Not a good week to run an airline
A bizarre week for British aviation.
While Heathrow's new Terminal 5 goes into meltdown, Flybe are accused of virtually raping the environment by purposely running flights to avoid a fine from Norwich Airport.
Firstly Heathrow. Despite the fact that T5 has been planned for decades and British Airways (still "The World's Favourite Airline"?...) have been in the terminal for the past 6 months, it's been nothing short of a disaster for passengers from day one.
Literally thousands of pieces of luggage are still "in the system", separated from their owners. Dozens of flights were cancelled outright while many more were severely delayed.
Next Flybe. They were actually going to hire actors to fill seats on the Norwich to Dublin run to avoid paying a £280,000 penalty. WTF? What environment?....
UPDATE: I just read Will Hutton's excellent piece on the Heathrow fiasco in the Guardian. Sums it up nicely. The introduction:
Britain does fiascos well and by any measure, the opening of BA's £4.3bn Terminal 5 was a corker. The plunge from the pomp of the official opening by the Queen on 14 March to BA chief executive Willy Walsh finding his job on the line after more than 200 cancelled flights has been dramatic. This is no longer about 'teething problems', it raises fundamental questions about the private sector's capabilities, values and priorities.
Comments
BAA (the airport's owners) have a lot to answer for. BAA was actually bought by a Spanish company, who appear to have bitten off more than they can chew this time.
The chronic under-investment at Heathrow is coming back to haunt its owners, the airlines and every passenger that has the misfortune to travel through it.