Manchester-3
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They won’t be making much money in retail etc if the pax are queuing for hours.
(some) airlines charge more for checked baggage than passengers & this is the service they provide.
I’m due back into MAN tomorrow evening & have an outbound next week.
After these trips I won’t be booking any more flights out of MAN for the foreseeable.
(some) airlines charge more for checked baggage than passengers & this is the service they provide.
I’m due back into MAN tomorrow evening & have an outbound next week.
After these trips I won’t be booking any more flights out of MAN for the foreseeable.
Slightly off topic, but my wife is due out of MAN on Friday afternoon on EK as staff and she’s worried about making the transfer to Australia in Dubai due to all of this.
Is anyone familiar with the staff process with EK out of Manchester? Does a standby ticket allow you to get through security asap or do you need to hang around the check in desks until the flight closes?
Also, she was thinking about going out of Gatwick instead. Would this really be worthwhile? It doesn't seem to be much better.
**Disregard. Changed to LHR
Is anyone familiar with the staff process with EK out of Manchester? Does a standby ticket allow you to get through security asap or do you need to hang around the check in desks until the flight closes?
Also, she was thinking about going out of Gatwick instead. Would this really be worthwhile? It doesn't seem to be much better.
**Disregard. Changed to LHR
Last edited by Fonz121; 5th Apr 2022 at 10:06.
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It is also, in large part, because the airport has very little good will from passengers thanks to the experience that was provided pre-pandemic. People might have a little more sympathy for the current situation were it not for memories of a similar (albeit not as bad as currently) experience prior to the pandemic.
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Know so many people who would normally fly from MAN are now flying out of LPL, LBA, BHX and LHR/LGW for long haul flights.
Swissport have been drafting in employees from other UK airports. Belfast, Glasgow, Liverpool, Luton. Overtime rates and hotel accommodation thrown in. So, there must be spare staff somewhere. From what I have heard the local MAN based staff are at the end of their tether, even with triple time being offered, at some point you need a day off or two. Looking at the faces today you can see they are utterly knackered.
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This made me smirk
https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/...ides/security/
"Lipsticks, lip balms and stick deodorants are not classed as liquids."
Lots of people report that they get stopped due to lipsticks....
and then this one:
"Please note - if you wish to bring your own containers to hold 100ml or less, the container must have printed on it the measurement that the container can hold. Travel sets of containers that do not have measurements on them will not be allowed through security. Handwritten measurements or stickers are also not acceptable."
Particuarly with reference to the two lines in bold above. Can anyone point to the legislation for this?
https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/...ides/security/
"Lipsticks, lip balms and stick deodorants are not classed as liquids."
Lots of people report that they get stopped due to lipsticks....
and then this one:
"Please note - if you wish to bring your own containers to hold 100ml or less, the container must have printed on it the measurement that the container can hold. Travel sets of containers that do not have measurements on them will not be allowed through security. Handwritten measurements or stickers are also not acceptable."
Particuarly with reference to the two lines in bold above. Can anyone point to the legislation for this?
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I made the post below on 16.03.2019. There have been too many comments/issues around Manchester airport for it all just to have some simple explanation. For me, there seems to be a culture issue at this airport. Not much has changes from my post three years ago.
"Arrived in Manchester airport on Wednesday afternoon, T3. What I did notice on the walk from T3 to the train station was the number of buckets sitting to catch water leaking through the roof. Most of the moving walkway was out of service, why? Essential maintenance said the signs, but not one maintenance worker to be seen.
I departed again Thursday afternoon. Got to security, not that many in front of me. Guy at the front of security coming down the line, frequently, telling us to make sure we had all out of our bags as they were getting a lot of rejections and it would take at least 40 minutes for it to be checked at the other side of security. 40 minutes, this in the middle of March. What would that not be like at the height of the season? They were wanting everything out, including hair straighteners etc? First time I have heard that requirement. It took a long time to even get to the scanners as passengers were taking so long to get everything out that was needed, plus there was a shortage of trays as so many were waiting to be checked.
Into the waiting area/terminal, what a depressing place. Few seats, most coffee shops/bars etc busy as people just go in there and sit. Is there no quality places in there to eat at all?
Gate called, gate 142 in think. Anyway, we had to go through scanners to check our photographs. I think there were 2 scanners, then one for manual checking. So they call 4 flights at once, several hundred pax trying to get through very few scanners. System not working for many of them, although for many, it was their own fault as they were not even looking up. Maybe they didn't know what to do, although some can never learn. Then we had quite a number seem to have gone through the scanners to then realise they were at the wrong gates. They were trying to get back out, but no, you just can't walk back out. More chaos as they were trying to get out against those trying to come in but needed manual checking. The people who design these systems and procedures seem to lack all common sense, but a lot of this is driven by cost cutting, airports don't want to pay for enough/any staff to make things run smoothly. They should be given their P45's for sheer stupidy.
