Why are the Airports so busy?
Jun 22, 2022, 11:32 pm
#1
formerly JackDann
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 1,657
Why are the Airports so busy?
Been through Dublin and Bristol in the past 24hrs and honestly both places are like a Zoo and I won’t travel through them again for a good while. Airports across the country are experiencing the same, and I don’t even know if it’s just the UK either.
What I don’t get, is why? Are more people travelling than before the pandemic? Are Airlines operating at a higher capacity because of cancellations? I just really don’t get it.
Bristol and Dublin used to be reasonable airports, but have become unbearable now. I’m going to use BHD to LHR for all business travel going forward and just get a train to where I need to go.
What I don’t get, is why? Are more people travelling than before the pandemic? Are Airlines operating at a higher capacity because of cancellations? I just really don’t get it.
Bristol and Dublin used to be reasonable airports, but have become unbearable now. I’m going to use BHD to LHR for all business travel going forward and just get a train to where I need to go.
Jun 22, 2022, 11:58 pm
#3
formerly JackDann
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 1,657
Are there more people travelling than pre-covid?
Jun 23, 2022, 1:07 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Brighton. UK
Programs: BA Gold / VS /IHG Diamond & Ambassador
Posts: 14,196
Is this really a serious question?
Just look at the news about airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Amsterdam, Brusells and Dublin (and that's just off the top of my head) etc etc etc and that will tell you why airports seem to be busier than previously.
Even if there aren't more people flying than pre pandemic reduced staff affects the flow of passengers into, through and out of airports
All are suffering from shortages of various types of staff whether its airline / contract check in and gate staff, baggage handlers, security, immigration. And that's before you even get into shortages of flight and cabin crew.that lead to cancellations.
That along with people who are simply not prepared for things like security or passport control can quickly back the queues up as well.
And if an airline has to cancel a flight at short notice thats can be a significant amount of people still at the airport in a queue awaiting rebooking. Ditto a delayed flight means 100+ people in the departures area that wouldn't normally be there for an extended time.
Just look at the news about airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Amsterdam, Brusells and Dublin (and that's just off the top of my head) etc etc etc and that will tell you why airports seem to be busier than previously.
Even if there aren't more people flying than pre pandemic reduced staff affects the flow of passengers into, through and out of airports
All are suffering from shortages of various types of staff whether its airline / contract check in and gate staff, baggage handlers, security, immigration. And that's before you even get into shortages of flight and cabin crew.that lead to cancellations.
That along with people who are simply not prepared for things like security or passport control can quickly back the queues up as well.
And if an airline has to cancel a flight at short notice thats can be a significant amount of people still at the airport in a queue awaiting rebooking. Ditto a delayed flight means 100+ people in the departures area that wouldn't normally be there for an extended time.
Jun 23, 2022, 2:05 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: IHG Diamond Ambassador, Accor Plat, M&M FTL, BA Blue, QR Gold
Posts: 3,731
IDK but if you have not enough staff to open all security / immigration lanes, deal with luggage promptly, drive plane tugs, drive buses, provide catering and so on, each of these creates a chokepoint where people cant be processed quickly enough and bunch up, inside the terminal, at the gates, or in the form of planes not being able to leave the gates on time because they're waiting for luggage, or catering, or a tug to push them out - which means that other planes can't get to the gate to unload, which means they're not being able to be turned around in time. This is how an airport like LHR which is SNAFU at the best of times turns into FUBAR.
Jun 23, 2022, 8:51 am
#7
formerly JackDann
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 1,657
Is this really a serious question?
Just look at the news about airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Amsterdam, Brusells and Dublin (and that's just off the top of my head) etc etc etc and that will tell you why airports seem to be busier than previously.
Even if there aren't more people flying than pre pandemic reduced staff affects the flow of passengers into, through and out of airports
All are suffering from shortages of various types of staff whether its airline / contract check in and gate staff, baggage handlers, security, immigration. And that's before you even get into shortages of flight and cabin crew.that lead to cancellations.
That along with people who are simply not prepared for things like security or passport control can quickly back the queues up as well.
