Wot's goin' on with officialdom at STN
Join Date: Dec 2002
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going to have to have a moan at the Easyjet staff at STN ...
last week was there checking in my aged grandparents on a flight to BCN, and there was a massive queue at 6am ... the staff resorted to calling people out of the queue to check them in on a flight-by-flight basis. Check in was no problem, and their handluggage was only marginally larger (by the width of handle) than the 'handluggage box'.
No fuss was made at the desk, but when they got to the gate, the agent there refused to let them take it on to the plane, and told them to go and check it in. Due to this they were offloaded, and told to wait for the next flight ... 10hrs later. They were in quite a state, and although Easyjet didn't charge for the change of flight, it did waste a day of the holiday.
I ask: where do Easyjet agents start to care?
Jordan
last week was there checking in my aged grandparents on a flight to BCN, and there was a massive queue at 6am ... the staff resorted to calling people out of the queue to check them in on a flight-by-flight basis. Check in was no problem, and their handluggage was only marginally larger (by the width of handle) than the 'handluggage box'.
No fuss was made at the desk, but when they got to the gate, the agent there refused to let them take it on to the plane, and told them to go and check it in. Due to this they were offloaded, and told to wait for the next flight ... 10hrs later. They were in quite a state, and although Easyjet didn't charge for the change of flight, it did waste a day of the holiday.
I ask: where do Easyjet agents start to care?
Jordan
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Back from hols, just got the notice about drinks..... what 
numpty in DoT thought up this one? Must try to find out what prohibited items could be concealed in a drinks container - if the drink containers are carried through the pax security screen & there's no bleep, what's the problem? 
Never mind that lots of dangerous/flammable items can be BOUGHT AT D/FREE AFTER SECURITY SCREENING!!!! Could it be a ploy by the LC airlines so that you have to buy their expensive drinks on-board??!!
From the memo:
1.1. Following a review of security arrangements, no open drink containers will be permitted through security into the Restricted Zone.
1.2. This change in requirement reduces opportunities for the concealment of prohibited and restricted items in drink containers.
1.3. The following measures will be applied at all BAA Group Airports.
2. Open drink containers
2.1. With immediate effect, airports will introduce arrangements to stop open drink containers from being taken into Restricted Zone at either staff or passenger screening areas. Arrangements will be fully effective in all areas by 0001 hours on Sunday 17 August 2003.
2.2. This includes takeaway paper or plastic cups with plastic lids (e.g. Costa Coffee, Starbucks), open soft drink containers (e.g. cartons with plastic lids and /or pierced with straws or open cans of coke) and glasses containing other drinks. This list is not exhaustive.
2.3. Persons carrying such drinks will be given the choice of consuming the contents prior to entry to the Restricted Zone or of disposing the open drink containers at the security checkpoint. Bins will be provided for this purpose.
3. Unopened drink containers
3.1. Unopened, sealed or resealable drink containers will be permitted through security into the Restricted Zone.
3.2. Where x-ray screening equipment is available, these drink containers will placed in a tray and will be subject to screening by x-ray.
3.3. This includes unopened cans of drink and screw top bottles, irrespective of content with the exception of clear bottles of water, which may be inspected by the vehicle side on external control posts.
numpty in DoT thought up this one? Must try to find out what prohibited items could be concealed in a drinks container - if the drink containers are carried through the pax security screen & there's no bleep, what's the problem? Never mind that lots of dangerous/flammable items can be BOUGHT AT D/FREE AFTER SECURITY SCREENING!!!! Could it be a ploy by the LC airlines so that you have to buy their expensive drinks on-board??!!
From the memo:
1.1. Following a review of security arrangements, no open drink containers will be permitted through security into the Restricted Zone.
1.2. This change in requirement reduces opportunities for the concealment of prohibited and restricted items in drink containers.
1.3. The following measures will be applied at all BAA Group Airports.
2. Open drink containers
2.1. With immediate effect, airports will introduce arrangements to stop open drink containers from being taken into Restricted Zone at either staff or passenger screening areas. Arrangements will be fully effective in all areas by 0001 hours on Sunday 17 August 2003.
2.2. This includes takeaway paper or plastic cups with plastic lids (e.g. Costa Coffee, Starbucks), open soft drink containers (e.g. cartons with plastic lids and /or pierced with straws or open cans of coke) and glasses containing other drinks. This list is not exhaustive.
