T5 – the Nanny Terminal?

Last week I tried to catch an earlier flight back to Europe but I was turned back at security as I arrived 33 minutes prior to departure. I knew of the 35 minute rule but I was still speechless. I can see the point of minimising delays that are typically caused by having to offload baggage of no-show passengers. But if someone travels with hand baggage only (as I did), why can you not just give the passenger a chance to catch his flight? After all, if I do not make it to the boarding gate on time I will not have caused any problems to anyone but myself. What do you think? With T5 being so high-tech surely security staff can see whether or not I have checked a bag.

And the next time it will be 32 mins etc!!
This rule has been consistent since T5 opened.

The reality is that you could end up with several different times for passing through to Airside.

You could have separate times for the main Terminal and for B and C gates. Then a time that is flexi, depending on the Q’s at security.

The example that pheighdough gives above at 09.15, I feel sure the flight must have left from the main T5 complex… but agree this situation is ridiculous…

In real terms though, I think the Terminal rules of 35 minutes is fair. I remember at one point it used to an hour….

@Canucklad – How has the security guard “refused boarding onto a BA flight”? You seriously think that is his/her decision to take?

The security guard doesn’t decide the conformance time. I doubt the security guard knows whether checked baggage is involved either.

It’s 100% the passenger’s responsibility to get through security on time and to the gate on time. Sympathies to the OP, very frustrating etc, but there is only one person to blame here.

The pressure on slots, gate space etc at T5 is intense which is why conformance was introduced. Not really sure what BD has to do with it, that was several years of history ago and if they were so good I wonder why they went bust.

I also missed my flight because of this 35 minute rule. I was waiting in line well before the 35 minutes. When the security agent scanned my ticket, he told me that he could not let me in as the 35 minutes just passed. He asked me to report to BA. The BA agent told me that they could not do anything as it is not BA’s rule, but the airport’s one. I had to buy another ticket to travel to my final destination the next day. In the meantime, a first-class passenger who was very late and travelling on the same flight was escorted through security with a BA agent. I guess that the rule does not apply to all passengers.

@ MartinSinclair : the guy with the first class ticket was talking to the BA agent next to me. He was worried to miss his flight. I don’t know whether he was famous or not. After checking his ticket, she told him not be worried and to follow her. That’s what I saw. The BA agent I was dealing with was quite apologetic when I confronted her about this double standard. If there are rules, they should be applied to all equally.

BA is right. The rule is not their fault. You used to be able to rock up to a BA flight in T1 domestic 10 minutes beforehand and have plenty of time to make the flight… But now security is slower, Heathrow is fuller (so slots have less slack) and you have to negotiate the shopping mall between check in and the gate

If you have to blame anyone, then blame West London NIMBYs for blocking a third runway and HAL for wanting to make profit by having fewer security screeners and more shops

In this context, the 35 minute rule helps flights leave more punctually than without. Build another runway, employ more screeners and destroy the shops, and you can make the conformance time shorter

Simples

Whilst there is a great deal of HAL bashing, they are currently knocking down the old Boots shop at security south and increasing the size of the scan area. I believe this is the second increase in size of Security South in T5.

Personally, I’m more upset of the loss of a good size and location of Boots.