LHR T5 40 minute rule
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t1grm
Agreed, but look at this from BA's point of view.
35 minutes for everyone is easy to police, easy to understand, and does not lead to accusations of unfair treatment ("Well, you're letting him through, why not me?" or "I was let through last time with 20 minutes to go").
If you, as BA, choose a different route, where do you draw the line?
Hand luggage only vs hold baggage?
T5A v T5B v T5C?
Able bodied v wheelchair?
Young v old?
Frequent v infrequent flyer?
Flown from T5 before v T5 virgin?
Near stand v far stand?
Near stand to N security is a far stand to S security and vice versa
Flight still on time or running a few minutes late?
Not defending the policy, but if you make it anything other than a blanket time, then any other criteria of determining 'conformance' will inevitably provoke stories and customer service issues when someone who was let through for one flight gets denied for another flight.
Fine except I was travelling hand luggage only. I could understand if they stopped you dropping luggage off 40 mins before a flight.
35 minutes for everyone is easy to police, easy to understand, and does not lead to accusations of unfair treatment ("Well, you're letting him through, why not me?" or "I was let through last time with 20 minutes to go").
If you, as BA, choose a different route, where do you draw the line?
Hand luggage only vs hold baggage?
T5A v T5B v T5C?
Able bodied v wheelchair?
Young v old?
Frequent v infrequent flyer?
Flown from T5 before v T5 virgin?
Near stand v far stand?
Near stand to N security is a far stand to S security and vice versa
Flight still on time or running a few minutes late?
Not defending the policy, but if you make it anything other than a blanket time, then any other criteria of determining 'conformance' will inevitably provoke stories and customer service issues when someone who was let through for one flight gets denied for another flight.
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[B]t1grmAgreed, but look at this from BA's point of view.
35 minutes for everyone is easy to police, easy to understand, and does not lead to accusations of unfair treatment ("Well, you're letting him through, why not me?" or "I was let through last time with 20 minutes to go").
If you, as BA, choose a different route, where do you draw the line?
Hand luggage only vs hold baggage?
T5A v T5B v T5C?
Able bodied v wheelchair?
Young v old?
Frequent v infrequent flyer?
Flown from T5 before v T5 virgin?
Near stand v far stand?
Near stand to N security is a far stand to S security and vice versa
Flight still on time or running a few minutes late?
Not defending the policy, but if you make it anything other than a blanket time, then any other criteria of determining 'conformance' will inevitably provoke stories and customer service issues when someone who was let through for one flight gets denied for another flight.
35 minutes for everyone is easy to police, easy to understand, and does not lead to accusations of unfair treatment ("Well, you're letting him through, why not me?" or "I was let through last time with 20 minutes to go").
If you, as BA, choose a different route, where do you draw the line?
Hand luggage only vs hold baggage?
T5A v T5B v T5C?
Able bodied v wheelchair?
Young v old?
Frequent v infrequent flyer?
Flown from T5 before v T5 virgin?
Near stand v far stand?
Near stand to N security is a far stand to S security and vice versa
Flight still on time or running a few minutes late?
Not defending the policy, but if you make it anything other than a blanket time, then any other criteria of determining 'conformance' will inevitably provoke stories and customer service issues when someone who was let through for one flight gets denied for another flight.
Not defending the policy, but if you make it anything other than a blanket time, then any other criteria of determining 'conformance' will inevitably provoke stories and customer service issues when someone who was let through for one flight gets denied for another flight.
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Around 18 months ago I was on an early BA flight out of T5 to Athens, it was tight I knew and I underestimated just how long the bus took from the big Premier Inn round to T5 so I was up against it. Had an e-boarding card on my phone, ran from the bus to the bag drop with 2 mins to spare. The agent took my bag, tagged it and (so I thought) dispatched it down the chute and told me to run to security. (I am not a serial 'late arriver' this is the one and only time I've had to run like this).
I arrived at security to be told I was too late and to go back to the BA passport desk as there was a "message on the system".
At the passport desk they said I had missed the flight and to go to customer services where they fleeced me of £300 to get on the next one (the next guy in line had to pay £800 as I had taken the last economy seat I overheard every one of his swear words!). Whilst I paid a BA person brought my bag which hadn't been sent down the belt after all (funny that).
I wrote to BA customer services and was completely ignored - twice! I now avoid T5 at all costs (in fact I almost always use the train now for domestic travel). I have flown out of LHR and MCR for many many years and have never been treated like that and in the old T1 staff did their best to help you through if they could. T5 is a machine - it may be a very efficient machine but we are now cattle and the operators of that machine behave in a very inhuman way. If this is mass travel then no thanks....
I arrived at security to be told I was too late and to go back to the BA passport desk as there was a "message on the system".
At the passport desk they said I had missed the flight and to go to customer services where they fleeced me of £300 to get on the next one (the next guy in line had to pay £800 as I had taken the last economy seat I overheard every one of his swear words!). Whilst I paid a BA person brought my bag which hadn't been sent down the belt after all (funny that).
I wrote to BA customer services and was completely ignored - twice! I now avoid T5 at all costs (in fact I almost always use the train now for domestic travel). I have flown out of LHR and MCR for many many years and have never been treated like that and in the old T1 staff did their best to help you through if they could. T5 is a machine - it may be a very efficient machine but we are now cattle and the operators of that machine behave in a very inhuman way. If this is mass travel then no thanks....
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ExXB,
WHBM,
T5 is unique in that all the flights are handled by the same airline, the vast majority of the flights are of that airline. So I would imagine that it is far easier to set a terminal-wide policy when you only have to agree with yourself.
