Travel Misery?

[R1Geezer]

At what point do you stop living like a vagrant in some poxy airport and just go home and forget travelling for Xmas?

[jaydah]

Its just begun snowing heavy = more flight chaos.

[bobjugs12]

I notice no mention has been made (yet again) about guys trying to get back from operations.

Plenty of media coverage about Wayne and Waynetta Slob heading off to Lanzagrotty for their Winter Sun break, or Miss Chumndley-Warner trying to get to Val D'Saire (sp?) for a skiing break with her chums from the country club.

[237SJ]

I`ll take the one at the top right please

[Sqad]

Bob ....naaah! I prefer Klosters personally. ;-)

[bobjugs12]

lol sqad, fair enough. I always thought that Klosters was a bit showy and flash, much like a rapstars bling. Oh well, if you like associating with new-rich, footballers WAGS and X-factor rejects fill your boots.
I'll stick to quiet refinement of San Anton ;-)

[R1Geezer]

That's British Airways, BA not BAA, BAA run most of the airports.

[andy-hughes]

I think if you have the option to return home, then it's an obvious solution, but as advised, a lot of people are in transit, and obviously any hotel within a fifty-mile radius will be full, so a lot have no choice but to camp out in the hope that travel problems will ease fairly quickly.

Remember, this is pretty much new territory for everyone - airlines, airports, travellers, so there is no real way of predicting or planning for these situations.

[237SJ]

andy it`s not new territory for everyone, it`s just that the British Airports Authority have ba11sed it up

[jaydah]

not the sheep - lol

[andy-hughes]

I think it is.

When else have there been this volume of passengers travelling at this time of year, when weather of this level and length of time, has been experienced?

I fail to see how any advance plans could have been made by BAA.

[237SJ]

They could invest in more de-icing equipment, more manpower (they only got volunteers out to help yesterday) they should have closed the airport straight away as certain airlines assumed (correctly) that they would, more emergency supplies for passengers (the ashcloud didn`t teach them about that one) They`ve told all 90 airlines that use the airport that they can now only cope with 33% of flights between now and Thursday morning after saying they could cope with more. The airlines have now got to re-schedule yet again. I think a few heads might roll after this one.

[andy-hughes]

Investing in manpower and de-icing equipment both cost money, and would take too long to implement for this particular situation.

It's not ecconomically viable to invest in clearing equipment and de-icer on a regular basis, because our weather is not predictable enough - hence the current situation.

Ditto emergency supplies - this situation was not at all predictable - any more than the ash cloud was predictable.

An open airport running with one runway has to be an improvement on a closed airport - does that not appear logical? The cost and logistics of closing and then re-opening an international airport would be collossal, and the weather can change at any time because - and excuse me for labouring the point - it's not predictable!

[modeller]

Yesterday morning there was a howling blizzared and the snow was 25cm ( 10'' ) when i was surprised to hear a knock on my door. I opened the door and it was one of my neighbours who said "Are you all right and would you like me to bring you back something from Tesco's. ? "
T

[andy-hughes]

How kind - it's still possible to find a simple spirit of neighbourliness.

[modeller]

This meant a journey of 4 miles and involves hills. I asked him how on earth he was going to do it but he was quite convinced he would be OK . I don't know what happened but he left and I haven't seen him or his car since.

[rov1200]

As planes are unable to take off because of the snow in the plane parking lots it makes you wonder why some sort of canopy is not being deployed? The money lost through sitting idle must run into £mns.

[eyethenkyew]

Some dopey female was interviewed earlier at Heathrow who had gone there with her equally dopey hubby, and their 17 months old child, on Sunday, long after the bad weather had set in and thousands of flights cancelled, and were still stuck there. What sort of people would subject a youngster to having to rough it in an airport departure lounge for about 50 hours and with no forseeable prospects of going anywhere soon???

As I said earlier: If they had a braincell between them they'd be dangerous!!!

[bentaxle]

Cant understand why they don't put steam pipes in the congrete on the parking lots and have a standby boiler, most large boilers can be brought up in 48hrs

[boxtops]

There are 6000 people apparently heading down here to Dover at the moment, hoping to get on a ferry - the ferries have relaxed their rules about no foot passengers on night ferries to try to help, but at night when you get to Calais there are no buses or shuttles to take you to the railway station.....

[bobbie22]

went to Spain last christmas, and the two before, Not going this year thank goodness. I would not have the patience to wait in the airport all that time, and would have gone home. its unfortunate for the people who are trying to get to their homes abroad, they have no choice.