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LAST UPDATE | 31 May 2022
POLITICIANS ARE CALLING for management at Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to be dismissed over disruptive scenes which occurred at the airport last weekend.
Members from government parties have said there need needs to be accountability so that long queues outside the airport leading to missed flights are not seen again.
It comes as the Transport Minister has said that the DAA cannot guarantee that last weekend’s problems won’t happen again.
Fianna Fáil senator Timmy Dooley described the issue as an “embarrassment” and an “appalling situation” in his call for the management to be sacked.
“I think the board should be gone. They should have fired the chief executive a number of weeks ago [and] I think they should have brought in some strategic management from some other airport,” he told The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk.
“Like there was a time when Aer Rianta operated, it was providing management to airports right around the world. We can’t manage our own airport right now … It’s an embarrassment to us.”
Meanwhile, in the Dáil, Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell said last weekend’s scenes of long queues were “predictable and unforgivable”.
“Ministers have met with the DAA and yet we’re no clearer if the scenes of last weekend will be repeated this coming back holiday weekend, and I have very little faith that they will be avoided.
“How many needs to be in the queue before somebody asks if heads should roll,” he asked.
“If you can’t manage airport operations, I cannot be alone in suggesting that there needs to be a change. And I’m not referring to this chief executive who has already announced his intention to move on.”
The Dublin Fingal TD said it has been “known for almost three months that passenger numbers are rising” and that it is “unacceptable” if the DAA don’t know how many passengers they can expect on any given day.
“They sell the slots, they know the aircraft type. They can extrapolate – and they don’t appear to be capable of doing that. That is frankly bizarre. The whole situation stinks.”
Earlier, the Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that the DAA cannot guarantee that the disruptive scenes which occurred at the airport last weekend won’t happen again.
Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Ryan said that the Government instructed DAA to “do absolutely everything in your power” so that long queues outside the airport leading to missed flights are not seen again.
When asked what would happen if issues with the airport continue, Ryan said “it can’t continue”.
“First things first, you have to provide a proper service to the public. You can’t have someone having to queue for two or three hours and then not being able to get a flight.
“It’s just not acceptable, it can’t be tolerated and the airport has to manage its operations so it doesn’t occur.”
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says DAA can’t guarantee the same disruptive scenes that happened at Dublin Airport over the weekend won’t happen again.
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) May 31, 2022
The minister says ‘it cannot continue’. pic.twitter.com/ClROrvMM9h
Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath has also warned the DAA that what happened on Sunday can never be repeated.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions, where McGrath was standing in for the Taoiseach who is currently in Brussels, said the scenes at the airport over the weekend were “completely unacceptable” .
“DAA needs to do whatever it takes to make sure that this issue is addressed and that we do not see those kinds of things again, in particular on the forthcoming bank holiday weekend,” he said.
His comments come as Dublin Airport bosses told ministers today that they have a plan on how they will improve queue management, maximise the availability of staffing resources and increase the number of security lanes at peak times.
DAA chief executive Dalton Philips will appear before the Oireachtas Transport Committee tomorrow to discuss the airport crisis.
When asked about the role of airlines to combat long queue times, Ryan said that while they have a part to play, the main focus was on the airport itself.
“The airlines do have to play their part to make sure that the check-in desks are as quick and fast as can be.
“But it’s the airports first and foremost responsibility, it’s their airport and they’ve to work with the airlines to make sure that everyone gets through and its organised in a clear and consistent way,” said Ryan.
McGrath told the Dáil that details of the plan will be communicated at the meeting, but added that a communications campaign must be rolled out so they public are reassured that they can navigate the airport ahead of their flight.
If passengers turn up on time for their flight, the airport authorities must ensure that they play their part and do their job, said McGrath.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan and Minister of State with responsibility for international transport Hildegarde Naughton met with the CEO of Dublin Airport Authority and senior officials this morning.
The DAA had been told in a meeting yesterday that they had until this morning to present solutions to resolve the lengthy delays faced by passengers.
Officials from the DAA were told of government ministers’ “immense disappointment and frustration” at the scenes over the weekend which led to more than 1,000 passengers missing their flights.
Significant queues for passengers at the country’s main airport resulted in many being forced to queue outside the terminal and waiting up to three hours to check in.
Concern has been growing about what could unfold at the airport ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
Compensation
In this morning’s update, DAA are understood to also have presented to ministers a plan on how they intend to compensate passengers who have missed flights.
DAA indicated that they are currently finalising operational arrangements for the emergency plan.