And if an airline has to cancel a flight at short notice thats can be a significant amount of people still at the airport in a queue awaiting rebooking. Ditto a delayed flight means 100+ people in the departures area that wouldn't normally be there for an extended time.
Just look at the news about airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Amsterdam, Brusells and Dublin (and that's just off the top of my head) etc etc etc and that will tell you why airports seem to be busier than previously.
Even if there aren't more people flying than pre pandemic reduced staff affects the flow of passengers into, through and out of airports
All are suffering from shortages of various types of staff whether its airline / contract check in and gate staff, baggage handlers, security, immigration. And that's before you even get into shortages of flight and cabin crew.that lead to cancellations.
That along with people who are simply not prepared for things like security or passport control can quickly back the queues up as well.
And if an airline has to cancel a flight at short notice thats can be a significant amount of people still at the airport in a queue awaiting rebooking. Ditto a delayed flight means 100+ people in the departures area that wouldn't normally be there for an extended time.
It's just weird - when you see every single Security line open, every single baggage desk operational - Yet the airports are absolutely heaving by never before.
Jun 23, 2022, 9:11 am
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Brighton. UK
Programs: BA Gold / VS /IHG Diamond & Ambassador
Posts: 14,196
The person who posted after me said the same things as I did. Not sure why you think otherwise.
But the fact is not every check in desk or security line is operational and that restricts the flow of passengers through the system which causes backlogs at every stage,
But the fact is not every check in desk or security line is operational and that restricts the flow of passengers through the system which causes backlogs at every stage,
Jun 28, 2022, 3:07 am
#10
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Programs: Hilton Gold, Priority Club Blue, SPG Gold, Sofitel Gold, FB Ivory, BA Blue
Posts: 8,479
Jun 28, 2022, 5:31 am
#11
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
It's a combination of factors, ultimately. There's pent-up demand. There's staff shortages. There's travel-related companies desperate to get back into the black after spending a couple of years with vastly reduced income. And there's the fact that most UK airports and airlines (outwith LHR/LCY and the Highlands & Islands) operate on a low-cost model.
So, loads of people want to travel. The airlines think - great, I'll fill my planes. Let's get as many flights running as we can. The airports think - great, the airlines want to send loads of passengers through us, we'll get the fees and they'll spend loads of money in our retail outlets. The ground handlers think - wow, loads of demand, we'll get some decent fees. UKBF thinks - oh, this will be interesting.
Problem is, all these parties got rid of most of their staff when the furlough funding ran out (some didn't even furlough). For LCCs and charter airlines, who hire seasonally anyway, this wasn't so much of a challenge - they can get a new seasonal intake. All their ground staff are typically run via handlers these days.
For the airports, they all sorts roles, some specialist, some not. But the pay's not great, and the people formerly in these roles have gone off and got new, often better paid jobs in the meantime. Airports on razor-thin margins are reluctanct to increase rates of pay (some have, e.g. AMS) and so they end up with more non-specialist new recruits and agency workers. There is a general labour shortage as well, and if you want to open the whole Brexit can of worms, you'll doubtless find a fair degree of impact there too, exacerbating a problem seen elsewhere,
Then there's the non passenger-facing side - safety-critical roles that you can't mess about with. Again, a labour shortage.
And then there's UKBF. Fewer members of staff. e-gates are great for those that can use them, but there's a lot of families travelling when you get to the summer. And there's a shortage of maintenance staff, so they're often out of service. Brexit, and a general tightening of immigration, has also meant that more people have to be given more scrutiny, so the whole process takes longer, and with the same or fewer resources to do it.
So what does this mean?
It's summer, so there's more people travelling with luggage and using check-in, but a shortage of check-in staff, and more of them inexperienced. So, big queues to check in.
Security is next. More passengers, often with children, less experienced. Fewer staff, less experienced on average. Big queues for security. People now running late for their flight trying to get to the front, holding you up more until you become one of them.
Airport is desperate to claw back lost money, so retail is pushed heavily. Passengers will be kept in departures until the very last minute, before the unholy stampede towards the gate. There are few seats, because you're not spending money when you're sitting down. It will give the impression of being really busy - the seats that exist will be crowded, as will the cafes, and people are corralled in one area.
