This however is neither a game nor a joke for the unfortunate would-be passengers, some of whom did sleep in Terminal 5 yesterday:
The linked article includes this quote in a sidebar:
"You get two inches of snow? We get two feet" says a man from up state New York, adding that the disruption it causes here makes him "giggle".There was also this:
But one Australian man on his way to Geneva, who did not want to be identified, saw the lighter side of the chaos.I guess it surprises some British aviation executives.
"We've spoken to more reporters than BA staff," he said. "Does it come as a great surprise that it snows in the northern hemisphere?"
This is absurd. It is getting to the point where snow shows up each winter, and every time it does Heathrow fails to cope. Heathrow Airport Holdings, Ltd. needs to step up and take this problem seriously. That Wikipedia article on the company includes the section "Snow Crisis":
BAA* has been accused of under-investing in snow and ice-fighting technology at Heathrow, which led to runway closures and severe delays in December 2010.[25] Heathrow plans to spend just £3.5 million on this technology between 2010 and 2014, compared with spending of £8 million during the same period at Gatwick, an airport half its size.Snow falling on airports is a well-understood problem solved by many busy airports. If they don't feel like they want to learn from Chicago O'Hare, they might ask their nice Commonwealth bretheren who run Toronto Pearson, or their friendly EU partners who operate Copenhagen Kastrup.
More than four hundred flights cancelled after two inches of snow. Ridiculous.
*BAA changed its name to Heathrow Airport Holdings, Ltd. last year.
