SECURITY - Revised Uk Rules (14 Aug 2006)

[graphitestick]

ok so the babies rattle wasn't the best of examples but the point is everything where possible HAS to go through the xray. It's the DfT ruling not a choice. Don't screen the rattle, oh or the teddy bear, oh or kids altogether. Where would terrorists start planting explosives and detonaters......err rattles, bears and kids because a stupid passenger that DOESN'T have xray vision thinks it's ok.
Two weeks ago everyone survived their journeys with bare essentials but moaned about not having their lap-top or mobile phone. Now they are they are allowed both these items they moan about not having a something else. Give security a break for once will you guys. PLEASE.

[172driver]

Originally Posted by graphitestick

Give security a break for once will you guys. PLEASE.

Not so, graphitestick - I suggest the screeners and their moronic masters give US, THE PAYING PASSENGERS (yes - us who pay their wages and, in the DfT case, their perks) a break. They are there to provide a service.

[Skyflier]

Originally Posted by 172driver

Not so, graphitestick - I suggest the screeners and their moronic masters give US, THE PAYING PASSENGERS (yes - us who pay their wages and, in the DfT case, their perks) a break. They are there to provide a service.

I'll second this, it's well past time that the current security nonsense ceased, I have no sympathy with the staff implementing something which is causing me major inconvenience day after day. How about them showing me and other pax some courtesy and respect in exchange for the exorbitant airport charges I pay which in turn pay their wages?

[PAXboy]

How safe is Heathrow?

Channel 4
Monday 4th September
20:00 (I think but might be 21:00)
Over the past decade, Heathrow has become a magnet for criminal activity, with the number of vehicle hijackings and armed attacks related to the airport becoming an international embarrassment. One member of the police's flying squad admits, "There have been very vicious violent armed robberies and we have been lucky along the way that no-one has been seriously maimed".

This appears to be more about EGLL itself, rather than whether they make it safe for us on aircraft. Could be interesting/amusing/irrelevant. [delete as appropriate]

[10secondsurvey]

Apparently, there are no real problems at LHR..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5300798.stm



In interview by the BBC on Radio 4 regarding calls for the break up of BAA in light of recent criticism, Mr Stephen Nelson, BAA chief executive, said "I believe we have a very strong record of running the airports going into this review.

"It is a debate of national importance, about capacity over 25 years. If the OFT does what the airlines are asking there will be less investment in airports, and gridlock."

You mean it could actually get worse????

[PAXboy]

So ... if the BAA loses control of all three London area locations - the companies that replace them will not compete with each other. If there are three separate companies then the ones running STN will say, 'Actually, we can't invest any more money in [say] new baggage handling facilities to handle the increase in traffic, because the money is needed for T5.'

Likewise, the separate company running LHR will say, 'We can't hire more staff for security and screening, because we have to balance the expenditure with what is happening at LGW.'

Truly, it will be a disaster.

[gberry]

Not just a one way trip .......

Been reading the trail on the new baggage rules....interesting stuff but thought I give you the tail of two Mondays ago when I took my 15 year old daughter to Nice, and flew back the same day !!! was that ever interesting! Luton, yep to electrical items, no Liquids, no make up (Daughters, not mine before you all start) flying with easy jet, we were asked re the above before betting to the check in desk, they checked again at the check in desk. We were checked again at the bottom of a set of stairs that take you up to security at departures. Security...... well checked everything and did a thorough job, shoes off belts off etc.

OK got to Nice, dropped my daughter off turned round walked into departures at check in....wait for it....... no electrical’s at all, phone, blackberry, ....CAR KEYS.... glasses case, you could take your wallet, a book, glasses (no case) and that was about. then they spotted a pen I had with me...... dithered for a moment and then said that was OK.

so just a thought, check the rules at the other end too.

Oh and finally as we were boarding one poor guy got caught with his car keys. The only set he had, "sorry you can't take those on board" he eventually dismantled the whole key assembly to prove there was nothing untoward in them !!! what next? The liquid in my body !!! rather that than lax security I say , but I wish we could get some consistency here.

[SLF3]

Went through LHR T3 on Monday. Security screening through Fast Track took close to 1.5 hours. Economy class passengers were queueing outside the terminal - hundreds of them.

BAA have had years to contingency plan and three weeks to get their act together. They are breathtakingly incompetent.

Please make sure every time you go through Heathrow you get a BAA feedback form from the nice man at the BAA desk after screening, and write to Tony Douglas, Managing Director of BAA, and tell him what you think of his company and how you would like to see his career progress.

Please do not spend any money at any BAA airport - if no-one used the shops, they wouldn't be their, and BAA could then concentrate on running an airport rather than a shopping mall.

[ExSimGuy]

You want to penalise BAA?

Hit them on fags & Booze!

Here is an area where BAA makes stinking great profits!

A carton of 200 cigarettes cost just over 5 UK Pounds in the local supermarket. How much of this do we save by buying "duty free"? Maybe 40% (I've not been home to UK for a while so forgive if this is not spot-on)

So how much profit does BAA make on a carton? 10%?, 20%?, - No! I live in an area where there is little or no tax on smokes and I can buy a pack of brand-name cigaretes for around 80 pence! (corner-shop price) That's a whole carton of 200 for 8 pounds, against 50 pounds in the UK shops, around 30 pounds in BAA "duty free".

So, real price 8 pounds a carton, BAA price around 30 pounds a carton. Where's the difference? BAA Profit! 250%!

Much the same applies to booze - I remember somewhere that the "real" (tax-free) price of a bottle of Scotch (gin, vodka) is around a pound, but BAA sells these for several times that price - not far below the price in a good bottle-store or supermarket in UK (or most other countries).

