Purposeful slowdown at Frankfurt security line?
Jan 12, 2019, 3:37 am
#91
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: LH M&M, BA EC, DL SM
Posts: 5,731
I know this is gonna be unpopular, especially given that many here are actually inconvenienced by those (I don't have any upcoming travel for the next 2mo), but I fully support the strike and I hope their demands will be met. Strong labour laws that allow for those are one of the best things about Germany.
Last edited by worldclubber; Jan 12, 2019 at 5:59 am
Jan 12, 2019, 5:49 am
#92
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 1,141
Is it really such a great labor law feature that some small „key“ groups can create enough pressure to increase their very own hourly wage from 11,70€ in 2014 to most likely 20€ in 2019, while many others who would also deserve better pay (take nurses as the prototypical example) cannot, because they are by the nature of their job unable to create spectacular shutdownsof airports or the train system or the like. Don‘t think so. And where is the solidarity there?
Jan 12, 2019, 1:08 pm
#93
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Usually seat 1A, home:Tallinn
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Posts: 470
I mean, it seems pretty clear to me the problem here is "some groups are not allowed to strike and don't have appropriate alternative ways to collectively address grievances" and not, "some groups are allowed to strike and achieve better condition through collective bargaining", but I guess this is veering into OMNI territory too much already...
Hopefully will be someday also in Germnay like that.
Jan 14, 2019, 11:05 pm
#94
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Over past decade I have had numerous tight connections (1 hour) TATL-> Africa or non-Schengen and not once did I misconnect. So up to 2018 I was really impressed with LH and FRA. Of course MUC was even better with 35-40m connections and very fast security.
About 18 months ago we got the painstakingly slow guy who insisted on spending 5 minutes pawing through everyone's suitcase and insisting that we discard some item. I was so angry because I saw passengers rolling through the adjacent lines. Thankfully did not see this guy last summer and breezed through relatively quickly. But if they are all doing this now then we are in big trouble.
As much as I dislike TSA I have found them uniformly polite even when I lost my temper (like a month ago when we had to wait an hour for the only "bomb" specialist at LAX to clear my wife). And without exception I always breeze through TSA precheck now in <5 minutes. No chaos, rudeness or for the most part, lines. They even let me bring bottled water through 
I would not agree. Some members of the FRA team are IMO the worst in the world except perhaps LHR. The TSA has come a long way over the past decade, and I am never hassled by our local TSA team at SFO (or anywhere else). Now to be fair MUC has always been fast and efficient, so IME this seems to be mainly an FRA issues.
About 18 months ago we got the painstakingly slow guy who insisted on spending 5 minutes pawing through everyone's suitcase and insisting that we discard some item. I was so angry because I saw passengers rolling through the adjacent lines. Thankfully did not see this guy last summer and breezed through relatively quickly. But if they are all doing this now then we are in big trouble.
I am seeing this more and more in Frankfurt and I'm not understanding why it's gotten so much worse recently. I expect it with the U.S. TSA (chaos, rudeness, and/or being dismissive) but it seems to be an ever-worsening unfortunate situation in Frankfurt, especially in the last six months or so.
I would not agree. Some members of the FRA team are IMO the worst in the world except perhaps LHR. The TSA has come a long way over the past decade, and I am never hassled by our local TSA team at SFO (or anywhere else). Now to be fair MUC has always been fast and efficient, so IME this seems to be mainly an FRA issues.
Last edited by Boraxo; Feb 25, 2019 at 12:04 pm
Jan 15, 2019, 1:47 am
#95
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
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Posts: 48,182
The slowdown in FRA/MUC have a number of reasons. For one, there are terror warnings that ask security for extra caution. Then there is the occasional audit that both FRA & MUC have had and the corrective actions mean slow down. The switch to the body scanners has rendered the layout of the screening area ineffiecient as the scanning takes longer than it used to. Plus the go slow of the staff who are dissatisfied with pay and working conditions. Even though it only takes a background check and a 6 week training to work there, we have full employment situations in most major German cities right now and there are less stressful jobs in the security business with similar benefits and pay and far less demanding qualifications that are more attractive than working at an airport. 
Jan 17, 2019, 1:52 am
#96
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: CDG/AMS
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Posts: 2,777
I missed my connection a few weeks ago due to a purposefull go-slow. What they were obviously doing is this: They let the bagage of passengers through the scanner on a 1 by 1 basis. Only after one passenger had picked up their belongings and had left, they started scanning the bagage of the next passenger. Took me 1:15 minutes in the line. When I arrived at the gate they were already ofloading my bagage and couldn’t let me on board.
Lots of bad behavior and stress in the lines. Pretty long lines at the transfer desks too, I obviously wasn’t the only one who missed their connection because of this. LH handled it very well though, 2 hours later I was on the next flight including my baggage.
