Hand baggage only on escalators at LGW

[hotmetal]

Anybody experienced being told you can only take hand baggage on escalators at LGW. Health and safety jobsworthness gone mad again? Another thing to annoy the passengers at a UK airport.

[UniFoxOs]

No, I distinctly remember taking checked baggage up an escalator last time I used LGW (early last year), some official (didn't clock what type) offerred to help us up with it.

Maybe things have changed, maybe you just found a jobsworth.

UFO

[172driver]

Yes, had the problem 2 or 3 times recently. The Health & Safety Nazis have discovered a new playground :yuk::yuk::yuk::yuk:

[hotmetal]

I think it is a recent idea from the people with too much time and too little brains.

[Grasscarp]

I went through Gatwick this week and took a large case up and down escalators without being challenged. There are metal barriers which may be designed to stop very wide luggage or trolleys going onto the escalator, but my large case went through without a problem.

[hotmetal]

I suspect you just were lucky not to meet one of Britain's fluorescent army of jobsworths and flipwits stationed at an escalator to annoy the travelling public.

[Skipness One Echo]

Is this why they have literally school children in yellow jumpers stationed ON the escalators now? It's quite annoying as it says here to help but they are really in your way if you're a frequent flier. I saw them directing someone to a lift last week and it did catch my eye....

[k3lvc]

It's true, it's true - started pre-Xmas in North with no rationale and no response from BA when I eventually got to the bag drop desk. I tried reasoning (stupid I know) with the yellow jumpered one at the bottom of the escalator but all he appeared to have been programmed to say that day was 'Lift'.

I've had enough of the yellow jumpered :mad:'s now - considering the sad state of the UK economy it's amazing how many of the little :mad:'s manage to stand looking important on a daily basis - there must be a game we can come up with to play with them.

:mad: :ugh::mad: :ugh::mad: :ugh::mad: :ugh:

Rant over

[dany4kin]

I believe they are employed by Blackjack Promotions and earn obscene wages for the work they do. I use the term 'work' lightly...

[Michael SWS]

Passengers struggling with oversize luggage on escalators is a problem, and not just at airports; I have witnessed several incidents on the London Underground where passengers have lost their grip on large suitcases. Escalators are simply not designed to safely carry large suitcases on wheels, and the consequences of an accident are potentially very serious. Rather than imposing arbitrary limits on the size of luggage that can be safely taken on escalators - and dealing with the ensuing arguments - it seems sensible to limit it to hand luggage only.

[k3lvc]

So at the other end of my journey in Switzerland I can take a dirty great trolley loaded with as many bags as I want up and down the escalator as well as being loaded up to the gunnels with ski bags but at Gatwick gravity works differently and my 20" roll on (limited to 10kg as hand baggage) must use a lift of it's own for fear of hurting someone.

:ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

p.s. the Blackjack/Reach/G4S wages are in relation to the work they do although I'd love to see some of their objectives i.e.

Increase passenger disatisfaction by 30% between 01/01/09 & 31/01/09

Generate at least 50 complaints to airport management between same time period

Wear an offensive jumper for your entire shift and when travelling to/from work

[Bushfiva]

At the large airport I use from time to time, the luggage trolleys lock automagically on every escalator in the building, all the way from the rail platform to the departure floor. My suitcase also locks onto escalators, via a clever bit of design around the rear wheels. You'd imagine if someone were designing an airport where most people would be moving suitcases between floors most of the time, then that person would specify escalators, baggage trolleys and other amenities that would cope with what people turn up with.

Oooh, I've started so I'll finish. Went through AMS using a bus gate recently. The revolving doors into AMS from a bus gate are powered: touch them, and they stop. The doors out from AMS are unpowered. It's just randomly inconsistent and relies on passengers having previous experience of the location.

[radeng]

What do they do when the lifts aren't working? Knowing BAA, it will take a minimum of days before they get fixed if they go wrong!

