System failure hits Japan airlines

May 8, 2019

Tokyo--Japan Airlines <9201> was hit with a system failure Wednesday morning, halting automated check-in procedures for about two hours at airports nationwide.

A glitch occurred in JAL's check-in system for its domestic services, leaving passengers unable to select their seats at electronic kiosks and enter security checkpoints with e-tickets, according to the airline.

JAL responded to the failure by issuing paper tickets by hand, which resulted in long lines at manned check-in counters.

The incident caused the cancellations of 34 flights, including the service from Tokyo International Airport at Haneda to Osaka International Airport at Itami, western Japan, affecting about 2,830 passengers. In addition, there were flight delays of up to three hours and 20 minutes, and more than 140 flights had delays of over 30 minutes.

One of the two servers used for domestic check-ins suffered a failure. The cause of the error is under investigation, according to JAL.

At one point, long lines of passengers waiting for their paper tickets to be issued almost filled the departure check-in floor at Haneda airport.

"I'm concerned that the delay would affect my trip," said Keiko Matsushita, 64, who plans to visit Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan.

"I'm a frequent flyer, but it's the first time I've faced such a problem. I'm unlucky," said a man, 65, whose flight to Hokkaido, northern Japan, was canceled.

In April 2016, a glitch hit JAL's system for measuring the balance of weight for airplanes, causing 46 domestic flights departing Haneda airport to be canceled. The same system failed in June 2014. Jiji Press