Airport boss: I cringe

THE boss of Heathrow airport has admitted the way its passengers are treated is so bad, it makes him "cringe".

Chief executive Tony Douglas also said the hub is so overstretched, it is as if "sticking plaster" holds it together.

He warned the situation will get even worse over the summer because new immigration policies will double the time that is needed to examine passports.

Mr.Douglas said: "The proposition for the traveller isn't always what we would want, and it's simply not good enough." He added that the airport was meant to handle 45 million people a year but deals with 68 million.

from: thelondonpaper, June 22nd 2007

-July 19, 2007-

Tony Douglas quits as chief of Heathrow

Executive who said levels of service at Heathrow were "unacceptable" joins 2012 London Olympics construction firm...

by Steve Hawkes

The chief executive of Heathrow is stepping down only four months after acknowledging that customer service at the world’s busiest airport had fallen to “unacceptable” levels.

Tony Douglas will join Laing O’Rourke, the construction firm charged with a key role in the effort for the 2012 London Olympics, as chief operating officer next month.

BAA, the Heathrow owner, confirmed the move in a short statement to the London Stock Exchange this afternoon...

Read more here:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article2103942.ece

Here is a comment from a reader of Timesonline - note the part that I've underlined, which describes typical symptomatic behaviour of the kind of sick characters that should never be employed as customs officers. No one with this sort of contempt for their fellow human beings should be given the opportunity to take a job in society with the power to seriously mess around with the lives of others:

"I agree that customer service at Heathrow is a disaster. When recently changing from T1 international to T1 domestic the security staff were a total embarrassment - grossly overmanned ( 8 for one xray machine ), and doing almost no work. They were standing in groups around the xray monitor laughing and sniggering at each persons hand baggage. It was taking at least a minute a passenger to process through. People in the queue were very angry, and foreigners baffled about how badly the staff were behaved and managed. No surprise that the leader of the enterprise should jump, obviously his leadership skills did not go very far.

And worse still that we are paying for this incompetence through higher BAA charges and even longer queues.

Freddie, Glasgow."

Misery for millions as tight security restrictions cause huge airport delays



A relaxation of the strict rules on air travellers' hand-baggage was signalled by the Government yesterday - but will come too late for this summer's predicted holiday chaos.

New Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly held a special two hour long security summit with airline and airport bosses yesterday in a bid to reduce the misery for air travellers following three failed bomb attacks by terrorists.

She signalled that, in the medium term, she was prepared to look again at baggage restrictions which limit travellers to just one carry-on bag - provided the security of passengers is not compromised.

But for the immediate future, the Government's focus was on ensuring that the current system is robust enough to guarantee passenger security without causing a meltdown.

Airline operators say some of the security measures, introduced last August, are "unjustified" and driving valuable business passengers away from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted...

Read more here:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23405087-details/Misery+for+millions+as+tight+security+restrictions+cause+huge+airport+delays/article.do

Noise 'footprint' from Heathrow leaves its mark across the capital

Juliette Jowit, transport editor
Sunday July 15, 2007

Noise from Heathrow is a 'significant' problem across the whole of London, with even people on the opposite side of the capital from the airport suffering distress, according to new research.

A report, 'No Place to Hide', blames a boom in flying and increases the pressure on government ministers, who are expected to announce in the autumn a decision on whether to build a third runway and sixth terminal at the world's busiest international airport...

Read article here:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2126746,00.html

Screening will check passengers

Every person who leaves or enters Britain will be electronically screened, in a bid to expose terrorists hiding among the public.

source: thelondonpaper, July 26th 2007

Terminal Five chaos threat over fingerprint plan:
Commissioner tells passengers to protest at security measures

Last updated at 23:37pm on 23.03.08

The opening of Heathrow's new Terminal 5 was under threat last night
after its management was warned that a plan to fingerprint passengers may be illegal.

The £4.3billion terminal is due to open on Thursday.