Meanwhile, your inbound aircraft comes in, with the airline aggressively pushing for a 20-minute turnaround. But there's no ground staff to operate the airbridge, they're over at gate Z392 and the travelators are broken. The guy with the swipe card for the stairs isn't around, and the driver for the aircraft steps is currently at a remote stand. There are two passengers who can't disembark without assistance, but that team is seriously short-staffed and currently running half an hour behind. Where's the fuel lorry? And the baggage handlers?
Your airline doesn't employ any ground staff, so is reliant on one of the two ground handlers present at that airport, and they're way overstretched too, so nobody's told the airport that your flight is going to be delayed because of all this, so in the space of a few minutes, your flight goes from "Gate Announced at 10:35" to "Gate Open" to "Gate Closing", and 150 people have rushed to, and are now waiting outside an unmanned gate area (where two competing queues have formed), looking rather annoyed, and watching a planeload of passengers waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the person with the swipe card to turn up and let them in. It's already departure time. So, the corridors to the gates look horribly crowded.
A lone gate agent turns up and does their best to let people into the gate area, slowed down by a barrage of complaints about having to wait, questions about the inevitable wait, and trying to single-handedly process a plane-load of passengers and sort into those who've paid for pre-boarding. They then get notification that the airline is short-staffed, one of the crew members is over hours, and so a dozen people are going to be offloaded to maintain the crew-to-pax ratio. Several of the passengers have been drinking since arriving at the airport, several hours early - some are not yet at the gate, some are looking to be let out of the gate to go to the toilet, and others are rather vocal in their disapproval of the current situation.
So, you get on board, everybody a bit stressed and ruffled, having been up for hours to get to the airport ridiculously early, and the captain announces that you're now late, you've missed your slot, and as soon as there's someone available to push the aircraft back, you'll be taxiing to a remote holding location where you'll wait for further instruction. Eventually, you leave.
On return, you are that arriving aircraft you watched as you waited to board. You're all stood up to get your overhead bags and stretch your legs, and start the race to immigration, but there's no ETA for the airbridge driver. Eventually, you get one, and head for passport control. The e-gates are broken, as no maintenance staff are available, so the queue snakes round down the corridor towards the gates. There are too few immigration officers, and the people who are normally responsible for directing you to the e-gates (not really a skilled job) don't know what to do, so they just walk up and down the queue randomly shouting at people to stand in a different place. By the time you get to the front, the immigration officer is rather grumpy through overwork.
But that's OK, because your luggage will already be on the belt, right? Actually, no, because, even though the baggage handlers have had time to get to your aircraft, there's loads of uncollected bags on the belt, and a backlog meaning your luggage is currently sat, in the rain, on a buggy just outside the building, in a queue to get in. Nobody's quite sure which flight is still coming into which belt, some have given up and reported missing at the counter, and there's pile of bags which somebody has taken off. The whole hall is ridiculously busy.
Oh, and there's a train strike. Good luck!
---
Welcome to flying in 2022! It's better at quieter times, of course. But I shudder to think what my (family holiday) flight out of LGW is going to be like in August!
So, loads of people want to travel. The airlines think - great, I'll fill my planes. Let's get as many flights running as we can. The airports think - great, the airlines want to send loads of passengers through us, we'll get the fees and they'll spend loads of money in our retail outlets. The ground handlers think - wow, loads of demand, we'll get some decent fees. UKBF thinks - oh, this will be interesting.
Problem is, all these parties got rid of most of their staff when the furlough funding ran out (some didn't even furlough). For LCCs and charter airlines, who hire seasonally anyway, this wasn't so much of a challenge - they can get a new seasonal intake. All their ground staff are typically run via handlers these days.
