[VintageKrug]

It is not only BA which is affected. Check the departure bopards and you will see many other airlines unable to fly from LHR. BA is operating most of its services from both LGW and LCY.

It is not only LHR which is affected. Check AMS and FRA and both airports have significant disruptions.

I was affected by the snow, BA got me home. I am flying again this week.

BA and even BAA are not superhuman, these are exceptional circumstances, and you simply have to expect exceptional disruption.

Or would you rather be reversed out of an icy stand only to skid into another aircraft, or be propelled into the air along an icy runway, with iced up wings, to a certain death?

Honestly, I really despair at just what people expect can be done to alleviate the situation.

Sometimes stuff happens beyond human control. UNderstanding that, and adapting to manage the situation makes for a much happier life.

[FlyingChinaman]

Not a sage advice but an observation: Total misery for the stranded travellers. Unhappyness for the would be travellers – at least for the time being.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

I disagree with some, it is time for the blame game.

Binman’s post shows why. The EU directive, which is very serious, seems to have been flouted (other threads and press reports support this.)

Enquiries must take place and the guilty must be punished.

It seems this is the only way to get progress in the UK.

[FCTraveller]

I don’t think anyone expects that safety should be compromised. But it is obvious that both BAA and BA are grossly unprepared. We are talking about making sure that the world’s busiest airport can cope adequately with weather that has become commonplace. BAA need proper equipment to clear the runways, taxiways and stands and BA need enough de-icing equipment to keep their planes going. Their website has been down for most of the day and this is meant to be their main communication tool. What is the point of directing passengers to the website for information, to cancel or re-book when their servers cannot cope in times of crisis. Willie Walsh may be yelling and screaming at the CEO of BAA this morning but he has to seriously look at his own company’s failings. It’s a complete fiasco.

[VintageKrug]

Bottom line is that LHR cannot be adequately provisioned for such a rare event; there is simply not enough space to accommodate more parked aircraft, and the cost-benefit for having more snow kit doesn’t stack up. The cost benefit should hopefully be re-examined, but I fear that even with more kit on the ground, LHR would still have suffered in recent days.

There are lessons to be learned, but you simply cannot provision fully for the most extreme and infrequent weather incidents. There is only so much that any Business Continuity plan can deliver, when you take into account the physical constraints of the site and the financial restrictions of provisioning for rare occurances.

To make a parallel in our own lives, do most UK based people have snow tires for their car? Probably not. You would be mad to keep a £1000 set of wheels in the garage for a once in a decade incident, and the likelihood is that when you did need them they would have perished and be useless.

Heathrow’s runways are open, it is the lack of space to park aircraft newly arriving aircraft and frozen stands which are causing the issues. BA has de-icing equipment (it does need a lot more!), but cannot carry this out or move planes because stands are snow-bound. All other airlines (and not just BA!) are in this same position.

BA took the right decision to stop flying on Saturday which has minimised the displacement disruption to those actually in transit on Friday evening. Many are stranded, but are at least at home or in a hotel.

Gatwick and London City are (for now) operating almost normally.

BA website is working fine for me….

[MartynSinclair]

I have just left T5. Blame / no blame – the situation within the terminal is shambolic and thats being kind. Yes this is new ground, but that excuse is beginning to wear thin. This year we have had BA strikes (new ground) volcanic ash (new ground) and now snow (certainly we have seen snow before).

I am a staunch supporter of BA and will continue to be, however, there is no defence for the way passengers are being treated and a total lack or organization. If any of you live close enough to T5 go and see (if you can get into the terminal.

PS – its now snowing again at Heathrow time 14.00 local.

