Ned
08-21-2006, 07:53 AM
Chaos seems to continue to be the norm at UK airports, even more than in the US. In many ways the UK rules are tighter, much tighter. They don't permit cosmetics of any kind in carry-on and they only allow one small carry-on in any case, and I do mean small. Unlike the US, however, they now permit any purchase made in the secured area of their airports, including duty free purchases, to be carried into the cabin as carry-on, even if they're liquids and gels. Of course, if you're flying to the US from the UK you can't have those same items (liquids and gels purchased in the secured area of a UK airport) carried into the cabin of the plane, because it would violate US rules.
This whole thing is crazy as far as I'm concerned. To me it shows BAA and TSA security have a lot to be desired and need to get their act together. It also shows that the rules need to be significantly modified. Security should be checking items for explosives with the latest technology, not technology from years past which has a significant degree of false positives and is therefore dialed to low to be effective, and should not be making it so difficult to travel. The inconsistencies in security policy between the two countries and within different modes of transportation points out some of the absurdity of their rules. TSA should broaden their security methods so that the general public can better, more safely and more easily get about their travel business.
Originally posted by Travel Weekly - August 21 2006 by Jeremy Skidmore
Terminal chaos: Tighter security leads to delays, confusion
LONDON -- U.K. airports operator British Air Authority has pledged to review its crisis policy after a week of chaos followed the government's announcement that terrorists were planning to bomb transatlantic flights.
From Aug. 10 through most of last week, travelers had to contend with thousands of canceled flights, lengthy delays, lost suitcases and general confusion over changing carry-on rules. By far the biggest problems occurred at Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports, with 200,000 passengers passing through each day.
Moreover, security procedures were widely questioned following two Monday incidents at Gatwick: A 12-year-old boy boarded a Portugal-bound flight with no documentation, and an unidentified man boarded a parked aircraft.
As Travel Weekly went to press, Heathrow and other affected airports, including Gatwick and Stansted, were returning to normal, but the BAA was on the defensive.
"Clearly, there are lessons to be learned from this," said a spokesman for the BAA, who asked not to be named, per company policy. "We will work with the [U.K.] Dept. for Transport to see how the situation can be improved in the future. We are carrying out a full investigation into the security breaches."
However, the spokesman took issue with airlines' claims that the BAA had been ill-prepared for a security alert the government had warned could happen any time.
"On Thursday, Aug. 10, we were told by the government at 2 a.m. that these changes were coming in at 5 a.m.," he said. "Not only did we have to tell passengers to pack everything in their bags because they were only allowed the bare essential documents as hand luggage, but body searches went up 400%, from one in four people to everyone being scanned."
The ensuing chaos led to an angry exchange between the authority and British Airways CEO Willie Walsh, who complained that more staff should have been available. BA canceled more than 1,000 flights at Heathrow alone, and many of its other flights were more severely delayed.
In addition, about 10,000 bags belonging to BA passengers were mislaid. By late last Wednesday, BA said that more than half the bags had been returned to their owners.
"The queues for security have wound all around the terminals like a bad dream at Disneyland," Walsh said.
The crisis is expected to cost the airline about $95 million. BA also estimates it has paid for more than 10,000 hotel rooms for stranded passengers.
The BAA spokesman countered: "Do people think we've got hundreds of extra staff hanging around doing nothing, ready to jump into action? Heathrow takes 67 million passengers a year, despite having capacity for 58 million, so this was bound to lead to cancellations and delays."
Call in the troops?
Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, complained that five days into the crisis, only half the security checkpoints were being staffed at Stansted during a busy period. Ryanair canceled hundreds of flights, costing the carrier close to $19 million.
"The government should bring in the army or police to support the hard-pressed BAA front-line staff," O'Leary said.
The process of canceling flights was chaotic in itself. When British Home Secretary John Reid initially laid down new rules on Aug. 10, the BAA approached all airlines with three or more daily flights from Heathrow and asked them to cancel a third.
