Terminal 5
Why is it always a "fluke" when things go smoothly at T5 and "typical" when they do not?
This may be a fairly controversial view point, but the sooner we become a proper third world country where India & China outsource to us, the better as we will have to provide proper service to our customers, or we simply won't eat. It's drastic & draconian, but that's probably the only thing that will raise standards now in the parlous state we find ourselves in.
Paxing All Over The World
Donkey497
Congratulations. I think that is exactly the solution and have thought so for about 15 years. The normal cycle of life and human endeavour means that, once something has grown to maturity, it must wither and die.The next generation will then spring forth, be it humans or plants that are nurtured by the rotting vegetation of the previous generation.
Since the UK is now a more than mature organism, it must continue on around the cycle - to complete failure - before it can rise again. It is the same as I have said about mature commercial organisations, such as the legacy carriers, but taken to the natural conclusion of the whole country. For most of my adult life, politicians have been pretending 'we can make Britain great again'. No we can't. Not until it has reached the lowest point in the cycle like any reciprocating engine! If the politiicans want to help Britain to be great again, they should hasten the downfall to the lowest point. Fortunately, they are doing just that.
but that's probably the only thing that will raise standards now in the parlous state we find ourselves in.
Since the UK is now a more than mature organism, it must continue on around the cycle - to complete failure - before it can rise again. It is the same as I have said about mature commercial organisations, such as the legacy carriers, but taken to the natural conclusion of the whole country. For most of my adult life, politicians have been pretending 'we can make Britain great again'. No we can't. Not until it has reached the lowest point in the cycle like any reciprocating engine! If the politiicans want to help Britain to be great again, they should hasten the downfall to the lowest point. Fortunately, they are doing just that.
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A typical journey is one where there are delays going through security - on average it probably takes 10 minutes, but that includes the 1 minute occasions as well as the 30 minute trials. It also seems fairly typical (about 50% of the time) that BA1313 is given a remote stand instead of a jetty so we have to get a bus to the terminal.
Therefore my typical journey through T5 is medium length and frustration, and a fluke is when it goes like clockwork or takes forever. Anything outside a few standard deviations is worthy of note, whether good or bad.
Therefore my typical journey through T5 is medium length and frustration, and a fluke is when it goes like clockwork or takes forever. Anything outside a few standard deviations is worthy of note, whether good or bad.
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Why is it always a "fluke" when things go smoothly at T5 and "typical" when they do not?
When it's good it sets an expectation for the future - when it's bad it undoes all the previous 'good' work
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a) why the need for a search when transferring INT-DOM but not DOM-INT
Arse covering. The politicians can't trust foreign airports to clear passengers to DFT standards so they put them through the system again. Having said that, don't they do exactly the same at AMS as they check you at the gate?
Though without the massive queue and the little Hitlers.
Arse covering. The politicians can't trust foreign airports to clear passengers to DFT standards so they put them through the system again. Having said that, don't they do exactly the same at AMS as they check you at the gate?
Though without the massive queue and the little Hitlers.
The stupidest thing I found on this point was that people were having to hand over the bottles of water and wine to security that BA had handed out on the plane. So what was safe for BA to give out..then became a security risk again having landed on UK soil.
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Reply to Married a Canadian.
How are the security people supposed to know the origin of your bottles of water? To my knowledge BA don't have their own labels.
One just has to accept that security staff in ALL airports are jobsworths & the only way to handle it is to go with the flow. You're going to be stuck on your backside for hours anyway so what's the rush. Stay cool, life becomes a lot easier.
How are the security people supposed to know the origin of your bottles of water? To my knowledge BA don't have their own labels.
One just has to accept that security staff in ALL airports are jobsworths & the only way to handle it is to go with the flow. You're going to be stuck on your backside for hours anyway so what's the rush. Stay cool, life becomes a lot easier.
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How are the security people supposed to know the origin of your bottles of water?
I would love to agree with you on the "stay cool" comment. Let's even be generous and pretend that most people do try to stay cool and go with the flow (even though I know that passengers can be a*****!.
There does however seem to be a generic problem in the UK at present though where no common sense or logicis applied by either top level, middle level or lower level staff at airports...and as all these threads show...passengers are getting fed up with it. Are we really all as stupid as we are made out to be?...or just maybe...do some people have a point about air travel through the UK and Heathrow T5 in particular.
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A colleague of mine was always talking about staying cool. Should have seen him at Edinburgh when they confiscated a months supply of daily disposable lenses. Wasn't cool then. [Flight crew in staff channel btw]
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On what premise did they confiscate contact lenses?
It is a bit of a sweeping statement but, in my experience at least, British airport security is the worst organised, most shambolic and most "jobsworth" I have encountered anywhere in Europe.
It is a bit of a sweeping statement but, in my experience at least, British airport security is the worst organised, most shambolic and most "jobsworth" I have encountered anywhere in Europe.
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Please don't get me wrong. I'm not defending the blithering idiots, I'm just suggesting the easiest way to overcome receiving even more hassle. I'm speaking from bitter experience of getting on the wrong side of a US immigration guy at MIA a couple of years ago & finding myself being 'detained' for a couple of hours in order to 'teach me a lesson'. T-5 is sheer paradise compared to any zone at MIA.
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On what premise did they confiscate contact lenses?
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Sit down and take a deep breath.
I used T5 today and sailed through in about 2 minutes.
All the security lanes were open (3.30pm, Tuesday) and it was great.
Just confuses me even more that the last time I used it (6pm, Friday), that only half the lanes were open.
Seems to me that this was in the inverse proportion to commonsense.
I used T5 today and sailed through in about 2 minutes.