To summarise my experience, too many items not working like lifts/walkways. That has to be down to no maintenance, there were too many for it to be coincidence. Manchester Airport is a collection of buildings just thrown together, moving from T3 to the train station we were in/out, up and down, just a nonsense. Security is a joke and not fit for purpose. Boarding experience, just awful.
Manchester Airport is a complete disgrace, I will only use it if I have to, but it will be a last resort."
"Arrived in Manchester airport on Wednesday afternoon, T3. What I did notice on the walk from T3 to the train station was the number of buckets sitting to catch water leaking through the roof. Most of the moving walkway was out of service, why? Essential maintenance said the signs, but not one maintenance worker to be seen.
I departed again Thursday afternoon. Got to security, not that many in front of me. Guy at the front of security coming down the line, frequently, telling us to make sure we had all out of our bags as they were getting a lot of rejections and it would take at least 40 minutes for it to be checked at the other side of security. 40 minutes, this in the middle of March. What would that not be like at the height of the season? They were wanting everything out, including hair straighteners etc? First time I have heard that requirement. It took a long time to even get to the scanners as passengers were taking so long to get everything out that was needed, plus there was a shortage of trays as so many were waiting to be checked.
Into the waiting area/terminal, what a depressing place. Few seats, most coffee shops/bars etc busy as people just go in there and sit. Is there no quality places in there to eat at all?
Gate called, gate 142 in think. Anyway, we had to go through scanners to check our photographs. I think there were 2 scanners, then one for manual checking. So they call 4 flights at once, several hundred pax trying to get through very few scanners. System not working for many of them, although for many, it was their own fault as they were not even looking up. Maybe they didn't know what to do, although some can never learn. Then we had quite a number seem to have gone through the scanners to then realise they were at the wrong gates. They were trying to get back out, but no, you just can't walk back out. More chaos as they were trying to get out against those trying to come in but needed manual checking. The people who design these systems and procedures seem to lack all common sense, but a lot of this is driven by cost cutting, airports don't want to pay for enough/any staff to make things run smoothly. They should be given their P45's for sheer stupidy.
To summarise my experience, too many items not working like lifts/walkways. That has to be down to no maintenance, there were too many for it to be coincidence. Manchester Airport is a collection of buildings just thrown together, moving from T3 to the train station we were in/out, up and down, just a nonsense. Security is a joke and not fit for purpose. Boarding experience, just awful.
Manchester Airport is a complete disgrace, I will only use it if I have to, but it will be a last resort."
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I made the post below on 16.03.2019. There have been too many comments/issues around Manchester airport for it all just to have some simple explanation. For me, there seems to be a culture issue at this airport. Not much has changes from my post three years ago.
"Arrived in Manchester airport on Wednesday afternoon, T3. What I did notice on the walk from T3 to the train station was the number of buckets sitting to catch water leaking through the roof. Most of the moving walkway was out of service, why? Essential maintenance said the signs, but not one maintenance worker to be seen.
I departed again Thursday afternoon. Got to security, not that many in front of me. Guy at the front of security coming down the line, frequently, telling us to make sure we had all out of our bags as they were getting a lot of rejections and it would take at least 40 minutes for it to be checked at the other side of security. 40 minutes, this in the middle of March. What would that not be like at the height of the season? They were wanting everything out, including hair straighteners etc? First time I have heard that requirement. It took a long time to even get to the scanners as passengers were taking so long to get everything out that was needed, plus there was a shortage of trays as so many were waiting to be checked.
Into the waiting area/terminal, what a depressing place. Few seats, most coffee shops/bars etc busy as people just go in there and sit. Is there no quality places in there to eat at all?
Gate called, gate 142 in think. Anyway, we had to go through scanners to check our photographs. I think there were 2 scanners, then one for manual checking. So they call 4 flights at once, several hundred pax trying to get through very few scanners. System not working for many of them, although for many, it was their own fault as they were not even looking up. Maybe they didn't know what to do, although some can never learn. Then we had quite a number seem to have gone through the scanners to then realise they were at the wrong gates. They were trying to get back out, but no, you just can't walk back out. More chaos as they were trying to get out against those trying to come in but needed manual checking. The people who design these systems and procedures seem to lack all common sense, but a lot of this is driven by cost cutting, airports don't want to pay for enough/any staff to make things run smoothly. They should be given their P45's for sheer stupidy.