Ministers asked the DAA to clearly communicate their plan to the public within the next 24 hours.
They also told the DAA CEO that it must deliver a satisfactory experience for passengers departing from the airport this bank holiday weekend.
Ministers also emphasised the importance of restoring passenger confidence in Dublin airport. Engagement between Government and airport management is to continue on a daily basis.
Working conditions of airport workers was also raised in the Dáil, with Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald stating that Dublin airport is still only at 70% of pre-Covid staffing levels following the severance programme that was introduced in 2020.
She said such delays and queues were not unpredictable, stating that the DAA “grossly underestimated” the capacity issues at the airport.
Catherine Murphy TD of the Social Democrats said that Minister of State with responsibility for International Transport Hildegarde Naughton needed to outline what she has been told in meetings with the DAA to date.
We can’t have our international airport not functioning and we are asking what has the minister been told of these meetings that have been happening continuously. Was she aware, for example of the payroll issue where people not been paid overtime? Has she been briefed on the recruitment process and the training processes?
Office workers
DAA spokesperson Graeme McQueen said the airport operator “slipped up” at the weekend.
“We had a major blip. We’d been doing very well since the end of March when we encountered our last blip. We didn’t have enough staff on yesterday to cope with the numbers. That’s on us. We apologise unreservedly,” McQueen told The Tonight Show on Virgin Media last night.
The spokesperson said the airport chaos is a result of the security systems not being fully scaled-up following the Covid-19 pandemic.
DAA office workers have been assisting with security as part of efforts to cope with the shortfall in fully trained staff at the transport hub.
The way we’ve been getting through the last two months is we’ve been complementing our security team with a staff task force.
“We’ve got about 600 office workers within DAA who are coming in, like myself, doing four hour shifts in the terminal supporting those security workers. So, we’re calling on them again to come in and help us,” McQueen explained.
The spokesperson added that the office workers are vetted and cleared to carry out tasks such as stacking trays, which helps the airport run smoothly.
In a statement, SIPTU said that both “inferior pay and conditions of employment” were a key factor in the ongoing crisis.
SIPTU Sector Organiser, Niall Phillips, said: “We told the Minister of State that staff are doing their utmost under very difficult circumstances at Dublin Airport. Many are reporting being abused and in some cases, spat at by frustrated passengers.
“The Minister of State was told that staffing levels cannot be ramped up easily because the pay and conditions for many new daa workers are not attractive for the very specialised work they carry out.”
Employment
A number of opposition politicians have raised the issue of redundancies at DAA during the pandemic and the issues for the company in hiring and training additional staff now.
Murphy said today that the redundancies had “backfired badly”, adding that she is aware of some people made redundant who have been contacted about potentially coming back.
I know a couple of people that were made redundant and in fact they have been contacted and asked to return. Some of them have got alternative employment, some of them are coming close to retirement. The terms and conditions are very different. It’s not a full-time job. What’s been offered is to a lot of people not attractive.
In a statement to The Journal yesterday, the DAA said it is attempting to fill staff vacancies as quickly as possible.
“DAA is placing no constraints on the recruitment of new security staff, and we continue to do everything in our power to ensure that this is achieved as quickly as possible,” the company said.
“Significant work has been undertaken by our HR teams and indeed, by many other departments across the business, to expedite the interview and training processes, and to deploy staff to the floor of Dublin Airport.”
Ministers’ statement
Yesterday, officials from the DAA met with Naughton and Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Martin said: “It is unacceptable what has happened, it’s not good enough and people should not be treated in that way.
“And there will be daily meetings between the Department of Transport now and the DAA and Government is looking for a very clear plan to ensure that this type of thing doesn’t happen again and that whatever has to be done now is done to improve the operational efficiency of Dublin Airport.”
Asked if the army should be deployed to help address the shortfall in security staff, Martin said: “I think it’s a question that DAA needs to develop the capacity very, very quickly to deal with this.
“The answer lies within human resource management within DAA and planning within the organisation also.”
In a joint statement after meeting the DAA officials, Ryan and Naughton said: “The ministers said that the excessively long queues and wait times were causing significant distress to passengers as well as reputational damage to the country from a business, travel, connectivity and tourism point of view.
“The ministers have instructed DAA to report back by tomorrow morning on solutions that can be put in place in advance of this bank holiday weekend to deliver an acceptable passenger experience for citizens and visitors departing from the airport.
“The ministers have asked DAA to consider all options that can be taken in immediate and medium term to resolve this matter.
