Analyze the following case carefully and answer the questions that follow:
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 free standing building in the United Kingdom and has over 10 miles 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 compliments didn't last long! After two decades of planning and 100 million hours of labor, for eight short years what should have been a pleasure—Endless lines and severe luggage handling delays led to numerous flight cancellations, shrinking margins annoyed passengers. Airport operators and the problems were triggered by problems in the terminal's high-tech baggage-handling systems.
With big, massive, automated baggage systems built to ease jamming at Heathrow and improve the flying experience for the 30 million passengers it expected to pass through it annually. With 96 self- service check-in booths, more than 90 check-in fast bag drops, 54 standard check-in desks, and over 10 miles 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 terminals operations, problems developed. Staffing 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. Larger 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 Piccadilly line. By the end of the first full day of operation, 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 thorough pre-tests 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:
a. In your opinion, what are the major problems in the Heathrow Airport?
b. What theory would you think best fit in to describe the problem? Why?
c. What immediate corrective action do you suggest to control situation?
d. What type of control-pre control, concurrent, or post control-do you suggest that would be most important in this situation?
