Eat Some Humble Pie Swampy Bashers

[JacknDanny]

I stand by my original comments.

It has never happened to me. It has never happened to any friends or colleagues. I have not heard this happening to anybody else.

You give the impression that it is of common occurrence, which it is not.

Hope that makes it clearer for you.

There are many threads about it happening and many people that have had the same experiences as me have posted about it in this section of the forum.

It is by all accounts common occurrence for passengers travelling in from the Middle East.

Get your facts straight before you post in future.

Kindly show me the posts where passengers are accosted by "Excise" officers whilst on the airport concourse, except you, that is.

The only post I can find similar is where some paranoid guy thinks he was getting touched up by security

Oh my apologies, that was you as well

[Shrubbery]

Mr Tud,

You have been the recipient of "Bullying", "Sexual Harassment", "Intimidation", "Scams" and "treated like a common criminal".

I wait with baited breath to read what your next experience/complaint will be.

Perhaps these suggestions may help.

The cabin crew are not to your liking.

Flight deck crew are too young or too old.

The sun is not shining for your departure or arrival.

Your bag is not the first on the carousel.

Other people dare to be on your flight.

I'm sorry, but you sound worse than an old woman with PMT who's going through a divorce while bringing up 27 children.

[marcortez]

Heathrow is the busiest international airport in the world. Therefore it's bound to have more complaints than any other airport.

Once I leave London for Thailand, I don't give a monkeys how bad BKK is. Happy days.

Wiki says:.....Atlanta's Hartsfield airport is the worlds busiest, followed by Chicago O'Hare and then Heathrow in 3rd place.

Just for the record!!!

Lucifer is correct. Heathrow is the World's busiest International Airport.

Atlanta is busiest overall though it's not busier than Heathrow for international destinations.

Wiki says:.....WORLDS busiest airports..... I take that as international don't you?.....

Atlanta handled 84 million passengers in 07, O'Hare 77 million.......LHR 67 million.

International or domestic......the busiest is the busiest I think???

[Shrubbery]

I stand by my original comments.

It has never happened to me. It has never happened to any friends or colleagues. I have not heard this happening to anybody else.

You give the impression that it is of common occurrence, which it is not.

Hope that makes it clearer for you.

There are many threads about it happening and many people that have had the same experiences as me have posted about it in this section of the forum.

It is by all accounts common occurrence for passengers travelling in from the Middle East.

Get your facts straight before you post in future.

Kindly show me the posts where passengers are accosted by "Excise" officers whilst on the airport concourse, except you, that is.

The only post I can find similar is where some paranoid guy thinks he was getting touched up by security

Oh my apologies, that was you as well

Please get your facts right. He wasn't "Touched Up" he was "Sexually Assualted".

[Shrubbery]

It's good that you try to trivialise these issues. The more you do so, the more publicity they receive.

I have passed through BKK around 30 times since it opened, including opening day. I have never yet come accross the slightest hint of "Intimidating", "Sexual harassment", "Bullying", "Scams" etc etc.

[JacknDanny]

Kindly show me the posts where passengers are accosted by "Excise" officers whilst on the airport concourse, except you, that is.

The only post I can find similar is where some paranoid guy thinks he was getting touched up by security

Oh my apologies, that was you as well

The post under this one entitled 'Customs Tobbaco Act, DUTY + FINE EXPLAINED' highlights exactly what I'm talking about. It's not Customs that are stopping people with excess tobacco, it's these so-called Excise Officials I encountered.

As well as the many other members confirming they have been stopped by these suspicious guys in my post I linked to earlier.

You obviously don't bother to read or you have serious comprehension issues. One, or both of these things you need to address quickly before posting further.

You'll also note that many TV members confirmed that they had problems with over-zealous body searches at Suvarnabhumi so I wasn't alone there either.

Ok Mr Drama Queen,

I have just gone through that link. NOBODY complains about being "threatened" or "intimidated" except you!!!

A couple of people were stopped and searched and allowed to go on their way, so what .....big deal?