The security threat was downgraded Aug. 14, and the rules were relaxed. But the change further confused passengers, many of whom arrived at airports the following morning believing they would be allowed to carry on small bags and electronic devices such as iPods, laptops and mobile phones. They were informed that the stricter rules would stay in place another 24 hours for BAA to retrain staff on the procedures.
The number of cancellations dropped daily. By Aug. 17, Heathrow anticipated fewer than 30 canceled flights. Some airlines that don't serve Heathrow, including no-frills carrier Thomsonfly, managed to survive without any cancellations.
Charter airlines, which operate as part of packaged vacations, mainly from Gatwick, suffered delays of two to five hours but no cancellations. A spokesman for the Federation of Tour Operators said, "We are offering a full holiday service rather than a mode of transport, so you don't cancel someone's holiday easily."
Until further notice, the U.K. security alert remains severe, but passenger flow is returning to normal, even though 50% of passengers are subject to body searches, compared with 25% before. Travelers are being advised to arrive at airports three hours before departure.
What's allowed
Carry-ons should be no more than 18 inches long by 14 inches wide by six inches deep, including wheels and handles. Passengers may not take through security cosmetics, toiletries (including toothpaste and hair gel), any liquids or sharp objects. Baby food or formula must be partly consumed by an adult in the presence of a security guard to prove that it has not been tampered with.
Permitted are prescribed liquid medicines under 1.7 ounces if verified by a pharmacist at an airport pharmacy. Powdered medicine up to 1.7 ounces or tablets are also permitted. Contact lenses in their cases, plus a small amount of solution, are permitted, as are enough disposable contact lenses for the duration of a flight, provided they are sealed. (Details are at www.baa.com.)
Once through security, passengers not bound for the U.S. can buy anything they want from retail shops, including duty-free goods and drinks, and take them on board.
Those flying to the U.S. will not be able to take toiletries or cosmetics purchased in the departure lounge, and any drinks or liquids must be consumed before boarding. However, they can carry on purchased items such as books and newspapers.
Travelers to the U.K. are subject to the rules of the country of the flight's origin. The EU is expected to issue Europe-wide rules for carry-ons next week.
Connecting passengers changing aircraft in the U.K. will have their carry-ons scanned and must abide by the same regulations as passengers departing from the U.K. For example, if they arrive with two handbags and banned items, they may be refused boarding or have items confiscated.
Go to Terminal chaos (http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=52731) to view the entire article.
[Travel Weekly requires free registration to view their articles]
This whole thing is crazy as far as I'm concerned. To me it shows BAA and TSA security have a lot to be desired and need to get their act together. It also shows that the rules need to be significantly modified. Security should be checking items for explosives with the latest technology, not technology from years past which has a significant degree of false positives and is therefore dialed to low to be effective, and should not be making it so difficult to travel. The inconsistencies in security policy between the two countries and within different modes of transportation points out some of the absurdity of their rules. TSA should broaden their security methods so that the general public can better, more safely and more easily get about their travel business.
Originally posted by Travel Weekly - August 21 2006 by Jeremy Skidmore
Terminal chaos: Tighter security leads to delays, confusion
LONDON -- U.K. airports operator British Air Authority has pledged to review its crisis policy after a week of chaos followed the government's announcement that terrorists were planning to bomb transatlantic flights.
From Aug. 10 through most of last week, travelers had to contend with thousands of canceled flights, lengthy delays, lost suitcases and general confusion over changing carry-on rules. By far the biggest problems occurred at Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports, with 200,000 passengers passing through each day.
Moreover, security procedures were widely questioned following two Monday incidents at Gatwick: A 12-year-old boy boarded a Portugal-bound flight with no documentation, and an unidentified man boarded a parked aircraft.
As Travel Weekly went to press, Heathrow and other affected airports, including Gatwick and Stansted, were returning to normal, but the BAA was on the defensive.
"Clearly, there are lessons to be learned from this," said a spokesman for the BAA, who asked not to be named, per company policy. "We will work with the [U.K.] Dept. for Transport to see how the situation can be improved in the future. We are carrying out a full investigation into the security breaches."
However, the spokesman took issue with airlines' claims that the BAA had been ill-prepared for a security alert the government had warned could happen any time.
