Manchester-3

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

How come Stansted which is basically overwhelmingly Ryanair and owned by MAG doesn't have the same issue? No, this is a local problem.

[ATNotts]

Originally Posted by Skipness One Foxtrot

How come Stansted which is basically overwhelmingly Ryanair and owned by MAG doesn't have the same issue? No, this is a local problem.

Have MAG perhaps cross subsidised STN from MAN as STN, being a "London airport" is the perceived jewel in their crown? EMA has certainly has had diddly squat invested in their passenger offering for years, and it shows and I suspect that the experience of PAX there is little better than at MAN, though on a smaller scale.

[bar none]

Originally Posted by Skipness One Foxtrot

So if they are this slow at Security screening, with someone being quoted as 60% of bags going for secondary search at certain times, surely to goodness the CAA needs to get involved. This is not a confident, professional, efficient operation. And given it's importance, it needs to be. Security at MAN has been doing their own special thing for years, with the result they've become a joke. This needs the regulator to have a closer look.

That 60% rejection figure is indicative of poor tech and hardware or poor training. At that level and localised once more to Manchester, it's delusional to blame the customer.

Further to the comments above whichever government department is responsible for the UK transport infrastructure should now step in, Starting at the top MAG have shown that they are either incompetent or indifferent to the problem. Manchester airport is a national asset too important to be crucified in the way it is being. I know that of the choke points incoming queues are the responsibility of the Border Force, and check in the responsibility of the handling agencies but MAG should be shouting from the rooftops for improvement. Perhaps they are embarrassed to do so because the biggest choke point of all, namely security, is entirely their responsibility.

[TURIN]

Are there many local businesses near Stansted that are attracting workers? I think one of the problems MAN has is that it is located in a relatively thriving area, people who used to gravitate to the airport no longer need to. As has been pointed out, the race to the bottom is complete. Until MAG/Swissport/Dnata/Menzies etc start paying over the going rate and offering good incentives to keep loyal staff they will continue to struggle. Working conditions in T1 in particular are very poor. Toilets are filthy, there's are no hot food available unless you go and queue with the rest of the passengers at Burger King or Greggs. For an airport this size to have no staff canteen facilities is criminal.
It will get a lot worse before it gets better.

[eye2eye5]

Note also that Airport City is attracting warehousing which inevitably will tend to compete for the same staff demographic.

[commit aviation]

Originally Posted by ATNotts

Have MAG perhaps cross subsidised STN from MAN as STN, being a "London airport" is the perceived jewel in their crown? EMA has certainly has had diddly squat invested in their passenger offering for years, and it shows and I suspect that the experience of PAX there is little better than at MAN, though on a smaller scale.

From what I have heard, it's the exact opposite

[dave59]

Originally Posted by lfc84

That's outrageous

At what point do elected representatives say enough is enough? In response to a complaint I had a letter from Sir Richard Leese many years ago and he commented that some of the processes at the airport were "clearly unacceptable" yet nothing was ever done about it. The 'arms length' holding company (with "innovative" Ryanair-style management) can run the place however it likes, race it to the bottom, strip out every cost and pair everything to the bone. There should be no surprises that there is never any slack in the system because that is the way it is set up. The MAG cash cow has dried up so this combined with increasing negative publicity should hopefully concentrate minds at the City of Manchester.

[biddedout]

One problem at MAN was the mix of lo-cost and full service airlines particularly on T3. The lo-cos refused to pay for air bridges so some were removed, the remainder were poorly maintained or broken and out of service and amongst the handling agents, there were never enough qualified bridge drivers. Last minute changes for full fare airlines wanting bridges meant there was always chaos with busses and steps blocking the aprons. The loco's developed a habit of holding a whole aircraft's worth of pax in the stand stairwells which was almost certainly a H&S / fire hazard and of course they wouldn't pay for enough gate staff so these herds of passengers often ended up released into the wild and randomly wandering around on the apron with very little supervision. Another safety hazard that was regularly reported but the CAA and MAG didn't seem interested so long as hundreds of cones and barriers were sprinkled around.

One way to fix MAN would be to introduce consistency and either scrap bridges across the board or get them all fixed up and working properly with enough qualified drivers and force Lo-cos to pay for and use them.

[The96er]

Originally Posted by biddedout

One problem at MAN was the mix of lo-cost and full service airlines particularly on T3. The lo-cos refused to pay for air bridges so some were removed.

