The aviation industry has been beset by problems of late, what with rising fuel costs, falling passenger numbers and, for some airports especially, mountains of lost luggage.
It would be fair to say that a number of people are disgruntled by the service they have received from airlines and airports in recent months, and as such the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has commissioned a mammoth survey of travellers in a bid to determine what their grievances are.
A response to the request from the secretary of state for advice about how to improve the experience of air passengers at major UK airports, the survey is taking place at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airports.
Questions will focus on all aspects of a plane journey, from the purchase of a ticket and passing through an airport to actually flying.
The hope is that potential solutions to various problems will become apparent once the main areas of contention are clarified.
Richard Jackson, group director of consumer protection at the CAA, said: “We are keen to ensure that all key stages of the air passenger experience are covered in the survey including those stages that are the responsibility of the airline, those where responsibility lies with the airport operator and other stages where service delivery is dependent on airlines and airports working closely together.”
But what are people really upset about and what can actually be done to eradicate, to some degree at least, that which aggravates them?
The opening of Terminal 5 earlier this year placed airport operator BAA under a huge amount of scrutiny, when severe baggage handling problems led to many British Airways flights being cancelled.
Since then the problem has subsided, but bags are still being mislaid throughout Heathrow Airport.
However, as noted by The Telegraph many of the nation’s airports are “running at full capacity” and as such a small spell of bad weather can wreak havoc – while even on a good day planes are being forced to circle an airport while waiting for a landing spot.
The Competition Commission (CC) has proposed a breakup of BAA as a solution to the various problems within the aviation industry in the UK and the move has been welcomed by several airlines, though not BA.
Flybe and Ryanair are both keen for the breakup to take place, the former so that competition will be improved and the latter because it believes such a move will “bring new capacity, lower prices and better service”.
It recently came to light that the Manchester Airport Group is considering making a bid for Gatwick, with a view to potentially building a second runway at the airport despite legal restrictions making this unforeseeable until 2019.
Plans are also in the pipeline for a second runway at Stansted, which would certainly help to increase capacity at the London airport. However, approval for its construction is unlikely to be given until at least 2011.
A final decision will be made by the CC regarding a BAA breakup in eight months.