Anyway, after the previous reactions you got from the rest of the board, I would have thought you would have given it a rest...obviously not

[geriatrickid]

The grass is always greener over the septic tank

- Erma Bombeck

[Maestro]

T5 baggage system 'working' - BA

The baggage handling system at Heathrow's Terminal 5 is now "generally working well", says British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh.

Bags have been piling up at all

Heathrow terminals

He said BA now had 400 volunteers working to clear the backlog of 15,000 bags which has built up at the airport.

"We are making every effort to reunite bags with their owners," he said.

Two hundred flights in and out of T5 were cancelled in its first three days. A further 54 will be scrapped on Monday and some may also be halted on Tuesday.

...

Continued here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7321564.stm

[bkk_mike]

Wiki says:.....WORLDS busiest airports..... I take that as international don't you?.....

Atlanta handled 84 million passengers in 07, O'Hare 77 million.......LHR 67 million.

International or domestic......the busiest is the busiest I think???

Depends - baggage handling, gates, check-ins - then yes, and since 9/11 when security on US internal flights stopped being a joke, then the security checks also. However, if you're talking duty free, customs and immigration, if most of your flights are internal (as with Atlanta and O'Hare), then those parts of the airport aren't as busy as Heathrow.

Add in that Heathrow does it with only two runways, to Chicago's 6 and Atlanta's 4, and the runways are busier too. (Chicago's started building two new runways, Atlanta's building a fifth, and typical of the UK, there are protests about Heathrow asking to put in a 3rd).

Immigration in the US is not great. Admittedly I've only ever flown into JFK or Dulles, but one time, the family were literally being processed when the computer link went down, so they could only process US passport holders for the next 30 minutes. (not ideal when we had a connecting flight to catch).

The issues at T5 were not with the baggage system itself. It was purely a management issue. (People turned up for work, couldn't get parked because the parking lots for staff hadn't been opened. and once they found somewhere to park, they didn't know where to go, and baggage piled up while baggage handlers were trying to find where they worked now).

By the time people actually got to their new workplaces, the baggage system had been working for hours, and there was a significant backlog. (It still needs people to put the baggage from the conveyer system into the containers for the plane's hold, and to take baggage out of containers and into the baggage handling system.)

BA's problems at Terminal 4 the month before were because of the baggage system breaking down. This time, it's not the system at fault, it's the people in charge who didn't manage the move properly. (and the blame seems to be for both BAA - the locked parking lots - and BA - people not knowing where to go).

[Kan Win]

He said BA now had 400 volunteers working to clear the backlog of 15,000 bags which has built up at the airport.

If me memory serves me well "The Royal Thai Army" came in to Suvarnabhumi Airport to help with 5,000 - 6,000 bags to clear the back log when it first opened as they where based in Banger & Mash at that time.

Question to all:-

Has T5 got the same system in place as "Suvarnabhumi Airport" for handling bagage? and the XTC (spelling?) scanners as well.

Kan Win

P.S. To the OP, good post "Shrubbery" BTW

[Lancashirelad]

swampypoom handles almost 40% less passengers per year than does Heathrow.

Heathrow handles more than the entire population of Thailand every year.

Would it not have made a lot of sense to move 25% of flights to BA's new T5 the 1st week, another 25% the next week, & so on for a month?

Quite by chance, being a northern dweller, i drove passed it on the M25 in the truck on Saturday afternoon enroute to Epsom Downs Racecourse with a load of pre fab concrete. Certainly a LOT of planes parked up not going anywhere.

Edited March 31, 2008 by Lancashirelad

[siampaulibuyasia]

I'll be willing to bet another crisp tenner that there won't be illegal mafia groups controlling over 2,000 illegally operated taxis outside T5 either.

they'll probably be too busy pilfering from luggage and cargo and making sure the smuggling of drugs continues....

i think the new airport is far better than don muang i say congrats thaxin there really is no comparison its great and what is it with u sados if u dont like it here swivel back to the sad hole u come from

[Kan Win]

swampypoom handles almost 40% less passengers per year than does Heathrow.

Heathrow handles more than the entire population of Thailand every year.

