London Heathrow Terminal 5

Discussion in 'Architecture & Engineering' started by kmguru, Apr 1, 2008.

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  1. kmguru Staff Member

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    BA's Terminal 5 proving to be one big hub of chaos
    By Julia Werdigier and Nicola Clark

    Monday, March 31, 2008
    LONDON: Terminal 5 was supposed to be the saving grace for British Airways and London Heathrow, one of the most congested airports in Europe. Instead, as the glitzy new terminal enters its second week, passengers are bracing for more chaos.

    British Airways canceled another 54 flights at the new terminal Monday as it struggled with the computerized baggage-handling system that has already led to at least 15,000 pieces of misdirected baggage. The airline, which has canceled more than 250 flights since the gleaming terminal opened Thursday as its main hub, said Monday that the situation was improving daily and that it hoped to fly at full capacity again soon.

    But the disruptions, which are set to last for at least the rest of this week, could not come at a worse time for British Airways, which had enjoyed a turnaround under its chief executive, Willie Walsh, who cut jobs and focused on the more lucrative premium travel business between the United States and Britain.

    In addition to higher oil prices and declining consumer confidence that weigh on the entire industry, British Airways is facing increasing competition on the North Atlantic routes - its most important long-haul market - as the "open skies" treaty with the United States took effect Sunday night.

    "It's a mess," Gert Zonneveld, an analyst at Panmure Gordon in London, said. "The reputation damage from Terminal 5 is their biggest headache and there's a real chance that people will book away from British Airways."

    Zonneveld estimated that the disruptions and flight cancellations could cost British Airways more than £25 million, or $50 million.

    Analysts at Goldman Sachs cut their recommendation for British Airways shares from "buy" to "sell" on Monday, suggesting that the shares could drop sharply because of weaker consumer demand and "ongoing operational challenges of Heathrow." They also cited more competition on the North Atlantic.

    The stock fell 2.4 percent in London, closing at £234.25, down 575 pence.

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    Did not a similar situation happened at Denver airport? Could it be the same designer designed the Terminal 5?
     
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  3. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    London is a nightmare for changing flights anyway. After two near misses of connecting flights, I now prefer to go via Frankfurt or even Milan.
     
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  5. Challenger78 Valued Senior Member

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    or amsterdam.
     
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  7. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Or go by ship!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  8. kmguru Staff Member

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    Anyone from UK ...please tell us what is the real problem at this terminal....Is that a design error?
     
  9. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    I read a pretty bad review by a traveler on its first day. I think it was on Salon.com...
     
  10. Myles Registered Senior Member

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    I take it you mean spaceship
     
  11. Vega Banned Banned

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    Purely disorganisation from my point of view. The lack of coordination with relevant staff, poor management of resources and failure to implement proper protocols with computer systems.
     
  12. Myles Registered Senior Member

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    The root of the problem is incompetence. Why look elsewhere?
     
  13. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    It is funny though.
     
  14. Myles Registered Senior Member

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    Not if you want to fly. My feet are killing me and I'm only halfway there.
     
  15. thedevilsreject Registered Senior Abuser Registered Senior Member

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    Knowing us brits im surprised its only this bad >_>
     
  16. Myles Registered Senior Member

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    With hard work and application it's possible to reach even greater heights ( pun intended ) of incompetence
     
  17. guthrie paradox generator Registered Senior Member

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    They apparently thought it would be a good idea to test the baggage handling systems, which worked fine for weeks beforehand. The problem was that they never gave the staff the upgraded real work passwords , so the staff got into work late after not finding car parking spaces because they didn't build enough for them, and then found that their log ins wouldn't allow them to process peoples luggage...
    So it took a few hours to get the right passwords out to people, and everything proceeded from that.

    Or so I heard on radio 4. There were probably other things wrong, but that is what really started it all off.
     
  18. kmguru Staff Member

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    If that is the case then the problems are getting solved. The Denver issue of baggage handling was serious. Rather than use Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) to handle the logic that runs on Real Time Operating Systems, they used a business computer to control the logic flow. The operating system was not designed to calculate the logic within a specified time (deterministic)...and they used standard ethernet for communication etc. So, that was a mess. The bags will pass the scanners. By the time the computer queries the database and produces the result, the bag has passed its destination location or moved to a new location too early.
     
  19. lucifers angel same shit, differant day!! Registered Senior Member

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    no it is not a design error, posibly the people who are using the thing don't know how to use it properly!
     
  20. blobrana Registered Senior Member

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    New technology, and lack of training and planning.

    Short term solution: Don't use T5.
     
  21. lucifers angel same shit, differant day!! Registered Senior Member

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    i think when people know how to use it properly it'll be a good idea, but people are knocking the thecnology and not looking at whether or not the staff are trained properly
     
  22. kmguru Staff Member

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    Some comments from a magazine (Businessweek)


    More at: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2008/gb2008042_811276.htm
     
  23. guthrie paradox generator Registered Senior Member

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    See my post further up thread for information.
     
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