Introductions

As long as there is an airport at Heathrow there will be a passenger services group dedicated to ensuring that the passenger experience is as smooth and enjoyable as possible. We don’t have a view on expansion but when things do change around the airport we make sure they are right for the passenger and, when they could be better, we speak to the right people to see that improvements are made.

The group is drawn mainly from independent members – regular flyers who live in or around London and use Heathrow Airport although many of us use Gatwick, London City, Stanstead and Luton from time to time. We have no particular expertise just regular users of Heathrow from different backgrounds who want to use their experience and insights to make things better for everyone. We are joined by representatives from groups such as ABTA and WHICH magazine.

As well as monitoring the day-to-day operations of Heathrow and comparing it with the other UK and international airports we visit, we respond to Government consultations to ensure the passenger perspective is forefront – and that’s all passengers: young and old, leisure and business, regular flyer or first timer and those who need a little extra help.

We meet quarterly with an informal immersion into a particular topic (more of that in this blog) followed by a working lunch and then a wider meeting. The topics we select and the matters we discuss in our meetings are entirely based on our selection. Ahead of each meeting we invite Heathrow Airport Limited senior managers, Heathrow Airport service deliverers such as UK Border Force, the airlines and external experts. We will select topics which we know are current and of interest to passengers and airport users – for example over the last 18 months we’ve placed a lot of focus on the needs of extra care passengers.

PSG - June Meeting boarding a Quantas A380

July - Journey to Nowhere

In July, despite the fact that we all travel through Heathrow Airport individually, we wanted a landside (before security) to airside (after security) and all the way to the aircraft experience as a team. Without actually going anywhere we got to look at every stage of the journey and discuss our impressions. Qantas at Terminal 3 were our hosts and we were briefed on every aspect of their London to Perth, Australia direct flight including the steps they take to minimize disruption when there are unavoidable delays.

This was one flight out of almost 1,400 that depart Heathrow each day – it brought home to us the logistics and team effort behind every departure (and arrival of course) and we were able to ask what could be improved.

October - Safe and Secure

PSG Members discussing Project Servator with an armed officer.

In October we spent a morning with the Heathrow dedicated Metropolitan police officers during one of their regular Project Servator exercises. Project Servator aims to deter, detect and disrupt a range of criminal activity, including terrorism, while providing a reassuring presence for the public. On this occasion we were at Terminal 5 with regular officers, armed officers, plain clothed officers and, of course, four-legged helpers – there to detect explosives. It was both interesting and a privilege to see them at work and to be able to ask questions about how they keep passengers, employees and all of those in and around the airport.

After that meeting we received a briefing on the testing of new hand baggage scanning equipment which will make it possible for everything – tablets, laptops and liquids to remain in our bags as we pass through security. Trials are going very well and when rolled out across Heathrow will speed things up.

Are You Interested ?

We currently have a couple of vacancies for independent members. If you use Heathrow and would like to find out a little more the application process starts with an informal conversation on the telephone or over a tea or coffee – you get to hear about what we do and we can see if you help broaden our group. Drop an email to info@hceb.org.uk

Introduction to the Passenger Services Group