TheLocalYokel
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- Jan 14, 2009
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- #841
So many experts so little knowledge!!
Just about every unit at BRS has taken on extra staff for the summer and just about every unit has encountered problems getting airside passes.
The handling agents are no different. They have 6-10 crews of 4 staff for arriving aircraft depending how busy it is due to be. If a problem is foreseen this can be increased to more crews by reducing a team to 3. In the event of delays being excessive the crew has to move on to their next assigned aircraft. They simply do not sit around playing cards or drinking coffee. When the delayed aircraft then arrives it has to wait for a crew to be available. It is easy to go on Twatter or Fakebook and rant and rave but it is simple economics not rocket science!! Unfortunately social media and mobile phones with cameras have exacerbated the problems because whereas the crews could slide cases along flatbed trucks airlines now demand they use covered trailers. This means that putting 100 cases on a truck now means putting less on a trailer which means every time the trailer is full everything has to stop to pull the thing forward to load the next truck. All time consuming!
Thank you for your post which puts another slant on the situation.
I don't think any of us has suggested the handling crews sit around amusing themselves: just the opposite in fact as some of us have made the point that if they are so under-staffed it follows that they will be overworked, not skiving. I don't think anyone has criticised the crews themelves on this forum. The target has been the airlines and their handling agents.
I can understand the problems when aircraft are late and add to the scheduled arrivals mix when delays in offloading baggage will be inevitable. However, if it's not down to inadequate staffing levels it ought to follow that in normal circumstances there should be enough staff to handle the aircraft expeditiously. From your remark about airlines now requiring covered trailers which slows down the unloading procedure, that does suggest that there is now an inbuilt additional obstacle that was not previously the case. I take it that the airlines have not arranged with their handling agents to take on more staff to overcome this extra work which, if they haven't, perhaps justifies some of the criticism that has been levelled at the airlines and their handling agents. Or would extra staff not make any difference given the 'musical chairs' element of this part of the procedure (from your description).
Your other point about delays in getting airside passes raises more questions to those of us who have an interest, mainly because we are users of the airport and might be affected. If it's simply a question of bureaucratic and administrative delays on the part of whoever issues the passes (presumably some department of the airport, or perhaps not) then that's inexcusable because the number of staff required for the summer would have been known a long time ago. If, however, the delay stems from the actions of an outside body, either government or quango, why are not the airport and airlines telling the public and certainly local MPs of the reasons if they impact negatively on the service they can provide for their passengers?