When it comes to the service and attitude of UK airports last year was a complete fiasco. The airport authorities and owners should hang their heads in shame at their unacceptable performance on processing people in and out of their airports.
Only time will tell but let the industry and Government put these monopolies on notice that any further abuse of our customers is unacceptable.
The truth is that the airports mainly come from an age of unionised monopoly and have yet to understand that they live or die by customer service. They believe that their customers are the airlines and they collect their dues from them and in addition can hit on the travelling public as they pass by their interminable shops and pricey food stops. They act as though the customer is an inconvenience rather than, well, a customer. In short they don’t get it!
We need an independent body to measure queuing time performance and we need the results published. We need to decide what is the optimum “gold standard” in processing customers and implement it.
For nearly a year now we have asked our customers their opinions of their airport experiences on our independent website www.ukairportdelays.co.uk and they have not been happy. Airports at first denied there was a problem then they looked to “spin” it away. The frustration is that all these problems are solvable with more care and better process.
BAA and particularly Heathrow are iconic in the aviation industry, yet time and again my friends constantly try to avoid Heathrow if possible as it is more hassle that it is worth. How much damage does that do to our reputation as an industry and as a country? I urge those in charge to please, please fix the fixable.
David Speakman
Travel Counsellors Chairman
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