Heathrow slamed in todays Wall Street Journal

[Fblack]

According to todays Wall Street Journal, British Air at Heathrow is the worst at losing bags. Plus insurance claims for lost bags has soared there too. I personally have never had a problem at Heathrow, but just elected to fly via Gatwick for a cruise in a few months. BA said it has 22,000 delayed bags. Better buy travel insurance if you fly through Heathrow. Read these stories.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/the_middle_seat.html

 

 

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/insurance/travel-insurance/article.html?in_article_id=423571&in_page_id=37

[Jiminkcmo]

the reasons I am entering the UK via Bristol for a cruise out of Southampton.

 

Continental serves Bristol, it is less crowded than either LHR or LGW and I think will make for a good "buffer zone" pre and post cruise.

 

A nice train ride thru the UK countryside to and from Southampton beats the hassle of London's airport chaos as far as I'm concerned.

 

But that's just me.

[handfordr]

Whilst there is no smoke without fire, there is a bit of a game going on at the moment with Heathrow. There is evidence to suggest that the media are taken in by various pressure groups who are all of a sudden producing lots of surveys and 'news' submitted to the media agencies.

 

There is a government enquiry going on about the breakup of BAA the owners of Heathrow, as they also own London's Stansted and Gatwick Airports and effectively have a monopoly. The airlines want a breakup so they can play one airport off against another regards regards charges. Enter a lot of pressure groups and surveys sponsored by IATA and airlines.

Landing fees are currently comparatively low at Heathrow, much lower than New York for example as they are capped by the government regulator. The business model for Heathrow thus requires the airport to make its revenue up through retailing, car parking, levies on the train services into Heathrow etc.

BAA want a free market to raise landing charges and justify the return to invest in upgrading facilities. They are lobbying the governemnt to be able to raise charges to the airlines as the government has set spending targets for investment in infrastructure for the London Olympics, at the moment this doesn't make an economic return and is an economic basket case. So they are delaying investment to put pressure on the government to support their argument.

 

The government wants to regulate the airport but wants the private sector to shoulder all the investment required.

 

The insurers who pay out for all this lost baggage say its not that significant.

BA's main baggage problems at Heathrow is related to a conveyor belt connecting terminals for interconnecting passengers. They are being faced with rectifying something which will be redundant for them in 4 months time when they move to their new single terminal, Terminal 5.

[Globaliser]

Whilst there is no smoke without fire, there is a bit of a game going on at the moment with Heathrow. There is evidence to suggest that the media are taken in by various pressure groups who are all of a sudden producing lots of surveys and 'news' submitted to the media agencies.

Never were truer words spoken!

According to todays Wall Street Journal, British Air at Heathrow is the worst at losing bags.

Unfortunately, the average reader (like yourself) just looks at what is said by the media - like this statement - with no knowledge of what underlies it, or how misleading the statement is. And therefore falls for the trick.

 

This statement is based on the fact that the Association of European Airlines' baggage delay rankings for the second quarter of 2007 did indeed put British Airways bottom of their list. That is, out of the airlines for which AEA had figures.

 

Guess which airlines failed to submit figures at all? Yup: bmi and Virgin Atlantic, the other two big operators at Heathrow. They avoid the bad headlines just by refusing to play the game, and hiding their figures. The airline that is honest and upfront despite the problems, ie BA, gets the media kicking instead.

 

The other figure that Virgin failed to report to the AEA was punctuality, for which BA also gets regularly kicked. But if you look at the figures that are available, it's no surprise to find that Virgin is even worse.

[Fblack]

While I realize all news stories have two sides, there are lots of facts upon which the story was based. Do a little more research and you will find that BA did have thousands of bags that missed flights and were "lost" for over a week. Many bags that eventually did get to their owner were ruined. BA's customer service reps did not answer phones or questions from customers with lost bags. BA has know about chronic problems with one baggage tunnel and did little to correct the problem or hire extra baggage handlers because they knew their new terminal would open in a few months.

 

I have occasionally had a bag lost by an airline. Last year it was United in Chicago. But they seemed to know exactly where the bag was and had it delivered to my home 8 hours after I arrived home.

 

Politics or not, Heathrow has had some problems and given a choice, I picked Gatwick.

[MAKEM]

According to todays Wall Street Journal, British Air at Heathrow is the worst at losing bags. Plus insurance claims for lost bags has soared there too. I personally have never had a problem at Heathrow, but just elected to fly via Gatwick for a cruise in a few months. BA said it has 22,000 delayed bags. Better buy travel insurance if you fly through Heathrow. Read these stories.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/the_middle_seat.html

 

 

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/insurance/travel-insurance/article.html?in_article_id=423571&in_page_id=37

 

BA do not lose the bags, it is the ground staff working for BAA,

[Globaliser]

Do a little more research and you will find that BA did have thousands of bags that missed flights and were "lost" for over a week.

