Chaos at Dublin Airport

Foxhound38 · 29-05-2022 1:11pm #1

What on earth is going on at Dublin Airport? After weeks of stories of people having to queue out the door, staff assaulting passengers, mass brawls, people being asked to pay to use the drop-off zone, goods being stolen from luggage and now today the airport itself treated us to this statement:

The should send someone on the DAA board into the airport with a megaphone, get them to read out that statement and get people to pay to watch the livestream - that would easily provide enough money to properly staff what is apparently our major international Airport. I am due to go on a flight from there later this month and I think I'm going to need xanex to stop myself from completely losing it if this is the way it's going to be.

Yurt2 · 29-05-2022 1:19pm

Dublin Airport is the pits.

I don't know if there's a business case to be made for airlines to shift flights to Cork / Shannon / Knock / Kerry, but all I know is flying out of those airports is a much more pleasant experience.

I'd suspect easily 1 out of every 2 passengers are travelling to Dublin Airport from elsewhere in the country in the natural catchment area of the above regional aiports, so why not slash fees etc for airlines to attract routes to them?

Someone in aviation will likely tell me that there's a good reason why Dublin has in effect become the state's only airport of scale, but all I know is I hate flying out of there.

Yurt2 · 29-05-2022 1:23pm

Also a lot of Northerners make use of Dublin Airport also.

I think Dublin Airport's business plan was to make DA a mini-Schipol or Heathrowesque hub and absolutely stack the airport with routes to pay off the cost of Terminal 2, but on a contstrained site and with sh*te facilities.

Dara O'Brian tweeted the other day there was one passport control officer on duty when he came through Dublin Airport. That's Mickey Mouse stuff.

munster87 · 29-05-2022 1:24pm

Yeah, terrible management.

People in charge just aren’t capable. A common occurrence.

29-05-2022 1:53pm

https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1530883517948825600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1530883517948825600%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rte.ie%2Fnews%2F2022%2F0529%2F1301834-dublin-airport%2F

Would not like to be stood waiting there.

Foxhound38 · 29-05-2022 1:57pm

Look at this chaos. In what world is this the way to run an airport?

29-05-2022 2:01pm

Is it something to do with the checks they failed and now maybe have the scanners ramped up to the max?

duefrine · 29-05-2022 2:10pm

I was in that q today... From starting at the back of the q at 11 o'clock, to sitting having a pint of Guinness 2 hours 15 minutes.....

hotmail.com · 29-05-2022 2:14pm

Philip Boucher Hayes reckons people need to check their privilege before complaining about the queues.

theteal · 29-05-2022 2:15pm

I was under the impression that the issues of a few weeks ago were resolved and things getting back to "normal" but that shiz is crazy. One of the lads flew over here last Wednesday, attempted to go up the escalator from arrivals to departures but got pointed to the queue outside (approx 18:00). It took him over an hour to get through security and it was fairly grim once through, no chance of a bit of hot food without another soul destroying queue.

I'll be flying into and out of Dublin twice over the next 3/4 weeks and I'm really not looking forward to it now - especially the 2nd trip with kids and luggage in tow

hotmail.com · 29-05-2022 2:16pm

Surely at this stage the head of the DAA is incompetent and should be replaced by someone else.

Get Real · 29-05-2022 2:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119130021#Comment_119130021

The situation is no doubt disgraceful and management can definitely act to change it but that takes time.

I'm not defending management BTW but when you sit down and analyse, there's no quick fix solution. It's not unique to Dublin, with queues out into the multistorey carpark in Manchester, delays in Edinburgh, huge crowds at Schipol etc.

There's been a colossal shift in the labour market generally in Europe and it will take time for individual companies and bodies on a microeconomic scale, to catch up and adapt to a wider macroeconomic problem.

First and foremost, that's wages. Simple supply and demand. And I think companies are only starting to comprehend that now and reluctantly implement change.

If we look back to 2010,2012 and that period, people were taking jobs at 8.65-9 euro region. There was no shortage of staff in the likes of McDonald's, retail and that. DAA were hiring in 2015 for 12.50 an hour. Again, no shortage of applicants, no issues with queues on this scale.

Now at 14.14 starting wage, there are huge staffing problems with a lack of ability to hire and retain. We're in a market where there are more jobs than labour supply and people have more options.

Personally I hope for wage increases at lower levels, and a subsequent "trickle up" affect into the salaries of other jobs.

But this staffing issue can be seen with queues at establishments generally and has not been created uniquely by DAA management, nor is it solely a Dublin Airport issue or even an airport issue. Its a labour supply issue generally affecting multiple sectors.

While I don't blame DAA for that, I do blame them for being slow in taking the opportunity to fix it, and make changes.

But I do think it's more complex than seeing problem A (crazy videos of queues) and within 5 seconds slating Management. When it's a combination of numerous problems, again not just unique to the Airport, or Ireland.

Liberty_Bear · 29-05-2022 2:18pm

All over FB this morning there was people showing the queues going out the door, backed up around the entrance. The wages are shite. Pay peanut and you get monkey (pox)

wonski · 29-05-2022 2:18pm

Can't DAA try to recruit some of those in the queues? They will miss their flight, will need some extra cash to rebook their holidays so why not to hire them on the spot?

On a serious note that is a disaster and not what people going for holidays are to expect.

Hope they will sort it out by the end of next month as I don't want to be in that queue.

titan18 · 29-05-2022 2:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119130319#Comment_119130319

It's been like this for 10 months now (we've had threads on here since September). It won't be fixed

titan18 · 29-05-2022 2:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119130308#Comment_119130308

Takes time? How long do they fecking need? This has been an issue for a good bit of time now and even pre pandemic Dublin airport was ****. If they haven't fixed it by now, they won't.

Atlantic Dawn · 29-05-2022 2:33pm

Will the compensation DAA need to pay to each passenger who missed a flight just be the cost of the flight or will it be like EU flight delays where it could be many hundreds?

Those who checked in bags will have a receipt for the time they dropped them off so can prove they were at the airport x hours before scheduled take-off.

Staleturnips · 29-05-2022 2:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119130180#Comment_119130180

FFS a pick-up and trailer pulled across the entrance to block it!

What next silage bale chicane to slow traffic? Embarrassing.

freemickey · 29-05-2022 2:34pm

The wages aren't enough to pay for housing.

Housing is extortionate because there are too many people.

Bring in cheap labour from abroad.