[FCTraveller]

You may be missing the point. Of course we cannot provision for absolutely everything that Mother Nature throws at us, but we can be prepared for most of it. These are not “rare events”, they happen every year. The cost-benefit argument doesn’t stack up when BAA is raking in £1.16bn in profits at the expense of the travelling public but they cannot spend a few more million pounds on making sure that we keep moving. It snowed for two hours on Saturday and we are still in a mess three days later. I’m glad you agree that BA need more de-icing equipment but it wasn’t snowbound stands that were causing the problem on Friday, it was lack of equipment. I’m happy that the BA website is working fine for you, but it wasn’t for the rest of us:

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/mapping-babel-10017967/ba-website-falls-over-under-heavy-load-10021343/

In a time of crisis, the website becomes the most important means of communication and reduces the number of people who set off for the airport unnecessarily. It’s pointless if it cannot cope with crisis volumes.

You’re absolutely right that there are lessons to be learned but they never are.

[FlyingChinaman]

MartnySinclair: There is nothing wrong for being patriotic and in fact a good quality. But you are also a very sensible one as well!!!

This current shamble in LHR is a combination of years of lack of investments and certainly contingency planning by the airport operator and the dominant flag carrier and possibly the UK government as well. Same story with other forms of transport in the UK as I have had a taste of that in the past.

The main thing now is to get all the miserble travellers to their destinations ASAP in time for this coming festive season and to work out a future plan in order to reduce these crippling chaos in the future when snow hit hard at Heathrow again. Any improvement is a step forward!

[VintageKrug]

In what way is this in any way related to lack of investment by the UK Government?

Both BAA and BA have been private firms for over a decade.

[FlyingChinaman]

VK: You have now told me something I didn’t know. Can you explain to me why the UK government can levy the highest passenger duty in the world from travellers and no investment being put back into the infra-structure? I am keen to know.

[esselle]

I am not sure BA should shoulder too much of the blame; it seems clear BAA have taken a gamble with their weather strategy and failed. Airlines pay to use the infrastructure and can reasonably expect it to work properly. Of course its gets tricky with a lot of snow falling over a short period, but you cannot simply stop everything until it melts.The BAA should go and spend some time with Avinor or Finnavia and learn from them.

[MartynSinclair]

VintageKrug – go and have a look at the disgraceful scenes for yourself. I am really not interested whether its BA or BAA or anyone else at fault. The travelling public deserve far better – this is the 4th time T5 (i havent been into the other terminals) has been tested and FAILED. Bagage, strikes, volcanic ash and now snow. All I know is that I am likely to be parted from my wife and son over the holiday period. I am close to the airport, I am looking at the active runway from my hotel and I have been into T5. Suggest you do the same before you post future comments, becasue what Sky News shows is only half if not a quarter of the story. There is 1 departure for every 5 other airlines. I am sure RogerVictor will provide the stats on todays aircraft movements is asked.

Happy Christmas to you.

[FlyingChinaman]

Martyn: I did not relaise you were desparately trying to go home! This saga clearly a very unacceptable one to any travellers. Just hope you would be back in time with your family for the holiday season.

Good luck to you ALL!

[FCTraveller]

I think it’s high time we stop defending the indefensible. Martyn is right, people who shrug this off should go and experience it themselves. I was originally supposed to leave on Saturday, now rebooked for Thursday and if there’s the slightest sprinkle of snow on that day, my partner and I will spend Christmas apart. Passengers are sick and tired of paying exhorbitant airport fees/duty, etc and getting kicked in the teeth in return. Yes we all know that BAA is a private firm but the government needs to get involved and force them to make the necessary investments that the travelling public deserve. VK, you may be prepared to sit back and take this (presumably in the comfort of your home with your family) but most passengers are not.

[Alasdair]

Martyn, that is a terrible situation you have found yourself in.

Lately I believe, BA has been sending out a number of Volunteer Crew on scheduled flights to keep in safety check in event of keeping BA flying during possible future strike action. Someone pointed out they are from all departments including Check-in, Ramp Services, Dispatch amongst others.

With the sheer volume of cancelled flights that would mean hundreds of valuable staff are stranded abroad when in fact they could have been at T5 assisting to clear up some of this mess. An outrage.

[Author]

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