“Daily meetings will be held at ministerial level with DAA until the difficulties persisting at the airport are satisfactorily resolved.
“Minister Naughton emphasised that it is the responsibility of DAA to resolve these matters to the satisfaction of passengers travelling in the days and weeks ahead.
“The ministers stated that the unacceptable queues should not be repeated this Thursday and Friday and into the bank holiday weekend and that intending passengers should be confident that they would make their flight with minimum inconvenience.”
Naughton met airlines yesterday afternoon.
Ryan said 1,000 people missing their flights was “totally unacceptable”.
“You can’t have thousands of people out queueing outside the terminal buildings,” Ryan added.
“They have acknowledged that, they accepted it was a terrible failing and we have to address and they have to address it.
“It’s an operational issue for the airport, it’s a complex issue about a sudden very large increase in demand for people flying, but at the same time real difficulty in getting the number of people, skilled workers, particularly in the scanning/screening area.
“We said they have to deliver those solutions, they have to come back with options so that what happened doesn’t happen again.”
Ryan said the delay was due to a shortage of staff in key areas.
“Once you go over a certain tipping point then queues do tend to back up, then it makes it more difficult to catch up,” he added.
“Whatever the reason, they have to make sure they are able to manage numbers.”
Officials pledged to try to compensate all passengers who missed flights or had plans disrupted, if additional costs are incurred.
Ryan said that while compensation was an issue for DAA, they were aware that the reputational damage to the airport and country is “very real”.
“This has been an issue they have been grappling with for many weeks,” he added.
- With reporting by Christina Finn, Rónán Duffy and Eoghan Dalton
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This is what happens when you appoint a supermarket boss to run an airport – a race to the bottom in terms of staff pay and conditions – while senior managers pay themselves stup*d amounts of money. The CEO should be removed like he was from his last job when that went the same way.
@Stephen O’Neill: he is leaving soon anyways
@Michael Geraghty: jumping before he is pushed.
@John Munch: Well no he was leaving for a while now but maybe he had the foresight to see what ws down the road…
@Stephen O’Neill: 100% agree. He needs to be removed today. Totally incompetent. Who is hiring these people.
@Richard Carroll: Neo Liberalism Government will always create this mess…..Utilities, Transport and other essential services should be and Must be kept from so called Market forces etc……otherwise expect a lot more of this
@Richard Carroll:
GreenCore seemingly…
@Michael Geraghty: obviously
@Richard Carroll: stop bringing in these so called experts from overseas, just look at the mess Tony o brien made of the HSE.
@John Munch: to replace Simon Coveney brother for another highly paid executive role this time greencore -what is it about ireland where we seemingly seem to shrug our shoulders and accept poor business management at semi state organisations but don’t bat an eyelid when they are yellow packing the jobs for staff to min wages – pay peanuts and get monkeys – in addition we pay top dollar for senior mgt in semi states and get useless business management outcomes -seemingly accountability still non existent in semi states
@Dave Hammond:
You are going to hate this answer… CEO salary is capped at 250k, while this seems a lot of money at CEO it is quite poor…
DAA turns over just short of 800m a year, CEO of organisations of that size would be considerably higher..
@Stephen O’Neill: Kinda like when you employ someone that worked for Eircom to be in charge of our Health system!!
@Cowboy Paddy: salary is capped at 250k but with his benefits and perks etc Dalton comes out with nearly double that
@Vlad Eire: Exactly & they all do it!
@Vlad Eire: exactly, and no-one forced him to take the job, probably no-one else wanted him
@Ian James Burgess: apparently he was actually daa’s 7th choice for the job. Others turned it down
I hope the airlines remember this when deciding their autumn schedules. Dublin flights need to be diluted. Shannon for example has a runway which can cater for all aircraft. Spread the flights a bit.
@Brian Hunt: this won’t happen. The airlines know that most of the countries population will not travel to Cork or Shannon unless there is high speed infrastructure to get people quickly to these places. Try the M50 on a friday afternoon. No one will fly into Shannon or Cork and then drive home for up to three hours when there’s another airport only 30 mins away. There’s no doubt the DAA will fix this mess and it’s going to cost them what it used to cost pre covid.
@Brian Hunt: people affected by the missing flights because of the dub airport incompetence should contact smalll claims court.
@Paul Furey: “No one will fly into Shannon or Cork and then drive home for up to three hours when there’s another airport only 30 mins away.”
Nearly spit my coffee out!
