And we're back ...
Loading the family and baggage into a black cab at the airport for what is a just under £10 journey to our nearby home brought the usual string of near-expletives from the cabbie. "*&^%$£ mate, WHERE ? I've been queued here for over 2 flippin' hours". etc etc. Now I know that everyone on the rank thinks they are going to get at least a Heathrow, if not a Cambridge, every trip, but this has been a longstanding issue at the LCY rank for local trips which the airport must surely give some consideration to. A "black cabs are TfL, so nuffin' to do with us" approach is little different from that cabbie's. For some this sort of reception can be more than a little threatening.
For New York trips, I often fly into LGA and stay in Long Island City. Same issue there as it is a fairly short ride. As far as I understand the solution to the problem, cabbies at LGA get a note from a supervisor that allows them to jump the queue upon return if they have to accept a trip that does not exceed a defined distance from the airport.