Despite UK strike, travel through Heathrow is smooth

By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor

Despite?a one-day strike of thousands of UK public sector workers, travel through London -- predicted to be a major hassle -- has gone relatively smoothly.

"Due to the effective contingency plans we have put in place with the airlines and the UK Border Agency over recent days, immigration queues are currently at normal levels," said Colin Matthews, CEO of the British Airport Authority (BAA), in a statement. "However, there still remains a possibility of delays for arriving passengers later in the day."

The airport, which is operated by the BAA, had more immigration officers on duty and fewer passengers arriving, Matthews said. "That puts us in a better place to avoid the serious delays and widespread disruption at Heathrow that were projected last week."

Hundreds of staff members have been deployed to help travelers. "They have been equipped with iPads and Blackberrys to keep passengers up to date," said Matthews.

Most airlines operated their normal schedules, warning people to expect long delays and offering to waive selected change fees.

Fliers going through Heathrow have Tweeted about a better-than-expected experience using the hashtag #heathrow.

Gary Smith (@gs7oaks) wrote: "Heathrow was strangely quick and easy to get through. Only the people in the wrong queues slowing things down"

Swedish freelance journalist Per Nyberg (@per_nyberg) wrote: "Just started to rain here at #Heathrow, the feared 12 hour waits at the airport have turned into faster immigration controls than normal"

Katie Harkin (@harkathon) wrote: "Border at Heathrow Terminal 3 like nothing I've ever seen ... Tons of extra staff, free food and drink, zero queues! #heathrow #strikes"

Fearing long delays and cancellations, many carriers offered contingency plans for travelers:

American Airlines: Passengers can reschedule flights on Nov. 29?30 up to Dec. 7 with no change fees.

British Airways: Passengers scheduled to arrive on Nov. 30 can reschedule their flight for Dec. 1?7 at no charge.

Continental Airlines: Change fees and fare differences will be waived if travel commences by Dec. 7. For other dates, change fees will be waived but fare differences may apply.

Delta Air Lines: The airline has canceled four flights to the UK on Tuesday and four from the UK on Wednesday and is warning inbound passengers to expect delays of up to eight hours. Passengers wishing to rebook without fees must be reticketed by Dec. 2 and travel no later than Dec. 7.

United Airlines: Passengers can make one change without fees for travel within seven days. However, all rescheduled travel may be subject to higher fares if it doesn?t meet the original booking code restrictions.

Virgin Atlantic: Passengers may rebook to a later flight departing before Dec. 4 with no change fee, subject to availability in the same ticket class.

Virgin is also taking additional steps in an effort to minimize the potential for disruption. ?We have used texts and social media to rebook passengers flying inbound on Nov. 30 and have reduced our capacity by half,? said spokesperson Nadia Basil in a statement. ?We are also prioritizing with the customers that need extra support and care so we can minimise the impacts of the delays as much as possible.?

For those who do fly, BAA asked inbound passengers to help speed the immigration process by taking the following steps:

???? Have travel documents, including passports, available and taken out of any wallet or case
???? Use automatic e-passport gates where available if you have a biometric passport
???? Have landing cards fully completed and ready for inspection
???? Keep family groups together

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Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/29/9095559-brace-for-impact-airlines-prepare-for-uk-strike

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