Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Telegraph:

Airline passengers are in danger of being turned into potential terrorist targets by the new security regime at airports, MPs warn today.

Lengthy queues at check-in desks and in departure halls are vulnerable to a bomb attack - presenting a “significant security threat”.

The warning comes in a withering report by the all-party transport committee on the many problems endured by passengers, as the summer season enters its height.

The terrorist threat was starkly illustrated by the recent alleged car bomb attack on Glasgow airport, the MPs say.

“Moving passengers more swiftly through to airside will, in itself, reduce the threat,” say the MPs.

“Speeding up check-in times and reducing the security queue should be a priority for airports and airlines.”

The MPs’ report comes as an estimated 10 million people prepare to fly abroad over the next four weeks. While security is the dominant theme, they paint a grim picture of the passengers’ experience which, they say, leaves them more “frustrated and dissatisfied than ever”.

They also:

round on British Airways’ confusing baggage rules.

accuse airlines as a whole of trying to sidestep European Union rules compensating passengers for delays and cancellations.
call for a flying ban for disruptive passengers.

The committee voices alarm at the confusion over luggage restrictions faced by passengers since the alleged plot to bring down a transatlantic airliner last August.

Even the Government and airports are unsure about what was happening “on the ground”, the MPs say.

They were “shocked” by passengers’ failure to comply with restrictions on bringing liquids on to flights imposed after the thwarting of an alleged plot to bring down a transatlantic airliner last August.

The report accuses the Department for Transport of being “unduly relaxed” about the number of people breaching security restrictions. This, the MPs say, was a worrying trend. “We are in some serious trouble if our citizens are not “buying in” to national security policies.

While calling on airports to pick up the cost of security, the MPs urge the Government to treat further research into tackling the terrorist threat.

Major airports hoped to avoid chaos after deploying new staff this year. But the attack on Glasgow airport disrupted their plans.

It led to flight cancellations and new rules banning the dropping off and picking of passengers at terminal entrances and the redeployment of staff away from checking areas to other sensitive parts of the airport.

Last night BAA, which runs seven major airports including Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted, defended its handling of the security issue.

“We have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on security and a further £20 million after the extra demands were imposed on us,” said a statement. “We regularly put our hands in our pockets.”

The Department for Transport also defended its handling of the security threat insisting that aviation in particular would be an “iconic target” for terrorists.

“We have made it clear to the aviation industry and in particular the airport operators that better preparations need to be in place as the holiday season gets under way.”

Travellers face a number of other sources of frustration, says the report, with the MPs rounding on Ryanair.

While easyJet and Flybe are commended in the report for their standards of service and low fares, the same could not be said for Ryanair, which the committee says, refused to co-operate with the inquiry.

The MPs note that Ryanair would “appear to be the only airline to have provoked a campaign website to be set up highlighting numerous examples of its poor customer service and shoddy practices”.

The MPs also note that Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, had dismissed its inquiry as a waste of time.

“We are sorry for Mr O’Leary’s customers for whom he has such little respect that he is unwilling to come into a public forum to discuss the many concerns that they have raised with us.”

Addressing the low-cost industry as a whole, the MPs conclude: “Those airlines with ‘ten pound’ flights and tenpenny managements do not exempt themselves from standards of service and behaviour to which the rest of the industry is subject merely by the virtue of being cheap.”

Peter Sherrard, a Ryanair spokesman, today dismissed the committee as a “talking shop run by politicians who fly around for free using House of Commons warrants.”

Ryanair rejected the committee’s assertion that the number of passengers it was carrying had been falling. Passenger numbers were increasing by 20 per cent a year, the airline said.

It also claimed to have the best punctuality record of any airline with the fewest cancellations and the lowest rate of lost bags, and denied misleading the public about the true cost of its fares - the MPs had said that a ticket quoted as £10 in reality would cost passengers £25.50

The airline also released a letter from Michael O’Leary, its outspoken chief executive to Gwyneth Dunwoody, the committee’s chairman, in which he explained why Ryanair had declined to give evidence to the hearing.

He told her that Ryanair was expanding at the expense of more established airlines, adding: “If the Transport Committee hasn’t already recognised this reality, then frankly nothing that a Ryanair representative can do or say will add any further weight to your Committee’s misguided consultations on this spurious topic.”

At the other end of the market, British Airways is criticised for its new baggage policy that limits some long haul economy passengers to only one piece of luggage.

Passengers “end up bearing the brunt in excess charges or having to dump baggage belongings at the airport.”

BA defended its decision to impose limits on check-in luggage, which it said was to make the situation easier for passengers to understand and for staff to implement.

The MPs also attack the confusing way airlines quote ticket prices on the internet and the cost of booking flights on premium phone lines.

Your experiences
The queues at Bristol airport in the early morning on Monday were horrendous. I was just flying to Manchester - those going to Europe for their hols were all going off at the same time. Pleasure returning from Manchester in the afternoon. Much of this security stuff is well over the top - giving the jobsworths even more reason to be officious. Bristol is usually fine - the guys there are much friendlier than the people at Stansted. Spacing of flights and separating out the domestic from the foreign flights might make things easier.
Ian Burgess

The problem in UK , as I understand it, with queues in airports, is the quantity of people travelling at any one time, which overloads the system. May I suggest that you use the Brazilian system as a model? Why? Because it is impossible to have a system worse than here, so many lessons can be learned. I used to travel various times per week but nowadays I avoid travelling by air because it is stress, stress, stress. Please, before criticizing the British system, look at the Brazilian equivalent and use this as the worst case and look to see what can be learned from this.
Philip K Sharland in Brazil

I am a frequent flyer - I travel on business every weekend, usually from Heathrow, sometimes from Brussels. I always have trouble at Heathrow, never at Brussels. The present chaos at Heathrow could be partially resolved if check-in desks opened earlier. In general, check-in opens 2 hours before a flight, but currently it is not uncommon to see passengers queuing 3 or more hours earlier. LHR Terminal 2 is especially prone to this.
Paul Scott, Belgium

At Manchester Airport the biggesr hold-ups occurred after checking in the hold baggage but BEFORE the hand baggage was scanned. This was to check for liquids being in cotainers of 100ml or less and placed in plastic bags. An explosive device in the hand baggage would not, therefore, have been detected. In addition the queues were more dense because of lack of hold luggage and in a more confined space than in the main terminal hall. I beleive that the liquid checks should take place (if at all) after the scanning process.
William Firth