Lots of bad behavior and stress in the lines. Pretty long lines at the transfer desks too, I obviously wasn’t the only one who missed their connection because of this. LH handled it very well though, 2 hours later I was on the next flight including my baggage.
Feb 1, 2019, 8:18 am
#97
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Rhineland-Palatinate
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Poor experience again at the Fast track A security this afternoon. Staff generally slow working, absence of Fraport employees to manage queues. Moreover the staff manning the people scan machine did not speak any English or refuse to speak it, including with non German passengers. Of course this add to the general slow down as customers do not understand the instructions.
Feb 13, 2019, 3:55 am
#98
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
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Something is happening in FRA: LH is setting up a 'Lufthansa Security GmbH' and delegating some management to organize it. My take is that LH will now compete with FraSec to get control back for a major bottle neck in their hubs.
Feb 13, 2019, 4:42 am
#99
Join Date: Nov 2018
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Posts: 22
is there an official statement about this ?
Feb 13, 2019, 5:09 am
#100
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Feb 13, 2019, 5:34 am
#102
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
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Sometime around 2011 I remember reading a Lufthansa announcement about “one stop security” citing cost savings as one of the benefits of implementing OSS. By forcing some passengers to go through transfer security unnecessarily, Frankfurt Airport and Lufthansa are helping to keep more disgruntled security personnel in employment than needed.
I have recently found this report "Study on economic and other benefits of one stop security arrangements" commissioned by the EC to "understand the status quo of [OSS’s] application, identify reasons for non-implementation and to assess its costs and benefits." FRA was one of the 16 airports that participated in the detailed study. (MUC was another.) It’s interesting to note that FRA has the highest percentage (58%) of passengers who are transfer passengers among those in the study. In terms of departing passengers FRA ranks number 3 after LHR and AMS. CDG did not take part in the detailed study.
On p.52 the study states:
In Frankfurt, OSS is available in Terminal 1, where the infrastructure allows segregation of passengers to accommodate all OSS flows. This covers around 80% of transfer passengers. Only Schengen - Schengen OSS is possible in Terminal 2, but this is largely a point to point terminal with limited transfer traffic.
No inter-terminal OSS process flows exist at Frankfurt. When new routes are introduced to the airport, the management team decides on stand location to accommodate OSS flows; a group decision between Airline, Apron and Terminal management determines whether to offer OSS (e.g. if there is only a small number of transfer passengers, it may be preferable not to offer OSS to them in order to benefit the terminating passengers with a better arrival process).
No inter-terminal OSS process flows exist at Frankfurt. When new routes are introduced to the airport, the management team decides on stand location to accommodate OSS flows; a group decision between Airline, Apron and Terminal management determines whether to offer OSS (e.g. if there is only a small number of transfer passengers, it may be preferable not to offer OSS to them in order to benefit the terminating passengers with a better arrival process).
Frankfurt, as described above, offers full OSS in one terminal, covering around 80% of passengers, and intra-Schengen OSS in other terminals, but with no intra-terminal OSS,
In the case of Frankfurt, 56% of transfer passengers currently benefit from one stop security. If all eligible passengers were able to follow OSS flows, this would increase to 75%.
Frankfurt offers partial OSS across the airport. Terminal 1, which processes around 80% of passengers, is set up to offer full OSS, as a result of a EUR 250m construction project to raise a section of the terminal by one level in order to accommodate Schengen requirements. This development also made Non-Schengen OSS possible in Terminal 1.
It's clear the airport's response ignored minor deviations like connecting passenger from clean countries (Canada, Singapore, UK, Ireland, other non-Schengen/EU countries, occasionally US and soon Japan) arriving in B or ANS. I hope LH will look at ways of saving money (and improving passenger experience) by using existing infrastructure such as the use of Z gates for arrivals and extended use of AEUW. It should also look into allowing connecting 'clean' passengers to avoid entering the unclean transfer area in B.
Feb 13, 2019, 7:56 am
#103
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
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I just saw a statement that a manager is changing to head this new company which will start operations in June 2019. There is a 'Lufthansa Security Trust e.V.' in operation since years, which also owns 5.66% of Fraport, but that seems to a Trust who is managing some pension funds.
Feb 25, 2019, 8:30 am
#104
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 140
Yesterday ~35 minutes to clear pre-gate security for the 17:40 BA flight to LHR, priority line just merged into regular line, staff on seemingly deliberate go slow. Having just flown previously flight on this journey departing from AKL SYD MEL and NRT, FRA was the worst experience by a very long mile.
Feb 27, 2019, 12:20 am
#105
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,481
Yes, security checks at FRA are really horrible these days. Had a tight connection from Non-Schengen to Schengen. Got picked-up by car and brought to security check and immigration. First time ever that really everything in my bag got checked. They even swept my travel wallet with cards, money and documents. Kept smiling anyway. Hope, that there will be some changes this year.