So wherever possible, why not consider avoiding BAA's shopping mall, especially for the items where BAA are bleeding the consumer almost as much as Bliar's government. (save hassle and pay a quid more to buy your Scotch at Roberts, or buy your "duty-free" on arrival if there's an "arrivals duty-free at your destination airport)

[ZFT]

I’m constantly amazed anyone buys anything from BAA duty free or tax free shops or whatever they call them. Just about the whole of Asia and IIRC NZ have real duty free upon arrival anyway.
As ExSimGuy so rightly states BAA are ripping customers off and local supermarket prices are cheaper just about everywhere. Here in LOS I (used to) pay ₤1 for pack of B&H and (still) pay ₤4 for a litre of gin.
Probably the only item I can’t get cheaper in my local supermarket is a 45 X 35 X 16 briefcase as they don’t sell them!!!!

[lexxity]

Even if you are going somewhere not Asia or NZ, everytime I have flown out of LHR I have found duty free to be cheaper onboard. Failing that it is usually cheaper anyway, at your destination, from local stores.

[Robertkc]

Originally Posted by SLF3

Went through LHR T3 on Monday. Security screening through Fast Track took close to 1.5 hours. Economy class passengers were queueing outside the terminal - hundreds of them.

What!? Are you serious? What time of the day was it? I'm going through T3 (AC) next thursday morning!

[/quote]write to Tony Douglas, Managing Director of BAA, and tell him what you think of his company and how you would like to see his career progress.[/quote]

He's actually quite a nice guy - and switched on. However, he's an engineer and is very good at building things, not necessarily running them.

[/quote] Please do not spend any money at any BAA airport - if no-one used the shops, they wouldn't be their, and BAA could then concentrate on running an airport rather than a shopping mall.[/quote]

Sadly this isn't true. If BAA's profits from retail/car parks went to zero then there would be a huge increase in landing fees (this is mandated through Civil Aviation Authorities rules). So we'd all end up paying through higher ticket prices.

BAA are actually quite good at running the retail business (Stephen Nelson, the new CEO of BAA, has a distinguished background in retail including Sainsbury & Diageo). They're rubbish at running airports though, and their civil servant mentality dating from when they were government owned up until the 1980s is the root of their problems. Now that they're owned by Ferrovial, hopefully that culture will be purged.

[SLF3]

T4, mid afternoon (15.00 - 16.30). Other people from my company who travelled through T4 in the morning (11.00) said it took them over an hour, and there were prople queueing outside the terminal then as well.

Bear in mind the durations quoted are through fast track, and I did not queue to get into the terminal.

Most BA flights seemed to be running around an hour late. I arrived an hour earlier than usual, the flight was an hour late and I then waited half an hour for a bag I would normally carry on. So my journey took 2.5 hours longer than normal.

Am also hearing horror stories from people transiting through Heathrow, and my company (despite having volume based global agreements with BA) is now routinely routeing passengers who would normally transit Heathrow through Frankfurt and Amsterdam. It is hard to imagine we are alone. This must be costing BA a fortune, and as the word spreads will cost them still more.

[10secondsurvey]

Originally Posted by ExSimGuy

Hit them on fags & Booze!

..So wherever possible, why not consider avoiding BAA's shopping mall, especially for the items where BAA are bleeding the consumer...

Doing this will get the relevant management to wake up, when they face the board of directors with a huge reduction in turnover and profits.

I agree that ultimately BAA may try to force higher fees (hence reflected in tickets), but I doubt the total reduction in sales could be recouped that way very quickly, so BAA would take a short term financial 'hit'.

Like others I cannot understand anyone buying the above goods in a UK airport, as they are almost certainly available in your local supermarket or destination at a much lower price.

[BRUpax]

At times like these I'm grateful I fly out of Terminal 2 at BHX. This morning (09:00) : Check-in wait 3 minutes; Security check wait 1 minute; off blocks 3 mins ahead of schedule! More or less exactly the same 2 weeks ago. I feel really sorry for those of you who have to use any of the London airports.

[BEagle]

Sssshh - don't tell everyone!

I stopped using Thiefrow 2 years ago - it was bad then and must be an utter shambles now.

How much longer is this lunacy going on for?

[A2QFI]

It will go on for as the lunatics are running the country and its infrastructrue! Ie don't hold your breath.

[daz211]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2...1/1825250.html

very bad though Im very shocked that this has not
been tried by british press

[WHBM]

In my experience the time actually taken to security check me is no different now than before the recent scare, that is about 30 seconds.

The whole of the rest of the huge amount of wasted time nowadays is spent standing in a queue, not being checked and doing nothing to aid security whatsoever. If the security was adequately staffed it would take just this 30 seconds to get through.

It is NOT necessary to queue for one hour, doing nothing, to improve security.

The income at security is fixed, so much a passenger, and guaranteed whether the service is performed well or badly. In contrast at the BAA shops, which continue to be notably well staffed airside by those with security clearance (while at security half the checking stations are usually closed and unstaffed), the turnover depends on how well the job is done. So all effort into the shops, and none into the security queues.

I suggest the government makes it a condition of BAA's operations that all airside retail staff are dual trained, in retail and security. If the queue at security is less than 5 minutes, they can open the shops ....

[IB4138]

More stupidity from security at Manchester today.

The bars in Terminal 1 are short of draught beer supplies, infact the Voyageurs bar only has draught Grolsch available........the reason:

Security are refusing them deliveries of barrels, until they have all been tasted.....I kid ye not!!!!