BA Removes all Shorthaul from LHR from sale : now to 15 August.
Aug 16, 2022, 2:06 am
#181
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: UK
Programs: BA Silver, IHG Platinum
Posts: 943
I've returned in the aviation industry, much to my happiness, and I've immediately stumbled in two additional gems of HAL ingeniousness. Both are related to airside access.
People with even a passing interest in the matter know that HAL is in real dire straits with issuing passes for those who need to be airside - I met some crews working landside in T5 who've been waiting for their passes for three months now - thanks to the brilliant decision of firing a lot of the Glasgow-based pass-issue unit with SC clearance.... But now there's more!
Most of my colleagues work in Operations and need to be going airside. Over the pandemic our employer put them on furlough and asked HAL to keep their airside passes valid and current. HAL said to get lost, and those passes were rescinded. Now these guys (and me) would need to go airside, but can't. Even getting an escorted visitor pass is time-consuming, and you can't do it every day, so we can't support the operation in times of need.
The second pear of wisdom was relayed by OH. She has a crew airside pass, renewed during the pandemic - 2021. Usually, the badges are covered in a transparent plastic film that has the purpose of protecting the badge itself, given that it does get in a fair bit of use every day (it's swiped at the checkpoints, or you slam against it readers, this sort of stuff). Well, theirs isn't. Which means it's getting worn out pretty rapidly. On her last flight two of her team members were being pulled over by security because their passes were marginally worn and not fully visible... due to the lack of this film. I sat yesterday in a meeting with two other (non-crew) colleagues, one with a new pass and one with an old one. The difference was visible, and the new is already fading! The rumour is that it's either a (very large and defective) batch, or it's a new, shall we say, "enhancement". The result is that airside passes are degrading faster than before, people new to renew them earlier than the normal 5 years, and this is adding to the issue.
People with even a passing interest in the matter know that HAL is in real dire straits with issuing passes for those who need to be airside - I met some crews working landside in T5 who've been waiting for their passes for three months now - thanks to the brilliant decision of firing a lot of the Glasgow-based pass-issue unit with SC clearance.... But now there's more!
Most of my colleagues work in Operations and need to be going airside. Over the pandemic our employer put them on furlough and asked HAL to keep their airside passes valid and current. HAL said to get lost, and those passes were rescinded. Now these guys (and me) would need to go airside, but can't. Even getting an escorted visitor pass is time-consuming, and you can't do it every day, so we can't support the operation in times of need.
The second pear of wisdom was relayed by OH. She has a crew airside pass, renewed during the pandemic - 2021. Usually, the badges are covered in a transparent plastic film that has the purpose of protecting the badge itself, given that it does get in a fair bit of use every day (it's swiped at the checkpoints, or you slam against it readers, this sort of stuff). Well, theirs isn't. Which means it's getting worn out pretty rapidly. On her last flight two of her team members were being pulled over by security because their passes were marginally worn and not fully visible... due to the lack of this film. I sat yesterday in a meeting with two other (non-crew) colleagues, one with a new pass and one with an old one. The difference was visible, and the new is already fading! The rumour is that it's either a (very large and defective) batch, or it's a new, shall we say, "enhancement". The result is that airside passes are degrading faster than before, people new to renew them earlier than the normal 5 years, and this is adding to the issue.
Aug 16, 2022, 3:42 am
#184
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 587
The second pearl of wisdom was relayed by OH. She has a crew airside pass, renewed during the pandemic - 2021. Usually, the badges are covered in a transparent plastic film that has the purpose of protecting the badge itself, given that it does get in a fair bit of use every day (it's swiped at the checkpoints, or you slam against it readers, this sort of stuff). Well, theirs isn't. Which means it's getting worn out pretty rapidly. On her last flight two of her team members were being pulled over by security because their passes were marginally worn and not fully visible... due to the lack of this film. I sat yesterday in a meeting with two other (non-crew) colleagues, one with a new pass and one with an old one. The difference was visible, and the new is already fading! The rumour is that it's either a (very large and defective) batch, or it's a new, shall we say, "enhancement". The result is that airside passes are degrading faster than before, people new to renew them earlier than the normal 5 years, and this is adding to the issue.