But at Mulhouse last night, I was some way behind everyone else going down the escalator. Fortunately, it was near the bottom wher it stopped abruptly - power saving, because it hadn't detected me. I nearly went down at high speed. As soon as I got to the bottom, it detected me again and started! Now that is DANGEROUS! But it is France.....

Was supposed to be in Strasbourg. Denied boarding on the 1300 because the earlier flight was cancelled, put on the 1700 which went tech...took 13 hours. Colleagues who were too late for Mulhouse got put on the 2040 which left at 2130. At least, the Air France ground staff were as helpful as they could be, and very polite and pleasant and very apologetic. I was surprised to be given a €350 voucher for the delay, too. The taxi provided by AF cost them €270 to get 8 people from Mulhouse to Strasbourg.

[gdiphil]

This happened to me and my family in LGW NT last August. We used the lift. I can see the logic in that the terminal was very busy and if most people used the escalators with large cases accidents are bound to happen. Had I been on my own I would have ignored the young man but his request was reasonable and I didn't see the point of making a nuisance of myself with the rest of the family (3).

[Michael SWS]

So at the other end of my journey in Switzerland I can take a dirty great trolley loaded with as many bags as I want up and down the escalator as well as being loaded up to the gunnels with ski bags but at Gatwick gravity works differently...No, gravity does not work differently at Gatwick; it is dangerous to take "a dirty great trolley loaded with as many bags as I want up and down the escalator as well as being loaded up to the gunnels with ski bags" anywhere in the world.

[k3lvc]

And I have enough common sense to know that my 10kg roll on does not cause a danger to my fellow users but that doesn't stop BAA Jobsworths telling me they know better

[WHBM]

No, gravity does not work differently at Gatwick; it is dangerous to take "a dirty great trolley loaded with as many bags as I want up and down the escalator as well as being loaded up to the gunnels with ski bags" anywhere in the world.
Its funny then that at Zurich they have managed to handle all this on escalators for the last 25 years without apparent incident.

Escalators are simply not designed to safely carry large suitcases on wheelsStrange when bags with wheels weigh typically 10-20 kg, whereas people standing on each step of an escalator weigh typically 50-100 kg.

Do we also ban children under the age of 10, people with arthritis who have weak grip for the handrail, etc ?

[Michael SWS]

Strange when bags with wheels weigh typically 10-20 kg, whereas people standing on each step of an escalator weigh typically 50-100 kg.It's not a matter of weight, but of centre of gravity and stability. A person can stand on an escalator stair without difficulty, whereas many large suitcases I have seen being taken on escalators extend well beyond the edge of the stair and have to be held constantly to prevent them toppling over. But that should really be obvious to even the grumpiest, most reactionary PPruner (who would undoubtedly be moaning on this very forum if someone else's oversize luggage toppled onto them on an escalator).

[k3lvc]

It is obvious but it's also obvious that it doesn't happen anywhere else in the world expect good old BAA and we're expected to sit back and accept more :mad: from the boys and girls in yellow.

How they must laugh at us when we all troop off like lemmings to find a lift.

No doubt before long I'll be expected to fill out a Risk Assessment by my employer as travelling on airport escalators ranks in the 'Top 10 most dangerous things you could do today' list.

[Michael SWS]

It is obvious but it's also obvious that it doesn't happen anywhere else in the world expect good old BAA...Then by your own admission BAA should be applauded for taking a stand on this "obvious" risk to the well-being of passengers.

[amber 1]

Always find it infuriating and dangerous to be behind these mouth-breathers who, on arriving at the top of the escalator, stop to look around and block the passage of those behind.:ugh: If they have a lot of baggage with them it makes matters even worse.
So perhaps the reason for this escalator/luggage ban is because LGW has a greater density of dense PAX :8 than other airports in the world.

[Dairyground]

There has been a similar ban in Manchester T3 for some time, but I have never noticed anyone trying to enforce it.

Perhaps the idea is that you, rather than them, are liable if you drop your outsize, overweight suitcase on someone.