2.3. Persons carrying such drinks will be given the choice of consuming the contents prior to entry to the Restricted Zone or of disposing the open drink containers at the security checkpoint. Bins will be provided for this purpose.
3. Unopened drink containers
3.1. Unopened, sealed or resealable drink containers will be permitted through security into the Restricted Zone.
3.2. Where x-ray screening equipment is available, these drink containers will placed in a tray and will be subject to screening by x-ray.
3.3. This includes unopened cans of drink and screw top bottles, irrespective of content with the exception of clear bottles of water, which may be inspected by the vehicle side on external control posts.
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JordonD Your grandparents would have been turned away from Central Search, not the departure gate. They therefore would have been turned back by Stansted Airport Ltd (BAA) security staff and not easyJet.
Staff at Central Search do regulary send passengers back to check-in for having too heavy/too large/too many bags; and if check-in has closed unfortunately pax do miss their flights. If the bag was judged to have been too big at the gate, it would simply have been tagged and placed in the hold.
Sorry .... not easyJet's fault!
Staff at Central Search do regulary send passengers back to check-in for having too heavy/too large/too many bags; and if check-in has closed unfortunately pax do miss their flights. If the bag was judged to have been too big at the gate, it would simply have been tagged and placed in the hold.
Sorry .... not easyJet's fault!
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DB,
Is Central Search the security check? If so, why are they concerned about the size/weight of a bag as long as it does not constitute a security risk? I would have thought the size/weight was down to the individual airlines.
Given that this 'interference' does happen why are not the easyJet check-in staff aware of it and why are they not more careful with the hand luggage that they approve when passengers check-in?
It strikes me that if the elderly pax had been told at check-in their hand luggage was too big the matter could have been sorted out then and they would have flown as planned.
Surely, easyJet check-in and Central Search cannot be applying different guidelines can they? If so, no-one will know where they stand.
Is Central Search the security check? If so, why are they concerned about the size/weight of a bag as long as it does not constitute a security risk? I would have thought the size/weight was down to the individual airlines.
Given that this 'interference' does happen why are not the easyJet check-in staff aware of it and why are they not more careful with the hand luggage that they approve when passengers check-in?
It strikes me that if the elderly pax had been told at check-in their hand luggage was too big the matter could have been sorted out then and they would have flown as planned.
Surely, easyJet check-in and Central Search cannot be applying different guidelines can they? If so, no-one will know where they stand.
I agree with Merchant Venturer. Size of a bag has nothing to do with security as such, unless it is so large it will not go through the x-ray. It is down to the airline. My contract for carriage is with the airline, not with BAA. If the airline finds I have more than my contract allows, it is up to them to tell me. If I have hidden this big bag from them at check-in they can tell me at the gate.
If it is a security issue then why is the "one small bag only" approach not enforced with all the high-paying F and C pax at Heathrow?
We all know the reason for Stansted special restriction. They were getting so much stick for the delays at security that, rather than deal with these properly by engaging more staff, they felt restricting the baggage allows them to process more pax per hour with the same staff. And by saying it's "for security" they can deflect any opposition.
It always seems to me the real reason why it takes so long at security checkpoints is there is no provision to organise yourself, get your mobile and keys etc out of pockets, if you need both hands (as many do) before it is your turn at the belt, thus holding everyone else up while you do so. A long table to slide things along as you do this on the approach to the belt would work wonders. Of course the Stansted pax belts have been sited too close to the entrance so this is not now possible!!
If it is a security issue then why is the "one small bag only" approach not enforced with all the high-paying F and C pax at Heathrow?
We all know the reason for Stansted special restriction. They were getting so much stick for the delays at security that, rather than deal with these properly by engaging more staff, they felt restricting the baggage allows them to process more pax per hour with the same staff. And by saying it's "for security" they can deflect any opposition.
It always seems to me the real reason why it takes so long at security checkpoints is there is no provision to organise yourself, get your mobile and keys etc out of pockets, if you need both hands (as many do) before it is your turn at the belt, thus holding everyone else up while you do so. A long table to slide things along as you do this on the approach to the belt would work wonders. Of course the Stansted pax belts have been sited too close to the entrance so this is not now possible!!
