BA's 10mins prior to departure!

[west of 30w]

I have a little question, recently I tried to get on a BA flight to YVR from T4.
As anyone knows who has been through LHR recently the security is mad right now and its taking anything up to 3 hours to get through.
So having been issued my boarding pass from staff travel and told to go through fast track 45 mins prior to departure I hurried off along with maybe 8 other staff to get on.
It took about 45 mins in the fast track, security would not let people move to the front and no BA staff appeared trying to help.
Once through, I ran to the gate, to see the holds open and so breathed a sigh of relief. It was just about departure time, the gate staff then said due to a new rule at 10 mins prior to dep, all boarding will be refussed.
There were 15 pax trying to get on, 3 first, a few econ and a bunch of staff, the aircraft then waited a further 45mins loading bags.
Can anyone explain the reason to the rule, should some authortity not remain with the Captain and Red Cap?

[Rainboe]

This is an edict that apparently has come from upstairs and is out of the discretion of the flight crew and the dispatcher. What more needs to be said?

I think that matters of staff travel are to be handled with discretion and should not be discussed in public, as you well know. Quite apart from that, this is so totally the wrong forum to raise questions like this.

[Condor]

the aircraft then waited a further 45mins loading bags.

I suspect it waited a further 45 mins UNloading bags - yours!

[west of 30w]

Its a thought, however our bags, did get to the aircraft but never made the plane,as viewed from the gate, maybe it was the fare paying first class passengers that had their bags off loaded.
Either way it would be quicker to let peope on than search for bags, no?

[superpilut]

Common sense disappeared a long time ago from this sector.
And as staff traveller, don't open your mouth! You are strictly obliged to keep your mouth shut, no matter how insulting the situation.
Makes you have a laugh next time you have to show flexibility!
Indeed its even more sad for the full fare paying travellers!

[Rollingthunder]

I used to have to use BA Staff Travel at T4 due to our airline's One World alliance. Never a good experience. Always came out feeling a bit smaller and less important. It is/was a bloody awful way to handle staff. A really badly pathed bureaucratic system dreamed up by some incompetant.

Now I can use a self-check in machine with everyone else, choose my seat , drop off my bags at the express desk and be off in a minute, domestic or international.

[saman]

As a punter that pays, may I suggest you follow your peer's suggestion and keep quiet about the trials and tribulations of your staff travel privileges. You're beginning to upset me already.

[apaddyinuk]

I agree with Saman,
Staff travel is not meant to be easy, its a privelage and not a right!!! Also, your gripe is not with BA but infact BAA for introducing their stringint checks. I for one will not insist on ba adding extra cost to staff travel by having line checkers at security at a time when we should all be watching our spending!!!

[KLMer]

My advice is straight forward and very easy to follow, It seems BA is loosing the plot big time at the moment... Look for another job is my suggestion BA is not what it used to be..We get ID95 at KLM not ID90....

[electricjetjock]

Saman

One question do you have any "perks" with your work? I might get upset about that if you get upset about mine!:ok:

[saman]

Electric JJ,
Yes I do get minor things. I am very grateful for them and I do not complain about them. Especially not in a public forum!

[apaddyinuk]

KLMer...BA are one of the most profitable airlines in Europe, we all got a bonus last year!!! Do you actually have any idea of what it is like to work for BA or do you just make what you can out of reading the militant views on Pprune???

[bealine]

Having just come back from Abu Dhabi on my "free" staff ticket, I am bloody proud of my BA colleagues!!!

Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain are all choked up with "stand-by" staff trying to get back. The crews are giving up their precious rest seats, spare attendants' "jump" seats Positioning Captains and First Officers giving up their First or Club Class seats and riding on the hard Flight Deck "jump" seats in a selfless demonstration of their willingness to help colleagues in "Schtuck!!!"

Sad as I am to disappoint some readers on this forum, I have to say the "esprit de corps" within the front-line troops at BA is alive and well!

My wife's airline treats staff travel as a contractual right - yet their Flying Staff would never give up their precious rest seats for a "Non-Rev"!!!

[Tandemrotor]

appadyinuk

BA are one of the most profitable airlines in Europe,

Please forgive me for expanding on your quote, but I believe I may be correct in saying, BA is the most profitable airline in the World.

As for KLMer:

It seems BA is loosing the plot big time at the moment

I expect a few airlines wish they too were "loosing" the plot in the same way!

Including perhaps KLM, or should I say AF/KLM

[Riverboat]

Useful posting 30W. Nothing to do with staff travel, really, but to do with the law of unintended consequences. If BA's new Push for Punctuality programme has resulted in a silly procedure to deny boarding to anyone not at the aircraft door 10 minutes before departure, then it is going to achieve the opposite: more delays.

Also it is not normal for BA to be inflexible and user-unfriendly, and they stand head and shoulders above most airlines because of this somewhat indefinable "quality".

I hope the message gets through that leaving passengers behind, especially F class passengers, but even Staff - yes, Staff, when it is not absolutely necessary, is a bad thing that will onloy damage the company.

[howflytrg]

"Also, your gripe is not with BA but infact BAA for introducing their stringint checks."
Erm lets see are we forgetting some major factor in the chain of security regulations, such as the DFT????????? These are the lovely peeps who dictate the rules, not BAA.
On the subject of staff travel, BIG thumbs up to the staff at MAN who helped me out with my ID90 (wrong choice with hindsight) ticket back down to LON. They treated me like a human being, not like some low-life as i have sometimes experienced. Really pulled out all the stops to help me out. :ok:

[SLFguy]

Flying LGW to ABZ yesterday I got caught up in some train delay hoohaa trying to get to LGW. In the end I got to the check in at 19:28 for a 19:40 departure. I actually just said "I know I've missed this one but is there a later flight?"
The response was to ask me if I had baggage to check in, (answer - No), "well hang on let's see if we can get you on..."
Guy checked me in - gave me a funny boarding card - grabbed a floor walker and ran like hell, (me, not the BA guy :} ). Ended up tacking onto the end of the queue for boarding. :)

So big thank you to the BA guys & gals.

[wiggy]

Glad to hear you got on - I think the reason for your success lies in those three letters: L-G-W. At Hellsrow you wouldn't have had an earthly.

[TightSlot]

Another possible reason for success is that you asked for help knowledgeably, genuinely and politely - Always hard to resist!!
:)

[SLFguy]

ty Tight....old & ugly enough to know that 'give some respect - get some respect'....but really did feel that at the end of a working day these guys went 'above & beyond'..thanks to them again. :)

[flyblue]

Including perhaps KLM, or should I say AF/KLM

Sorry Tandemrotor, but it happens not to be the case :E


Tuesday, February 07, 2006 5:13:24 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires (http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news_by/dowjonesnewswires.html)

0901 GMT [Dow Jones]--Air France-KLM (3112.FR) shares trade at three-and-a-half year high of EUR19.41, up 2.2% on back of solid January traffic data. London-based air transport analyst says nearly 10% passenger traffic growth "is in line with what we've seen from them" and continues Air France-KLM's out-performing of British Airways (BAB) and Deutsche Lufthansa (LHA.XE). (GLK)