Kenocia Fernandes
Unit 15: D1
Rita-Rosemont Hachani
Passenger Terminal Management within the
Aviation Industry
D1: Assess the difficulties encountered when
opening a new airport terminal, making
recommendations for improvements.
About Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
T5 was scheduled to open in March 2008, and it was expected to be
the UK's largest free-standing structure, capable of handling 35
million passengers annually. T5 took 19 years from initiation to
completion, with actual construction lasting nearly 6 years. It was
the focus of the longest planning inquiry in British history. The
terminal will become BA's central hub for all international flights,
with plans to transfer 70% of BA flights from other terminals to T5
on opening day and the remaining 30% within weeks of that date.
Heathrow's potential for, and revenues produced by, the other 90
airlines will increase as well if BA, which represents 40% of the
routes and traffic, was moved to T5. These properties must be sold
as soon as possible in order to obtain the highest possible rents.
Heathrow and BAA had been looking forward to the opening of T5 to
help relieve congestion and facilitate development. As T5 neared
completion, it became clear that more space would be needed, so
plans for a sixth terminal were finalised. The opening of T5 was
supposed to be the answer to Heathrow's much-maligned traffic
problems. The Queen was invited to make an appearance in mid-
March to officially open the Terminal, which was well-received
across the country.
- What was unsuccessful?
A six-week construction delay was triggered by a bullwhip impact
rather than the Information Systems. A six-week delay meant that
extra time would be “recovered” by sacrificing the completion
and testing of information systems, among other things, in order
to maintain the original opening date. Because of the inability to
access the entire T5 platform, the expected sequence and
content of some of the proving trials were drastically altered
(either reduced in range or cancelled entirely). BA also postponed
the start of its on-site familiarisation programme for passenger
service and ramp employees by six weeks. Several stakeholders,
, Kenocia Fernandes
Unit 15: D1
Rita-Rosemont Hachani
like BA, were under pressure to complete testing and training on
critical equipment including the baggage system, air bridge
jetties, and ground handling equipment. Both of these modules
included software that was critical to Heathrow's information
system. As a result of delaying the start of research, there was
less time to respond to and resolve any issues that arose. To put
it another way, they were testing late and less.
- These critical facilities in the T5 building remained incomplete
and short of the design specifications up to opening day:
1. The Operating System of Jetties (Jetways) did not meet
performance requirements. Each jetty's operating system had
to be reset by maintenance engineers before it could be used
again.
2. The stand guidance systems, which provide guidance to
incoming aircraft on the airfields, had been calibrated, but
there was insufficient time to conduct full tests.
3. The baggage handling system: HELIXORTERS(TM),
BAGSTORE(TM), and BAGTRAX(TM), which were developed by
Vanderlande industries is an established technology that has
been introduced in other airports, however, the size of the
system at T5 is greater than anywhere else in the world. The
baggage handling system's testing period was cut short due to
the construction setback. During the testing phase, BA and
BAA discovered some technical issues that could cause delays
on opening day. BA and BAA tested the belt system in the
weeks leading up to opening day and discovered that the
machine could handle the load of bags passing through.
End-to-end implementation phase of main BA operational IT
systems was postponed until October 31, causing delays in both
trials and staff familiarisation as:
People were taken to a hotel and shown a video or slideshow of
what the situation looked like. They were then given three days of
familiarisation training to cover an area the size of Hyde Park. That
was far from appropriate. As a result, people were completely
confused. Two of the three days were spent loading them into a
coach to show them x, y, and z, as well as where to enter and leave,
but there was no hands-on instruction as to where the spurs were,
where the bags would come in, and so on. It was also a construction
site for luggage in particular. One can't start training people there
unless you're wearing a hard hat and everything else. As a result,
Unit 15: D1
Rita-Rosemont Hachani
Passenger Terminal Management within the
Aviation Industry
D1: Assess the difficulties encountered when
opening a new airport terminal, making
recommendations for improvements.
About Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
T5 was scheduled to open in March 2008, and it was expected to be
the UK's largest free-standing structure, capable of handling 35
million passengers annually. T5 took 19 years from initiation to
completion, with actual construction lasting nearly 6 years. It was
the focus of the longest planning inquiry in British history. The
terminal will become BA's central hub for all international flights,
with plans to transfer 70% of BA flights from other terminals to T5
on opening day and the remaining 30% within weeks of that date.
Heathrow's potential for, and revenues produced by, the other 90
airlines will increase as well if BA, which represents 40% of the
routes and traffic, was moved to T5. These properties must be sold
as soon as possible in order to obtain the highest possible rents.
Heathrow and BAA had been looking forward to the opening of T5 to
help relieve congestion and facilitate development. As T5 neared
completion, it became clear that more space would be needed, so
plans for a sixth terminal were finalised. The opening of T5 was
supposed to be the answer to Heathrow's much-maligned traffic
problems. The Queen was invited to make an appearance in mid-
March to officially open the Terminal, which was well-received
across the country.
- What was unsuccessful?
A six-week construction delay was triggered by a bullwhip impact
rather than the Information Systems. A six-week delay meant that
extra time would be “recovered” by sacrificing the completion
and testing of information systems, among other things, in order
to maintain the original opening date. Because of the inability to
access the entire T5 platform, the expected sequence and
content of some of the proving trials were drastically altered
(either reduced in range or cancelled entirely). BA also postponed
the start of its on-site familiarisation programme for passenger
service and ramp employees by six weeks. Several stakeholders,
, Kenocia Fernandes
Unit 15: D1
Rita-Rosemont Hachani
like BA, were under pressure to complete testing and training on
critical equipment including the baggage system, air bridge
jetties, and ground handling equipment. Both of these modules
included software that was critical to Heathrow's information
system. As a result of delaying the start of research, there was
less time to respond to and resolve any issues that arose. To put
it another way, they were testing late and less.
- These critical facilities in the T5 building remained incomplete
and short of the design specifications up to opening day:
1. The Operating System of Jetties (Jetways) did not meet
performance requirements. Each jetty's operating system had
to be reset by maintenance engineers before it could be used
again.
2. The stand guidance systems, which provide guidance to
incoming aircraft on the airfields, had been calibrated, but
there was insufficient time to conduct full tests.
3. The baggage handling system: HELIXORTERS(TM),
BAGSTORE(TM), and BAGTRAX(TM), which were developed by
Vanderlande industries is an established technology that has
been introduced in other airports, however, the size of the
system at T5 is greater than anywhere else in the world. The
baggage handling system's testing period was cut short due to
the construction setback. During the testing phase, BA and
BAA discovered some technical issues that could cause delays
on opening day. BA and BAA tested the belt system in the
weeks leading up to opening day and discovered that the
machine could handle the load of bags passing through.
End-to-end implementation phase of main BA operational IT
systems was postponed until October 31, causing delays in both
trials and staff familiarisation as:
People were taken to a hotel and shown a video or slideshow of
what the situation looked like. They were then given three days of
familiarisation training to cover an area the size of Hyde Park. That
was far from appropriate. As a result, people were completely
confused. Two of the three days were spent loading them into a
coach to show them x, y, and z, as well as where to enter and leave,
but there was no hands-on instruction as to where the spurs were,
where the bags would come in, and so on. It was also a construction
site for luggage in particular. One can't start training people there
unless you're wearing a hard hat and everything else. As a result,