I don't need to do any more research to find that. It's on the AEA website, where I have already been several times to look at the figures, long before this thread started.

 

But if you look only at a limited number of facts, you can be led up the garden path. The point is that everyone at Heathrow is suffering problems. And some airlines are being even less open about their problems than BA - suggesting that they are performing even worse than BA is.

 

So the media kicking being given to BA just shows how gullible they are, or how desperate for a story.

[MAKEM]

I don't need to do any more research to find that. It's on the AEA website, where I have already been several times to look at the figures, long before this thread started.

 

But if you look only at a limited number of facts, you can be led up the garden path. The point is that everyone at Heathrow is suffering problems. And some airlines are being even less open about their problems than BA - suggesting that they are performing even worse than BA is.

 

So the media kicking being given to BA just shows how gullible they are, or how desperate for a story.

 

well said Globaliser,

but they should know, it is in the Wall St Journal?

[rrfsteve]

I find this story strange. I have flown alot (due to work) and BA are the only airline NEVER to have lost my bags!

 

Ive flown Continental on 8 flights - lost my bags once

Virgin 1 flight - lost my bags once

American 6 flights - lost my bags twice

BMI 6 flights - lost my bags once

Delta 1 flight - lost bags once (realy down to the airport tho)

British Airways around 30 flights - no lost bags!

[Hlitner]

There is no two sides to this story. Heathrow is simply one of the worst run airports in the world, and the long distance from Terminal 4 to 1,2 and 3 creates lots of issues for anyone using Terminal 4. As to writing nasty stories about Heathrow, the WSJ is not the first to be critical of this airport. In fact, a few weeks ago even the "Economist" ( a very highly respected British magazine) wrote an article very critical of the Heathrow operation. We fly to Europe several times a year and always avoid Heathrow unless its our final destination.

 

Hank

[Globaliser]

As to writing nasty stories about Heathrow, the WSJ is not the first to be critical of this airport. In fact, a few weeks ago even the "Economist" ( a very highly respected British magazine) wrote an article very critical of the Heathrow operation.

Yes, but it's all part of the same thing. Even a publication like the Economist must fill its pages with stories. And this is the story being pushed by many interested parties at Heathrow.

[MAKEM]

There is no two sides to this story. Heathrow is simply one of the worst run airports in the world, and the long distance from Terminal 4 to 1,2 and 3 creates lots of issues for anyone using Terminal 4. As to writing nasty stories about Heathrow, the WSJ is not the first to be critical of this airport. In fact, a few weeks ago even the "Economist" ( a very highly respected British magazine) wrote an article very critical of the Heathrow operation. We fly to Europe several times a year and always avoid Heathrow unless its our final destination.

 

Hank

 

Hi Hank,

 

I used to say the same about Miami, the time it took to get through customs & the unpleasant officials,give it a miss ,if you can

[handfordr]

I think the key point trying to be made is that there is hard evidence of lazy journalism here. Whether it be the Wall Street Journal, Economist or Times in London they are not doing original balanced research themselves but merely commenting on a survey or a news release submitted to them by a vested interest group.

I would have hoped that the standards of journalists in such esteemed journals would when receiving a survey or a news release at least have taken time to research the integrity of such submissions and look to add value to them by adding balance and an independent viewpoint as well as context.

 

Records will show it has been the wettest, coldest summer on records in London this year. Taken at face value by a lazy journalist this can be used in a totally misleading way. It would have to be reported in the context that temperatures are rising overall in London, and water scarcity is a big issue.

e.g Water meters are being introduced into households, vines are replacing hops and strains of fruits more resistant to water shortage are being planted by the commercial agriculture.

[SelectSys]

I find this story strange. I have flown alot (due to work) and BA are the only airline NEVER to have lost my bags!

 

Ive flown Continental on 8 flights - lost my bags once

Virgin 1 flight - lost my bags once

American 6 flights - lost my bags twice

BMI 6 flights - lost my bags once

Delta 1 flight - lost bags once (realy down to the airport tho)

British Airways around 30 flights - no lost bags!

 

Outside of BA flights you are really one unlucky person! 6/22 = 28%! I guess I should be thankful as it seems that you are keeping me from losing my luggage on both Virgin and AA.

[rrfsteve]

Unlucy - i guess. I worked on cruise ships, and my flights normaly had 2 or 3 changes. I personaly put it down to the changes.

 

It is, however, amazing to see the airlines jump-overthemselves trying to sort out the mess when you tell them you are a ships officer!