One way to fix MAN would be to introduce consistency and either scrap bridges across the board or get them all fixed up and working properly with enough qualified drivers and force Lo-cos to pay for and use them.

There’s no additional charges for Airbridge use at MAN.

[biddedout]

Even better, get them fixed, train more staff to use them, make all jet use them and get rid of some of the clutter.

[davidjohnson6]

What powers does the CAA or DfT have in cases where security screening takes far too long ?
Yes, I know they can have lots of meeting with MAG, but as long as no bombs or bottles of water get through security screening how is the CAA able to intervene ? I'm assuming the CAA is not going to go nuclear and strip MAG of its licence to run an airport

[brian_dromey]

Originally Posted by biddedout

One way to fix MAN would be to introduce consistency and either scrap bridges across the board or get them all fixed up and working properly with enough qualified drivers and force Lo-cos to pay for and use them.

I dont see why boarding with steps is a safety issue? Airports all across the world, outside North America, manage it just fine. What are the safety and security risks you perceive, I think H&S and fire hazards are fairly low-risk occurrences. The fire doors are closed, rather than being locked? While ramps can be dangerous places people need to take responsibility for their own safety too. Thats as applicable on airport ramps as walking on the street.

Originally Posted by Skipness One Foxtrot

That 60% rejection figure is indicative of poor tech and hardware or poor training. At that level and localised once more to Manchester, it's delusional to blame the customer.

The floor walker I mentioned earlier said 73%. He was incredulous that people just dont know what to pack...I did say no other airport has that level of rejection bust decided it wasn't worth winding him up by pointing out that if only 1 in 4 people can meet their standard perhaps the standard is wrong, rather than assuming 3 out of 4 users are idiots and that they are only idiotic at MAN, not on the return/outbound half of their journey?

[globetrotter79]

Originally Posted by davidjohnson6

What powers does the CAA or DfT have in cases where security screening takes far too long ?
Yes, I know they can have lots of meeting with MAG, but as long as no bombs or bottles of water get through security screening how is the CAA able to intervene ? I'm assuming the CAA is not going to go nuclear and strip MAG of its licence to run an airport

I'm not sure the CAA would have so much interest in how MAG are carrying out the screening, rather if they are failing to meet the maximum queuing time limits then presumably the CAA has the ability to impose fines which, I guess we assume, are intended to encourage the airport operator to invest in additional equipment and/or labour to be able to meet the queuing time limits

[LTNman]

Manchester Airport sorry as huge queues lead to missed flights https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...ester-60778493

[CW247]

I have been at STN and LHR on days where 60% of bags went into the extra checks lane and I have been at the same airports on days where despite the same level of busyness, it's been less than 30%. It's like there's some kind of sensitive dial they twist as it suits them. People who don't follow packing instructions are random. They don't come in defined blocks.

[Mr A Tis]

Here you go : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...ester-59729673
No, not from yesterday, but from December 20th.
The excuse? The airport said it had faced "a greater number of passengers than expected .
When does the Management get to understand the slots they have allocated? 3 months on & blow me down passengers keep turning up. How could we have known?

[DP.]

I've just seen a notification warning of the likelihood of 'considerable queues at security' in both T1 and T2 tomorrow, so it looks like we can expect another s**tshow.

[davidjohnson6]

Has there been any recent increase in security awareness level from the police, MI5 or MoD, warning of people about to do naughty things with bombs in the next few days ? It's the only reason I can think of for somebody deciding to calibrate the security screening process to a high level of sensitivity. If it was due to Russia/Ukraine, I presume all major airports in the UK would be affected - unless of course Manchester airport is particularly lacking in its ability to screen (efficiently) for security risks.

[EZYPZY]

Some positive news. Another new easyJet route to La Rochelle has been announced. Twice weekly (Wed & Sun) commences 3rd July.

[MANFAN]

Originally Posted by DP.

I've just seen a notification warning of the likelihood of 'considerable queues at security' in both T1 and T2 tomorrow, so it looks like we can expect another s**tshow.

A notification warning? Is this only available for internal employees?

I'm due to travel to Malaga Next Tuesday at 6.20am from T1. And friends of mine are travelling to Geneva at 1pm this Saturday, also from T1...are there any warnings for these days/times?