Border Force Industrial Action

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)

  • CathayLoyalist2
    Participant

    I am trying to ascertain if the Border Force industrial action at Christmas, part of action by Civil Servants, is a full walk out or an an ad hoc basis i.e intermittent days and/or go slows. Plenty of media coverage on the Civil Service strikes in general but nothing specific.


    DavidSmith2
    Participant

    strike starting 23 December, for 8 days… just announced.

    2 users thanked author for this post.

    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    I’m going to create a spreadsheet for all these strikes

    Border Force strike adds to traveller problems in December

    5 users thanked author for this post.

    CathayLoyalist2
    Participant

    [postquote quote=1273402]

    Phew, my daughter and partner arrive early morning on 22 Dec


    Chris in Makati
    Participant

    I assume that for UK passport holders the Border Force strike will have little effect as they’ll be able to use automated passport gates.

    But what about those who need to go to manned immigration desks? Will there still be some desks available staffed by non-union or management, or could a situation arise where there’s no processing of passengers at all? If the latter there would be utter chaos.


    CathayLoyalist2
    Participant

    [postquote quote=1277143]

    Noises are already being made about getting/asking airlines to reduce flights over that period to reduce passenger number arrivals which is where the squeeze will be. Christmas for many people has been/will be ruined. One hopes that the e-gates do fully operate and are not subject to sabotage


    Chris in Makati
    Participant

    [postquote quote=1277421]

    I was thinking the same thing about the automated gates conveniently being left in non-operational state. But I assume they are maintained by a separate contractor rather than by Border Force staff themselves.


    MarcusGB
    Participant

    I am using LCY out on KLM 22nd, and it does not state any issues there. They do have at least 12+ gates so pretty good these days, for arrivals. However, the flight prices compared to Pre-covid, are 2-3 x the previous cost Ex LCY!

    Schiphol being Platinum, i have had no waits for pm or eve flights out of AMS, or transiting. Separate stairs and direct entry on Sky Priority benefit, or Biz class, to the front of Security. KLM Check in was Empty at 5-6pm…
    Late eve large flights in T3 like Eva Air to BKK, there is a clogging going through security, but lots of personnel were being trained a week ago as i came through, 30+, in diff areas!!

    If only we had this efficiency at LHR..l


    drykl
    Participant

    I am returning into LHR T5 on 30 Dec, unfortunately. Family not eligible for e-gates.

    Now fearing the worst, and so I would definitely be prepared to reschedule.

    But our tickets are not flexible, and no signs yet the airlines are going to relax their conditions to allow passengers to change bookings affected by the strike action.
    Today’s government advice to “think carefully about Christmas travel plans” hasn’t particularly helped our awkward situation.
    I have thought about it at least a thousand times and am still stuck!

    2 users thanked author for this post.

    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    I think there may be Air France strikes as well – just trying to find out


    Chris in Makati
    Participant

    Simon Calder gave the following answer this morning to a question in his column for the Independent.

    Question of the week: UK Border Force strike

    Q Will departures from Heathrow on 23 December be affected by the passport strike?

    A The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has announced industrial action by UK Border Force staff from 23 December until the end of the year, with the exception of 27 December. Walk-outs will take place at six airports. These include the three busiest in Britain: Heathrow and Gatwick, serving London, plus Manchester. Also affected will be Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow airports. The government, airports and airlines are working on contingency arrangements, which will see military personnel brought in to check passports. However, servicemen and women will be no substitute for the highly professional and experienced UK Border Force staff.

    Passports are not checked when leaving the UK, and so in theory there is no impediment to your outbound journey. But Heathrow is a busy airport with constrained space and little slack in the system at the best of times. It is possible that long queues could build up, leading to passengers being held on planes rather than disembarking. Those aircraft generally turn around to depart in as little as an hour. If the incoming passengers are still on board, the planes are not going anywhere. Were this to happen, crowds would build up in the departures area and the airport would soon run out of gates for arriving flights – possibly triggering cancellations and diversions. So it is possible that some flights will be culled ahead of time to reduce the risk of chaos leading to on-the-day cancellations.

    Your airline will inform you as soon as possible if your flight is affected, and is obliged to get you to your destination as soon as possible; this could be tricky over Christmas.

    Maybe there’s a case for flights arriving in the UK on strike days to carry only passengers with biometric passports who are able to use the eGates.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    craigwatson
    Participant

    The Military is to be brought in to man the desks at affected airports.

    Airlines have been asked to cancel up to 30% of flights, but as this is a strike and there can be very last minute cancellation of strikes the airlines will wait until the last possible moment to cancel any flights. Not great for passengers, but what choice do the airlines have?


    Chris in Makati
    Participant

    FjjxdHyWQAEC7mi


    cwoodward
    Participant

    Just come to Hong Kong for Christmas – no strikes or Covid restrictions here and UK passport holders can stay for 6 months!

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    TimFitzgeraldTC
    Participant

    “Maybe there’s a case for flights arriving in the UK on strike days to carry only passengers with biometric passports who are able to use the eGates.

    THANKS|”

    Sadly would rule out any child 12 entering the UK (and thus families travelling) which might be somewhat discriminatory so that won’t happen.

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