Travelling into Heathrow

Travelling as I do, I see lots of airports. Heathrow is one of my least favourite but on a recent trip out I was really impressed with the service at security. They had obviously done some work both in terms of layout and in terms of staff development. The system was far more efficient and the security people were helpful, friendly and a pleasure to be with.

I left UK with a good feeling.

Today I arrived at Heathrow on my return journey. Whenever I arrive I try to see the first impressions a tourist or foreigner would get of Heathrow and of UK. I arrive at the new wing and so it is clean and looking very nice. However, as I walk the corridors I come across walkways and escalators that are not working (I have never been through Heathrow when all the escalators and moving walkways are working)

I arrive at Immigration to discover the new IRIS system is not working and there is a queue to see the Immigration Officer. The sign says that if you are at this point, it will take 5 minutes, and that is the point I join at.

The escalator to the baggage hall is not working and as I enter the hall I see a group of people stood in the centre where there is the only video display showing which carrousel each flights baggage will be sent to. Being in the middle of the hall it means people congregate there to wait to see where they need to go. This means that anyone trying to get through the hall has a crowd of people to make their way through. As we stand waiting, there is a constant series of “excuse me” as passengers are trying to get through the standing people.

When you have to wait 25 minutes to be told which carrousel your baggage will be on you start to notice that British Airways flights are being given priority. Any BA flight is on a carousel within 5 minutes. I start to feel that I am a second class person for having flown the wrong airline!

I decide to buy my Heathrow Express ticket while I am waiting. Next to the underground ticket machine there is a sign that tells me there are three ways to get to London. Then I discover that there is no way to buy a ticket for the Heathrow Express. Because of the way it is laid out, I can imagine that a number of people have bought a ticket at this machine thinking they can use it on Heathrow Express.

Finally we get told the carousel to use and we make our way there only to wait another 5 minutes. Boredom is setting in and it is at this stage you start to notice how dirty the place is. The cleaner does not get under the carousel or up to the edges of the walls etc.

Bags start to arrive and they flow in ones and twos and then a gap. Finally we get fours and fives coming up the conveyor. The electronic eye (useless invention when it does work) stops the baggage coming off the conveyor because it senses bags on the carousel. The problem is, this one is set wrong and so stops bags and waits until the bag on the carousel is in front of it and then dumps itself on top of the bag. Bags bounce around all over the place. There are times when no bags come up at all! First Class and Priority bags are the last to make it along with bags in transit. Of course transit passengers are starting to pull their hair out and keep looking at their watches with sweat starting to form on their foreheads.

Finally my bag arrives after an hour waiting in the baggage hall! Due to the position of our carousel we now need to be part of the people that say “excuse me”, “excuse me”, “excuse me”…… as we make our way towards Customs and the green route.

As I finally sit down on the Heathrow Express I ponder about my experience. Why is it so difficult to make a good impression? It must take at least the same amount of energy to make a bad impression.

If I were a first time visitor at Heathrow, I would be forgiven for thinking that I had landed in a third world (or at best a second world) country. Why can I say that with confidence? Because I have been to so called second and third world countries and the airports are far more efficient than Heathrow.

A final thought went through my mind. I did not see, or to be specific, hear any English people working at Heathrow. All of them were of Asian or Middle Eastern descent. I am sorry to say that the thought went through my mind, I wonder if they would behave and work the way they do in Heathrow if they were working in their birth country? My experience is that in Asia and Middle East, people take a lot more pride in their work. Why are they not proud to work in UK? Is it because we have learnt to accept mediocrity? Is it because we lack leaders?

I opened the newspaper to read the headline, BAA plan to reduce their staff by 2000 people!!!!!! Oh dear. Can it get worse?