For the airports, they all sorts roles, some specialist, some not. But the pay's not great, and the people formerly in these roles have gone off and got new, often better paid jobs in the meantime. Airports on razor-thin margins are reluctanct to increase rates of pay (some have, e.g. AMS) and so they end up with more non-specialist new recruits and agency workers. There is a general labour shortage as well, and if you want to open the whole Brexit can of worms, you'll doubtless find a fair degree of impact there too, exacerbating a problem seen elsewhere,
Then there's the non passenger-facing side - safety-critical roles that you can't mess about with. Again, a labour shortage.
And then there's UKBF. Fewer members of staff. e-gates are great for those that can use them, but there's a lot of families travelling when you get to the summer. And there's a shortage of maintenance staff, so they're often out of service. Brexit, and a general tightening of immigration, has also meant that more people have to be given more scrutiny, so the whole process takes longer, and with the same or fewer resources to do it.
So what does this mean?
It's summer, so there's more people travelling with luggage and using check-in, but a shortage of check-in staff, and more of them inexperienced. So, big queues to check in.
Security is next. More passengers, often with children, less experienced. Fewer staff, less experienced on average. Big queues for security. People now running late for their flight trying to get to the front, holding you up more until you become one of them.
Airport is desperate to claw back lost money, so retail is pushed heavily. Passengers will be kept in departures until the very last minute, before the unholy stampede towards the gate. There are few seats, because you're not spending money when you're sitting down. It will give the impression of being really busy - the seats that exist will be crowded, as will the cafes, and people are corralled in one area.
Meanwhile, your inbound aircraft comes in, with the airline aggressively pushing for a 20-minute turnaround. But there's no ground staff to operate the airbridge, they're over at gate Z392 and the travelators are broken. The guy with the swipe card for the stairs isn't around, and the driver for the aircraft steps is currently at a remote stand. There are two passengers who can't disembark without assistance, but that team is seriously short-staffed and currently running half an hour behind. Where's the fuel lorry? And the baggage handlers?
Your airline doesn't employ any ground staff, so is reliant on one of the two ground handlers present at that airport, and they're way overstretched too, so nobody's told the airport that your flight is going to be delayed because of all this, so in the space of a few minutes, your flight goes from "Gate Announced at 10:35" to "Gate Open" to "Gate Closing", and 150 people have rushed to, and are now waiting outside an unmanned gate area (where two competing queues have formed), looking rather annoyed, and watching a planeload of passengers waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the person with the swipe card to turn up and let them in. It's already departure time. So, the corridors to the gates look horribly crowded.
A lone gate agent turns up and does their best to let people into the gate area, slowed down by a barrage of complaints about having to wait, questions about the inevitable wait, and trying to single-handedly process a plane-load of passengers and sort into those who've paid for pre-boarding. They then get notification that the airline is short-staffed, one of the crew members is over hours, and so a dozen people are going to be offloaded to maintain the crew-to-pax ratio. Several of the passengers have been drinking since arriving at the airport, several hours early - some are not yet at the gate, some are looking to be let out of the gate to go to the toilet, and others are rather vocal in their disapproval of the current situation.
So, you get on board, everybody a bit stressed and ruffled, having been up for hours to get to the airport ridiculously early, and the captain announces that you're now late, you've missed your slot, and as soon as there's someone available to push the aircraft back, you'll be taxiing to a remote holding location where you'll wait for further instruction. Eventually, you leave.
On return, you are that arriving aircraft you watched as you waited to board. You're all stood up to get your overhead bags and stretch your legs, and start the race to immigration, but there's no ETA for the airbridge driver. Eventually, you get one, and head for passport control. The e-gates are broken, as no maintenance staff are available, so the queue snakes round down the corridor towards the gates. There are too few immigration officers, and the people who are normally responsible for directing you to the e-gates (not really a skilled job) don't know what to do, so they just walk up and down the queue randomly shouting at people to stand in a different place. By the time you get to the front, the immigration officer is rather grumpy through overwork.
But that's OK, because your luggage will already be on the belt, right? Actually, no, because, even though the baggage handlers have had time to get to your aircraft, there's loads of uncollected bags on the belt, and a backlog meaning your luggage is currently sat, in the rain, on a buggy just outside the building, in a queue to get in. Nobody's quite sure which flight is still coming into which belt, some have given up and reported missing at the counter, and there's pile of bags which somebody has taken off. The whole hall is ridiculously busy.
