Who pays for extra security?

The frustration over the past few days at the delays and problems encountered at London Heathrow in particular as a result of the terror scare of 10^th August have boiled over.

British Airways chief Willie Walsh has expressed his anger at seeing some of his aircraft departing virtually empty because passengers cannot make it through the new exhaustive security checks in time. BAA has come under fire for not bringing in enough security staff to cope.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is equally peeved by the new requirements, and his airline is criticizing BAA for not putting enough security lines into action at Stansted. He wants the UK government to step in, and even suggests bringing in the army to help.

This is uncharted territory for all. In the past, similar crisis points have been restricted to one airport or even one airline. They have been more manageable, with others able to help and measures to cope coming in relatively fast.

This time the crisis has been all encompassing, with unprecedented levels of security and requirements that have been changing day by day. It is also the busiest time of the year.

Airline calls for compensation, as some are asking for from BAA, will most likely wane. They know it is probably wasted energy. Better to refocus attention on encouraging governments to finally step up and help pay for the extra and onerous security measures.

However, once again, this crisis reveals the void in communication and proper co-ordination between BAA and its customers. That void is troubling, and over the past few years has shown little tendency to narrow.