Again, I'm not defending this policy, but it appears to me that BA have calculated that the benefits - blanket time publicised in advance and improvements in performance from conformance (quicker overall boarding, less delays due to hold baggage removal) outweigh the impact of such a policy.
Experienced airport users can always pick holes in such a widespread policy, because we know the quickest route to each stand, we know how to get through security as quickly as possible, we'll always be ok, get there in time etc etc. However, we are not the majority of an airline's passengers.
With today's data mining technology etc. this should easily be done. Rather than having a fixed time cutoff, the agent should get a Red, Yellow, Green (and other shades in-between). S/he can then say NO, RUN (but no guarantee) or You're OK. But applying the same rule when security queues are 30m at times when they are 5m (and v.v.) is insane. It seems to be all about the airline and not the customer. A proper airline would invest in improving their passenger's experience rather than frustrating it. (But I hate BA, so take that into consideration)
So why, therefore, are there different conformance rules (or none) at other Heathrow terminals, including the BA flights that now operate out of T1 and T3 ?
Again, I'm not defending this policy, but it appears to me that BA have calculated that the benefits - blanket time publicised in advance and improvements in performance from conformance (quicker overall boarding, less delays due to hold baggage removal) outweigh the impact of such a policy.
Experienced airport users can always pick holes in such a widespread policy, because we know the quickest route to each stand, we know how to get through security as quickly as possible, we'll always be ok, get there in time etc etc. However, we are not the majority of an airline's passengers.
But experienced users are, quite possibly, the majority of the revenue !
Incidentally, as I understand it, it's a BAA policy, not BA; BA were quite hacked when it was introduced because they had been complaining about pax being late at gate due to short-staffing by BAA of the security. It's yet another nail in BA's domestic network because for these passengers it's unreasonable extra time compared to what we all knew of the separate domestic side at T1. It came on the heels of the time out to the terminal from London already being extended considerably when T5 opened, it's a good couple of miles further by road and subject to M25 delays which never previously impacted.
BA had originally negotiated for a separate security for domestic (just like T1 used to have), that pointed towards the domestic gates, and although leading into a common area was only available for those with domestic BC's - BAA nixed that one, of course, because you might not walk past all the tat in their shops. Hopefully the next area for the Monopolies Commission to go for will be the terminals within Heathrow, where BA actually get the chance to buy T5 and run it themselves. It's ironic that the only terminal BA actually own on their network at present is the one in JFK.
Incidentally, as I understand it, it's a BAA policy, not BA; BA were quite hacked when it was introduced because they had been complaining about pax being late at gate due to short-staffing by BAA of the security. It's yet another nail in BA's domestic network because for these passengers it's unreasonable extra time compared to what we all knew of the separate domestic side at T1. It came on the heels of the time out to the terminal from London already being extended considerably when T5 opened, it's a good couple of miles further by road and subject to M25 delays which never previously impacted.
BA had originally negotiated for a separate security for domestic (just like T1 used to have), that pointed towards the domestic gates, and although leading into a common area was only available for those with domestic BC's - BAA nixed that one, of course, because you might not walk past all the tat in their shops. Hopefully the next area for the Monopolies Commission to go for will be the terminals within Heathrow, where BA actually get the chance to buy T5 and run it themselves. It's ironic that the only terminal BA actually own on their network at present is the one in JFK.
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Slightly OT, but let me tell you about an experience at FCO on Sunday.
I was sitting in the BA lounge, sipping a Peroni, before gathering up my goods and chattels to go on the long and tortuous route to the gate. For those unfamiliar with FCO, this involves traversing two escalators, riding a shuttle train to a distant satellite departure area, and ascending yet another escalator.
The vast majority of the embarking pax managed to navigate their way through this maze - apart from two DYKWIAs who held up the entire flight while feverish efforts were made to locate them, claiming that no announcement had been made in the BA lounge.
Now I understand the need for the 35 minute cut-off at LHR T5.
I was sitting in the BA lounge, sipping a Peroni, before gathering up my goods and chattels to go on the long and tortuous route to the gate. For those unfamiliar with FCO, this involves traversing two escalators, riding a shuttle train to a distant satellite departure area, and ascending yet another escalator.
The vast majority of the embarking pax managed to navigate their way through this maze - apart from two DYKWIAs who held up the entire flight while feverish efforts were made to locate them, claiming that no announcement had been made in the BA lounge.
Now I understand the need for the 35 minute cut-off at LHR T5.
I volunteered to be "bumped" from an oversold BA LHR - SIN flight from T4 in March 2010. I was told to hold on until check in closed to see if a seat became available or if QF had any spare. Things wern't sorted out until about 30 minutes prior to departure. What happens at T5 now - if a seat becomes avialble does it go the fittest standby passenger?
There is a story that a connecting domestic to international pasenger took a wrong turn at T5 and wan't allowed back through security as there was less than 35 minutes to go. Perhaps the clever computers gave BA enough time to offload his bag.
There is a story that a connecting domestic to international pasenger took a wrong turn at T5 and wan't allowed back through security as there was less than 35 minutes to go. Perhaps the clever computers gave BA enough time to offload his bag.
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Hmmmm so if not -35 then what? -15 for T5A, -25 for T5B and keep - 35 for T5C? It's not cost free if someone turns up at the gate late as if they do miss the flight they need a staff escort back. Unlike most US airports or the likes of AMS, LHR has something of a one way system for passenger flow.