Replace “Shannon or Cork” with ‘Dublin’ and welcome to what the rest of the country have to deal with.
I live less than 30mins away from Shannon and I haven’t taken a flight out of there since 2011 whereas I’ve had to fly out of Dublin numereous times because that’s where the flights to where I need to go fly from.
Would have been much easier if I had married a Polish woman or someone from the Costa Del Sunny rather than a French woman!
@Stanley Marsh: yep and for you and the population in the region near Kerry knock cork and Shannon that’s fine it’s the broader it’s not so fine on price transport or a n other reason otherwise it would be happening already. The mandatory stopover for donkeys in Shannon merry helped the duty free not the region so no broad benefit to the area. Massive potential for growth in cork and definitely Shannon but demand is the bit that’s needed.
@Paul Furey: 30 minutes away from some people not all people who fly from dublin live within 30 mins of the airport u know
@Scott Crossfield: I haven’t the time to dig out my contribution from a few weeks ago on what Shannon needs but a summation would be, econimic growth followed by population growth followed by larger numbers using the airport.
That’s as opposed to the constant poor mouth and demands for handouts which in the long term solve nothing.
@Stanley Marsh: The majority of the population of this country live in the Greater Dublin Area. There is no other metropolitan area of the country that can compete. That is completely the fault of the governemnt over the years but it is what it is and thats why Dublin Airport will always have more flights.
They could alternatively develop another international airport within the Greater Dublin Area as a competitor to Dublin airport.
Shannon is never going to be able to compete unless there is a high speed rail line from GDA (where the majoirty of people are).
@Paul Furey: you speak as if 95% of the *country’s population lives within The Pale mate.
Wake up.
@Brian Hunt: And Switch Flights to Knock where it takes less than 15 minutes to Park and go through security Definitely The West is Awake
@Tomo: 2mil people is not the majority of the population.
@Tomo: “The majority of the population of this country live in the Greater Dublin Area”
No they don’t.
A large proportion of the population of this country live in the GDA but the majority live outside it (2016 Census).
@Paul Furey: except those of us who are not from Dublin. I can be home from Shannon Airport in 20 minutes or from Cork in an hour. You are assuming everyone flying from Dublin airport is from the Dublin area…..sorry but you are completly wrong in that score. In fact, my own brother in law who lives in Carlow never flies from Dublin, always Shannon. the Dub-centric attitude needs to end.
@Scott Crossfield: the demand as it happens is there, the problem is the DAA, will lose the landing fees and such if the flights go elsewhere, and take priority over the rest of the Irish airports. This was pointed out when Aer Rianta became the DAA by several i the aviation sector and they were ignored
@Tomo: and taking Shannon as the example as you have, how many people live within an hour and a half drive? Let’s see, you have Galway an hour’s drive north, Cork, an hour and 20 min south, Limerick about 20 min drive, and actually as far as Roscrea to the east. Yet to get from any of these cities to Dublin airport, you are talking at least 2 hour drive.
Sorry but I do think most of the population of the country is within a more suitable range of Shannon
@Paul Furey:
Would love to see the accounting figures behind the decision of the redundancies 18 months ago.
Add into that Dublin Airport is owned by the Irish people and the damage this has done to the Irish Economy…
Dublin Airport years back made decisions which was very harmful to the Irish economy especially outside Dublin. If we were flying up from regional airports in the morning we could come out of one plane and walk into another. They stopped that (“for security purposes????”), people who just used Dublin airport as an actual airport couldn’t spend money and I assume there is a target spend per passenger.
So regional fliers or returning flights were pushed right to the front of the airport to go through security again. They can use the excuse of security but we come off planes airside, explain how forcing them groundside and pushing them through security again is safer. Would it be better to check them right the first time, also can you explain to me were a terrorist went on one plane then got off and decided to hijack the second plane…
They may use the excuse other airports are doing it, just shows they are all getting into the act..
@Joe_X: I think then pay back the millions in debt taken on by Dublin airport for Shannon and Cork….
@Tomo: 28.5% of the population live in Dublin Less than a third. Not 90% as most dubs think. More than half of that fiasco of a queue probably live nearer to Shannon/ Cork than Dublin.
@Dermot Sexton: Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Longford, West Meath, Kildare, Laois, Carlow, Wicklow, Wexford…… All closer to Dublin than CRK/SNN airports. Then theres parts of other counties outside that that is closer to Dublin……. So its probably in excess of 60% of the population that live closer to Dublin Airport.
