying to get away for the Bank Holiday weekend that the company was under cyber attack but this was denied by the airline.

#Breaking British Airways apologises to customers who are facing delays "following an IT outage"

— Press Association (@PA) May 27, 2017

The airline said terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick had become extremely congested because of the IT failure and all BA flights scheduled before 1700 GMT had been canceled. he airline also advised passengers against coming to the airports as it would not be able to help them.

"Please do not come to the airports. We have experienced a major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide," the airline said in a statement.  "We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible."

We apologise for the current IT systems outage. We are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

— British Airways (@British_Airways) May 27, 2017

Passengers who were already at the airports were angry with the resulting chaos: 

"Still on the tarmac at Leeds. #britishairways reckon Heathrow is so backed up we can"t set off. No way we"ll make our Vegas flight," one passenger David Raine wrote on Twitter.

Another, journalist Martyn Kent, wrote: "Sat on plane at Heathrow for hour and a half now. @British_Airways Captain describes IT problem as "catastrophic"."

Passenger Roshni Burt, who was flying from Heathrow to Bahrain with her young son, said there was no news about when her flight would depart.

"When we left the check-in area there were angry people, people getting frustrated that their flights were coming up or near to departure, people getting turned away ... with BA staff basically saying "if you"ve not checked in online, you"ve missed your flight"," she told Sky News.

Flying with @British_Airways from @HeathrowAirport ? Don"t bother #britishairways pic.twitter.com/2czOBpaL43

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) May 27, 2017

Heathrow Airport right now. Thanks to #BritishAirways systems crashing. All flights delayed so make sure to give yourself plenty of time pic.twitter.com/s5qvyY5p7Y

— Philip Napiorkowski (@ukphillad) May 27, 2017

Terminal 5 in #Heathrow-huge lines from system outage pic.twitter.com/OaVDIq4uwU

— Lesley Mancuso (@lesallyn) May 27, 2017

The official Twitter account of Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in Europe, confirmed the IT failure abd said it was working with BA.

We"re working with @British_Airways following an issue with their IT system this morning that has caused some delays for passengers. 1/2

— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) May 27, 2017

Following initial reports that the ground halt was the result of a computer hacks, British Airways refuted media claims that the outage had been caused by a cyber attack, saying that there was no evidence to support that.

The problems, which passengers said were had affected flights across Britain, came on a particularly busy weekend with a public holiday on Monday and many children starting their school half-term breaks.

BA became the latest airline to be hit by computer problems. Last month Lufthansa and Air France suffered a global system outage which prevented them from boarding passengers. Passengers trying to catch planes in Britain on Saturday reported long delays at check-in desks and flights being held on runways.

Obamas To Make Over $60 Million From Book Deal

Update: shortly after the news hit that various publishing houses are caught in a bidding war over the Obamas" upcoming memoirs, Penguin Random House issued a press release that it was the winner and will publish forthcoming books by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, concluding a heated auction among multiple publishers.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The Obamas were represented by Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell of Williams & Connolly.

“We are absolutely thrilled to continue our publishing partnership with President and Mrs. Obama. With their words and their leadership, they changed the world, and every day, with the books we publish at Penguin Random House, we strive to do the same,” the chief executive of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, said in a statement. “Now, we are very much looking forward to working together with President and Mrs. Obama to make each of their books global publishing events of unprecedented scope and significance.”

Earlier:

What took the Clintons years of confidential speeches before major investment banks and middle eastern clients of the Treasury Department, the Obama"s plan to achieve with just two books.  According to the FT, several publishers are participating in a blockbuster auction for the global rights to two books by Barack and Michelle Obama where the bid has reached more than $60 million. The Obamas, who are writing separate books but selling the rights jointly, stand to make a record amount for their presidential memoirs.

The publishers involved in the auction for "the most hotly anticipated publishing deal of the year" include Penguin Random House, which published Obama’s previous three books, and HarperCollins, which ironically is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News. Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS, and Macmillan, are also in the mix. As the FT points out, a win by HarperCollins would bring the Obamas into the same publishing house as Bill O’Reilly, the author and Fox News Channel presenter who has been one of the former president’s fiercest critics.

For now, Penguin Random House is reportedly leading the pack for the publishing deal with a decision on the winning bid expected imminently.

With the price set to surpass $60 million, rhe sum offered would eclipse other book deals secured by departing presidents, and would be four times greater than the $15 million Bill Clinton received from Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House, for his 2004 memoirs My Life when he left the White House. George W Bush made an estimated $10 million from his book Decision Points.

The FT also notes that Robert Barnett, Obama’s literary agent who is fielding offers on behalf of the former president, has become a power player for politicians seeking big book deals. He brokered Tony Blair’s £4.5 million contract with Penguin Random House, which is jointly owned by UK education group Pearson and Bertelsmann, the German media company.

Obama has extensive prior book authoring experience, having gained a reputation as a writer before entering the White House with his bestselling books Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope. Obama previously disclosed that he earned $8.8 million from The Audacity of Hope, and the children’s book Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, according to a report by Forbes. Sales of his first memoir, Dreams from My Father, published in paperback in 2004, brought in a further $6.8m in royalties.

However, it is the prospect of a joint book deal with his wife Michelle that has propelled the auction to record-breaking levels and has set the publishing industry alight.