Queue chaos at Airports

[Phil Dicky]

How long can the airlines etc continue paying out compensation for late flights etc? Must be costing them millions.

[OldGermanHeaps]

soxboy said:

If it’s any consolation, for a 3+hour delay think of the compo.

I would trade double the compo for a smoother journey. They will find a way of weasling out of the compo anyway, the rules are extremely slack

[craigjm]

Phil Dicky said:

How long can the airlines etc continue paying out compensation for late flights etc? Must be costing them millions.

What percentage of flights are actually delayed to the point of compensation though when looked at in the entirety of flights in a region? Always sounds like it’s much more common than it is.

[DeejRC]

Which resort are you staying in Stovey?

[Phil Dicky]

craigjm said:

Phil Dicky said:

How long can the airlines etc continue paying out compensation for late flights etc? Must be costing them millions.

What percentage of flights are actually delayed to the point of compensation though when looked at in the entirety of flights in a region? Always sounds like it’s much more common than it is.

Just seems to be prevalent at the moment...plus I'm traveling to Ibiza Thursday so a real concern.

[craigjm]

Where are you flying from and what airline

[soxboy]

Phil Dicky said:

Just seems to be prevalent at the moment...plus I'm traveling to Ibiza Thursday so a real concern.

I travelled to Ibiza Thursday before last with little issue, the airport was very efficient. Flying back was a different matter (5 hour delay meant a 2245 arrival home became 0310) but that was because Jet2 had ‘day from hell’ (our pilots words). Quite a nice airport to be stuck in.

[djc206]

soxboy said:

I travelled to Ibiza Thursday before last with little issue, the airport was very efficient. Flying back was a different matter (5 hour delay meant a 2245 arrival home became 0310) but that was because Jet2 had ‘day from hell’ (our pilots words). Quite a nice airport to be stuck in.

Booking an evening short haul flight home is always a risk because of accumulated delay. There’s no flex in the schedules with rapid turnarounds so a bit of weather or ATC capacity delay added to each of the 5 flights before yours soon mounts up.

[soxboy]

djc206 said:

soxboy said:

I travelled to Ibiza Thursday before last with little issue, the airport was very efficient. Flying back was a different matter (5 hour delay meant a 2245 arrival home became 0310) but that was because Jet2 had ‘day from hell’ (our pilots words). Quite a nice airport to be stuck in.

Booking an evening short haul flight home is always a risk because of accumulated delay. There’s no flex in the schedules with rapid turnarounds so a bit of weather or ATC capacity delay added to each of the 5 flights before yours soon mounts up.

Yes, we were told that 2 planes had broken down that day which screwed their schedules. Our flight apparently had to go to Paris before us to collect a stranded group of passengers.

[djc206]

soxboy said:

Yes, we were told that 2 planes had broken down that day which screwed their schedules. Our flight apparently had to go to Paris before us to collect a stranded group of passengers.

Bugger!

[stevemcs]

I like sea days and just watching the waves.

[TTmonkey]

When the schools break up it’s going to be carnage.

[Phil Dicky]

craigjm said:

Where are you flying from and what airline

Manchester and EasyJet.

[GT03ROB]

DeejRC said:

But nobody(ok, some are, but not anybody doing it regularly or properly) is flying TUI for business.

AND, yes, if you are flying biz regularly, you *do* upgrade or book biz even on European short haul of 2hrs or so...because it just makes the experience "nicer". And when so much of your life is spent on the damn tin can or in the airport, that becomes a massively important part of your life.

As I stated in my first post on this...I am hugely glad it is no longer a large part of my life. European short haul sucks, biz class merely makes it suck a bit less.

Obviously Im not Rob and the others who get the glamour of long haul biz travel poncing about flying east on the posh Arab airlines :P

Ha ha if only..... I only get the glamour of flying the posh Arab airlines, when I travel East on leisure!!

I do book short haul European in business, for a couple of reasons. But the main one is that frequently the price differential is not that great especially on the bucket&spade routes. Since I tend to book only a few weeks before leaving the cheapo economy fares have generally gone. The other advantage in booking on the budcket&spade routes is generally I can get row 1 with BA which tends to have the advantage of a lot better service & not staring at somebody elses head.

