Providing you don't arrive from BKK, SIN or SYD as it's off to T3 we go.

I'm just thankful that the likes of Emirates fly directly to regional airports, so I can avoid the fiasco that is Heathrow completely. I have no desire to witness T5 at all.

What a pity it didn't all go seamlessly on day one, just like Hong Kong and Denver. Wait a minute...........

CNN has just announced that BA "moved 1000 aircraft overnight", so a few glitches are to be expected..

1000 aircraft?

Blimey when did we get that big?

That is a honest reflection of what happens...seems like T5 is no different from the rest of Hellrow - the same hell experience everywhere!

Note to BAA: I shall not be using your services again; I guess you don't really care about this at all but that's been your attitude to passingers, sorry "customers" or now "shoppers" all along. From your totally incompetent handling of security and general management of an airport from both SLF and crew side of things to your latest madness called T5 and its orwellian style sercurity procedures...absoluately disgusting.

Apparently - according to BA(A) - the problems are attributable to late arrival of staff (baggage handlers?) who had problems with car parking and security screening checks . . .

and:- (More at:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7314816.stm )

Yep the BAA in their wisdom this morning only had one of two ground level security points open meaning 40 minute queues for staff to get in, making them late, which in turn has knocked into everything else.
You would have thought on the first day they would have opened all points but no, this is the BAA.
Utter uselessness from the BAA. Unfortunatly BA is on the end of these BAA caused problems, not that BA doesn't have its problems but if BAA could just sort themselves out!

What's all this crap about "teething troubles" and difficulties are to be expected in projects such as this ?

I recall North Terminal at Gatwick and LHR T4 coming on stream without "chaos".

Both run by BAA...... but not the same BAA as the current version is run by a load of money grabbing, process management orientated muppets who have bugger all aviation experience - they probably think they have done a good enough job when compared to their previous factory / warehouse / retail operations.

They have spent millions of pounds and man hours practising this, but the end result appears to be woeful.

Wait for the corporate spin from the PR man, ( ex government by the way ), and yeah, there'll be a load of bonuses for opening on time.

:ugh:

Lack of Fuel at T5 now......see the video..........:cool:

Car Park Ticket Machines Broken, Escalators broken, lack of fuel, Queues............ the list goes on.

The world is laughing at Britain again............ :ooh:

And Willie reckons it's still a good day- what's the man on!!!

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...310756,00.html

Well Done BA!
 

:ok:

This doesnt surprise me at all with the BA Management all believing that they are so much better than anybody else whilst enjoying all the trimings of being a BA employee. Some [minority] are very good and work hard but others undertake the least amount that they can get away with and enjoy all the BA 5* benefits whilst claiming overtime and every adhoc payment that they can think off!

I'm just hoping that the recent 777 incident doesnt end up being a BA induced problem when the AAIB report is published.

As a passenger, I dont care whose fault it actually is. BA ultimately is at fault for not making sure that ALL plans for T5 are implemented smoothly, regardless of what company they try to pin the blame on this time. Stand up BA and take it on the chin for a change.

Time to get the Emirates buyout back on the table, Willy :)

I am glad I choose LX today. No traffic jam on the motorway, the usual Hellrow chaos at drop off. I am now sitting in shabby T2 after a speedy and friendly security procedure. My LX flight is on time.:)

Maybe I really had the lucky draw today! It paid off that I paid 12£ more compared to BA.

Hope the bus works, my car is still in Zurich AP parking and no traffic congestion on my way home.

Frank

BA blamed the glitches on problems with "staff familiarisation"
 

For those who live in the UK: think of what happens when you go to your high street electrical store and want some product info other than the price. Arrives a spotty-faced youf who's obviously had no education and doesn't know a woofer from a mouse.

Multiply that by 1000+ and you've got Heathrow. I don't believe most of the problems originate from faulty equipment. Faulty training, possibly. Faulty management, certainly.

it would be nice to hear from someone working there,explaining what the hell is going on in the bags dept and its sistem ..ofcourse they could have done hundreds of dry tests but nothing like the real mess going on and all the thousands of situations that can occur to get the real picture..someone needs a steady hand and make the show happen.real managers.:p

It seems that bmi plan to delay starting US services until the market and the changes at LHR terminals settles down look shrewd and ..er common sense, perhaps they have been around long enough to see a fluster cluck comming when they see one, i bet their bookings over the next few weeks will be up.

For t5 despite all the problems, nobody will get burnt by hot water in the toilets as every tap will have had a warning that this hot water is HOT and may burn you, yes every single penny that should have been spent on equipment, quality staff and training will have spent on health and saftey and nice shop fronts. LoL

Just goes to show that it takes more than a few power dressing ponytails with clipboards to manage the world's busiest international airport.

As for Poor Wullie, his staff don't trust him, his customers now don't trust him - and with a bit of luck, his shareholders will soon start thinking the same way by the time they read their morning papers.

I'm pretty sure Oor Paddy must have overtaken all his predecessors by now in the bad news ratings for BA.

Mind you he looks as if he may have a great future as a horse jockey!

From Aunty -
"
One passenger in a wheelchair was stuck on a flight arriving into T5 from Glasgow for more than an hour - and then when he was transported to the terminal he realised he could not get up the kerb.
"I couldn't even get into the building without getting up a step," Matt Duffy told the BBC.
"It is totally unbelievable as far as I am concerned."
"
and even better..
"
Heather Stevens' partner Neil Stonebridge was due to take off from T5 for Los Angeles at 1005 GMT. Almost three hours later the plane was still on the runway waiting for passengers' baggage to be loaded.
Heather, 36, told the BBC: "Apparently the computer software told the baggage people that the flight had taken off, So everyone in the plane just watched as all their suitcases were taken back into the terminal instead of being loaded on"
"
Awesome...

What A Disgrace !!!!

As a one-time airport manager (BAA even) I'm with all those who believe that the pathetic excuse "first day, mustn't expect too much" etc etc etc is exactly the kind of thinking that leads to cockups.

THERE IS NO REASON WHATSOVER that it should not go absolutely perfectly on the first day of operation. Indeed it is the one day it should go perfectly.

After that it's all downhill as machines break down and demands increase.

As has been suggested, BAA is a useless airport operating company, under previous and present ownership. Its strategic view that airports are shopping malls with a captive "footfall" is the culprit. There is no-one, no-one, in any position of responsibility who has any experience or knowledge of air transport.

I recall people being vilified from the late 1980's onwards, ie when the shopkeepers took over, for suggesting that an airport's only role was to transfer people from one mode of transport to another as painlessly, efficiently. seamlessly and above all as quickly as possible. Those of us who thought that way were informed by the retailer(s) in charge that we simply didn't understand modern business.

Above all we were told that we should not resist the company objective of increasing dwell time in the departure lounges.

So it comes as no surprise that T5's first day is already a national joke. I really don't blame BA, although they could and should have have the balls to force BAA to do it properly from the time the project started.

BAA will look at the receipts from retail and catering as its only measure of how well the day went.

I heard on Radio 2 at about 2.30 that someone had phoned his wife to say that they had been told to wait 3 hours to collect their baggage after landing. What a fiasco. How shaming for Britain.

And don't get me started on the finger-printing idea. A stupid notion, introduced for the wrong reasons (maximise shopping exposure) by idiots blinded by their shopping obsession to the obvious flaws that would never let it actually happen. Thank God it's gone, but what a way to "run" things.

All check in suspended in T5, reports say.