Australian travel professionals have worked round the clock since Friday, 19 July,  to mitigate the impact of the global IT outage.

Even today, over 72 hours since the crisis hit, travellers the world over are still feeling the effects of the outage that led to delays or cancellations on more than 3,000 flights due to issues affecting digital check-in and boarding systems. 

At the height of the crisis, Australian travel professionals went above and beyond their usual work to ensure that travellers could fly safely out or get home as soon as possible. This was something appreciated by those affected by the outage, as they felt that they were being taken care of .

Dean Long, CEO of the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA), was moved to say that travel professionals were worth their weight in gold, performing splendidly even as the crisis hit.

Long said of his peers: “Australia’s travel professionals went above and beyond over the weekend to help their clients and non-clients who reached out in desperation. Choosing an ATAS-accredited travel professional means choosing peace of mind and reliable assistance, no matter the circumstances.”

In a pinch, call an expert

For Steven Green, director at Olive Tree Travel, one of the more unusual occurrences that followed the outage was calls from non-clients seeking help after a flight cancellation.

Green explained: “Jetstar cancelled their flight from Singapore to Melbourne and rebooked them in six days’ time. There was no accommodation with a credit on offer for the flight. They called to see if we could help get them home earlier. We could.”

Green and his team initially booked the travellers aboard a Qantas flight slated for Monday evening, but they continued to scan throughout the weekend to see if there were any earlier flights.

Family matters

Ivona Siniarska, director at Take Off Go, shared the story of a mother-son duo who were in the US for a family reunion. 

Slated to fly from Denver, to Chicago, and finally to Green Bay, the pair found themselves in a conundrum as the airline would not give a clear answer regarding the flight status. While it had not been cancelled on the system, both Siniarska’s team and the travellers weren’t sure as to what to do next.

As she explains: “They couldn’t miss the family reunion, so we had to act quickly. As the check-in deadline approached and the airline still showed the flights as cancelled on their website, we decided to skip the chaos and quickly hired a car, so they could drive the 17 hours to make the reunion on time. We also booked them a hotel in Des Moines for their overnight stay. I received a heartfelt message saying they made it to the family reunion on time. They expressed their gratitude for how, within 15 minutes, I was able to cancel their flights, email American Airlines, and book them a car and hotel to ensure they made it to their family gathering.”