Letters

Dublin Airport: inexcusable delays

Public has endured poor service for too long

Wed Jun 01 2022 - 00:12

A chara, – The chaos at Dublin airport is a great example of the consequences of poor regulation of a monopoly.

The security controls at Dublin Airport are by necessity provided by a monopoly, meaning the forces of market competition are absent and a better provider cannot enter the market.

Absent good regulation, DAA will maximise profits by minimising costs, as evidenced by the recent redundancies.

If demand surges and there are no available employees, the travelling public pay the cost, not DAA (apart from some stern words from a Government Minister).

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The solution is simple: harsh fines for waiting times which exceed a certain threshold, certainly lower than the four to five hours many, including myself, waited on Sunday.

I look forward to seeing the Government proposals. – Is mise,

JONATHAN BLAKE,

Frankfurt,

Germany.

Sir, – I returned to Ireland a few years ago, having lived abroad for many years.

In acclimating back, often people would share well-known problems with regard to navigating various public services.

These sharings inevitably ended with a sigh and a shrug and the fatal words, “Ah sure, what can you do?”

The implied answer always being understood that there was nothing you could do.

At first, I was confounded by the robust acceptance of poor public services, then I was deeply saddened by it. How can people believe they have so little agency in a free, democratic country?

Now, six years on, I read the latest DAA fiasco and hear those fatal words rip through my thoughts, “Ah sure, what can you do?”

I’ll probably aim to show up a day early for my next flight and hope for the best. – Is mise,

KEHLEN

MIKKELSON,

Baldoyle

Dublin 13.

Sir, – What makes Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan think that the DAA can solve the current problems at the airport “within 24 hours”.

Surely if this were possible it would have done that weeks ago. – Yours, etc,

JB de VILLENEUVE,

Dublin 2.

Sir, – As one who experienced the problems at Dublin Airport earlier in the year, I sympathise with those who had to queue for hours, or indeed missed their flights, at the weekend.

A possible solution would be to transfer many of the flights to Cork or Shannon airports, which are relatively stress-free transit areas.

Indeed, it would be interesting to discover how many passengers are forced to go to Dublin from the south and west, instead of the more convenient airports in their own region.

I would suggest that Mr Ryan gets on his bike and looks at the whole flight model in Ireland and takes some serious action, instead of depending for solutions from those at the coalface who are busy trying to clear the blockage. – Is mise,

DENIS RYAN,

Knocknacarra,

Galway.

Sir, – I note from reports in The Irish Times that the DAA will be processing refund claims for passengers who missed flights as a result of the chaos at the airport last Sunday.

Can the DAA now set out their proposals to compensate those who did manage to make their flights?

Thousands of passengers, young and old, were on their feet for hours on end. They did not have a proper opportunity to relax, to sit down, to eat, to have a drink or to go to the toilet. People were agitated and tempers were flaring. It did not feel like a safe and secure place to be.

It was clearly a very anxious and stressful time for anyone caught up in the debacle.

As a nation we were embarrassed at what transpired and it might go some way to repairing our reputation if the DAA properly compensates travellers for the ordeal they had to endure. – Yours, etc,

REAMONN O’LUAN,

Churchtown,

Dublin 14.