Would it not have made a lot of sense to move 25% of flights to BA's new T5 the 1st week, another 25% the next week, & so on for a month?

Quite by chance, being a northern dweller, i drove passed it on the M25 in the truck on Saturday afternoon enroute to Epsom Downs Racecourse with a load of pre fab concrete. Certainly a LOT of planes parked up not going anywhere.

Hi "Lancashirelad",

This is about T5 and "Suvarnabhumi Airport" baggage handling and not about the whole "Heathrow" airport which as you pointed out correctly.

Kan Win

Edited April 1, 2008 by Kan Win

[Kerryd]

Saw a news article this morning (BBC ?), that mentioned they were going to send 19,000 pieces of luggage to Milan (Italy) to be sorted !

They can't handle the volume of luggage at T5, can't sort it themsleves, but can send it to another country ?

(note: some of our Air Terminal people here have been chatting with comrades in the UK. Apparently part of the problem has been people showing up to work, and their security swipe cards wouldn't work so they couldn't get to where they were supposed to go.)

As you can probably imagine, there are right now, a very large number of very pissed off passengers around the country (and the world), whose luggage is sitting in piles at T5, waiting to be shipped to another country where it will hopefully (eventually) be sorted and (finally) sent to the proper destination.

Watch them try to add an extra surcharge on ticket prices to pay for the extra costs from their screw ups.

[siampaulibuyasia]

Dear Swampy Bashers,

Problems don't just occur at "Swampy" they also happen at T5 LHR. Opened around 2 years after Swampy.

Baggage problems Hit T5: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7314816.stm

I'll bet a Tenner that this will not be the only problem over the coming months.

10 setang ur realy spashin out now and by the way gamblings illegal here how much u gonna give me

[BAZZAT]

For a country I love and treat as my second home Swampy is a marvel the difference between this and T5 is BA Baggage handlers verse BA Managment

could not organise a P-UP in a brewery' Long live EVA Air and a few others. Richard Branson must be rubbing his hands together and thinking this is the best bit of free advertising I've had for years.

[Maestro]

Saw a news article this morning (BBC ?), that mentioned they were going to send 19,000 pieces of luggage to Milan (Italy) to be sorted !

Heathrow Terminal 5 bags to be sorted in Italy

By David Miillward, Transport Editor

Last Updated: 1:46am BST 03/04/2008

Thousands of bags stranded at Heathrow by the shambles at Terminal 5 are being sent to Milan for sorting.

They are being taken by road to the city in northern Italy as British Airways starts the laborious process of reuniting luggage stranded by the wave of cancellations over the past week.

Other bags are being taken to sorting centres in Scotland, Gatwick and Manchester. The bags which have been sent to Milan are those belonging to passengers who were due to take flights to continental Europe.

"We are not sending bags to Italy just to bring them back to Crawley," an airline spokesman said.

The use of the Milan centre has become standard practice at British Airlines in recent years on the occasions when the baggage system has gone into meltdown.

BA is talking to the Government

over whether the bags will have to

be rescreened

Continued here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...heathrow102.xml

--

Maestro

[digitele]

Question to all:-

Has T5 got the same system in place as "Suvarnabhumi Airport" for handling bagage? and the XTC (spelling?) scanners as well.

Kan Win

Very good question, I've been thinking the same thing. CTX made by General Electric. I'm willing to bet it is.

The Thais have to be given credit, they got through their intial system failure. In the west I can hear people saying

'Not my job' etc. Labor union employees when the you know what hit the fan.

BTW I personally like the new airport. No complaints.

[Maestro]

After Suvarnabhumi opened, did they lose your bag after check-in and then, after you boarded the plane, refuse you to fly because they couldn’t find your bag?

Naomi bailed after row on plane

Naomi Campbell has been released on bail pending further inquiries after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.

Naomi Campbell was questioned

by police after being arrested at

Heathrow

The supermodel had been held at Heathrow Airport following an alleged incident at Terminal 5.

A BAA spokeswoman at Heathrow Airport said: "Police today boarded a British Airways plane and removed a passenger."