Aug 16, 2022, 5:07 am
#185
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,237
I believe crew airside passes are issued by BA, whereas ground staff airside passes are requested by BA but issued by HAL - hence the difference. The BA passes are considerably less durable and, yes, they used to have a protective film and now do not which means they wear away easily. If you put your ID in your bag or wherever, they rub down very easily.
Aug 16, 2022, 10:23 am
#186
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,203
Every LHR pass is a HAL owned pass. Due to the weight of numbers BA is able to do this on HAL’s behalf to keep the ID centre from falling over (ooops, too late) so Vanguard House has been issuing for a good while now. The Vanguard House passes still need to be validated by HAL, hence the faff on your first duty in T5 post reissue. Agreed re the laminate. Apparently a partially bubbled or lifted laminate constitutes a defective pass making it invalid hence the ditching of the film. Hasn’t worked mind. Got to love a good plan poorly executed, what is the saying again? No plan survives first contact with the enemy?
Aug 16, 2022, 1:34 pm
#188
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: London, UK
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Posts: 16,349
That's a DfT decision, not a Heathrow decision. The pass limit was extended during COVID, but a limit is what it says. For obvious reasons you can't have a load of passes that are still valid with people who are not working.
Aug 16, 2022, 2:18 pm
#189
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 94
Even though furloughed these people were still employees whose company role required an airside pass whenever they were called back to work. Of course they should have been kept up to date, it was just a case of HAL penny pinching letting them lapse. There are no obvious reasons why a person who has previously cleared the security requirements should not retain their pass whilst in employment that requires it at some point in the future.
Aug 16, 2022, 2:24 pm
#190
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,967
Even though furloughed these people were still employees whose company role required an airside pass whenever they were called back to work. Of course they should have been kept up to date, it was just a case of HAL penny pinching letting them lapse. There are no obvious reasons why a person who has previously cleared the security requirements should not retain their pass whilst in employment that requires it at some point in the future.
Aug 16, 2022, 3:10 pm
#191
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: London, UK
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Even though furloughed these people were still employees whose company role required an airside pass whenever they were called back to work. Of course they should have been kept up to date, it was just a case of HAL penny pinching letting them lapse. There are no obvious reasons why a person who has previously cleared the security requirements should not retain their pass whilst in employment that requires it at some point in the future.
There is a standard requirement across all UK airports: see Section 4.1.7 from Aberdeen's document, for example: https://www.aberdeenairport.com/medi...ndard-2017.pdf
Last edited by Genius1; Aug 16, 2022 at 3:20 pm
Aug 17, 2022, 12:37 am
#192
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,237
It could be that GAL wasn’t on top of who was doing what, but in my experience GAL are better at running an airport than HAL are.
Aug 17, 2022, 1:23 am
#193
Fontaine d'honneur du Flyertalk
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Morbihan, France
Programs: Reine des Muccis de Pucci; Foreign Elitist (according to others)
Posts: 19,179
Still it is rather like comparing one cess pit with another.
Aug 17, 2022, 2:19 am
#194
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond *, IHG, Couples Romance Rewards
Posts: 2,351
Even though furloughed these people were still employees whose company role required an airside pass whenever they were called back to work. Of course they should have been kept up to date, it was just a case of HAL penny pinching letting them lapse. There are no obvious reasons why a person who has previously cleared the security requirements should not retain their pass whilst in employment that requires it at some point in the future.
Aug 17, 2022, 10:21 am
#195
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 292
I think that less things such as escalators and moving pavements work at Heathrow than Gatwick. That much is true. Security seems to be better manned at Gatwick in all three times that I flew out this month.
Still it is rather like comparing one cess pit with another.
Still it is rather like comparing one cess pit with another.