Businessman sues BA 'for treating men like perverts'

A businessman is suing British Airways over a policy that bans male passengers from sitting next to children they don't know - even if the child's parents are on the same flight. This is another aspect of corporate business life, where normal people are subjected to the fears and fanciful thoughts of executives scared witless by lawsuits. It has nothing to do with decency, remember!

Mirko Fischer has accused the airline of branding all men as potential sex offenders and says innocent travellers are being publicly humiliated. The fact is they are branding them exactly as that. Take no chances. All men are possible perverts, so tell them so.

We live in distressing times. Generally people seem to have become utterly devoid of protesting in any manner other that muttering sentiments of disquiet whilst in the local pub or whilst watching the TV News. And the corporate nonsense carries on unabated. Mr Fischer does us all a service and he should be applauded.

I was once publicly vilified by a flight attendant (not British Airways). My son, then a toddler, had just wet his nappy as we were told to buckle up. I could not get him to sit on my lap. Whereupon this young man literally shouted at me suggesting I may be the cause of the imminent flight disaster he was predicting. It soon became an ugly scene, with other passengers joining in. Completely unnecessary but I'm sure that particular flight attendant was more concerned with rules than reality. Safety is one thing. Stupidity is quite another!

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Bloody Awful business for BA in Phoenix!

British Airways gets into some scrapes, it seems. When Lord King was running the show, he got very tetchy on the day there was a fire drill and someone left smoke cannisters down some of the seats of a plane. "Now I could do without that!" he barked. BA could have done without an awful lot of "that!" over the years.

Now there has been a spot of bother as hundreds of people had to be evacuated from a British Airways plane in Phoenix after the cabin filled with fumes. BA said there had been reports of smoke as the plane was pulling away from the departure gate. Engineers are trying to find out what happened. But it is what a passenger said that gets me.

Corinne Casazza described a scene of panic inside the plane. She said, "People were coughing and choking and those with children were very worried and so they brought them to the front where they could breathe. We asked if we could open the doors but were told we couldn't because we were still moving. There was a lot of pushing and shoving - everyone just wanted to get off the plane," said Ms Casazza, who is from Sedona, Arizona. "Then I heard someone yell 'fire' and the doors were opened."

So basically if you shout "FIRE!" in a crowded fume-filled plane you get the doors opened but if you do as you're told, you get to see the doors stay shut! This is a wonderful situation, much the same as that discussed by Oliver Wendell Holmes about shouting "FIRE!" in a crowded theatre. In his thoughts, free speech and the First Amendment did not allow for falsely shouting fire but it did if it obtained the right results.

It seems that when it comes to the travelling public, there is a supine acceptance that the planes, trains and automobile companies know best at all times. Not always, it appears. Because if that person had not shouted "FIRE!", thereby being protected by the First Amendment, it is highly possible the whole lot could have been in a far worse state.

A salutory lesson for free speech advocates and jobsworth functionaries!

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Willie Walsh and his weasel words!

The chief executive of British Airways has kissed the blarney stone and is off at full pelt with supporting the "we must have a third runway" proposals. I saw him on BBC's Question Time from Leeds. He got a free ride, that's for sure. Only David Dimbleby picked up "unnecessary flights" which an audience member had asked about. Dimbleby wryly suggested that these were those on competitors' flights. Audience laughter. Willie goes along with this and smiles.

Now I have no desire to see British Airways do other than prosper. However, it must be as a successful business because it attracts custom not because it out to do down others or create advantages paid for by the taxpayer. In short, these proposals as outlined by Geoff Hoon have nothing to do with jobs or the well-being of our economy. What they are about is securing advantage for British Airways and BAA, the owners of Heathrow at the expense of others.

When Terminal 5 was given the go ahead, this duo said they would not press for a third runway. They've got Terminal 5 and they still want the runway. On the programme, a woman asked why Leeds/Bradford Airport was not being given the extra flights. "We want to expand business here too!" she said. Willie was sympathetic but basically unconcerned.