@Dermot Sexton: Youre also forgetting about tourists as well as people using cork and shannon for their flights to spain/portugal so “more than half of that fiasco of a queue” dont live closer to shannon/cork than Dublin. Some exaggeration
@Paul Furey: the rest of Europe do it. Only 49% fly into their capital the rest fly into regional airports. Planning is the answer. Government need to take te lead, the rest of us have to travel to Dublin for a lot of flights.
@Elizabeth Dunne: says who? Both were run by the DAA for years, so the debts belong to them, in fact had they not bailed like they did there would be more flights in these airports which in turn would ensure they were generating revenue.
No-one from outside Dublin with access to 3 other airports wants to travel there to take a flight. Shannon lovely airport, u get all u need there and it’s a peaceful experience going through. So calm down saying the DAA us paying their debts. The DAA left them in debt.
@Elizabeth Dunne: That suggestion is the same as saying the Government pay back the Government, your obviously not aware that the DAA is state owned, ie. the people of this country, no difference if the called it “Ballydehob Airport Authority”.
@Paul Hedderman: Far quicker from someone living in South Leinster to get to Cork or Shannon airports than it is to get to Dublin airport taking traffic into consideration.
@Elizabeth Dunne: Talking out your arse with that one
@Paul Hedderman: sorry, but anyone I know from Kildare, Laois, Carlow and Wicklow, will fly from SNN or ORK if they can, rather than face dealing with DUB.
@Joe_X: Not at all, I’m living in Kildare and would have no reason to head to Shannon or Cork for a flight.
Dublin Airport is 1.5hrs max from kildare.
@Paul Furey: but we from the west do?
@Burt Macklin: and that is your choice. Read my comment again….I said “anyone I know from….” I never claimed I knew, or was speaking for everyone, only the people I know, in those counties. Now, I would be pretty sure that the people that I know in those counties, are not the only ones to hold that opinion.
@Leonard Barry: the DAA took on 100 million in debt so yes it should be paid back. Without it Shannon wouldn’t exist..
@Paul Furey: not everyone lives in Leinster! Galway is 1 hour from Shannon which has a motorway to its hall door. Limerick city is 30 minutes away and there’s Clare, Kerry and Tipperary ….. Cork Airport sadly is also run (badly) by the DAA but Shannon is independent and can make its own rules. If Dublin increases its passenger charges, as it has already indicated, then Shannon and Knock should benefit.
@Elizabeth Dunne: there were conditions attached to it….conditions the DAA has happily worked of off the last few years, and would probably prefer not to relinquish
@Elizabeth Dunne: Also, pretty sure if SNN had taken on it’s own debt, which by the way, was incurred by the DAA (Aer Rianta at the time) the airport would actually be a lot better off as it then would be free to do what it wants.
@Paul Furey: they are full of crap -saying the DAA are making sure there no impediments to recruitment but not mentioning they have revised the pay and conditions down to minimum wage and 20 hour contracts – they thought they could yellow pack the security role – the pay peanuts and think they are management geniuses because they could report spreadsheets at the board meeting to show savings of millions but didn’t care the services provided are not able to meet peoples needs – the bluff and bluster and noise around this issue is embarrassing a beyond belief – the suits screwed up and created this problem pure and simple
@Leonard Barry: unless they hit the motorways into Dublin at rush hour there are no traffic considerations
Getting married in Slovakia next week. If me or my guests miss flights because of this there is no financial refund that will fix it. They just think ah let’s refund people. People are missing funerals, events with loved ones and a whole. Other ton of possible reasons to travel. Not just holidays…
@Michael Geraghty: Congratulations and good luck
@Michael Geraghty: Don’t do it ;-)
@Michael Geraghty: congratulations to you and your partner. I hope you all enjoy your special day :-)
@Michael Geraghty: Genuine Question: Why Slovakia? Fiancée from there or you just like the place?
@Michael Geraghty: Best wishes! My Brother did the same as few years back. His wife’s from Slovakia. A great place to visit.
Pay staff properly and employ a lot more. How difficult is it?
@Riaf: Less of that logical thinking, this is Ireland! ;)
@Riaf:
I agree, but there are certain mitigating factors, it is not merely solved by employing more, there needs to be a level of competence and training, that doesn’t immediately or comprehensibly change by just employing more staff.
That they drastically cut workers over covid, does make some sense, with a vastly reduced footfall, but they seem to be terribly mis-managed in the re-emergence of actual demand. Which is not something thaat could not be foreseen.
