CASE: BAGGAGE BLUNDERS Terminal 5, built by British Airways for $8.6 billion, is Heathrow Airport's newest state-of-the-art facility. Made of glass, concrete, and steel, it's the largest freestanding building in the United Kingdom and has over 16 kilometers of belts for moving luggage. At the terminal's unveiling on March 15, 2008, Queen Elizabeth II called it a "twenty-first century gateway to Britain."
Alas.the accolades didn't last long! After two decades of planning and 100 million hours of labor, opening day didn't work out as planned. Endless lines and severe baggage handling delays led to numerous flight cancellations, stranding many irate passengers. Airport operators said the problems were triggered by glitches in the terminal's high-tech baggage-handling system.
With this massive automation features, Terminal 5 was planned to erase congestion at Heathrow and improve the flying experience for the 30 million passengers expected to pass through it annually. With 96 self-service check-in kiosks, more than 90 check-in fast bag drops, 54 standard check-in desks, and over 16 kilometers of suitcase-moving belts that were supposed to be able to process 12,000 bags per hour, the facility's design didn't seem to support those goals.
Within the first few hours of the terminal's operation, problems developed. Baggage workers, presumably understaffed, were unable to clear incoming luggage fast enough. Many arriving passengers had to wait more than an hour to get their bags.
There were problems for departing passengers, as well, as many tried in vain to check in for flights. Flights were allowed to leave with empty cargo holds. At one point that first day, the airline had no choice but to check in only those with no luggage. And it didn't help matters that the moving belt system jammed at one point.
Lesser problems also became apparent: a few broken escalators, some hand dryers that didn't work, a gate that wouldn't function at the new Underground station, and inexperienced ticket sellers who didn't know the fares between Heathrow and various stations on the Picadilly line.
By the end of the first full day of operations, Britain's Department of Transportation released a statement calling for British Airways and the airport operator BAA to "work hard to resolve these issues and limit disruptions to passengers". You might be tempted to think that all this could have been prevented if British Airways had only tested the system.
But through runs of all systems "from toilets to check in and seating" took place six months before opening, including four full-scale test runs using 16,000 volunteers.
Questions:
1. What type of control - feedforward, concurrent, or feedback - do you think would be most important in this situation? Explain your choice.
2. How might immediate corrective action have been used in this situation? How about basic corrective action?
3. Could British Airways controls have been more effective? How? 4. What role would information controls play in this situation?
Customer interaction controls? Benchmarking?