All the security lanes were open (3.30pm, Tuesday) and it was great.
Just confuses me even more that the last time I used it (6pm, Friday), that only half the lanes were open.
Seems to me that this was in the inverse proportion to commonsense.
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F3G
So which T5 were you flying through last Tuesday?
Don't get me started about the inadequacies of this temple to inefficiency but, due to a switch in meeting venues I too found myself at T5 last Tuesday, around 3.30.
Yes, the check in area was deserted. But, that is where the comfort zone stopped. Security was SLOW. Luckily I was in front of 50 Japanese tourists. The concourse was pretty busy but the lounge was OK.
However, you might have noticed a string of delays and cancellations due to the weather?
Was this two minutes BA time? If so, then that would explain whay the MAN flight was delayed by two minutes for an hour.
So which T5 were you flying through last Tuesday?
Don't get me started about the inadequacies of this temple to inefficiency but, due to a switch in meeting venues I too found myself at T5 last Tuesday, around 3.30.
Yes, the check in area was deserted. But, that is where the comfort zone stopped. Security was SLOW. Luckily I was in front of 50 Japanese tourists. The concourse was pretty busy but the lounge was OK.
However, you might have noticed a string of delays and cancellations due to the weather?
Was this two minutes BA time? If so, then that would explain whay the MAN flight was delayed by two minutes for an hour.
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Hi Munnyspinner
I used security south, it was virtually empty and I walked straight through to a waiting security line with no one else using it.
Mind you, it didn't stop the goon trying to find a problem, as I used 4 trays instead of three and he insisted that I should combine two trays.
When I politely challenged him as to why ("is there any particular reason you need me to do that?"), as there was no-one else using the line, he couldn't give a rational answer and just repeated that I must do it.
Pathetic.
Sometimes we get comments on here from security people asking why pax are rude to them.
Although I wasn't rude to this guy, this is the type of mindless stupidity that winds up the paying customer.
I used security south, it was virtually empty and I walked straight through to a waiting security line with no one else using it.
Mind you, it didn't stop the goon trying to find a problem, as I used 4 trays instead of three and he insisted that I should combine two trays.
When I politely challenged him as to why ("is there any particular reason you need me to do that?"), as there was no-one else using the line, he couldn't give a rational answer and just repeated that I must do it.
Pathetic.
Sometimes we get comments on here from security people asking why pax are rude to them.
Although I wasn't rude to this guy, this is the type of mindless stupidity that winds up the paying customer.
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I used Fast Track at T5 at around 3.45 last Tue as well, and whizzed through in a couple of minutes. Only delay was me removing laptop/liquids, and replacing them. Thinks: why no tables to do this like LCY? That would help to.
F3G - I had 2 bags plus laptop/coat/liquids, and although I attempted to use 4 trays, the chap combined all my stuff into 2. Maybe they read what we wrote I while back and acted on it??
F3G - I had 2 bags plus laptop/coat/liquids, and although I attempted to use 4 trays, the chap combined all my stuff into 2. Maybe they read what we wrote I while back and acted on it??
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I think that the new funky trays at T5 are a bit too clever by half. I don't trust it to stay in place without whizzing away with the last thing in it, usually a neat passport / boarding pass combo. Rationally I know why it won't but this system, whilst a whizz-bang idea on a powerpoint led meeting somewhere, comes unstuck when the human factor comes into play.
A good system knows how people will react to it....T5's often doesn't.
Munnyspinner, been there done that, then I kicked myself for remembering there are two ways into the lounge and the other entrance was much quicker. I too have had days when the holes in the Swiss cheese line up and I want to beat the architect to a pulp with his own arm until he starts using the two shell like things on the side of his head....
A good system knows how people will react to it....T5's often doesn't.
Munnyspinner, been there done that, then I kicked myself for remembering there are two ways into the lounge and the other entrance was much quicker. I too have had days when the holes in the Swiss cheese line up and I want to beat the architect to a pulp with his own arm until he starts using the two shell like things on the side of his head....
Richard Rogers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The usual prominent architect's story. "Nice awards, shame about the actual buildings".
the lunatic fringe
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I am led to understand... WW has had meetings with the BAA and has managed to push through changes to the South Security Area.
Hopefully this will result in improvements.
Hopefully this will result in improvements.
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Who has the right to confiscate your UK passport?
Not sure if this is quite the right place to ask this but it's T5 related so here goes. A friend of mine ( let's call him John...) questioned an instruction from a security 'official' (I'm being polite) at T5. I know him pretty well and I doubt if he would have been obnoxious, rude, or insulting, he is a polite, educated and mild mannered middle aged gent.
The official made him hand over his (UK) passport and disappeared with it. 5 minutes later a 'supervisor' came out with the passport and refused to hand it back until 'John' had received a dressing down for being 'abusive' and apologised to the official.
I wasn't there ..... but even if John had been abusive, and I am sure he wasn't, is this treatment justifed and legal? Above all, I thought only a government employee such as an immigration/customs/police official could take away a passport - which is actually the property of HM Government.
Is this yet another example of bullying antagonistic behaviour by petty officials given too much power and abusing it?
The official made him hand over his (UK) passport and disappeared with it. 5 minutes later a 'supervisor' came out with the passport and refused to hand it back until 'John' had received a dressing down for being 'abusive' and apologised to the official.
I wasn't there ..... but even if John had been abusive, and I am sure he wasn't, is this treatment justifed and legal? Above all, I thought only a government employee such as an immigration/customs/police official could take away a passport - which is actually the property of HM Government.
Is this yet another example of bullying antagonistic behaviour by petty officials given too much power and abusing it?