Chaos at airport

jacboo

Hi I'm sure to fly to America from Manchester. If I miss my flight because of staffing delays what can I do? Is there any compensation?? Do the flights wait for passengers? Thank you

elsien

Get there ridiculously early so you are at the head of the queue for your flight, then staffing delays should be less of an issue for you. 

Archie_Duke

There is a dedicated sub-forum under ‘Travel & Transport’ specifically for Flight compensation, you might want to report your own post and ask for it to be moved as your query isn’t really about Coronavirus Travel Help. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/flight-delay-compensation

Likely that you’d be placed in a waiting area at Departures until the airline and airport had worked through whatever the issue was (staffing, I.T. etc) and their backlog of passengers before they found an alternative to your flight. Delays of up to a couple of days, due to overcapacity, industrial action, volcanic eruptions and the like have been a part of air travel for decades now. In extremis I suppose they could use capacity at other airports and they might bus you there.

There is compensation for delays. Food & drink vouchers, hotel stays. If you Google Simon Calder, I’m sure you’ll find articles he’s written which tell you exactly what you may be offered in these kind of situations.

eskbanker

jacboo said:

Hi I'm sure to fly to America from Manchester. If I miss my flight because of staffing delays what can I do? Is there any compensation??

It depends what you mean by staffing delays, i.e. whose staff:

If you don't make it through the congested airport security queues but the flight operates then you have no compensation rights from the airline and I doubt that the airport would be under any obligation to do anything either.

On the other hand, if airline staffing is inadequate and that leads to delayed or cancelled flights then you do have rights, as explained in the above article....

Alan_Bowen

It appears manchester is by far the worst, in the morning peak you probably need to be there 4 hours before departure. One of the biggest issues appears to be the fact that 60% of hand luggage is being rejected at the security X-ray because people have not bagged their liquids and placed them separately in the bin or have left electronics in the bag, there are warning signs everywhere but it seems to be a particular problem at this airport.

Some airlines have been delaying flights to allow people to get to the gate, not least because they have to upload their bags if they do not travel but they are under no obligation to do so and no compensation will be offered. The airport is a shambles, it was before Covid, I used to travel through once or twice a month but security was always slow and I completely gave up using it. The management has known how many passengers would be travelling but seemingly failed to take steps early enough to recruit sufficient staff, heads should roll but I doubt they will

eskbanker

Alan_Bowen said:
The management has known how many passengers would be travelling but seemingly failed to take steps early enough to recruit sufficient staff, heads should roll but I doubt they will

On the other hand: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-61002096

Jumping before being pushed?

Butts

Is there any fast track security at Manchester Airport or have they canned it due to the problems ?

Alan_Bowen

There was, but the airport has stopped offering it as people wanted their money back. It was taking up to three hours last weekend for Fast track.....

Pollycat

Alan_Bowen said:

It appears manchester is by far the worst, in the morning peak you probably need to be there 4 hours before departure. One of the biggest issues appears to be the fact that 60% of hand luggage is being rejected at the security X-ray because people have not bagged their liquids and placed them separately in the bin or have left electronics in the bag, there are warning signs everywhere but it seems to be a particular problem at this airport.

This is something that has been in place for some years.
Have people forgotten over the last 2 years?
It sounds like some of the issues are caused by travellers.

Alan_Bowen said:

Some airlines have been delaying flights to allow people to get to the gate, not least because they have to upload their bags if they do not travel but they are under no obligation to do so and no compensation will be offered. The airport is a shambles, it was before Covid, I used to travel through once or twice a month but security was always slow and I completely gave up using it. The management has known how many passengers would be travelling but seemingly failed to take steps early enough to recruit sufficient staff, heads should roll but I doubt they will

100% agree.
For us it's always been a nightmare to get to (not flown from MAN since before covid so don't know how the new bypass makes a difference). It's sometimes taken almost 3 hours for a 50 mile journey.
Getting through Security was always awful.
The staff seemed to bark random orders out, such a hubbub that you couldn't hear what they were telling you to do.

We've voted with our feet and now depart from a different airport.

soolin

I know I shouldn’t be surprised but I always am by the difference in airports. I’m used to Gatwick which tends to run smoothly and quickly but when we met a group of friends in the Canaries in January some had travelled via Heathrow with all sorts of issues. Even with fast track and all the added bells and whistles it took them ages to get to departures, one had even booked a lounge and took so long in queues they had no time to enjoy it. On the same day we got through Gatwick in less than 30 minutes.

We always find Stansted problematic and wouldn’t use it by choice. We used Luton last year when our flights were changed and found that was OK as well, yet in the past we’d heard some real horror stories about it. 

 I’m using City next month, I dislike the airport as it’s always crowded due to it being so small, but it’s fast and easy and the views as you take off and land are wonderful! 

Doshwaster

Butts said:

Is there any fast track security at Manchester Airport or have they canned it due to the problems ?

It's like "speedy boarding". If most people pay for it then it isn't the quick option any more.