I have seen quite a few airports where loaded trolleys are allowed on escalators, but I get the impression that they may have some mechanism that locks the wheels once a certain degree of tilt is reached. The same idea seems to work on the moving ramps in my local Tesco. As airports move ever nearer to the BAA ideal of a shopping mall with nearby runways, we may get the same things installed in the places that BAA are still running.

[jetset lady]

Oh for God's sake, k3lvc, get a grip! The lifts at LGW's N/T are virtually next to the escalators. You actually have to walk past them. It's hardly a case of walking miles to find them.

I'm crew, so am well used to lugging suitcases about, yet I have fallen down those same escalators by stupidly struggling up them with a suitcase. I didn't realise the case wasn't on the step properly and it pulled me over backwards. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. In my situation, I was damned lucky there was no one behind me as I would have taken them with me. As it was, I came away with a few bumps and bruises and a severly dented sense of dignity.

If you want to complain, then complain about the airports that don't have lifts. Just occasionally, (very occasionally, mind you..) the health and safety rules actually make sense!

[silverelise]

The North Terminal opened in 1988. Why are the escalators suddenly dangerous *now* ?

[k3lvc]

Oh for God's sake, k3lvc, get a grip! The lifts at LGW's N/T are virtually next to the escalators. You actually have to walk past them.

Well you must have a very different view of the terminal to me - come off the shuttle and the escalators are right in front of you - i.e. the direct path to the check in area. The lifts are tucked away behind either M&S or WH Smith. Granted not more than 100m further but I certainly don't 'walk past them'

Just occasionally, (very occasionally, mind you..) the health and safety rules actually make sense!

No they don't at all - if they did then the same would apply on the escalators from the train platform to the South terminal and from Arrivals back up to the shuttle. The same would also presumably apply at all the other BAA airports and everywhere in the world where someone could carry a bag up/down an escalator. Instead we have to continue to put up with queues in security, poor maintenance and dirty facilities whereas BAA can continue to throw staff at (IMHO) meaningless but highly visible tasks.

I'm heading off to Gatwick again in the morning so will remember to leave my bags at home, wear all my protective clothing and advise my insurance company that I'm taking part in a high-risk activity :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[silverelise]

Are we all so tired from sitting on the train, bus, or aircraft, that we cannot raise ourselves and carry our own bags up the stairs or over to the lift? In my opinion, the LGW rules are correct and admirable, and should be followed obediently.

Or are we all so tired from the aforementioned train/bus/aircraft that we cannot stop ourselves stepping on to the escalator behind someone who we fear might drop something on us? Just a thought.

[jetset lady]

Well you must have a very different view of the terminal to me - come off the shuttle and the escalators are right in front of you - i.e. the direct path to the check in area. The lifts are tucked away behind either M&S or WH Smith. Granted not more than 100m further but I certainly don't 'walk past them'

Ok, fair point. If I do ever go into the terminal, I always go in from the domestic arrivals end, so you are right.

However, as much as I, too, hate this nanny state we seem to be living in, in this instance, I think it's a fair rule. If anything, it should apply to all escalators in transport hubs, where possible, or the escalators themselves should be made wider, shallower and with larger steps. But, we both know that isn't going to happen.

I hate to back BAA in this, as believe me, I have nothing but contempt for them, but maybe if idiots, (such as myself, unfortunately) didn't try to pile loads of bags on the escalators, then there would be no need for people standing at the bottom. And maybe, if I hadn't learnt the hard way, I would be agreeing with you.

Unfortunately, I would guess that this has come about due to the potential threat of lawsuits, like pretty much every seemingly silly health and safety law in this country. And at the end of the day, we only have ourselves to blame for that. :(

Jsl

P.S. Have a good trip tomorrow, (but not of the falling over kind! :eek:) and don't forget to look both ways when you leave your house....;)

[jetset lady]

How much? I'm obviously in the wrong job! :{

Jsl

P.S. Anyone know if they offer irregular, part time employment...? :O