[SimonS1]

Well they have been regularly tweeting over the last few days that “in times of high passenger volume the Fast Track Service may be suspended”.

So don’t bank on it……

[Gin&Tonic]

I was business fast track March 3rd, that was 45 minutes at 8am T2, goodness knows what it is now. Issue with Manchester Airport and others is that they see fast track as a revenue income, not as a benefit for business class traveler’s. So many people now book it as an extra for their holidays it cancels itself out with its popularity.

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PatJordan

[esselle]

[postquote quote=1208627]

Fast Track at MAN has been a farce for years.

Originally designed to be a quick route through the security process for premium pax, it then morphed into the channel where wheelchair bound passengers were routed, and then families with babies/buggies etc. I of course have no issue with either of those groups, but it obviously at that point ceased to be Fast Track, and became Slowish Track, or even Slower Than Ordinary Track.

And then the stroke of genius; put machines at the entry to security selling a dream of whizzing through/avoid the crowds/feel like a VIP etc for a “small” fee.

Whoever thought of that one probably got promoted.

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cwoodward, PatJordan

[alistairNicoll]

[postquote quote=1208631]

The best bit of the farce was the addition of a paid for fast channel and a business class fast channel and then when you got to the front they all merged with the non premium channel

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cwoodward, esselle

[Tom Otley]

I’m not sure what the police could do about it – help check bags?

Manchester Airport: Police could help tackle ‘chaos’, mayor says

[alistairNicoll]

[postquote quote=1208720]
I thought policing levels were already overstretched clearly crime is at an all time low in Manchester but I notice he is not suggesting that he take over the airport and run it professionally

[Tom Otley]

BREAKING: Karen Smart, managing director of Manchester Airport, has resigned with immediate effect, The Times has learned

– Comes after weeks of chaos and huge queues at the airport caused by a lack of staff#ManchesterAirport #Travel #ttot

— Ben Clatworthy (@benclatworthy) April 5, 2022

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cwoodward

[Tom Otley]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-61002096

[alistairNicoll]

[postquote quote=1208734]
One sacrificial lamb would expect wholesale sackings

[esselle]

[postquote quote=1208737]

It used to be the case that Manchester airport’s CEO’s were highly visible and involved in the day to day efficient operation of the place. Muirhead, and Thompson before him, walked around with an entourage and issued orders on a daily basis. The current incumbent has presided over a number of short sighted initiatives which have actually made the smooth flow of the operation ever less efficient. A few years ago he imposed drop off/pick up restrictions which made it impossible to get passengers to the airport by private vehicle without paying a hefty fee. He deployed marshals with cameras to photograph and fine transgressors.

It seems easy to place the blame on the local management, buying a bit of time before the politicos call for his scalp.

[SimonS1]

[postquote quote=1208734]

In any other business she would have been fired for incompetence.

[onajetplane]

Infuriating. Should have been sacked. No words for those poor staff on the ground left helpless because of this lack of management. If this was a common feature across all major airports then I would concede. What I witnessed at MAN airport a few days ago was nothing short of shocking compared to all other major airports I have flown threw in the last few months – a resignation seems an easy escape.

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PatJordan

[cwoodward]

Also A lack of will by the operating company – collect the fees and laugh all the way to the bank….until the negative publicity becomes so bad that there was a real risk of the government regulator becoming actively involved.
Then as a show change the CEO…priceless and a well rehearsed strategy of companies with a poor and greedy ethos – British water companies !
The slack government regulator also has much to answer for in my opinion

As with their other two UK airports the very minimum will be done and this only to plicate the regulator.
These people have a horrible track record of managing UK airports although their many international businesses seem to have decent management thus the fundamental problem may be with the companies UK senior management team.

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PatJordan

[esselle]

[postquote quote=1208764]

It’s not the CEO who has gone. That was the point of my previous post. It’s the MD of the airport, who, in the MAG structure, was responsible for execution, not strategy. The CEO is still there. And remember, the infrastructure guys who own 34% have nothing to to with the running of the place.

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cwoodward, PatJordan

[cwoodward]

esselle
I did mean the MD and it was in the previous post. Mitigation I wrote the post at 6.30am while eating breakfast and on the phone to Australia.

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PatJordan, esselle

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