How rubbish are BAA & Eurostar ?

[Tricky Dicky]

Maybe if staff were treated better then the union would not be so driven. I'll dig out an article about the man who generally, by his own admission, has one of the cushiest job in the world....the Volkwagen union boss.

I've never been in a union, but it seems like these days the union bosses, who are on huge salaries and expenses compared to most of their members, it is in their interest to cause unrest to keep in the national eye and pretend to be powerful and political heavyweights - just as much ego-trippers as the MPs. I'm sure their organisations must do a necessary job at low level if you're that sort of worker, but at the high level it is a bad a politics.

 

[Simster]

1) The Spanish is spot-on with his comments on that shit London/Oslo comparison. What a load of f***ing shit that was.
2) Just to reiterate and "this" what Tony Meola's Loan Spell said. If things must be delayed, then that's the way it has to be. But please TELL us what the f*** is going on. That goes to all agencies and firms who are supposed to be running our transport infrastructure. There really is no excuse for misinformation.
3) My thoughts on BAA echo those of Smart Marts. They are cheapskates. It annoys me to think they spent a decade clamouring for a 5th terminal and pouring money into a campaign to get it sorted. And their main contention was always that it was necessary to remain competitive. Funny how the need to remain competitive doesn't extend to proper infrastructure like a fleet of snow ploughs and looking after its passengers properly.

 

[beorhthelm]

National infastructure companies should be above simple profit or loss.

This country cant be allowed to grind to a halt because a bean counter doesnt want to spend money on the necessary infastructure.

People appointed to run them with the sole purpose of providing the service they're there for

hmmm. so explain National Rail not keeping lines open, trunk roads not cleared and local council controled roads not even gritted. im pretty certain BAA will be feeling a big hit financial hit from this, that hurts profits.

also, Gatwick didnt take ownership of £8million worth of snow ploughs in a couple of weeks. this illustrates the temporay nature, last time Gatwick was shut and Heathrow open, this time its the other way. nothings changed except the weather.

 

[Gary Leeds]

Would it be possible I wonder to install under runway heating much like under pitch heating? I know it would not stop the planes from freezing up but it would mean the need for dozens of snow ploughs and gritters would be reduced. Yes the cost and installation would be a problem and would mean reduced capacity while they did it but if they scheduled it in with the regular maintenance it would cause no extra disruption.

I also noticed that East Coast are not operating trains again today due to a power line problem. Where is the problem in using diesel trains? even if they ran electric to Peterborough and then diesel to London as a shuttle service it would mean people could still get home.

 

[Lethargic]

I read that Frankfurt has a number of stranded passengers and the airport operator phoned the army and borrowed a 1000 field beds for passengers. Amongst other things they also got clowns in to entertain the passenger's children. Clowns aside, the Frankfurt effort is vastly different to BAA's response.

I was in Frankfurt last Thursday during snow and this was not completely true, yes the camp beds were supplied but apart from that the airport was in the same chaotic mess as Heathrow. The reaction was much the same as Heathrow and this was a familiar story across Europe a collegue was left playing ping pong between Berlin and Munich and ended up in Frankfurt. Air travel is a global beast and when Western Europe goes into melt down it all goes out of synch and takes days to get the aircraft and crews back where they should be.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

3) My thoughts on BAA echo those of Smart Marts. They are cheapskates. It annoys me to think they spent a decade clamouring for a 5th terminal and pouring money into a campaign to get it sorted. And their main contention was always that it was necessary to remain competitive. Funny how the need to remain competitive doesn't extend to proper infrastructure like a fleet of snow ploughs and looking after its passengers properly.

This. They always understaffed Gatwick. There's a complete suite of departure security channels on the upper floor which hardly ever got used. They came under a lot of criticism for not regularly opening these up in the wake of the extra security checks for liquids. Gatwick has the potential to be one of the slickest airports in the world...but you'd never guess this when you saw departure queues snaking all round Gatwick under BAA.

 

[The Spanish]

But please TELL us what the f*** is going on.

BA told people not to go to LHR on Sunday and f***ing thousands of people just ignored it thinking that spending the day hounding and harassing staff and stretching the system(s) to breaking point was a better option. you cannot be blamed for struggling when a lot of your punters are childlike selfish f***ing idiots.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

But their moaning is probably about the train being 2 seconds late, or only 74 types of sausage on sale in the buffet car, or the version of Metropolis showing on the in-train entertainment system is the 2001 reconstruction and not the 2008 Argentinian copy.

He he he, a train with 74 different types of sausage is one I want to be delayed or stuck on!

Seriously, unless Mannheim has declared a UDI, I think that DB are having quite a few problems at the moment. What is interesting is there doesn't appear to be a 'service bulletin' type link on their webpage as far as I can see.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I was in Frankfurt last Thursday during snow and this was not completely true, yes the camp beds were supplied but apart from that the airport was in the same chaotic mess as Heathrow. The reaction was much the same as Heathrow and this was a familiar story across Europe a collegue was left playing ping pong between Berlin and Munich and ended up in Frankfurt. Air travel is a global beast and when Western Europe goes into melt down it all goes out of synch and takes days to get the aircraft and crews back where they should be.

