QANTAS is trying to trace the cause of system glitches with its new passenger control system that delayed flights late last night and early today.
QANTAS is trying to trace the cause of system glitches with its new passenger control system that delayed flights late last night and early today.
A Qantas spokesman said that flights were delayed by around 20 to 30 minutes as a result.
The new system, known internally as the Altea departure control system, went live across Qantas' domestic terminals and at its facilities in Beijing and Shanghai late July.
The installation has been less than smooth with system issues causing passenger delays shortly after its launch.
However, the Qantas spokesman described the problems as "infrequent".
"All computer systems old and new have glitches and as I say they have been infrequent," he said.
Late last week incoming Qantas chief financial officer Colin Storey cited poor staff familiarity with the system for the delays.
A disgruntled senior IT executive, who asked not to be named, was among the passengers delayed late yesterday. He questioned the airline's position on the system.
"The CFO's claim that the problems with the system can be attributed to poor familiarity is rubbish. It's got real usability issues. The other issue is that it keeps crashing," the executive, who's with a major international financial advisory firm, said.
The system is due to be launched across the rest of its international facilities September 10.
The issues with Altea coincide with a series ongoing problems with the airline's punctuality and concerns over its safety standards.
A recent air emergency that forced a Qantas flight to land in Manila, and several cases of aircraft faults causing long flight delays, have had observers questioning the way the company is being run.
Early this week Qantas delayed one of its flights by 18 hours. Delays have been happening since late May. Early in June Qantas delayed one flight from London by at least 14 hours.
Announcing full-year results last week, outgoing chief executive Geoff Dixon said: "It's not surprising after these incidents that some people may be concerned we have taken our eye off the ball. This is not the case."