crazy8534

This is the thread nobody wanted.

I am hoping it will be useful for those of us who are flying out of London Heathrow T5 and possibly other terminals at Heathrow during the period of the strike which is set to last from the 31st of March until the 9th of April 2023.

Obviously there are lots of legitimate points of debate regarding the strike itself and the failure of HAL and the Unite union to reach agreement, but my hope with this thread is that it can be a resource for FTers looking for live information and of course help from our extremely knowledgeable Ambassadors, staffers and other posters.

I felt that the confirmation of the strike and the extent of CWS’s original thread warranted a fresh one, but have no doubt that the mods won’t hesitate to merge me if they disagree!

Currently settling in for the night at HGI Hatton Cross, having been upgraded to a room with no view of the runways…. aargh!

Deckard

due to fly on the 8th and just received this…

We’re sorry to say that Heathrow Airport has informed us that its security staff will be taking part in industrial action when you are due to travel but don’t worry, we’re working closely with them to help ensure you travel as planned.

Please follow these top tips to make everyone’s journey through the airport smoother.

1. Check in online from 24 hours before your flight departs. You can download the British Airways app to get your digital boarding pass and go straight to the self-serve bag drop desks, if you have checked baggage.
2. Double-check your baggage allowance and don’t forget to leave some room in your case for all those souvenirs and shopping. See what you can take on your flight
3. Please take as few items of hand baggage as you can. During this busy travel period you can check in your hand baggage free of charge.
4. Plan to arrive at the airport in good time. Three hours ahead of a long-haul flight and two hours ahead of a short-haul flight, but not before this.
5. We’re sorry that Fast Track will have reduced availability and The First Wing at London Heathrow Terminal 5 will be closed. To help you get through security, make sure your hand baggage is security ready. Place liquids - max 100ml each - in a separate, sealed, see-through bag and place large electricals in a separate tray.

Penfold

Hi just to say just did bag drop and security this morning all completed within 15 minutes.so far so good

simonsmith

BA306 0845 to CDG
0320 National Express Cheltenham to LHR
0515 arrived central bus station
0535 arrived T5 via Piccadilly Line

First Wing Check in Open , bags dropped and off to regular Security at 0550

simonsmith

Fast Track open at normal security , but told to use normal queue as it would be quicker . Manned by an older looking group of people than is usual I felt . Through in 10 minutes

crazy8534

No problems at all at T3 this morning- 2 lanes open in FastTrack, no wait. Normal security looked fine too.

joepatr

Noticed that there seemed to be a lot more cancellations this morning compared to what was already forecast. Simon Calder on the breakfast programme said that he believes BA have cancelled an additional ~70 flights in addition to the ~30 already cancelled, although he wasn’t sure if that was because of French ATC strikes / bad weather.

simonsmith

In GF lounge , all feels normal except no FW security

Door5L

Several BA longhauls cancelled today, including Los Angeles, JFK, Chicago, Miami and Seattle.

CKBA

Being held at FCO due to weather at LHR (BA551) - so not all delays down to strike.

fraisse10

Arrived at T5 at 06:30 and breezed through security. 10 minutes, not fast track. Can tell most staff are irregulars, all pleasant and smiley. My flight is delayed 15 minutes, but most are showing as on time.

flyingmartyr

Simon Calder saying arrivals looking grim but departures ok. Mentioned something about airside security clearing through arrivals.

But weather and French atc strike clouding (I’m sorry) a lot of the issues here

Sigwx

There are ATC regulations into LHR due to weather at present. The first INDU cancellation is BA710 to ZRH.
BA456 MAD is due to a lack of aircraft serviceability. TECY.
the same can be said for BA638 ATH, BA428 AMS and BA1382 MAN, BA 696 VIE, BA 342 NCE, BA 295 ORD, BA 434 AMS, BA 780 ARN, BA 852 PRG, BA450 PMI, BA476 BCN, BA 1452 EDI, BA 718 ZRH, BA1314 ABZ, BA 1336 NCL and BA 183 JFK.
So not everything is due to HAL staff striking.
BA 412 to AGP is a lack of crew FCRY as is BA 283 LAX, BA 207 MIA.

Anything else at present is either industrial action in France if a French dest, or security industrial action at LHR, with a couple of previously cancelled flights posted some time ago.

EvilDoctorK

That's a lot of unservice-able aircraft especially given the reduced flight schedule today anyway !

Thanks for the reports .. sounds like it's alright .. I will report back when I'm there late afternoon too .. feeling pretty relaxed about it on the basis of the posts above anyway

Pringla2

That went better than expected. Arrived at T5 at 7.30. Ten minutes to bag drop at Club desks and then fifteen minutes through security. Fast Track security was open but a fairly long queue so went through regular security.

My wife also commented the security staff seemed more cheerful and friendly - but hardly surprising given the novelty factor and no doubt decent overtime rates!

Was a queue for the lounge but this was because for some reason at least a dozen people were trying to get in with their Priority Pass or Platinum Amex cards.