@Riaf: Hey the CEO got well paid for those redundancies and semi clever accountancy…
Think about it, lets get rid of the people who know what they are doing by giving them a payout and hire a bunch of people are cheaper but haven’t a clue what they are doing and less motivated..
The CEO must watched a few episodes of Airport and thought that is easy..
@Riaf: they also need to treat staff well. Staff were treated awfully during covid and many who didn’t get redundancy were bullied out the door. As bad as it is finally the public are getting to see how bad daa are! Lying shower and evil to the core
Pre-check those joining queues for a start to make sure their flite is going within next two hours for a start and have a sign saying when to join. Its the ones queueing too early who are costing others their flites. Basis workflow logistics.
@James Gorman: but if there was people in the queues that were there too early, it would be absolute chaos if they sent them back to the back of the queue
@James Gorman: I suppose if they had the staff numbers to do that, they wouldn’t have the queue in the first instance though? Deploying the army to support temporarily sounds like a good idea, given they’d have the security clearance already.
@Dylan Cotter: yeah cause no airport in the world has queues at checkin security or boarding. Between the fear of missing things and the arduous task of checking in online but having to check in bags on site it throws things a bit. Army would help with queue management but all still leads to queue to be searched after queuing to check in the bag with the carrier
@James Gorman: in March staff were checking the queues for passengers for particular flights and pulling them out first. Still didn’t really speed things up as sheer volume of people that were there was nuts. Presume they are still doing that. If more people checked in online and dropped their luggage as opposed to checking in and having to do 2 queues that would help too. There’s a charge with ryanair to do this but it’s worth it. Only security to do then.
@Shirley Hannan-Ffrench: Unfortunately with Ryanair if you are not an EU citizen you need to queue up with everyone else juts to get your visa checked, the amount of stupidity in that decision alone is ridiculous..
@Shirley Hannan-Ffrench: You can drop bags with Aer Lingus the evening before but quite sure you can’t with Ryanair. Ryanair love complaining but don’t do anything to help customers
@James Gorman:
Nice victim blaming there.
@Ciaran Maher: not victim blaming. Just stating a fact. I actually blame DAA for creating this situation.
@Ciaran Maher: victim is a very strong word for this…. they missed a flight, they weren’t assaulted
@James Gorman: Exactly just prioritise the people on the early flights 6am 7am & so on & let people know that there is no points coming to the airport 5 or 6 hours before your flight as u won’t be let in until 3 hours before your flight & have enough security gates open & staff on.,
@Brian Hunt: Then they would not come too early!!
@John McCann: you shouldn’t have to drop your bags the night before, driving to the airport twice for one flight is nonsense
Too many Managers and not enough ground staff . Staff expected to be on standby but are only guaranteed 20 hours. Utter contempt for passengers and staff.
@Aine O Connor: guaranteed minimum 30 hour at 14.14 and have to be available for 40 hours total – I am unsure where the 20 hours came from but this appears incorrect information based upon the current job adverts whick I link to below https://www.daa.ie/job-listings/airport-security-2/
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: €14 an hour inclusive of shift bonus? you must be available for 40 hours but you will only be guaranteed 30?????
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: It also mentions “flexible contract” which to me screams no benefits – no health insurance, sick leave, paternity leave, paid holiday etc.
You might as well get a job with Lidl or Aldi instead.
Those security roles are mentioned to ensure – worst-case scenario – that explosives or weapons don’t get on board. Good luck!
@Jim Buckley Barrett: why do you the staff won’t get paid holidays?
@Hugh Mc Donnell: legal requirement and Lidl/Aldi are decent employers
The government shouting from the sidelines: “nothing to do with us, get it fixed” as if that’s what’s needed…trying to look like the tough bosses….but who is the minister responsible, they have culpability too surely?
@Spartacus Ireland: why hace ceo if you can’t hold them accountable?
@John Harkin: If this were a company the minister is the above the CEO, you can’t be a minister and when a national embarrassment happens on your watch in your department just pretend it’s nothing to do with you and start pointing the finger..so who’s the minister responsible?
What do the DAA expect when they appointed a failed supermarket manager from England?! Anyone going to be held accountable for this shocker of a decision. I’d say there is little to no problem at their little twin Airport in Saudi Arabia bar the morality of the situation.
Pay the proper wages and then they won’t have staffing problems..
I love Cork airport. 5 mins from the city. Parking is plentyful. No queues. Staff are great. Very relaxed. Avoid Dublin unless I really really really really have to.