To summarise my experience, too many items not working like lifts/walkways. That has to be down to no maintenance, there were too many for it to be coincidence. Manchester Airport is a collection of buildings just thrown together, moving from T3 to the train station we were in/out, up and down, just a nonsense. Security is a joke and not fit for purpose. Boarding experience, just awful.
Manchester Airport is a complete disgrace, I will only use it if I have to, but it will be a last resort."
"Arrived in Manchester airport on Wednesday afternoon, T3. What I did notice on the walk from T3 to the train station was the number of buckets sitting to catch water leaking through the roof. Most of the moving walkway was out of service, why? Essential maintenance said the signs, but not one maintenance worker to be seen.
I departed again Thursday afternoon. Got to security, not that many in front of me. Guy at the front of security coming down the line, frequently, telling us to make sure we had all out of our bags as they were getting a lot of rejections and it would take at least 40 minutes for it to be checked at the other side of security. 40 minutes, this in the middle of March. What would that not be like at the height of the season? They were wanting everything out, including hair straighteners etc? First time I have heard that requirement. It took a long time to even get to the scanners as passengers were taking so long to get everything out that was needed, plus there was a shortage of trays as so many were waiting to be checked.
Into the waiting area/terminal, what a depressing place. Few seats, most coffee shops/bars etc busy as people just go in there and sit. Is there no quality places in there to eat at all?
Gate called, gate 142 in think. Anyway, we had to go through scanners to check our photographs. I think there were 2 scanners, then one for manual checking. So they call 4 flights at once, several hundred pax trying to get through very few scanners. System not working for many of them, although for many, it was their own fault as they were not even looking up. Maybe they didn't know what to do, although some can never learn. Then we had quite a number seem to have gone through the scanners to then realise they were at the wrong gates. They were trying to get back out, but no, you just can't walk back out. More chaos as they were trying to get out against those trying to come in but needed manual checking. The people who design these systems and procedures seem to lack all common sense, but a lot of this is driven by cost cutting, airports don't want to pay for enough/any staff to make things run smoothly. They should be given their P45's for sheer stupidy.
To summarise my experience, too many items not working like lifts/walkways. That has to be down to no maintenance, there were too many for it to be coincidence. Manchester Airport is a collection of buildings just thrown together, moving from T3 to the train station we were in/out, up and down, just a nonsense. Security is a joke and not fit for purpose. Boarding experience, just awful.
Manchester Airport is a complete disgrace, I will only use it if I have to, but it will be a last resort."
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To walk from T3 to the railway station you have to walk into T1 use the lift or escalator up to the walkway to the train station then down in the lift or escalator into the train station! So what is the issue with that? Do you want to get off the plane straight into the train then? They wouldn’t have called 4 flights through the scanners (142) as there isn’t 4 gates to go to once in there! And how is it Manchester airports fault if people read a gate incorrectly and go to the wrong place! If you read the news all major airports in the U.K. are struggling with the amount of passengers versus staff! If you don’t want to travel trough Manchester again WELL DONT! But I seriously think you will be back.
I would argue that Karen Smart is something of a scapegoat here. She only took the job at Manchester Airport in July 2020. By that time, the pandemic shutdown was well underway and the big decisions on how many staff should go had already been made. Manchester Airport's record of cutting costs to the max and skimping on investment in the day-to-day running of the airport have been a hallmark of the tenure of CHARLIE CORNISH, the invisible man when things go wrong. We have to rely on an anonymous spokesperson. Perhaps Karen is carrying the can for his poor decisions?
We know that Manchester Airport kept its 'new routes' team on furlough far too long, allowing competing airports to steal a march. Did the same policy apply to other MAG staff positions, including security? Those decisions come from the top. Was it Karen's call - or Charlie's? She wasn't in post to get rid of them all in the first place. And a brain-drain of experienced staff has been the price exacted. A false economy, as we see now.
In mitigation, we must recall that Rishi Sunak's long-promised "bespoke deal to help our aviation industry" never transpired in anything beyond token form. Much of the public anger against Boris actually relates to terrible decisions imposed by Sunak. In consequence, whilst sectors such as restaurants and hospitality received generous taxpayer support (cue Sunak photo-opps), our devastated airports got £272m between them - largely accounted for by generic schemes open to all employers. In contrast, German airports were supported to the tune of £2.1Bn - and their airlines did very nicely too. Our lot just cited climate dogma as an excuse for throwing our industry under the bus. And they offered only opaque messaging about when crazy covid testing, hokey-cokey quarantine rules and useless passenger locator forms would be axed. Impossible to plan without clarity on this.
