Heathrow's much heralded Terminal 5 turns into a shambles on opening day

[Memnoch]

LOL. I'm glad I promised myself to never fly British Airways again after they lost my bags for the 3rd time last year (on my trip to South Africa), and took 6 months to pay I half of what I had spent to buy clothing while there, and after they didn't pay my overseas phone bills trying to get information on my bags.

Terminal disgrace: Poor training and computer failings to blame for T5 chaos as flights fiasco to last into the weekend British Airways admitted that the Terminal 5 chaos is set to last into the weekend as the airline put its hands up to a string of blunders. The carrier is facing a wave of anger from holiday and business passengers who claim the shambolic launch of the £4.3billion facility is 'a national humiliation'. Some said they were "ashamed to be British" after fights broke out among passengers as BA announced it was cutting a fifth of its flights. Major blunders so far include: • A lack of car parking space for baggage handlers arriving for the morning shift yesterday. Many were still driving round the airport looking for somewhere to park as the first passengers were checking in their bags • A shortage of BAA security staff to let baggage handlers into the terminal • A programming "human error" that meant staff could not log into the baggage handling computer when they finally got into the terminal building • Inadequate training that meant baggage handlers did not know where they were supposed to go to take suitcases off the belts and out to the gates • A breakdown this morning of the transit system that is supposed to move passengers from the main T5 building to the satellite Terminal 5B As the chaos spilled over into a second day, BA's chief executive Willie Walsh admitted that it was 'not our finest hour' and said further cancellations were 'inevitable'. But although he acknowledged 'the buck stops with me', Mr Walsh refused to resign over the shambles. Asked if he was considering his own position, he said: 'No, I am not. I am going to make this work. 'It's going to be a difficult day and we have got to put the problems we had yesterday behind us. We clearly learnt some lessons from yesterday. We have just got to be focused.' He spoke as it emerged a catalogue of basic errors caused the meltdown at the terminal. Baggage handlers arriving at the airport for work in the morning found there was only limited parking. Many were still driving around desperately looking for a space as the first passengers began checking in their luggage. Arriving late for security screening, handlers then discovered a programming 'human error' meant they were unable to log on to the sophisticated computer-operated system. One insider said bags were only able to be taken from the first incoming flight from Hong Kong because managers mucked in and helped drag them from the plane. Inadequate training also meant handlers did not know where they were going to take suitcases off the conveyer belts and into the gates. Mr Walsh said the failures are so serious that the planned transfer of more flights from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5 is now in doubt. Only two weeks ago, airport owner BAA had boasted the 'world class system' would 'work perfectly on day one'. 'We are still working on the basis that it will go ahead but we have to look and satisfy ourselves that the problems we have got have been resolved,' he added. In the City, BA shares were marked down 3 per cent or 8.5p to 238,75p, wiping £90million off the carrier's value. One senior industry figure said: 'Of course baggage was part of it but the main issue was that both sets of management at BA and BAA have been incredibly complacent about Terminal 5. 'You have got to pour your heart and soul into a project like this and they haven't.' Last night, hundreds of passengers were forced to sleep at the terminal after waiting for their luggage for up to six hours. By 4am queues of hundreds had formed, with airport officials handing out boxes of blankets, sleeping bags and bottled water. Tempers boiled over and some passengers were close to tears when they were told 75 flights had been cancelled today - some for the second time in 24 hours. By noon, the situation had become so bad that the union representing BA staff was forced to issue a statement asking angry passengers not to abuse or attack staff. Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, said: 'We are asking the travelling public using T5 not to take out their frustrations on the GMB members who operate the check-in desks and other frontline positions. 'These staff did not come to work to be abused. It will not help for passengers to abuse them and will add to their demoralisation and lead to further problems.' The fiasco is rapidly turning into a national humiliation, with passengers asking how Britain can hope to stage the Olympics if it cannot get Terminal 5 to work. One member of Heathrow's staff, who did not wish to be named, said: 'We knew it wasn't going to work. The computers are too quick for people - you still have to have a human at the other end unloading the bags.' Tory leader David Cameron claimed the 'humiliating' events could also hamper the case for further expansion at the airport. Addressing an audience of City leaders Mr Cameron said: 'The scenes yesterday were completely dreadful. You feel for anyone there. 'There were people who were on their way to the airport expecting Terminal 5 to be this great experience, who were texted to say their flights were cancelled before they even arrived. 'It was humiliating to see that happening.' David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, also claimed the problems cast doubt on Britain's ability to handle major construction projects and deliver them on time and in one piece. 'The shambles we have seen at Heathrow's new Terminal 5 comes as little surprise' he added. 'It is yet another depressing chapter for the UK's crumbling transport system and sends a depressing message to businesses around the world. 'This is a PR disaster at a time when London and the UK are positioning themselves as global players. We can only hope that this will provide a wake-up call as we gear ourselves up to host the Olympics in 2012.' Leigh Wallace, 25, was flying to Johannesburg, South Africa, where she is meant to be getting married today. She was forced to stuff her wedding dress into her hand luggage and beg a taxi driver to take the remainder of her belongings back to her flat in Kingston before boarding her flight. She said: 'It was terrible, we had no help and no one seemed to know what was going on. Everyone was left to their own devices, things were really chaotic. 'I had to beg a driver to take my things back to Kingston. I don't know if there was anyone there to take them, perhaps they were dumped on my doorstep, who knows?' Robert and Priscilla Greene, both 75, from New Mexico, spent the night sleeping in the arrivals lounge after their bags were lost on a flight from Edinburgh. Mr Greene said: 'Other elderly couples slept here too. There is nobody to help us and nobody seems to know what is going on. 'We spent six hours waiting for our bags until 1.30am. We still haven't found them but it was too late to go to a hotel because we had to be back at the airport for 5am. 'We slept on hard plastic chairs, which was like sleeping on concrete. All they gave us was a bottle of water and biscuit.' American businessman Jeff Whitney was left waiting for ten hours trying to get to Romania. After being told he could not take his suitcase on board, he was forced to leave it in a nearby hotel. He said: 'This was one of the worst days in history. I have been flying for 35 years, mostly with BA. I thought it was once the best airline in the world - yesterday was nothing like BA. 'It took me ten hours to get my bags from a connecting flight, then they asked me if I wanted to leave my baggage and get on a flight without it. 'I didn't think I could trust them with it somehow.' The cancellations stopped Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael returning to his Orkney and Shetland constituency. "It's a national disgrace and a national humiliation," he said. "Where is the leadership? There is a ferocious amount of buck-passing going on between British Airways and BAA. No one is prepared to take responsibility." In a statement last night BA said: "British Airways apologises to customers for the problems during Terminal Five's first day of operations following one of the most complex and largest airport moves in history." But passengers refused to accept the carrier's apology. Joanne Dick, 45, from Glasgow, said: 'I am absolutely raging. I will never fly BA again 'We had to find our own hotels last night and the only reason I am getting any information is because my family are looking at the internet at home and phoning me. 'Yesterday I had to dump £160 of cosmetics because they told me I could only take hand luggage and then they cancelled the flight anyway.' Paul Trowbridge, 40, a managing director from Yateley, Hampshire, said: 'I am embarrassed as hell to be a British citizen. 'Most of the people in these queues are not British citizens so what must they think about we run things like the Olympics?' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...e_id=1770&ct=5

I feel for those passengers who were inconvenienced, as I've been to Heathrow and know how pathetic it is, but do I feel for BA?

[wellard]

Was not surprised at all by this, the unions had warned management for a while about many problems but of course they where ignored.

Could not have happened to a nicer company