What is the problem in bringing in the vetted army as a short term solution? I am amazed that the Taoiseach had not accepted this as a quick temporary fix. What is wrong with him?
Their decisions during covid have come back to bite them
Could sections with the no. of hrs before flight be setup – 4hrs, 6 hrs, 8hrs etc.
Passangers too have a part to play. I flew through Dublin airport twice recently and the number of people that wait until they’re right at the security desk to check for liquids, look for a plastic bag, take off their belts, get out their laptops etc is astounding. Despite the instruction videos and all the notices, you would think these people haven’t flown anywhere in the last 20 years.
Was in a queue for 4hrs in Schiphol yesterday morning. Only made the flight because they delayed the take off. Seems to be happening in a lot of places. All blaming staffing issues
@Shaun Gallagher: staffing is not the issue Shaun, it’s management – they have actually admitted to not having enough staff rostered at the weekend.
@John Rowan: same all over UK. Most of the main airports are in dire straits at the moment with huge queues. Insufficient staffing seems to be the problem.
@John Rowan: you can’t roster if you don’t have the staff
Lazy gits who won’t stack their own tray at the security check are also holding up the system. Staff should be telling passengers to remove their tray when collecting their stuff and stack it.
@Dec Rowe: well this is a staffing issue so asking them to employ an extra head per scanner to tell passengers to restack their trays isn’t exactly going to solve matters back up the way!
20 trainee airport search staff appointed last February, today there are 2 remaining!
What does that suggest?
The solution is easy. Send half the flights down to Shannon and Cork airports.
I was in Cork airport the other day and apart from the outgoing flight there was only two other people rambling around the airport.
@Christy McCarthy: it would be the solution, any of the other airports in fact, except greed is getting in the way.
@Christy McCarthy: airports don’t decide the routes which are operated, they simply provide the facilities. Airlines decide where they want to operate to. If airlines thought there was demand at other airports they would be there. But alas, as has happened so often over the decades the local communities fail to support the routes and the airlines focus on the major population areas. That’s why Dublin is the preferred airport. And will continue to be.
@Tony Stanley: they could create demand. No??? Again with the keep it all in dublin.
Teen released on probation is a joke.The Girl could have lost her life.Comments Closed again.
Someone needs to take a case against the Management team at Dublin Airport, someone who has missed a medical appointment/funeral /wedding. It might wake them up.
@John Rowan: are the passengers liable for the financial costs of missing their flights or will they all be reimbursed by DAA ?
@keano: apparently the DAA will cover it !
Haven’t had these issues since March? I flew to the US in mid April, 2 hours and 20 mins just to get checked in!! 5 check in desks opened for the ‘slow’ line (where people hadn’t completed verifly), with only 2 check in desks for those of us in the supposed express verifly line, which was at a standstill – saw people who were way further back from me sail by! Got to the check in desk where I was asked for my verifly – all of which was fully complete and approved – yet after viewing same, the lady requested and manual checked all my print outs also! Amazing waste of resources and of time while the queues just worsened.
Ryan must go now.The situation at Dublin Airport has gone on for months now and he is the Minister responsible.
What happens if they don’t come up with a solution? Will Hildegard smack their bottoms?
Not a gambling man….. But…… Bank Holiday weekend……. It will certainly happen again!! Time to get lidl staff on security, everyone through in less than 2 minutes
They Should bring in The Ex Employee who Spoke on Claire Byrne Live Last night
@pat seery: I’m ex ASU (airport search unit) and willing to go back. We were told we would have to wait 2 years after taking the redundancy, which is up in December, surprised they haven’t taken this option up as there are others willing to go back too.
@Malachi Shanks: maybe because some manager’s bright idea to save money will have backfired.
@Malachi Shanks: Because why would they? How many big bonus will get paid to the bigwigs after they “control this mess”. Bringing a skilled worker back and paying what your worth will only eat into that bonus. It’s a sucm system
A miscalculation in staffing levels or in other words they didn’t want to pay too many staff Sunday rates of pay!!!
DAA running Cork Airport into the ground with lack of flight options. Massively under utilisation, don’t understand as an example why four Ryanair flights per week to Fuerteventura but zero from Cork all year.
Just like NCT give a private company a monopoly an we end up with poor service.
If only there was a way they knew in advance how many passengers were going to be travelling through the airport…. Beyond belief!!
