HEATHROW DEMONSTRATES HOW NOT TO BE A GOOD NEIGHBOUR

Without any notice or consultation whatsoever, residents living under the flight paths of Heathrow’s northern runway have found themselves under a constant barrage of noise with no respite from all day flying.

Heathrow has closed the southern runway for repairs – they have had 16 weeks to do this work, whilst there was a 97% decrease in passengers – and, as any ‘good neighbour’ would, they have initiated this repair work as flights are starting to increase! 

Why didn’t Heathrow do the works earlier on when flight numbers where lower? Here’s their response:

“The global impacts of COVID-19 were completely unexpected and not something we could have planned for. One of the key factors we needed to understand at the beginning was how long this was going to affect the aviation industry.”

We agree, COVID-19 came as a complete surprise to everyone, however, it was clear from the start that this was not going to be a couple of weeks of disruption to people’s lives. We were around four weeks behind most of Europe, so we had a fair idea of how this was going to develop. Heathrow, initially, however, just continued business as usual.

Then, someone, somewhere, must have had a lightbulb moment:

“When it became clear that it would have longer term impacts to the airport, we explored the opportunity of carrying out runway repairs whilst flight levels where significantly lower than usual. Since then, we have developed the scope of the work and carried out detailed surveys as well as assessing the best options to minimise the local community impacts, whilst ensuring that regulatory processes were duly followed. Given the complexity of these factors this has consequently taken some time to develop.”

If these repairs are absolutely necessary now, one would have expected to have a full runway closure sometime soon, regardless of a global pandemic. One would also have expected that the scope of work and detailed surveys may have already been carried out – is this a total lack of forward planning? Are Heathrow executives not used to dealing with the complexities of running the Airport?

It does make you wonder, did Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye call a Zoom meeting of his top executives and run some kind of competition? Extra bonus for anyone who can come up with something that will irritate residents even more than usual.

But it isn’t a laughing matter for those residents severely impacted by this decision. If flight numbers are still low enough for this to be minimal impact, why are flights arriving and departing very early morning and very late at night? Surely, with passenger numbers down airlines can amalgamate flights which would ensure some kind of respite and a decent night’s sleep?

We already know the answer to that – Heathrow have to fit in with other airports around the world – COVID-19 has caused global disruption, passenger numbers are down everywhere. It wouldn’t take Einstein to work out schedules that make life better for residents around airports, not just at Heathrow but elsewhere. It’s called collaboration – not a new concept.

Heathrow also says “we can also assure you that Heathrow remains committed to finding ways to reduce the impact of our operations, working closely with our local residents and industry partners such as our airlines and NATS air traffic controllers. We will ensure to keep you updated on the works as they progress.”

Late in the day on Friday 10th July it was announced that from midnight on Sunday 12th July, the southern runway would close. We think the “local residents” part of that paragraph should be removed – it must be a mistake. No-one worked with local residents, they were not consulted beforehand, and no notice was given (unless a 48-hour warning is sufficient? We don’t think it is).

Heathrow always claims that it strives to be a ‘good neighbour’ and yet, it would seem, it goes out of its way to be the complete opposite.

What about the Independent Heathrow Community Engagement Board? Not a word from them. They are the organisation that is supposed to be holding Heathrow to account, yet there is nothing on their website or even their Twitter feed about this issue affecting so many residents living close to the northern runway or under northern runway flight paths.

This is what mixed mode would look like – relentless noise with all day arrivals and departures on the same runway with no break from noise, which is what so many residents expect from such a noisy neighbour. 

We will continue to highlight the effects of Heathrow on residents and we will make sure that this mixed mode operation is not a prelude to Heathrow expansion by stealth, which is what Heathrow could seek as a consolation prize were their bid for a third runway not successful at the Supreme Court later this year.

Geraldine Nicholson

Stop Heathrow Expansion