British Airways canceled 54 more short-haul flights at Heathrow Airport's problem-plagued new Terminal 5 on Monday.
Almost 300 flights have been scrapped and some 15,000 bags have been separated from their owners since the state-of-the-art terminal opened last Thursday. Airport operators have said the problems were triggered by glitches with the terminal's high-tech baggage-handling system.
The chaos has been a major embarrassment for BA and airport operator BAA PLC. They hope the $8.6 billion terminal will transform Heathrow's reputation as a grubby and overcrowded transport hub.
BA, the only airline to fly from Terminal 5, said the terminal was working at 87 percent capacity Monday and service was returning to normal. But it warned there would be more cancellations Tuesday.
BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh said the airline would "not rest until our service has been restored to the high standard customers rightly expect."
"A backlog of undelivered bags has built up," he said. "This backlog is not affecting the day-to-day operation of the baggage system, and we are making every effort to reunite delayed bags with their owners."
PR disaster
The terminal's opening become a full-scale public relations disaster, with long lines and angry outbursts from exhausted passengers broadcast across the nation's television screens.
Walsh said he accepted responsibility for problems, but insisted he would not resign and that the situation would improve within days.
He added that the airline was reviewing plans to shift more of its operations to Terminal 5 at the end of April.
Walsh did not provide specifics of the system breakdowns that bedeviled travelers Thursday and Friday, but said a string of problems — including parking difficulties and computer malfunctions — combined to over-stress the system despite months of preparation.
The fouled startup of the showpiece provoked a flood of anger from leading British politicians, who said the country's reputation was tarnished by the malfunctions at Terminal 5.