Fair enough, but I do not see any field beds at Heathrow? And I wonder how much of this is caused by knock ons from Heathrow's rediculous length of closure?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

BA told people not to go to LHR on Sunday and f***ing thousands of people just ignored it thinking that spending the day hounding and harassing staff and stretching the system(s) to breaking point was a better option. you cannot be blamed for struggling when a lot of your punters are childlike selfish f***ing idiots.

I wonder if the boss at BAA crawled into a little ball on the floor and covered his eyes?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I was in Frankfurt last Thursday during snow and this was not completely true, yes the camp beds were supplied but apart from that the airport was in the same chaotic mess as Heathrow. The reaction was much the same as Heathrow and this was a familiar story across Europe a collegue was left playing ping pong between Berlin and Munich and ended up in Frankfurt. Air travel is a global beast and when Western Europe goes into melt down it all goes out of synch and takes days to get the aircraft and crews back where they should be.

At least BAA provided clowns...sadly not for entertainment though.

 

[The Spanish]

Fair enough, but I do not see any field beds at Heathrow? And I wonder how much of this is caused by knock ons from Heathrow's rediculous length of closure?

if you didnt have a load of lefty spastic attempting to stop any development at heathrow we would have another runway and the airport would not be run at close to breaking point and these things would be easier to cope with. but of course its far easier to go gaw they should buy more bleedin snowploughs oslo is still open innit, with drool coming out your mouth and going der der der hitting your head with the back of your wrist.

 

[Gwylan]

BA told people not to go to LHR on Sunday and f***ing thousands of people just ignored it thinking that spending the day hounding and harassing staff and stretching the system(s) to breaking point was a better option. you cannot be blamed for struggling when a lot of your punters are childlike selfish f***ing idiots.

This is true and there's also the number of drivers on roads who ignore warnings to drive unless their journey is necessary - and then wander why the road is blocked.

On the other hand, we see the scenes at Eurostar where the company has said that passengers should ignore reservations and it will be first come, first served. That's just a recipe for chaos and there's no real excuse for that.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

if you didnt have a load of lefty spastic attempting to stop any development at heathrow we would have another runway and the airport would not be run at close to breaking point and these things would be easier to cope with. but of course its far easier to go gaw they should buy more bleedin snowploughs oslo is still open innit, with drool coming out your mouth and going der der der hitting your head with the back of your wrist.

A 3rd runway? BAA cannot cope with 2.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

1. Of course there will be mistakes made - we hardly to get to practice this often, how can an airport with half a million people travelling through every weekend and over a thousand flights cope smoothly when a large snowfall and ice freeze occurs.

2. The news channels only pick the moaning idiots to interview on their show, bet you 90% plus of people follow the instructions and accept that the weather has messed up their plans

3. Everyone says that Britain can't cope with bad weather and we're useless. I prefer to think that it shows we try and battle on through the elements, get to work and school and so on when the sensible decision would really be just to stay at home.

 

[Vicar!]

But if they did spend all the money on snowploughs and preparing for winter how could those poor hardworking bosses afford there huge bonuses. There would be nothing left for the shareholders?

 

[Dandyman]

hmmm. so explain National Rail not keeping lines open, trunk roads not cleared and local council controled roads not even gritted. im pretty certain BAA will be feeling a big hit financial hit from this, that hurts profits.

also, Gatwick didnt take ownership of £8million worth of snow ploughs in a couple of weeks. this illustrates the temporay nature, last time Gatwick was shut and Heathrow open, this time its the other way. nothings changed except the weather.

I can't speak about Sussex but Local Authorities in London have done a very good job as far as I can see in keeping the main roads usable. London Underground is also working well in the main.

Anyone who thinks selling-off the railways was not one of the biggest cons in history obviously never uses them.

 

[Dandyman]

But if they did spend all the money on snowploughs and preparing for winter how could those poor hardworking bosses afford there huge bonuses. There would be nothing left for the shareholders?

 

[Gwylan]

if you didnt have a load of lefty spastic attempting to stop any development at heathrow we would have another runway.

I think you have your left and right mixed up. It was the Labour party that wanted another runway. It was opposed by the Tories, who wanted to build a high speed rail link instead (apart from Boris, who wanted to build an airport in the Thames estuary)

The Blue Blog There will be no third runway at Heathrow under the Conservatives

 

[Simster]

BA told people not to go to LHR on Sunday and f***ing thousands of people just ignored it thinking that spending the day hounding and harassing staff and stretching the system(s) to breaking point was a better option. you cannot be blamed for struggling when a lot of your punters are childlike selfish f***ing idiots.

In this instance, I agree with you. It also applies to car drivers who ignore warnings and are as inadequately prepared for the snow as is humanly possible.

However, this does not apply to passengers of the train companies who can never give a straight answer via anyone or any communication medium - the internet, the staff, the departure boards, they're all f***ing pointless. Instead you turn up at the train station and stand around for hours with no communication forthcoming, except from the poor old sacrificial lamb on the platform, seemingly employed to stand there, front the fury of your more embarrassingly beetroot-faced customers with the words "I dunno when the next one is coming" (over and over again) and who you know full well is just praying for those pretend policeman types to arrive on the platform as promised to give him some protection.