He now wants all UK flights to go via Heathrow. This is so that BA can get the custom and not Air France or KLM or Lufthansa. He uses the mantra of "lost jobs" but anyone wanting to come to London already can from anywhere in the world. So all this is about forcing people to use Heathrow over Schiphol or CDG.

Willie Walsh also claims Heathrow has 180 destinations and some that the others don't have. Well Manchester has 225 and some destinations that Heathrow doesn't have. He never once mentioned Manchester! I wonder why?

This is not about the economy. It is not about jobs as such. The spin and subterfuge are there to obtain a goal. Perhaps when the enquiries come, we can find out how many planes are flying into Heathrow half full or empty? That's another question that needs answering.

British Airways left the domestic market as far as aircraft were concerned. However, they still sell flights from regional airports through codeshare arrangements as do other airlines. We don't need an expanded Heathrow for this to continue.

The only reason for Heathrow to get a third runway would be if there were no flights going from anywhere else. As this is patently not the case, the proposals for this runway are dead in the water.

Willie and his pals need to answer three questions.

1. Is it impossible now for a person to fly to London in order to visit as a tourist or to do business? YES or NO.
2. How many planes fly half empty or below full capacity into and out of Heathrow currently?
3. Is it impossible for a person to fly from any one of the top 20 regional airports to the USA, Europe, Australasia or anywhere else without flying though Heathrow? YES or NO.

These are the questions that may take some time to get answers to. We need integrity in business, not the handiwork of spinmeisters!

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BA chief Willie Walsh to get £700,000 bonus!

After the chaos of the Terminal 5 opening, the British Airways chief is in line for a £700,000 bonus. You couldn't make it up if you tried. His airline loses bags, doesn't train staff properly and thinks things will all work out on their own. This week, he admitted to MPs that he was ultimately responsible for the farcical scenes shown around the world on TV. He told the Travel Select Committee that he had been aware of problems with the £4.3billion terminal before it opened, and had discussed delaying its first day. Mr Walsh said, "It was a calculated risk and one I decided to take. You can't point the finger at anyone else."

It'll be alright on the night? Is Willie Walsh running British Airways or Denis Norden? Come off it Willie, you fouled up. How can you, hand on your heart, take this cash? It's ON TOP OF YOUR SALARY!!

Surely a bonus is for doing something good, making the company better placed in the market. This is just a bad joke. It's not the free enterprise I support. It's just free greed. We should all say no to it.

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BA careers terminated by T5 fiasco!

The careers of two senior British Airways executives were ended abruptly today. Only days after Willie Walsh said nobody was going, these two get the chop. Gareth Kirkwood, director of operations, and David Noyes, director of customer services, are going. One wonders what Willie is thinking. He says he's got to stay in order to sort out the mess. Had he no contributing hand in all this? Sounds like he swanned in all aghast at the terrible chaos, but saw none of it as being linked to him.

If Willie Walsh ever appeared on the Apprentice as project manager with these two hapless boardroom casualties, it would be fairly obvious that the audience would be wondering how he escaped. "What was you thinking, Willie? 25,000 bags went missing! You weren't there. You brought Gareth back into the boardroom. Why him? A wizz at computers, eh? And what of David. No good, was 'e?" It would make good TV if nothing else!

However, the T5 story goes on. A bit like Peyton Place, for those who can remember it. Now insurance companies are saying they won't insure lost bags in Terminal 5. It's never ending. Someone needs to get a grip, and it's not just the bag handles.

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BA! BAA! Baggage Man! Have you any bags?

Terminal 5 at Heathrow is facing fresh baggage woes. Heathrow's operator BAA found its computer system, which sorts bags before they are loaded onto flights, had malfunctioned and manual sorting has had to be carried out. A spokeswoman described the situation today as "incredibly disappointing" but said the airline was working with BAA to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTING? This is all becoming an incurable affliction rather than a minor ailment. It wouldn't be disappointing if British Airways had carried out proper checks in the first place. Most people involved in the dummy runs suggested that it was a calamity waiting to happen. The "Spanish Practices" of BAA don't help either. It is about time this outfit was broken up and proper running of our airports got underway.

