[Infowarrior] - Airport queues longer than flights

[Richard Forno]

 Airport queues longer than flights

By David Millward, Transport Correspondent and Patrick Phelvin
Last Updated: 12:52am BST 05/08/2007

http://tinyurl.com/ypj2ov

Holidaymakers are facing such severe delays at airports they are being
forced to spend more time stuck in queues than on their flights, research by
The Daily Telegraph disclosed yesterday.

With the holiday season entering its peak, hundreds of thousands of people
have been engulfed in the chaos caused by the stringent security regime and
the inability of many airports to cope.

British Airways and Ryanair confirmed that as a result of the queues at
check-in and security, some passengers on short-haul flights to European
destinations were spending more time in airport terminals than in the air.

Airlines are in open revolt at the service they are being given by airports
who they claim are failing to recruit enough staff despite raking in
millions of pounds in fees from operators.

Yesterday the average time passengers spent getting through check-in and
security at Heathrow was 90 minutes - the time it would take to fly to
Barcelona or Nice - according to figures gathered by the independent Travel
Counsellors company.

It has set up a website for holidaymakers to record the delays they
encounter and has received "3,000 hits in a week", said David Speakman, the
group chairman.

"Security posts are not being staffed up," said Mr Speakman. "They knew how
many planes and passengers would be coming through.

"It is a question of spending money and they are just not investing in
enough people."

While passengers face frustration, airports are cashing in. Liverpool John
Lennon is even charging £2 for anyone who wants to use a special fast track
check-in " with four lanes - while those not willing to pay have to share
two.

Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor, said this week that Heathrow shamed
London.

He also accused Spanish-owned BAA, which controls the airports, of profiting
out of passengers' misfortune thanks to the income from shops and
restaurants - which he dismissed as little more than shopping malls.

Ryanair has been embroiled in a public spat with Stansted over the airport's
failure to open the minimum of 17 security arches that were promised to help
cope with the surge in holiday demand.

On one weekend in late July, 78 early morning flights were delayed because
of the time taken for passengers to clear security.

On one occasion only 14 arches were open, six short of the 20 that airlines
using Stansted were promised would be available at peak periods.

The Daily Telegraph has also learned that BAA has given a variety of excuses
for the delays, including technical difficulties and abnormal sickness
levels.

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, accused BAA of offering "third
world facilities at very high prices".

He said: "We have 25, 50 and at times 75 per cent of flights being delayed
because passengers can't get to them in time. Our customers are now spending
more time in security queues than they are on our flights."

British Airways is equally unhappy with Heathrow and in its latest
forecasts, published yesterday, it cut its predicted increase in revenue
over the present year from five per cent to four - partly because of the
airport's operational difficulties.

Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, said: "BAA must recruit additional staff
and invest in the right equipment if we are to get back to having good
customer service."

BA said its passengers on flights to nearby western Europe were also likely
to spend more time in the terminal than on the plane.

The security regime has even created havoc for pilots. A spokesman for the
British Airline Pilots' Association, said: "Passengers don't realise that
pilots have to go through the same security procedures as they do, some of
which are plain daft. Pilots are told to take off their belts and shoes,
before getting on to planes which are loaded with fuel, which are real
weapons of mass destruction."

The British Air Transport Association, which represents airlines, said there
were still major concerns about the time passengers had to queue. "People
are waiting longer than they should to get through security," said Roger
Wiltshire, the BATA secretary general. "There have been cases of passengers
checking in, then missing flights because of the queues."

The association had received complaints about security checkpoints that
allegedly were not fully staffed and X-ray machines left unmanned.

James Fremantle, of the Air Transport Users' Council, said: "We would like
to see the airlines doing more to anticipate the problems that might occur
and bring in contingency plans to deal with them."

The Civil Aviation Authority said punctuality figures for this summer were
not yet available, but additional delays were expected because of extra
security measures.

Between July and September last year only 63 per cent of flights left within
15 minutes of their scheduled take off time, down from 71 per cent in the
previous year. The proportion of flights operating on time fell at all
monitored airports, except Birmingham, which improved by one percentage
point.

A BAA spokesman denied that Heathrow was "cashing in" on delays - it had
spent £9 million on terminals and hundreds of extra staff were taken on.
Most shops paid a flat rent for space in the terminals and retail figures
for wholly-owned stores showed no direct link between delays and revenue.

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