Terminal 5 – What A Disaster!
News of 5 hour delays, baggage going missing and flights being delayed – it could only be the opening day of Terminal 5!
Despite hopes of a new dawn in the UK aviation industry the opening of Terminal 5 (T5) has turned into something of the shambles which many had predicted. British Airways have been hardest hit with a number of their flights cancelled, passengers losing luggage and a whole host of other “teething” problems. It seems as though the new computer systems which had been expected to reduce the problems of the past have just not worked, yet. So what went wrong?
Firstly it would be at least encouraging to say that this was just first day issues, but it seems that we can expect similar delays and issues over the next week at least. Such is the extent of the misery which it is causing that the likes of British Airways have actually issued a hotline number for those travelling through T5, so that can check if their flight will actually leave!
The main problem with T5 is the fact that it is near 100% controlled by computers with very little human input – something which the Unions had flagged as a potential problem some time ago – meaning that if the computers do not work correctly there is the potential for massive problems. However, when you consider that delays at Heathrow’s T5 have a knock on affect not only to UK travel but worldwide travel, this has turned into a very costly day of “teething” problems. So what next?
While a whole number of passengers have been offered rebates and compensation, this is not really the answer in the short term with the likelihood that things will get very much worse before they get better. It seems that the transfer of large chunks of business to T5 means that passengers and the airlines will just need to work through the current problems and hope that they sort themselves out very soon.
All in all T5 has turned into something of a nightmare – and for a venture which many had hoped was the answer to many UK aviation problems!