[Hlitner]

Geez, what a thread. Regarding the comments about MIA (Miami) I agree and we hate to change planes at this airport. But, despite some pleas to the contrary, there is just no defending the problems at Heathrow. IMHO it is now the worst airport in all of Europe. England has a real problem with labor (they spell it labour) unions and this has added to problems at Heathrow. When you put the labor problems together with incompetant managment you get a fiasco,,, and Heathrow can often be said to be a total fiasco. As to the positive comments about British Air, we agree! Its one of our favorite airlines, but we try to avoid BA flights when we must change at Heathrow.

 

Hank

[MAKEM]

Geez, what a thread. Regarding the comments about MIA (Miami) I agree and we hate to change planes at this airport. But, despite some pleas to the contrary, there is just no defending the problems at Heathrow. IMHO it is now the worst airport in all of Europe. England has a real problem with labor (they spell it labour) unions and this has added to problems at Heathrow. When you put the labor problems together with incompetant managment you get a fiasco,,, and Heathrow can often be said to be a total fiasco. As to the positive comments about British Air, we agree! Its one of our favorite airlines, but we try to avoid BA flights when we must change at Heathrow.

 

Hank

 

You seem to know a lot about British Labour problems,I take it does not happen in the States,such as hi jacked planes, cannot recall Heathrow having that problem.

 

Makem

[sandancer]

Makem - I love the way you keep coming back. Personally I hate Heathrow Airport with a vengeance but given the circumstances we fly under these days with all the extra security etc. it is easy to find fault with the airlines. I am just glad we are lucky enough to fly somewhere to board a cruise ship.

[Hlitner]

You seem to know a lot about British Labour problems,I take it does not happen in the States,such as hi jacked planes, cannot recall Heathrow having that problem.

 

Makem

 

Not sure what point you are making (guess we could also get "defensive" and talk about shoe bombers) but this thread is simply about Heathrow. Its not about planes, trains or automobiles, its simply about an airport that is a lousy place if you have to change planes. We also have some lousy airports in the USA (I could write a list) but that was not the topic. As to British Labor (I know you like "labour") problems I guess I was wrong and Heathrow has not any labour problems that caused flight delays. Guess we should not believe what we read in the British press :)

 

Hank

[MAKEM]

Makem - I love the way you keep coming back. Personally I hate Heathrow Airport with a vengeance but given the circumstances we fly under these days with all the extra security etc. it is easy to find fault with the airlines. I am just glad we are lucky enough to fly somewhere to board a cruise ship.

 

The original thread was about B A, losing bags,which was wrong,and not (Labour).It is BAA,

[Hlitner]

I do not want to appear to be someone that makes up stories about Heathrow. We think its the worst airport in Western Europe (I guess one could argue its not in Europe). Just for fun I did a quick search of recent articles about Heathrow (these are all British publications) and here is a short sample. Perhaps Makem will believe the British press (that would be a story all by itself).

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4175316.stm

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2833945.ece

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2137841,00.html

http://www.uk-airport-news.info/heathrow-airport-news-040807d.htm

 

Hank

[Fblack]

Say what you want about other airlines, other airports, weather, equipment breakdowns, staffing problems, and reporters looking for stories... BA at Heathrow had 20,000 lost bags in July. That's what the original WSJ story was about.

 

"In June former Chancellor Lord Lamont labeled the airport a "national disgrace", while in July problems with baggage handling staff meant BA struggled to deal with 20,000 misplaced bags."

 

So for now, I am happy I can fly out of Gatwick.

[Globaliser]

Perhaps Makem will believe the British press (that would be a story all by itself).

Actually, the whole point of the discussion in this thread, starting from about post number 3, is that we don't believe most of the mainstream British press on this, nor do we believe the other publications that have relatively uncritically picked up and run with the story that was originally trailed in the British press.

 

I'll say it again: what is happening is that the British press, and their pathological habit of sensationalising every story without balance or perspective, are being used as a tool by a variety of different interests who are all playing a much longer and very valuable game over Heathrow's future, and the future of the company that owns it, Gatwick and Stansted (and airports elsewhere in the UK).

 

In contrast, there was an equal baggage shambles at Rome this summer, but there are no vested political (with a small "p") interests turning that into a long-running "national disgrace" saga in the media.

 

And Fblack might want to remember that Gatwick has been dinged this summer as the worst airport for delays - but that's not a media obssession at present, either.

[MAKEM]

I do not want to appear to be someone that makes up stories about Heathrow. We think its the worst airport in Western Europe (I guess one could argue its not in Europe). Just for fun I did a quick search of recent articles about Heathrow (these are all British publications) and here is a short sample. Perhaps Makem will believe the British press (that would be a story all by itself).

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4175316.stm

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2833945.ece

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2137841,00.html

http://www.uk-airport-news.info/heathrow-airport-news-040807d.htm

 

 

Never believe all you read in the papers!

[Elaine0138]

BAA the operators of Heathrow and other aiports around the UK will not employ more baggage handlers, but they have increased the numbers of planes landing. I'm afraid the Spanish operators don't really care about missing bags.