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MV: That is exactly the problem! Central Search (the passenger security checkpoint) seem to have adopted their own criteria on the size, weight and number of allowable items. There have been reports in the Passengers & SLF Forum of people being sent back because they have one piece of hand-luggage and a laptop (which the signs at easyJet check-in say are allowable). In another case I've seen El-Al Business Class pax being sent back for having heavy handluggage (which the airline has authorised as it is stowed in a closet onboard), but the airline can do nothing about this.
There have however been many more occassions when I've seen pax sent bag with hand luggage which genuinely is unsuitable for the cabin, so in general it does work. There are however occassions where pax get back to check-in after flight closure, and we cant do a thing about it. We are not allowed to send pax through with bags tagged for the hold unless they are escorted by a member of staff all the way to the aircraft, apparently this is a DfT rule.
I believe that at LHR/LGW/MAN etc the restrictions on handluggage size are not so strictly enforced at Central Search, probably because STN is 99% economy class pax. Do these other airports enforce the 'escort to the aircraft' requirement for late hold luggage?
There have however been many more occassions when I've seen pax sent bag with hand luggage which genuinely is unsuitable for the cabin, so in general it does work. There are however occassions where pax get back to check-in after flight closure, and we cant do a thing about it. We are not allowed to send pax through with bags tagged for the hold unless they are escorted by a member of staff all the way to the aircraft, apparently this is a DfT rule.
I believe that at LHR/LGW/MAN etc the restrictions on handluggage size are not so strictly enforced at Central Search, probably because STN is 99% economy class pax. Do these other airports enforce the 'escort to the aircraft' requirement for late hold luggage?
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Your grandparents would have been turned away from Central Search, not the departure gate. They therefore would have been turned back by Stansted Airport Ltd (BAA) security staff and not easyJet.
Jordan
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Jordan D,
Whilst I am not implying that your grand parents are wrong, as after all, as you say you saw them pass central search, I would add that I have never seen this happen before or even heard about it.
My company shares 19 boarding gates with easyJet in satellite 1. Most of the gates are in "twos" so we regularly board flights at the same time, standing just feet apart from each other (our passengers proceed to the jet bridge, eJ pax proceed down the stairs and out across the apron).
I have never witnessed that kind of incredible lack of customer awareness before from staff from either company.
I can't speak with authority on easyJet procedures, (I’m sure Departures Beckham can enlighten us) but would hazard an educated guess that their procedure is exactly the same as ours regarding what is called 'gate baggage' - that is bags that the gate staff / dispatcher deem unsuitable to be taken into the aircraft cabin. We simply put a 'gate tag' onto the bag. These are much the same as the bag tags used at check-in, and each carry their own individual number for tracking etc. The passenger would then be asked to take the item to the end of the jet bridge / bottom of the aircraft steps, and the ramp team will load it into the aircraft hold.
I have never seen or heard of a passenger missing their flight due to gate baggage.
The easyJet staff at satellite 1 are a good bunch (and there aren't many of them - short staffed like us), I can't think of any of them that would make a passenger miss a flight over something so petty.
If your grand parents are certain that this is the reason they missed their flight, then I would suggest a complaint be put in to eJ as soon as possible, as this is unacceptable, especially for two elderly passengers.
Please bear in mind however, that the reason that over 95% of passengers miss their flight after arriving at the boarding gate is because they arrived too late.
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Departures Beckham, Ahhhhhhhh the joys of having 'H' as your boarding gate staff! International delay code '99' - "H on the gate"
I'm happy to report that I haven't had the experience recently, but now I've been so cruel, I'm dreading my late shift tonight....
FJW.
Whilst I am not implying that your grand parents are wrong, as after all, as you say you saw them pass central search, I would add that I have never seen this happen before or even heard about it.
My company shares 19 boarding gates with easyJet in satellite 1. Most of the gates are in "twos" so we regularly board flights at the same time, standing just feet apart from each other (our passengers proceed to the jet bridge, eJ pax proceed down the stairs and out across the apron).
I have never witnessed that kind of incredible lack of customer awareness before from staff from either company.
