{"id":33259,"title":"Manchester Airport chaos highlights Britain’s crumbling infrastructure","publisher":"Stockmark.IT","author":"Stockmark.IT Website","published":"2024-06-25T05:16:04+00:00","modified":"2024-06-25T05:16:04+00:00","canonical_url":"https://stockmark.it/manchester-airport-chaos-highlights-britains-crumbling-infrastructure/","markdown_url":"https://stockmark.it/manchester-airport-chaos-highlights-britains-crumbling-infrastructure.md","json_url":"https://stockmark.it/manchester-airport-chaos-highlights-britains-crumbling-infrastructure.json","category":"Airport","categories":["Airport","Energy"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/stockmark.it/wp-content/uploads/stencil.default-2024-06-25T061544.757.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"There are too many outdated and unreliable facilities with no improvement plans.\n\nElected officials either blame others too quickly – or refuses to admit that there is a problem, even after being presented with facts.\n\nMany senior businessmen choose to hide behind a ludicrously high-paid army of spinners who will deflect, obstruct and divert at every opportunity.\n\nThere was something refreshing about Chris Woodroofe’s decision to take the heat over the weekend when chaos quickly descended upon Britain’s third largest airport after a major outage.\n\nWoodroofe, who stood outside the main terminal and offered his “sincere apology to every single affected passenger by what happened”, was a shining example of leadership. Many public figures could learn a lot from him.\n\nIt is likely that his words have calmed the anger of the hundreds of holidaymakers who were left stranded. This is the best thing one can hope for in such a situation.\n\nThey won’t dampen the concerns of British citizens about the crumbling of Britain.\n\nThe majority of power cuts occur in developing countries that are either unable to pay their bills, or have not invested enough in basic infrastructure. This is because corrupt ruling elites spent the tax money on Rolls-Royces and marble palaces.\n\nThe incident at Manchester Airport may have been nothing more than a one-off, electrical problem that was quickly fixed and is unlikely to happen again anytime soon.\n\nIt is a testament to the poor state of the critical infrastructure in this country that it will be questioned whether the collapse at Manchester is indicative of a larger malaise sweeping across the UK.\n\nThere is no plan to upgrade the basic physical structures and facilities that support civilised societies.\n\nManchester Airport’s rapid descent into chaos reminds us of the fragility of our transportation system.\n\nThis is alarming.\n\nThere are too many roads that are either in a state of shocking dereliction . Rail is still a joke.\n\nCommuters have been held hostage by union barons who are politically driven for years, enduring constant cancellations and delays. Travelling on overcrowded trains has become the norm, rather than the rule.\n\nMany airports used to be first-class, but now they lack the staff or capacity to meet demand and rely on outdated technologies and systems.\n\nHeathrow has been begging for a third runway since decades. Yet, it seems that the airport is still not close to the kind of expansion which would allow it to compete with its more tenacious overseas competitors.\n\nThe infrastructure gap in Britain is particularly acute in the North. Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel HS2’s Manchester leg has not helped the situation.\n\nManchester Airport’s long-term growth projections were lowered from 60 million passengers per year to 50 millions by 2040.\n\nThe power grid is also in the spotlight after Sunday’s travel problems in the North West.\n\nThe power that airports consume and the amount of people who pass through them are comparable to small cities.\n\nToday, operations must be bulletproof and not vulnerable to supply failures.\n\nManchester Airport claims that the outage only lasted a few moments, but it was enough for all the vital components to malfunction and have catastrophic consequences. This included everything from baggage screening to the processing of boarding passes.\n\nIn addition to 50 outbound flights, more than 60 departures were also cancelled. This is equivalent to one quarter of all flights departing from the airport. Many other flights were rerouted.\n\nMr Woodroofe compared the loss of the power supply with “ripping out the plug from your computer without properly shutting it down”. Why did it happen, though? Was there backup power? If so, did it work properly?\n\nThe baggage system was still inoperative even after the power was restored, leaving hundreds of suitcases in front of the check-in desks.\n\nA blackout plunged the airport in darkness, capping an afternoon of unforgivable tragedy.\n\nThe reliability of an old grid is in question, especially with demand set to soar.\n\nDoes it have the capacity to cope with a world where electric vehicles, artificial intelligent and renewables will be a common occurrence?\n\nGreg Jackson of Octopus Energy, the founder has stated that the National Grid “is not fit for purpose”.\n\nHolidaymakers who are dissatisfied are entitled to question whether they are the latest victims of the popular financial model that has been adopted by so many British assets, where absentee investors put their own interests above the needs of customers.\n\nIf Thames Water were owned by a more benign entity, it is unlikely that they would be subject to nationalisation .\n\nManchester Airport is owned jointly by Greater Manchester’s ten councils and the Australian investment fund IFM Investors. Stansted Airport and East Midlands are also owned by the group.\n\nSince before Covid, the consortium has not paid a dividend.\n\nBefore the pandemic, which grounded all air travel, the payments were generous. Several council leaders have mentioned that they rely on these payouts.\n\nIn 2019, the shareholders will share a windfall of £110m . In 2015, it was £93m.\n\nCould money have been spent better to make Manchester more resilient?\n\nA new government will have a lot to do, but the top priority is to reboot our overloaded infrastructure."}