Sunday 19 December 2010

Useless Britain

Five days ago I posted a warning about the prospect of bad weather arriving in the country over the Christmas period. I had a pretty good idea that as usual we would grind to a standstill but I thought that just possibly somebody would regard it as a duty if not a challenge to keep the sirports and railways operating.

Thousands travel prior to Christmas to link up with loved ones across the world and as usual our transport managers have let them down. Now I know that in some places the snow was quite fierce for short periods but that should only delay flights not stop them completely.

If some planes can leave then they can all leave but I get the impression that the highly paid airline executives head to the hills at the first sign of trouble. Perhaps that is the reason that airlines just ignore their customers who repeatedly claim that they cannot prise information out of them.

The real scandal however lies in the fact that our international airports have no emergency contingency plans for stranded travellers. Surely they could open a hangar somewhere with warm drinks and some dossing accommodation?
At least it would give people the impression that they cared but at the moment their attitude is 'tough luck you're on your own'!

It really isn't good enough and perhaps it is time that people stopped travelling with British companies until they learned lessons. I have posted before that if places like Gander Newfoundland can stay open then the technology is out there. Perhaps it is just the will which is absent.

No comments: