johan rebel

Yep, and the excuses they are making up are beyond lame:

"Het is niet zeker dat de drukte met de nieuwe manier van passagierscontrole te maken heeft. "Afgelopen week was het er ook extra druk, maar later bleek dat dat met de treinen te maken had. Daardoor stonden ineens veel passagiers tegelijk voor de controle", aldus de woordvoerder.

Ook in de aankomsthallen was het druk. Volgens Schiphol was daar geen specifieke oorzaak voor aan te geven. "Dat kan soms gebeuren als er veel vliegtuigen tegelijk aan komen.""

In English: The problems are not necessarily due to the new security procedures. Last week was very busy too, but that was caused by the railroads. The long lines at arrivals were not due to any specific cause, this just sometimes happens when many aircraft arrive simultaneously.

What a bunch of totally incompetent and lying morons!

Johan

AtlanticX

I apparently was just very lucky on Wednesday morning.. Are they simply leaving security stations empty? Because the simplest way to deal with capacity issues is to open more stations.

mfkne

That's what it looked like from reports of passengers on Twitter.

pzbz

1. For a flight from Schiphol to Seattle on KLM/Delta....it looks as though we go through either of these 2 security check points. Is there some sort of notice to passengers as to which one to head for (if 1 is less busy than 2 for instance?).
2.Also, as an American passport holder it looks as though we have 2 Passport checks with the Dutch police and then PDC. Is that correct?
3. If we do online check in does this cut out any potential lines, understanding that we have to check our bags? Can we do auto check ourselves for the bags to maybe save time?
Thanks!

Grouchy

1. No not at the moment...and i wouldn't take 1 as that one lead you to the Schengen area
2. Not only USA passport holders, all passport holders will have those checks performed by the KMar and by security at the PDC's.
3. I would certainly check in online (to be early aware of (if any) issues) but since you have to check in bags it only will save a minute.

You have 3 hours, no worries. They promised 10 minutes max for normal pax and 5 minutes max for priority pax

Didymis

Sec personnel on staff also depends on the calculations made by Schiphol for that particular time of day. Made beforehand. If they are wrong (which they usually are, trust me), no more lanes CAN be opened. There simply aren't enough people to man them.

As for passport control, the KMar has a big influence. They usually decide what to do. And their personnel have a maximum of, like, 20-30 mins before they have to switch and do something else.

Calchas

No one knows if that will actually happen.

I'm no manager but this is how I would do it: "Good morning, very sorry to bother you on your day off but we have a serious problem. We are offering you overtime work at twice your normal rate of pay and holiday in lieu if you can come in immediately"?

johan rebel

With the introduction of centralized security, Schiphol NV also took the opportunity to save money, reducing the security staff headcount by 20%.

Johan

NLNO

This might work in the UK, but in the Netherlands, where structural overtime work is illegal, and people actually appreciate their time off much more than overtime pay - I don't think it would work out. Also, very few people live very close to Schiphol, so even if they called in 50 people, it would probably take an hour or so before they were all ready to go - might after the big lines have decreased.

johan rebel

De Telegraaf (Yeah, I'm aware of their reputation) reports various security breaches due to the new system, and also that transfer pax who have to clear security but have the misfortune of arriving at a D-gate have to be bussed to one of the new checkpoints.

Johan

johan rebel

It appears that the situation has not improved one iota, people are moaning that they have been standing in line for 20 minutes and still don't even have the checkpoint in sight.

Johan

NLNO

Well, this is quite logical, given the fact that EU/Schengen/US arrivals no longer have to clear security at transfer. But perhaps they could have waited a bit before the actual cut is being made?

San Gottardo

Wow, I am quite shocked to read this. I always thought Shiphol was one of the better run airports in the world (if not among the best), and that a lot of thought and planning had gone into its organisation, especially around passenger flows.

But this reads not like something that needs a little fixing, but a complete miscalculation and planning, where - to add insult to injury - the people in charge where so convinced about themselves that they bragged about the great improvement.

Since I have to go through AMS by the end of the week, flying to the UK, how much time should I realistically plan for? I am SkyPriority (which doesn't seem to make a difference, right?), flying in J class (which seems to make a difference).

Thanks

irishguy28

If you're flying through, rather than from, AMS then you probably* won't have any security checks whatsoever.

(*depends on where your journey commences)

Grouchy

(S)he still have to go through passport control which was also a mess yesterday.
Regarding that mess, according to a Schiphol spokesperson the security company didn't send enough people;

“Het beveiligingsbedrijf stuurt te weinig personeel,” zegt de woordvoerder. “Dat is wel onze verantwoordelijkheid. We zijn daar nu over in gesprek met het beveiligingsbedrijf.”

Sadly they overlooked the long waiting times at arrival. Since the security company doesn't perform passport control but our blue maffia. Difficult to blame them for those lines....

http://zakenreis.nl/luchthavens/rije...e-beveiliging/

Tomorrow AMS-MAN, think i will leave the Privium lounge a little bit earlier...