"On Thursday, Aug. 10, we were told by the government at 2 a.m. that these changes were coming in at 5 a.m.," he said. "Not only did we have to tell passengers to pack everything in their bags because they were only allowed the bare essential documents as hand luggage, but body searches went up 400%, from one in four people to everyone being scanned."
The ensuing chaos led to an angry exchange between the authority and British Airways CEO Willie Walsh, who complained that more staff should have been available. BA canceled more than 1,000 flights at Heathrow alone, and many of its other flights were more severely delayed.
In addition, about 10,000 bags belonging to BA passengers were mislaid. By late last Wednesday, BA said that more than half the bags had been returned to their owners.
"The queues for security have wound all around the terminals like a bad dream at Disneyland," Walsh said.
The crisis is expected to cost the airline about $95 million. BA also estimates it has paid for more than 10,000 hotel rooms for stranded passengers.
The BAA spokesman countered: "Do people think we've got hundreds of extra staff hanging around doing nothing, ready to jump into action? Heathrow takes 67 million passengers a year, despite having capacity for 58 million, so this was bound to lead to cancellations and delays."
Call in the troops?
Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, complained that five days into the crisis, only half the security checkpoints were being staffed at Stansted during a busy period. Ryanair canceled hundreds of flights, costing the carrier close to $19 million.
"The government should bring in the army or police to support the hard-pressed BAA front-line staff," O'Leary said.
The process of canceling flights was chaotic in itself. When British Home Secretary John Reid initially laid down new rules on Aug. 10, the BAA approached all airlines with three or more daily flights from Heathrow and asked them to cancel a third.
The security threat was downgraded Aug. 14, and the rules were relaxed. But the change further confused passengers, many of whom arrived at airports the following morning believing they would be allowed to carry on small bags and electronic devices such as iPods, laptops and mobile phones. They were informed that the stricter rules would stay in place another 24 hours for BAA to retrain staff on the procedures.
The number of cancellations dropped daily. By Aug. 17, Heathrow anticipated fewer than 30 canceled flights. Some airlines that don't serve Heathrow, including no-frills carrier Thomsonfly, managed to survive without any cancellations.
Charter airlines, which operate as part of packaged vacations, mainly from Gatwick, suffered delays of two to five hours but no cancellations. A spokesman for the Federation of Tour Operators said, "We are offering a full holiday service rather than a mode of transport, so you don't cancel someone's holiday easily."
Until further notice, the U.K. security alert remains severe, but passenger flow is returning to normal, even though 50% of passengers are subject to body searches, compared with 25% before. Travelers are being advised to arrive at airports three hours before departure.
What's allowed
Carry-ons should be no more than 18 inches long by 14 inches wide by six inches deep, including wheels and handles. Passengers may not take through security cosmetics, toiletries (including toothpaste and hair gel), any liquids or sharp objects. Baby food or formula must be partly consumed by an adult in the presence of a security guard to prove that it has not been tampered with.
Permitted are prescribed liquid medicines under 1.7 ounces if verified by a pharmacist at an airport pharmacy. Powdered medicine up to 1.7 ounces or tablets are also permitted. Contact lenses in their cases, plus a small amount of solution, are permitted, as are enough disposable contact lenses for the duration of a flight, provided they are sealed. (Details are at www.baa.com.)
Once through security, passengers not bound for the U.S. can buy anything they want from retail shops, including duty-free goods and drinks, and take them on board.
Those flying to the U.S. will not be able to take toiletries or cosmetics purchased in the departure lounge, and any drinks or liquids must be consumed before boarding. However, they can carry on purchased items such as books and newspapers.
Travelers to the U.K. are subject to the rules of the country of the flight's origin. The EU is expected to issue Europe-wide rules for carry-ons next week.
Connecting passengers changing aircraft in the U.K. will have their carry-ons scanned and must abide by the same regulations as passengers departing from the U.K. For example, if they arrive with two handbags and banned items, they may be refused boarding or have items confiscated.
Go to Terminal chaos (http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=52731) to view the entire article.
[Travel Weekly requires free registration to view their articles]