FC5373 - Report time pressures
Initial Report
For aircrew using [Location] Airport, the use of the Staff Car Park is the parking option. This is meant to provide a bus service to the airport every 10 minutes. However, after repeatedly being told that all issues are being dealt with, this service runs consistently every 15 minutes at peak morning/ 1st wave times. Not a major problem ordinarily, this however reduces the hourly capacity. As such, many busses leave once full as overcrowding can be a major issue. This leaves aircrew feeling pressure to arrive at the car park very early (first thing in the morning) to ensure they can actually get on a bus to the airport. Alternatively, arrive appropriately with a bus time in mind and this will lead to a high chance of arriving at the airport late, putting pressure on crew once again. The problems with [Location] Airport’s bus provision is well known and being going on for far too long.
comments
Airport Comment
The staff bus service operates on a 10-minute frequency and, since April 2024, has operated at 93% frequency rate. Since mid-August 2024 this has increased to 96%. This means that only 4% of journeys made have been outside of the 10-minute frequency. Bi-weekly / monthly (depending on airline) catch-ups are held with the airlines regarding the performance / concerns of staff bus routes and there have been very little to no concerns over the last 3-4 months. Where there are delays to the staff bus, caused by absence, communication is issued via the airport app informing all airport users that the bus will reduce to a 15-minute service and will specify times.
CHIRP Comment
The issue of transportation from the staff car parks at this Airport is a topic that we’ve discussed before at CHIRP, but more in the context of how the airlines should cope with it. Recognising the burden that this puts on individual crew members, we have previously urged the airlines to bear down on the Airport management because it was in their interests to do so to avoid delays in flights departing.
The Airport’s response suggests that buses are operating at a good frequency but that doesn’t help those who fall into the periods where reliability may not be so robust or the buses might regularly be full even if they are on time. That any delays or interruptions in service will be published on the Airport App is useful, but we wonder how timely this is (bearing in mind commuting times for crews leaving home), how many crews will have this App anyway, or how many crews will have the time to access it before they leave home. The reporter indicates that the problem is recurring and worse than the statistics might indicate. It is not CHIRP’s place to second-guess the information we’ve received, but the impact of delays on reporting times and associated FTL calculations should not be underestimated.
Unfortunately, the burden of coping with bus problems falls wholly onto the crews because such delays occur before the report point and their remit is to get to the report point on time (which is where FTL calculations will start). If crews are having to arrive at the Airport staff parking well in excess of what would be a reasonable expectation because of uncertainties in bus services, then it is their notional FTL rest time that is lost. The alternative of arriving on time at the car park but then late at the report point will attract unwelcome attention from airline management. One would hope that the Airlines would express any concerns to the Airport during the weekly/monthly ‘catch-ups’, but it may be that the Airlines are not aware of the problem, and so we would encourage all crews who are affected by bus service problems to report them to their line management so that they can make representations to the Airport.