But the Information Commissioner has told Spanish-owned airport operator BAA that its plan
to fingerprint all passengers may breach the Data Protection Act.....

Article/photos here:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23462111-details/Terminal+Five+chaos+threat+over+fingerprint+plan:+Commissioner+tells+passengers+to+protest+at+security+measures/article.do

BAA jettisons plans to fingerprint passengers at Heathrow Terminal 5

Last updated at 18:18pm on 26th March 2008

Heathrow owner BAA will not take fingerprints of passengers using the £4.3billion Terminal 5 which opens today.

It has decided to ditch its proposal because of doubts about the legality of such a move.

BAA had hoped to fingerprint passengers on all domestic flights and those changing from international to domestic flights from T5 when it opened.

But the Information Commissioner's office was concerned the fingerprinting could breach the Data Protection Act.

Last night BAA said: "Following a meeting with all relevant parties, including the Information Commissioner and the Border and Immigration Agency, the introduction of fingerprinting for domestic passengers and international passengers transferring onto domestic flights at Heathrow will be temporarily delayed.

"BAA will be opening Terminal 5 using a photographic identification process during this time which is already in place.

"We will be working closely with the Information Commissioner and the Home Office over the next few weeks to agree the best approach going forward."....

Article here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=546448&in_page_id=1770

U.S. airline boss brands 'dump' Heathrow the 'worst airport in Europe'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=562709&in_page_id=1770

Last updated at 10:35am on 29th April 2008

Heathrow Airport has been branded the "worst in Europe" by a senior executive of a U.S. airline.

Don Langford, head of customer services Europe for American Airlines, delivered an outspoken attack on the west London airport, saying it was a "bit of a dump" that suffered from a lack of investment.

The comments come as Heathrow attempts to rebuild its reputation after the opening of the £4.3 billion Terminal 5 saw tens of thousands of bags lost and dozens of flights delayed.

Mr Langford told BBC Radio 4 that Heathrow was the worst of all European destinations his company flies to.

He told the broadcaster: "Heathrow is not just bursting at the seams. I think the seams have burst.

"If you look at the fabric of the building, if you look at where customers check in - missing light bulbs, duck tape on the floor.

"I would have to say that Heathrow is in many ways the worst of all the airports that my company flies to in Europe."

But Heathrow operator BAA said things were improving and it would invest £4bn over five years to improve the airport.

BAA's corporate affairs director Tom Kelly told the BBC: "This is an airport which was designed for something like 45 million passengers - we have now got 65 million.

"We are investing £4bn over the next five years.....you've got to realise that if you are going to invest that kind of money it takes time to put things right."

Heathrow boss who presided over the Terminal 5 debacle quits job at BAA

by RAY MASSEY

Last updated at 16:23pm on 13th May 2008

The Heathrow airport chief who presided over the Terminal 5 debacle has left his job after just 18 months - and only days after his boss said he wasn't frightened of sacking people.

Mark Bullock became the latest casualty of the T5 turmoil when airport operator BAA said Heathrow's managing director had "chosen to leave" after leading the airport "through a particularly challenging period".

The announcement of Mr Bullock's airport departure follows massive controversy over the opening of the new £4.3billion terminal which was branded "a national disgrace" and humiliation.....

Article here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=566113&in_page_id=1770

BAA Paying for T5 fiasco

LARA DEAUVILLE

thelondonpaper, May 28th 2008

AIRPORTS operator BAA is counting the cost of tighter security and money spent on the farcical launch of Heathrow's Terminal 5 as it posted a £51m loss for the first three months of the year.

BAA, majority owned by Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial, blamed the plummeting earnings, down from a £107m profit during the same period last year, on security measures.

The group also paid out £24m in the first quarter on getting T5 up and running.

BAA said earlier this month it was raising £400m from shareholders as worries surfaced over its proposals to refinance debts.

More than 32 million people passed through its airports in the three-month period.