Oh, and there's a train strike. Good luck!
---
Welcome to flying in 2022! It's better at quieter times, of course. But I shudder to think what my (family holiday) flight out of LGW is going to be like in August!
Jun 28, 2022, 12:40 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Programs: Hilton Gold, Priority Club Blue, SPG Gold, Sofitel Gold, FB Ivory, BA Blue
Posts: 8,479
It's a combination of factors, ultimately. There's pent-up demand. There's staff shortages. There's travel-related companies desperate to get back into the black after spending a couple of years with vastly reduced income. And there's the fact that most UK airports and airlines (outwith LHR/LCY and the Highlands & Islands) operate on a low-cost model.
So, loads of people want to travel. The airlines think - great, I'll fill my planes. Let's get as many flights running as we can. The airports think - great, the airlines want to send loads of passengers through us, we'll get the fees and they'll spend loads of money in our retail outlets. The ground handlers think - wow, loads of demand, we'll get some decent fees. UKBF thinks - oh, this will be interesting.
Problem is, all these parties got rid of most of their staff when the furlough funding ran out (some didn't even furlough). For LCCs and charter airlines, who hire seasonally anyway, this wasn't so much of a challenge - they can get a new seasonal intake. All their ground staff are typically run via handlers these days.
For the airports, they all sorts roles, some specialist, some not. But the pay's not great, and the people formerly in these roles have gone off and got new, often better paid jobs in the meantime. Airports on razor-thin margins are reluctanct to increase rates of pay (some have, e.g. AMS) and so they end up with more non-specialist new recruits and agency workers. There is a general labour shortage as well, and if you want to open the whole Brexit can of worms, you'll doubtless find a fair degree of impact there too, exacerbating a problem seen elsewhere,
Then there's the non passenger-facing side - safety-critical roles that you can't mess about with. Again, a labour shortage.
And then there's UKBF. Fewer members of staff. e-gates are great for those that can use them, but there's a lot of families travelling when you get to the summer. And there's a shortage of maintenance staff, so they're often out of service. Brexit, and a general tightening of immigration, has also meant that more people have to be given more scrutiny, so the whole process takes longer, and with the same or fewer resources to do it.
So what does this mean?
It's summer, so there's more people travelling with luggage and using check-in, but a shortage of check-in staff, and more of them inexperienced. So, big queues to check in.
Security is next. More passengers, often with children, less experienced. Fewer staff, less experienced on average. Big queues for security. People now running late for their flight trying to get to the front, holding you up more until you become one of them.
Airport is desperate to claw back lost money, so retail is pushed heavily. Passengers will be kept in departures until the very last minute, before the unholy stampede towards the gate. There are few seats, because you're not spending money when you're sitting down. It will give the impression of being really busy - the seats that exist will be crowded, as will the cafes, and people are corralled in one area.
Meanwhile, your inbound aircraft comes in, with the airline aggressively pushing for a 20-minute turnaround. But there's no ground staff to operate the airbridge, they're over at gate Z392 and the travelators are broken. The guy with the swipe card for the stairs isn't around, and the driver for the aircraft steps is currently at a remote stand. There are two passengers who can't disembark without assistance, but that team is seriously short-staffed and currently running half an hour behind. Where's the fuel lorry? And the baggage handlers?
Your airline doesn't employ any ground staff, so is reliant on one of the two ground handlers present at that airport, and they're way overstretched too, so nobody's told the airport that your flight is going to be delayed because of all this, so in the space of a few minutes, your flight goes from "Gate Announced at 10:35" to "Gate Open" to "Gate Closing", and 150 people have rushed to, and are now waiting outside an unmanned gate area (where two competing queues have formed), looking rather annoyed, and watching a planeload of passengers waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the person with the swipe card to turn up and let them in. It's already departure time. So, the corridors to the gates look horribly crowded.