Those managers are going to tell politician what they are going to do to fix the situation then politicians will start quoting them to us but ask them why it happened @who took all the decisions to go tat route 3000 employees 300 managers as man states on Claire byrne last night @ typical with civil service screw up but still employed private company working like that ugh and according to politicians every is going to be fie in the future medical housing agriculture roads rail etc
If this problem could be solved over night it would have been already ? .. if this works I hope the government will do the same with rising costs .. housing etc.. fingers crossed
‘CANNOT GUARANTEE’ – Completely abused.
One cannot guarantee the weather, extra-terrestrial life, or a cure for cancer. The guarantee to this pallava is brains x people x moneee.
Hope these politicians who are calling for heads to roll include themselves on the list. These politicians knew and approved of the DAA 30% reduction in security personnel during the pandemic. It is typical of too many Irish politicians to kick the can down the road to cover their own failing to provide proper oversight of the DAA.
I think I’d be prepared to use other airports – It’d be probably cheaper to park and drive thsn to pay the exorbitant charges at Dublin Airport Car Parks??
And that’s why they earn the big bucks folks
Mark my words: “can never happen again” ah ah ah
Ryan needs to go and a head needs to roll in the DAA.
What’s the pay difference between office staff and airport staff? All well and good saying “Look at me doing four hours in the airport”, when you are on more than the actual staff?
Get Aldi and Lidl check out staff to go in there. They’ll have you through and on the plane before you even realise you’re at the airport.
Or what ? !!!!!
Second airport for dublin, SIMPLE
@Martin Holohan: seriously u not here the comments on this!. People want more choice around the country rather that having to fly from dublin. Superior attitude again
@Martin Holohan: Where would you l9cate a second airport for Dublin?
@Ken Curran: somewhere in North Dublin away from the mountains. Preferably close to the M50 and the M1 perhaps ?
Spread the flights around definitely. But give Dublin airport back the money owed to it from cork and Shannon debt. Oh and we could do with another airport in Dublin. Southside preferably….
@Elizabeth Dunne: where ok three rock?
@Elizabeth Dunne: This debt you keep going on about…..well let’s start with Cork. It might be easier for you to understand. The DAA is in charge of Cork airport, Cork airport’s debt is belong to the DAA anyway. As to the debt inherited from the DAA from Aer Rianta, due to Shannon and the others, if it ended the DAA priority over them, it would probably be done, but it won’t because the DAA make too much from landing fees and the like.
And they had to have a meeting with them to figure this out .. wow
Hit people with nonsense enough and they will accept nonsense is the norm.
Minister for Transport
Politicians calling for heads to roll. Oh the irony. Pots and kettles come to mind
That’s good coming from a group of clowns that does not do accountability themselves. If heads should roll start with their own.
Ryan airhead has to go.
Goverment ministers saying Heads should Roll in the DAA is highly hypocritical. Not a single head has rolled in any goverment department, when you consider all the fxxkups they have been involved in.
Seems a gross lack of communication between the airlines and the Das.Surely if the Daa knew the demand created by the airlines they would have better managed the situation a lot better?There should be no need for people to travel from limerick cork or Belfast to take flights from Dublin airport when their flights should be available from their local airport?
Of course they cannot guarantee it, no business department can guarantee anything as it is foolish to do so.. In saying that, its obvious that the management of the situation was diabolical to say the least. You cannot manage an airport like that with the expected passenger numbers and hope to god it goes smoothly because you do not have enough staff..
Granted yes people showed up a hell of a lot early for their intended flights but still, that is not the peoples fault it is the airport managements fault, as the scenes have been going on since March maybe longer…
Oh yes they will.
Dublin Airport is to small for the capacity its running on .Would be nice to build one in Kilkenny maybe …Or in Roscommon (only messin)…No seriously…
@Robert Lumezi: there are 4 other airports in ireland. You do know that, yes :) we dont need another one just a better system.
@Deirdre: there’s at least 6 offering international flights – Dublin, Belfast x 2, Cork, Shannon and Knock.
Sack them put I people who will make sure everything is in place. No big handout if they are sacked
The situation is atrocious and requires major changes….but it appears these issue are also happening in UK and European airports.
Are we been told the full story?
Scenes!
If they have plenty of money for fancy holidays let them wait.
Typical.all talk ryan how many are going to fly in @ out next week ask the airlines how many have booked to fly in @ how many have booked to fly out simple daa sounds good we will reimburse cost of flights not money from hote taxis etc
For once I agree with an FFG TD.
Politicians calling for heads to roll.. we the voters call for politicians heads to roll on occasions, but they don’t!
Make DAA publicly or privately owned. A hybrid version never works.
Hi
have your say