Monday, 3/24

The place is bad enough to deal with when it's functioning. I can't even fathom what it would be like when it's shut down.

I don't know if you heard, but London's Heathrow Airport was shut down for almost 24 hours due to a fire at a power transformer on Friday. Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe, something to which I can personally attest, as it's picked up the nickname (at least by me) of “A seething pit of humanity”. At its best (which isn't very good) it's tolerable. At its worst?

It's really not a fun place to be. Take it from someone who once had to spend 12 hours there through no choice of his own.

What happened on Friday would really be my biggest nightmare as a traveler. Can you imagine being halfway through an 8 hour trans-Atlantic flight, only to be told you have to turn around or diverted to another airport because the one at which you're trying to land has no power? While you're wondering where you're going to land, you'd also have to deal with missed connections, possible layovers in an entirely different country, and no idea whatsoever when (or if) you'll get to your eventual destination.

You know—that kind of nightmare.

Things are slowly getting back to normal at my least favorite airport in the world, but I have to ask a question that I'm sure many travelers are asking—how does one of the world's busiest airports stick its main power source and both of its backup system in the exact same place? Did they not think that something like this could happen? Would it not have been prudent to have one of those backup systems on an entirely difference system at an entirely different place?

You know...to make sure that 1,200 flights and 200,000 passengers don't get stranded?

Loraine and I have always gone out of our way not to have to go through Heathrow, but these days you don't have much of a choice. It's literally the hub for air transport into or out of Europe. The next time we go back there—whenever that is—we'll do our best to avoid Heathrow, but it may just not be possible.

If that's the case, hopefully—HOPEFULLY--they won't be having another incident like the one that occurred Friday.

(jim@wmqt.com), shuddering at the thought.