A lone gate agent turns up and does their best to let people into the gate area, slowed down by a barrage of complaints about having to wait, questions about the inevitable wait, and trying to single-handedly process a plane-load of passengers and sort into those who've paid for pre-boarding. They then get notification that the airline is short-staffed, one of the crew members is over hours, and so a dozen people are going to be offloaded to maintain the crew-to-pax ratio. Several of the passengers have been drinking since arriving at the airport, several hours early - some are not yet at the gate, some are looking to be let out of the gate to go to the toilet, and others are rather vocal in their disapproval of the current situation.
So, you get on board, everybody a bit stressed and ruffled, having been up for hours to get to the airport ridiculously early, and the captain announces that you're now late, you've missed your slot, and as soon as there's someone available to push the aircraft back, you'll be taxiing to a remote holding location where you'll wait for further instruction. Eventually, you leave.
On return, you are that arriving aircraft you watched as you waited to board. You're all stood up to get your overhead bags and stretch your legs, and start the race to immigration, but there's no ETA for the airbridge driver. Eventually, you get one, and head for passport control. The e-gates are broken, as no maintenance staff are available, so the queue snakes round down the corridor towards the gates. There are too few immigration officers, and the people who are normally responsible for directing you to the e-gates (not really a skilled job) don't know what to do, so they just walk up and down the queue randomly shouting at people to stand in a different place. By the time you get to the front, the immigration officer is rather grumpy through overwork.
But that's OK, because your luggage will already be on the belt, right? Actually, no, because, even though the baggage handlers have had time to get to your aircraft, there's loads of uncollected bags on the belt, and a backlog meaning your luggage is currently sat, in the rain, on a buggy just outside the building, in a queue to get in. Nobody's quite sure which flight is still coming into which belt, some have given up and reported missing at the counter, and there's pile of bags which somebody has taken off. The whole hall is ridiculously busy.
Oh, and there's a train strike. Good luck!
---
Welcome to flying in 2022! It's better at quieter times, of course. But I shudder to think what my (family holiday) flight out of LGW is going to be like in August!
So, loads of people want to travel. The airlines think - great, I'll fill my planes. Let's get as many flights running as we can. The airports think - great, the airlines want to send loads of passengers through us, we'll get the fees and they'll spend loads of money in our retail outlets. The ground handlers think - wow, loads of demand, we'll get some decent fees. UKBF thinks - oh, this will be interesting.
Problem is, all these parties got rid of most of their staff when the furlough funding ran out (some didn't even furlough). For LCCs and charter airlines, who hire seasonally anyway, this wasn't so much of a challenge - they can get a new seasonal intake. All their ground staff are typically run via handlers these days.
For the airports, they all sorts roles, some specialist, some not. But the pay's not great, and the people formerly in these roles have gone off and got new, often better paid jobs in the meantime. Airports on razor-thin margins are reluctanct to increase rates of pay (some have, e.g. AMS) and so they end up with more non-specialist new recruits and agency workers. There is a general labour shortage as well, and if you want to open the whole Brexit can of worms, you'll doubtless find a fair degree of impact there too, exacerbating a problem seen elsewhere,
Then there's the non passenger-facing side - safety-critical roles that you can't mess about with. Again, a labour shortage.
And then there's UKBF. Fewer members of staff. e-gates are great for those that can use them, but there's a lot of families travelling when you get to the summer. And there's a shortage of maintenance staff, so they're often out of service. Brexit, and a general tightening of immigration, has also meant that more people have to be given more scrutiny, so the whole process takes longer, and with the same or fewer resources to do it.
So what does this mean?
It's summer, so there's more people travelling with luggage and using check-in, but a shortage of check-in staff, and more of them inexperienced. So, big queues to check in.
Security is next. More passengers, often with children, less experienced. Fewer staff, less experienced on average. Big queues for security. People now running late for their flight trying to get to the front, holding you up more until you become one of them.
Airport is desperate to claw back lost money, so retail is pushed heavily. Passengers will be kept in departures until the very last minute, before the unholy stampede towards the gate. There are few seats, because you're not spending money when you're sitting down. It will give the impression of being really busy - the seats that exist will be crowded, as will the cafes, and people are corralled in one area.