According to Ms Campbell's spokeswoman, the model had checked in two bags but was then told that one had been lost.

Ms Campbell is reported to have been handcuffed on board the aircraft, which was believed to be heading for America.

'Forcibly eject'

Spokeswoman Annabel Fox said: "Naomi was flying to Los Angeles for a memorial service on Thursday.

"She arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 in plenty of time, checked her two bags in and was told they would make the flight.

"Once on the plane she was told one bag could not be found and was missing.

"BA decided to resolve this by insisting she leave the flight and then called the police to forcibly eject her from the flight.

"She was taken to the Heathrow police station and released on police bail. So far as we are aware BA have still failed to offer any explanation as to why her bag went missing at Terminal 5."

...

Continued here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7329817.stm

--

Maestro

[Maestro]

90% T5 luggage is ‘lost forever’

By JAMES CLENCH

Published: Today

NINE out of ten lost bags at Heathrow’s crisis-hit Terminal 5 will NEVER be returned to their owners, it was claimed last night.

An airport worker revealed just NINE staff are dealing with the backlog of 5,000 cases at the £4.3billion building.

The security guard, who took photos of the luggage chaos, said: “I’ll be amazed if anyone who lost their bag is going to get it back.

“I reckon at least 90 per cent of bags are lost for good.”

Continued here: http://thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1007800.ece

--

Maestro

[Kan Win]

BA managers leave after T5 fiasco, 15th April 2008

BBC News

Catastrophic debut

One consequence of the delays at Terminal 5 has been that BA is not able to move its long-haul operations to the new building from Terminal 4 as scheduled on 30 April.

It has yet to set a fixed date for the move, saying that it will get underway some time in June.

But it is likely the transfer will be staggered over a number of months, possibly not finishing until October, said Mr Walsh on Monday.

"Suvarnabhumi Airport" handled 42 million passengers last year, 2007

Kan Win

[marshbags]

BBC 24 Hour News, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 18:18 UK

BA managers leave after T5 fiasco

BA boss Willie Walsh is under pressure after T5's disastrous opening

British Airways has said that two of its senior executives will leave the company after the opening of its Terminal 5 was dogged by problems.

BA said Gareth Kirkwood, director of operations, and David Noyes, director of customer services, would be leaving

The company said it would now look to appoint one person to cover both roles.

The opening of Terminal 5 was beset by a catalogue of problems, with staff not able to get into work, thousands of bags mislaid, and flights cancelled.

'Firing line'

A BA spokesperson declined to say whether the two had chosen to go or were asked to leave.

The BBC's transport correspondent Tom Symonds said he believed they had paid the price for BA's inability to explain what had gone wrong on the first day at Terminal 5.

On the morning when the problems first emerged, Mr Kirkwood was recorded by television cameras walking away quickly from reporters, declining to answer questions.

The departures follow the airline's move to Terminal 5

BA statement.

The BBC's correspondent said that BA boss Willie Walsh was not yet "out of the firing line" with BA shareholders set to meet management this week to discuss the problems at the new terminal.

Mr Walsh took responsibility for the problems at the £4.3bn terminal, saying that its opening was not the company's finest hour.

John Strickland, director at air transport consultancy JLS, said there seemed to be "a lack of communication about the problems involved in the run up to the opening of the new terminal".

But Mr Strickland said he did not believe Mr Walsh should step down.

Unquote.

How nice it would be to see a similar result at the top / management levels regarding not only the initiall problems at Swampy, but ongoing ones still there, all these months later.

Accountability Thai wise ??????

Now that would really be progress and a step in the right direction, don,t you think.

marshbags

P.S.

B.A. used diplomatic double talk when issuing the following quote :-

" A BA spokesperson declined to say whether the two had chosen to go or were asked to leave. "

The latter is most certainly applicable in this regard as is the case with most people in customer related industries ect. ect. in the U.K.

Edited April 19, 2008 by marshbags

[geriatrickid]

David Noyes, director of customer services

customer service is to BA what honesty is to the BiB