See my comment below about the issues with the likes of TUI & Jet2.

djc206 said:

soxboy said:

I travelled to Ibiza Thursday before last with little issue, the airport was very efficient. Flying back was a different matter (5 hour delay meant a 2245 arrival home became 0310) but that was because Jet2 had ‘day from hell’ (our pilots words). Quite a nice airport to be stuck in.

Booking an evening short haul flight home is always a risk because of accumulated delay. There’s no flex in the schedules with rapid turnarounds so a bit of weather or ATC capacity delay added to each of the 5 flights before yours soon mounts up.

Just as it's always been. When I used to ski regularly it was the same thing, always get the 1st flight out in the morning & 1st flight back.

Flew back from IBZ about a week ago, TUI, Jet2, horrific queues for check in snaking all the way round the terminal. BA..... 2 check in desks, 1 couple in front of us, all through very quickly. Passport & security in IBZ was really quick with no queues.

As an aside & proving the point I made above about short haul business not always being pricey, the deal to IBZ with BA including hotel & Club was several hundred cheaper than same hotel with Jet2.

Edited by GT03ROB on Monday 27th June 07:27

[ClaphamGT3]

Flew out of Luton yesterday. Effectively no queue at security and was from front door of departures to the other side of security in 10 minutes.

3 hour Wizzair delay another matter.....

[2 GKC]

One of the last flights into Bristol at about 1230 this morning after a c4 hour delay due to air traffic controller shortages in Europe (we had delays on the way out for the same reason but not as long)

Bristol probably not as bad as it could have been given most of the staff must have gone home. 15-20 minute wait for steps, 20mins at passport and about 20 mins at luggage.

Corfu airport is crap but there were zero delays getting airside there.

Edited by 2 GKC on Monday 27th June 08:37

[The G Kid]

Amateurish said:

Huge delays at passport control at Heathrow T2 arrivais today. Only one border force agent checking passports for Uk + Eu arrivals who couldn't use the electronic gates e.g. families with kids. 30+ posts and only 3 manned (one doing "other" passports and one doing e-gates). How does this happen?

I asked the Heathrow "service" rep for help and she just shrugged and said she wasn't allowed to talk to the border force staff.

Please can you advise what time of day this was? I am flying into T2 on a Sunday in three weeks, and have another flight a few hours later from Southampton.

ETA Also, how long was the huge delay? Thanks.

[Monkeylegend]

The G Kid said:

Amateurish said:

Huge delays at passport control at Heathrow T2 arrivais today. Only one border force agent checking passports for Uk + Eu arrivals who couldn't use the electronic gates e.g. families with kids. 30+ posts and only 3 manned (one doing "other" passports and one doing e-gates). How does this happen?

I asked the Heathrow "service" rep for help and she just shrugged and said she wasn't allowed to talk to the border force staff.

Please can you advise what time of day this was? I am flying into T2 on a Sunday in three weeks, and have another flight a few hours later from Southampton.

ETA Also, how long was the huge delay? Thanks.

I wouldn't take any check in luggage, they already have a mountain of it there, all minus their owners.

[Matt p]

30mins getting through Standsted this morning. Just awaiting gate number. Tbh it was a breeze. Staff super friendly and well organised.

[Origin Unknown]

Origin Unknown said:

Any recent experience with LHR T2? LHR - HOU tomorrow 1030. Times reporting T2/T3 baggage armageddon, 10% of flights canceled dot dot dot

Weds (22/jun) morning LHR T2, dropped off at the terminal for 0730, through bag drop and security in 16 minutes flat.

IAH - 1h30m to get through border control. Nearly full hall, 3 desks open. Complete Joke.

IAH return, lots of construction in Terminal E, reroute through Term C, get there early. Bag drop at the point the cab dropped me off, polite and friendly staff in passport control and security, through the other side in under 10 mins.

Land at LHR 0730 Sunday morning. Border control hall very busy for e-gates, the route to the gates was a very long back and forth, clearly designed to give the illusion of moving but covered little actual forward distance. Into baggage hall, cases stacked everywhere, piles no belts, trolleys loaded etc. And it took 30 mins for the belt to even start. Annoying.

My taxi was late too, murder getting through the tunnel into the terminal. Taxi man said T5 much better.