Meanwhile, your inbound aircraft comes in, with the airline aggressively pushing for a 20-minute turnaround. But there's no ground staff to operate the airbridge, they're over at gate Z392 and the travelators are broken. The guy with the swipe card for the stairs isn't around, and the driver for the aircraft steps is currently at a remote stand. There are two passengers who can't disembark without assistance, but that team is seriously short-staffed and currently running half an hour behind. Where's the fuel lorry? And the baggage handlers?
Your airline doesn't employ any ground staff, so is reliant on one of the two ground handlers present at that airport, and they're way overstretched too, so nobody's told the airport that your flight is going to be delayed because of all this, so in the space of a few minutes, your flight goes from "Gate Announced at 10:35" to "Gate Open" to "Gate Closing", and 150 people have rushed to, and are now waiting outside an unmanned gate area (where two competing queues have formed), looking rather annoyed, and watching a planeload of passengers waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the person with the swipe card to turn up and let them in. It's already departure time. So, the corridors to the gates look horribly crowded.
A lone gate agent turns up and does their best to let people into the gate area, slowed down by a barrage of complaints about having to wait, questions about the inevitable wait, and trying to single-handedly process a plane-load of passengers and sort into those who've paid for pre-boarding. They then get notification that the airline is short-staffed, one of the crew members is over hours, and so a dozen people are going to be offloaded to maintain the crew-to-pax ratio. Several of the passengers have been drinking since arriving at the airport, several hours early - some are not yet at the gate, some are looking to be let out of the gate to go to the toilet, and others are rather vocal in their disapproval of the current situation.
So, you get on board, everybody a bit stressed and ruffled, having been up for hours to get to the airport ridiculously early, and the captain announces that you're now late, you've missed your slot, and as soon as there's someone available to push the aircraft back, you'll be taxiing to a remote holding location where you'll wait for further instruction. Eventually, you leave.
On return, you are that arriving aircraft you watched as you waited to board. You're all stood up to get your overhead bags and stretch your legs, and start the race to immigration, but there's no ETA for the airbridge driver. Eventually, you get one, and head for passport control. The e-gates are broken, as no maintenance staff are available, so the queue snakes round down the corridor towards the gates. There are too few immigration officers, and the people who are normally responsible for directing you to the e-gates (not really a skilled job) don't know what to do, so they just walk up and down the queue randomly shouting at people to stand in a different place. By the time you get to the front, the immigration officer is rather grumpy through overwork.
But that's OK, because your luggage will already be on the belt, right? Actually, no, because, even though the baggage handlers have had time to get to your aircraft, there's loads of uncollected bags on the belt, and a backlog meaning your luggage is currently sat, in the rain, on a buggy just outside the building, in a queue to get in. Nobody's quite sure which flight is still coming into which belt, some have given up and reported missing at the counter, and there's pile of bags which somebody has taken off. The whole hall is ridiculously busy.
Oh, and there's a train strike. Good luck!
---
Welcome to flying in 2022! It's better at quieter times, of course. But I shudder to think what my (family holiday) flight out of LGW is going to be like in August!
Jun 28, 2022, 3:28 pm
#13
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
At MAN at least, Jet2 have their own ground handling staff and it shows. I felt ever so slightly smug at walking through immigration and grabbing my bag off the belt within a couple of minutes. That would be my other bit of advice for MAN. If Jet2 flies to your destination, it’s probably a good idea to book with them.
Jun 29, 2022, 9:21 am
#14
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,613
At MAN at least, Jet2 have their own ground handling staff and it shows. I felt ever so slightly smug at walking through immigration and grabbing my bag off the belt within a couple of minutes. That would be my other bit of advice for MAN. If Jet2 flies to your destination, it’s probably a good idea to book with them.
Jun 29, 2022, 3:54 pm
#15
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Programs: Hilton Gold, Priority Club Blue, SPG Gold, Sofitel Gold, FB Ivory, BA Blue
Posts: 8,479
Anyone studying for an MBA, looking to compare and contrast how to do/not to do things, would do worse than comparing some of the poor performers with Jet2.