Heathrow T5′s problems caused by an elementary mistake

It’s not news, it’s not unexpected, but Heathrow’s Terminal 5 is still best avoided, if you can possibly manage it, for at least a few weeks. In fact, I’ve twice heard someone who was on the VIP pre-opening tour say on Radio 4 that he was advised not to use it for the first month. I’m sorry, I’m not able to say who it was who said that – perils of having the radio on in the background while getting on with other work.

But anybody who read the press reports of how 96% of BA’s flights were to be transferred to the new terminal on Day 1 should not have been surprised at the total lash-up that has transpired. In my view, with a new system, you don’t start it off at full load – you start off with, say 10 or 20% of capacity and gradually ramp it up as the systems bed down. This is elementary, and whoever it was that decided to just go for it should be on the carpet – or out the door, if his/her contract isn’t written in stone.

Meanwhile, the backlog of bags is not really being dented, and the saga of canceled flights continues day by day. Let’s hope they can sort it out – but tomorrow is April Fool’s Day, so the signs ain’t great.

If your journey can avoid Heathrow T5, make it so. The easiest way to do this, is not to use British Airways flights into London, Heathrow, since they are the only airline using the new terminal.