I can't speak with authority on easyJet procedures, (I’m sure Departures Beckham can enlighten us) but would hazard an educated guess that their procedure is exactly the same as ours regarding what is called 'gate baggage' - that is bags that the gate staff / dispatcher deem unsuitable to be taken into the aircraft cabin. We simply put a 'gate tag' onto the bag. These are much the same as the bag tags used at check-in, and each carry their own individual number for tracking etc. The passenger would then be asked to take the item to the end of the jet bridge / bottom of the aircraft steps, and the ramp team will load it into the aircraft hold.
I have never seen or heard of a passenger missing their flight due to gate baggage.
The easyJet staff at satellite 1 are a good bunch (and there aren't many of them - short staffed like us), I can't think of any of them that would make a passenger miss a flight over something so petty.
If your grand parents are certain that this is the reason they missed their flight, then I would suggest a complaint be put in to eJ as soon as possible, as this is unacceptable, especially for two elderly passengers.
Please bear in mind however, that the reason that over 95% of passengers miss their flight after arriving at the boarding gate is because they arrived too late.
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Departures Beckham, Ahhhhhhhh the joys of having 'H' as your boarding gate staff! International delay code '99' - "H on the gate"
I'm happy to report that I haven't had the experience recently, but now I've been so cruel, I'm dreading my late shift tonight....
FJW.
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FJW is correct, easyJet (GroundStar) operate the same gate baggage policy; anything deemed unsuitable will be tagged and left at the aircraft steps to be loaded into the hold.
I can assure you that none of the easyJet gate staff I've ever worked with would deny travel to someone because of oversize hand luggage, unless the refuse to leave it at the aircraft size. Furthermore, it's impossible for pax to return from the boarding gate to check-in without a staff member escorting them, so no agent could possibly send them back.
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FJW: Delay code 99 is always on standby! I've been told by the Flying Scotsman that strange animal noises are being heard across the radio, is Brendan blaming me for them?
I can assure you that none of the easyJet gate staff I've ever worked with would deny travel to someone because of oversize hand luggage, unless the refuse to leave it at the aircraft size. Furthermore, it's impossible for pax to return from the boarding gate to check-in without a staff member escorting them, so no agent could possibly send them back.
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FJW: Delay code 99 is always on standby! I've been told by the Flying Scotsman that strange animal noises are being heard across the radio, is Brendan blaming me for them?
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Beckham,
Strange animal noises are indeed being heard across the radio!
No-one seems to know where they are coming from. My money is on JB, or possibly even the flying scotsman himself! Whoever it is does a very good chicken!
B is off sick at the moment and has been for a good week or more.
By the way, last night; Take 180 pax, mix with 1 'H' = Delay 99 for 10 minutes.
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Jordan,
I'd be really interested to hear what happens about this. If this thread has died by the time they get back please either drag it up again or send me a PM!
Thanks!
Strange animal noises are indeed being heard across the radio!
No-one seems to know where they are coming from. My money is on JB, or possibly even the flying scotsman himself! Whoever it is does a very good chicken!
B is off sick at the moment and has been for a good week or more.
By the way, last night; Take 180 pax, mix with 1 'H' = Delay 99 for 10 minutes.
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Jordan,
I'd be really interested to hear what happens about this. If this thread has died by the time they get back please either drag it up again or send me a PM!
Thanks!
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Thanks FJW/Dept. Becks .... I will either drag this thread up, or PM you both when they get back ... two weeks after that I get to tackle LHR T4, for their return to BOM.
Jordan
Jordan
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FJW - didnt we have a flight recently with some 1 day old chicks onboard? We are short of radios at the moment - put two and two together.
I cant say I have ever had a bag arrive at the aircraft door with a manual tag on it from the gate. Always have to do it myself (usually when in the middle of trying to sort out some other problem). Actually had to put in an urgent call to OPS for more manual bag tags yesterday, so many in number where the untagged buggies on the El Al that I was in danger of running out.
Must not grumble about the gate staff too much. We do have some very good ones (but then you might say I might have a biased opinion).
I cant say I have ever had a bag arrive at the aircraft door with a manual tag on it from the gate.
Always have to do it myself (usually when in the middle of trying to sort out some other problem). Actually had to put in an urgent call to OPS for more manual bag tags yesterday, so many in number where the untagged buggies on the El Al that I was in danger of running out.Must not grumble about the gate staff too much. We do have some very good ones (but then you might say I might have a biased opinion).
