Lack of training caused T5 chaos

Last month’s troubled opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 was largely the result of inadequate staff training, unions have said.

Baggage handling problems caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled in the terminal’s first four days of operations, but it has now emerged that employees had not been properly trained in the use of new IT and baggage handling systems.

According to Paul Smith, aviation group secretary at public services union PCS, talks were requested with British Airways (BA) and Heathrow operator BAA well ahead of the terminal’s opening –but “there was an unwillingness to engage with us”.

Steve Turner, national civil aviation secretary at general union Unite, called on the employers to work with unions to rebuild Terminal 5’s reputation.

“There are problems, which to its credit BA has acknowledged,” he said. “We are ready to sit down with management at any time to get to work on putting these right, to protect the reputation of BA as the world’s leading carrier, and ensure that Terminal 5 becomes the envy of the industry.”