Manchester -LEAST Crew-friendly airport?

[ShotOne]

Manchester Airport styles itsself as "the world's favourite airport. In terms of pax facilities and numbers it has come on enormously in the last couple of years...but facilities for crew are a long way behind.

How do they get away with such a sparse bus service to the far distant staff car parks, why no crew channel and it is planned to close off the "fast track" entrance to flight crew -last time they even went to the extent of placing "bouncers" there to ensure no low-life pilots attempted to use it.

The overall impression is that the world's favourite airport has nothing but contempt for the professional flight crew who carry its passengers.

[WAIF-er]

I agree with the above.

I would add to that by saying the service you get upon return from a long-haul flight is terrible.

More often than not, when I have returned to MAN (home base!)the crew bus is somewhere else (not the fault of the drivers I might add)and you have to wait 20 minutes for that to turn up.

If you land early, nobody will be expecting you (caterers, baggage, crew bus, aircraft steps) if you turn up late, they will have given up and gone elsewhere.

We left Sanford 2 weeks ago and were 40 minutes ahead of schedule. We called Manchester soon after departure to let them know, but 7 and a half hours later, nobody was expecting us at MAN!

In my opinion, ground services are too fragmented. How can you expect 4 or 5 different companies to all meet you at exactly the same time and the idea of them co-operating with each other - what a joke!

Replies appreciated.

[tunneler]

Hows about just using yer astra waif??? :)

How tricks pal? Drop me an email sometime.

Tunny

[HugMonster]

I recall an occasion when I'd just started working for an outfit @ MAN. My id pass hadn't yet been issued, and I was getting through the barriers on my licence plus passport for the photo id.

One security guy didn't like this. One day he turned my bag inside out, wanted to know where I was going.

"Are you picking an aircraft up?"
"Well, not exactly - I'm flying it today, and bringing it back later."
"How long have you worked for XXXXXXX?"
"About a week"
"And in what capacity do you work for them?"
(I was in uniform, which might have given it away)
"You're holding my pilot's licence in your hand - now, in exactly what capacity do you suppose I work for them?"
"Aghh - I can't talk to you. I'm calling my supervisor"

The Supervisor wasn't much better!

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Breeding Per Dementia Unto Something Jolly Big, Toodle-pip

[Devils Advocate]

Whilst not too familiar with MAN I can hand on heart report that the folks who work in security at both EDI & GLA are the biggest bunch of anal retentive jobs-worths that it's ever been my misfortune to have to deal with !

Indeed these are people who, instead of applying common sense, regularly spout the phrase "but we've got rules" to whit I quite recently responded "Ah yes, rules are for fools to obey, but the guidance of wise men".

However this didn't go down too well, and the entente cordial was further reduced when (with jumped up little Hilters springing immediately to mind) I made the further association of people whom apply 'the rules' with all the fervour of a religious zealot but who subsequently hide behind the 'the rules' having a lot in common with the guards who worked at Aushwitz, Buchenwald, Belsen, and Dachau, etc.... at this point the Police were called, in an endeavour to get me to change my attitude - which I didn't / haven't - and as I told them "It's still a free country isn't it ? We've still go the right to express a point of view, haven't we ? So what are you going to do about it then ?" and as they admitted, there was nothing that they could do because I hadn't actually committed any offence - except of course to seriously p!ss-off the security jobs-worths !

[Delta Wun-Wun]

OI! YES YOU!...YOU CANT PARK THERE!!!!
:) :) :)

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GET THE BLOODY NOSE DOWN!

[beaglepup]

Ah Yes, "security"
In the "old" days. MAN security was done by MIA [employed/seconded} GMP. Then, "Securicor", then "DEDICATED" M[I]A plc security operatives.
1. "Let us be Secure". The "dedicated" security post couldn't tell the difference 'tween male and female! (male had a beard)
2. Arrive with "full face crash helmet" on motorcycle.
a. It's raining [very, VERY] heavily.....
guard wants to check ID....fine
b. It's bright sunshine.......tat is absolutely..Correct, guard stays in shade
What can one say?

[tonyt]

jumped up jobs worths are of course merely following orders of security managers who were looking the other way last year when both DTI and press managed to get into places they weren't supposed to.

similar complaints about staff car parking on another strand, all points to a management team who have rather forgotten who the real customers are.

'welcome to Manchester International Airport - no not you lot in uniform, you only work here...'