[WillieWelsh]

Funny, they fail to mention the real reason for this request which seems to be that they are running an IT system that they have not properly tested before implementation and the are rolling it out at one of the busiest times of year when planes are full of relatively infrequent flyers!

Nothing like a few lies to cover up incompetence.

[Tom Otley]

Will report tomorrow…

[RocketBoy]

looking forward to it

[peter19]

I flew into LHR yesterday and was 30 mins delayed. I am back at LHR today queues for check in and drop off were larger than normal. I was travelling HBO though thankfully. I also had the text message to arrive early..only to be delayed 30 mins again 2 days running.

[MartynSinclair]

BA eService just sent me a text

“We expect Heathrow to be very busy tomorrow. Please check in online if you can, before coming to the airport. Please visit http://www.ba.com/summer”

The website says..

We are expecting a very busy weekend at London Heathrow and London Gatwick as the peak summer travel season continues.
….

Please check-in online

As a result we would strongly encourage you to check-in online via our website or mobile app and choose your seat before coming to the airport.

If you are unable to check-in online please ensure that you arrive in good time for your flight as Heathrow and Gatwick airports are likely to be very busy.

….

Presume this is all about the new check in software.. But should BA be speaking on behalf of Heathrow… ? Should they not highlight the real reason for Heathrow (more specifically) the BA part of Heathrow being busy… T2 will presumably be working as normal….

[Tom Otley]

I was reading this evening that tomorrow will be the busiest day of the year at Heathrow —– !

[MartynSinclair]

@Tom, so what makes tomorrow different from any other day??

[Tom Otley]

All the schools have broken up.

Private schools finished a couple of weeks ago, but all schools have finished by this week, and so if families are going, there’s a good chance they are going this weekend.

Many will fly on Saturday (because of accommodation being Saturday to Saturday) but tomorrow you have a lot of holidaymakers plus the normal business traffic which hasn’t yet tailed off for the summer.

There were queues today and yet there were no IT problems at Heathrow (I checked with BA), so even if everything runs smoothly it will be very busy. So to make the most of the Concorde Room, best to allow time for check-in / bag drop and then security….

[JohnHarper]

Passing through T2 as I write. Check in area was busy but no real queuing, the TK C desks had no queue at all although the flight is due to be operated by a 773. Gold track security was no wait beyond how long it took me to take my laptop from my bag and slow track security looked to be moving very well with no real queue. The lounge is nothing different to normal – in the SQ one and B43 is now showing as open but I’ll give it a bit longer before moving!

Someone told me yesterday that state schools in the London area finish on 22nd July – private schools all finished last week so surely next weekend will be the busy one at LHR or LGW rather than this.

This must be a T5/BA problem – again!

ABBA.

[Tom Otley]

No queues at all at T5 at 1130am this morning

[MartynSinclair]

So much for being busy…

T5, F check in…. 3 minutes and done

Security line…. 3 minutes and through

F lounge…. clean, seat by the window and a very well stocked bar…

I have no issue with a delayed flight …..

Nice weekend everyone…. and more importantly, a safe and peaceful one.

As a thread has not yet appeared for Nice… I always pray that the last one….. will indeed be the last one..

[FDOS_UK]

Heathrow and others (e.g. Dubai) are mercurial airports, which means that we could pass through within 30 minutes and have completely different experiences.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=673984]All the schools have broken up.

Private schools finished a couple of weeks ago, but all schools have finished by this week, and so if families are going, there’s a good chance they are going this weekend. [/quote]

Nope.

Most schools around the South East (Sussex, Kent, Surrey) finish on 22nd so have another week.

Almost every afternoon this week the departure board on ba.com has been a sea of red. Have a look at 17.00 to 18.00 today, 90% of flights left late or just delayed.

I’m sure all the usual excuses have been used up now, medical emergencies, wind shear in St Helena, ATC strikes, blah blah blah but I suppose muddle on is the name of the game.

[Tom Otley]

Yes, I saw that.

But if you look closely many of them are late by the strict definition of more than 15 minutes – which with the schedule padding means you don’t arrive late at all.

And FDOS_UK is right, you can have a totally different experience only 30 minutes apart. I’m not saying the problems aren’t there, or that they are not solved – simply that you never hear when people sail through the airport, only when they have to queue – so I reported my experience – no queues, no problems, and a delayed departure as the bags of two no-show passengers were off-loaded !

[SimonS1]

It can be changeable Tom but there were plenty of flights leaving an hour or more late yesterday.

It’s noticeable that in the past there has been very little comment on FT about this. However the last couple of weeks there has been a thread almost every day and I don’t think there is any doubt that BA performance has been suffering.

[Author]

Posts