If I was flying on Apr 1 from Heathrow I would give T5 a wide berth and use another Carrier. I share the same thoughts about MBA drones slotting in at the top of management. The global credit crisis is a direct result of CEO's not understanding their own products. There is no substitute for a graduate being recruited in his/her early 20s and working through the myriad of departments in a corporation and finishing up in charge. Corporate America binned this culture in the 80s and look where they are now. Asian and Indian Companies have taken over the baton and are much more successful as a result. For a fine example of modern management double-speak check out the following, searching desperately for any evidence of common sense on offer from this disaster;
"Further down the BAA management food chain there was similar enthusiasm. Veronica Kumar, the 29-year-old impressively named 'head of people and change' at T5, purred that the move offered a 'nirvana' of sorts. 'Our policy has been to create a context for change, then to apply changes within that context.
If few people outside the world of human resources knew what Kumar was on about, they were clearer about her ultimate goal. 'We want to give fliers an experience they'll remember,' she said.
Last Thursday Kumar achieved her aim, although not for the reasons BA and BAA would have wished. As the queues stretched, IT systems crashed, baggage went missing, scuffles broke out and children screamed, it was clear the launch of T5 had been an unmitigated disaster - rivalled in recent times only by the opening night of the Dome, when hundreds of VIPs, including most national newspaper editors, were forced to queue in the cold on the last night of the millennium.
Inside the terminal, there were scenes of chaos. Along with angry passengers, staff were becoming increasingly demoralised. Security staff coming to their desks in arrivals were alarmed to find large orange signs warning them: 'Danger, Live Cables.' It turned out the cables were no longer live, but no one had remembered to remove the signs. As the day wore on, drinking water was shipped in for the overstretched baggage teams, but the security staff refused to allow the bottles in.
Last edited by nigegilb; 30th Mar 2008 at 08:51.