Just thought i'd let all crews/airline represtentation and unwary Ramp staff know about this one. . .
Now as you all know, tis a great and fundamental rule that arriving and departing pax shall never mix. Witness the herculean efforts put in place to ensure this at MAN! To further aid 'efficient operation' (stop laughing) the rule has been (certainly since it was enforced in late 2001!) that 'Arriving Pax shall have priority over Departing Pax', the thought being that its always quicker pouring pax OFF a plane than finding them to put ON it!
But now. . .
ALL CHANGE!!! - We are now hearing rumours about some form of 'Secret Memo' sent by our beloved Airport Landlords to some (but not All) airport companies (and you can bet NOT the AIRLINES) that the rule has changed. As of now . .'Whoever gets there first gets to complete their tasks' . .so as you can imagine, offloading a full A330 off 29 may have to wait a bit if EK are putting a full load onto their B773 next door! Similarly B Pier will be a hot, stuffy nightmare with arriving pax queueing to get OFF their aircraft. Joy.
So when the Dispatcher comes and tells you that the SLF you've put up with for 4hours have to wait a further 20mins to get off due to a Departing flight using the same corridor . . . you'll know why!
Sensible Policies From the Gateway to the World
T-M-Doorkeeper