But despite this, a good share of the blame must still rest with Charlie Cornish. He has a long record of skimping and under-investing going back to the good times ... long before anyone had heard of covid. His rap-sheet also includes presiding over the planned destruction of Manchester Airport's whole-plane cargo-handling capability (HIS policy to boost East Midlands and Stansted) - he should resign for that alone. He also resisted investing in T3 expansion to cope with known Ryanair growth plans - he preferred to see additional proposed based units turned away. That damages our region. And the shocking hangar-lettings debacle happened on his watch - it remains unresolved. Set against this, he presided over the TP investment, though he insisted that be 'value engineered' to the bone. General investment in T1 and T3 has been deferred or done as cheaply as possible. Wages are kept to an absolute minimum. Broken travellators go unrepaired / unreplaced indefinitely, no bus transfer alternative provided. This man will not be remembered fondly as a visionary in the mould of Sir Gil Thompson.
Karen Smart is the fall-girl. She didn't have long enough to recover a situation which she inherited. The real questions should be asked of SUNAK and CORNISH.
We know that Manchester Airport kept its 'new routes' team on furlough far too long, allowing competing airports to steal a march. Did the same policy apply to other MAG staff positions, including security? Those decisions come from the top. Was it Karen's call - or Charlie's? She wasn't in post to get rid of them all in the first place. And a brain-drain of experienced staff has been the price exacted. A false economy, as we see now.
In mitigation, we must recall that Rishi Sunak's long-promised "bespoke deal to help our aviation industry" never transpired in anything beyond token form. Much of the public anger against Boris actually relates to terrible decisions imposed by Sunak. In consequence, whilst sectors such as restaurants and hospitality received generous taxpayer support (cue Sunak photo-opps), our devastated airports got £272m between them - largely accounted for by generic schemes open to all employers. In contrast, German airports were supported to the tune of £2.1Bn - and their airlines did very nicely too. Our lot just cited climate dogma as an excuse for throwing our industry under the bus. And they offered only opaque messaging about when crazy covid testing, hokey-cokey quarantine rules and useless passenger locator forms would be axed. Impossible to plan without clarity on this.
But despite this, a good share of the blame must still rest with Charlie Cornish. He has a long record of skimping and under-investing going back to the good times ... long before anyone had heard of covid. His rap-sheet also includes presiding over the planned destruction of Manchester Airport's whole-plane cargo-handling capability (HIS policy to boost East Midlands and Stansted) - he should resign for that alone. He also resisted investing in T3 expansion to cope with known Ryanair growth plans - he preferred to see additional proposed based units turned away. That damages our region. And the shocking hangar-lettings debacle happened on his watch - it remains unresolved. Set against this, he presided over the TP investment, though he insisted that be 'value engineered' to the bone. General investment in T1 and T3 has been deferred or done as cheaply as possible. Wages are kept to an absolute minimum. Broken travellators go unrepaired / unreplaced indefinitely, no bus transfer alternative provided. This man will not be remembered fondly as a visionary in the mould of Sir Gil Thompson.
Karen Smart is the fall-girl. She didn't have long enough to recover a situation which she inherited. The real questions should be asked of SUNAK and CORNISH.
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I'm pretty sure there are? There are gates 142-144 along the corridor and then a collection of gates downstairs (145-149? Been a while so I don't recall the exact numbers). A BA and 3x Flybe flights departing at roughly the same time in March 2019 doesn't strike me as unusual.
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They can't blame additional summmer flights cos this has been happening since mid March. The only ones to blame are themselves. They've tried to blame passengers at security, rising number of travellers, etc but failed to look in the mirror and hold their hands up.
The statement tonight is just a joke:Charlie Cornish, the group's chief executive officer, said Ms Smart had guided the airport "through the most challenging period of its 84-year history".
He added that while there would be further challenges ahead, he was "confident we will soon start to see the benefits of the recovery plans Ms Smart has helped put in place".
Yes, it's been a challening period, fair enough, but the second part is truly insulting to passengers who witnesed first hand thing going from bad to worse.
Would anyone like to clarify what he means by SOON ?
This is from 2019 and is why I write "bad to worse"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50055255
Manchester Airport passengers face 'longest security queues' in UK
The statement tonight is just a joke:Charlie Cornish, the group's chief executive officer, said Ms Smart had guided the airport "through the most challenging period of its 84-year history".
He added that while there would be further challenges ahead, he was "confident we will soon start to see the benefits of the recovery plans Ms Smart has helped put in place".
Yes, it's been a challening period, fair enough, but the second part is truly insulting to passengers who witnesed first hand thing going from bad to worse.
Would anyone like to clarify what he means by SOON ?
This is from 2019 and is why I write "bad to worse"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50055255
Manchester Airport passengers face 'longest security queues' in UK