france: london heathrow airport terminal 5

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

london heathrow airport terminal 5

So far it hasn’t worked out quite as planned. An opening day meltdown at T5 has resulted in hundreds of cancelled flights, something in the neighborhood of 15,000 lost bags, and a public relations nightmare for British Airways executives, who were said to be partying it up while chaos unfolded at their new showpiece.

According to reports from the British press (who, by the way, are having a field day ripping British Airways to shreds) the problems started with Terminal 5’s super-high tech baggage handling system – a network of motorized carts and underground belts that can allegedly handle 12,500 bags per hour.

Many of the early shift baggage handlers reporting for work on opening day couldn’t find parking spaces at the new terminal or got stuck at security checkpoints, creating a huge staffing shortage. Those who did make it in either couldn’t log into the computerized baggage sorting system or didn’t know how it worked (not good news if you handle baggage for a living). As a result belts began jamming up, and the first three flights of the morning took off without any luggage on board at all. Instead, those bags piled up at the terminal.