BAA owns not just Heathrow, but Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. As if that was not enough, the hopeless Ferrovial has managed to get its hands on Belfast City Airport.

Where is the wretched Transport Secretary in all this? Baby Ruth may be a candy bar, but Gordon's Ruth is not so sweet!

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The Willie Walsh job interview!

"Good morning, Willie. We'd just like to ask you a few questions. OK?"
"Yes!"
"What makes you think you'll make a good job of running Terminal 5?"
"Well, I've kissed the Blarney Stone. Will that help?"
"Could do. Have you had any experience handling bags?"
"Not actually carrying bags, if that's what you mean, but I once carried the bishop's mitre when I was an altar boy!"
"Very commendable. How are you at car parking? Have you much experience?"
"Not with parking other people's cars. I did come top in my driving test with my three-point turns, though."
"Excellent! Very good. Well, that's about it then, Willie. Have you any questions before you start?"
"Yes. Where do I pick up the key to start that conveyor belt thing?"

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Horrors in Heathrow's New Terminal 5

The check-in procedures have been suspended at Heathrow's new £4.3bn Terminal 5, which opened to the public today. It seems to get worse. One worker said, "The computer cannot cope with the number of bags going through". Oh yes! Is that so? What sort of management have the shareholders of British Airways hired?

It is all crazy! British Airways, which has sole use of the terminal, cancelled 34 flights due to "teething problems" and was later forced to stop the luggage check-in. In a statement, BA said it had experienced "initial teething problems" first thing in the morning, which had caused delays in staff arriving at their posts. Difficulties included car parking provision, delays in staff security screening and staff familiarisation and "some baggage performance issues", it said.

It's all wing and a prayer stuff! Didn't they check on all this before deciding to open up. All it does is further the belief that management is far more concerned with bonuses that it is with performance.

"Could do better" should go down on any report!

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Back to baggage trouble at Heathrow!

Baggage problems have hit the Terminal 5 public opening at Heathrow Airport. Some wag employed by British Airways blamed glitches with the bags on problems with "staff familiarisation". Many passengers apparently faced problems with their baggage. A BBC reporter on a flight to Paris said no passenger bags had arrived. Luggage belonging to travellers landing in the UK also failed to arrive.

What is it with large companies today? They take the pounds but appear to have little or no interest in customer service. It beggars belief that British Airways, trumpeting this big hangar as the be all and end all of flight delays and passenger problems, sees this cock-up as a lack of "staff familiarisation"!! They've had years to plan to get it right!

Do those running the company deserve their top jobs?

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Heathrow's Huge Hangar!

Heathrow Airport finally got round to the official opening of the new Terminal 5 yesterday. This futuristic building has so much on offer that apparently passsengers will get through all the checks and security in 10 minutes. According to Ann Macmillan, the resident Canadian Broadcasting reporter in London, this vast open span "village" can get 35 million through in a year! "That's the population of Canada!" she quipped to the BBC. I had visions of a mixed bag of mounties, fur trappers, Inuit, and lumberjacks all trying to pass through. A touch of the Monty Pythons?

I do recognise this as a major step forward for the UK' air transport industry. It's only a pity that the management of BAA and British Airways always seem to have problems popping up. The latest is that BA pilots are are planning to march on BA's Heathrow headquarters, in protest at plans to use non-BA pilots in a new subsidiary. Kind of takes the gloss off it all. I'm not about to poo-poo this achievement, but basking in the reflected glory of the Queen opening the new terminal could well be a false move if other problems are not solved, or attempted to be solved. No good having a superdooper terminal if the pilots aren't in the planes!

This new terminal is for the exclusive use of BA passengers, so no stragglers from other carriers will be there, unless they've taken time out to have a sneak look. We are assured that these passengers will be afforded just as good a service in the other terminals because the BA lot will have gone. But they will still be using the old equipment, such as the check-in desks and security screening. We will have to see how it all pans out.

Yesterday, though, was Willie Walsh's day! Having the Queen to your big do must have been a thrill. Let's hope his high will carry through to his discussions with the pilots.

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