Dublin Airport security waiting times

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118851711#Comment_118851711

You are absolutely right. Services of all kinds are getting interrupted due to lack of staff; result of poor wages & Covid, & disorganisation in recruiting. Even a percentage of the recruiters are absent from work.

Was on a group trip to Romania before Christmas and the general consensus among fellow travellers, whose first time it was to the country, why the hell would Romanians prefer to work in Ireland when they have world class facilities in their own country, eg a shopping centre like you might find in Dubai, shiny filling stations with first class bakeries and facilities to relax and shop, & stunning scenery. A lot of people have earned enough to put a deposit on a very nice home in their own country. Bit like the Irish who went to Middle East to earn enough to put on a house back home during the era of the “Sally O’Brien” ad.

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118852329#Comment_118852329

Clearly not hacked, the tweet remains and is intertwined with normal announcements and responses.

Ballsy, but hilarious.

Would never have happened in Siobhan O'Donnell's day!

cson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118851640#Comment_118851640

That's what stood out to me; would you be holed doing airport security for 14 quid an hour with (a) the abuse you have to deal with and (b) the general cost of commuting to the airport. It should be a 20 quid an hour job, then they'd have no problem filling it. Definitely been a tough 2 years for the DAA but they shouldn't have many excuses for this, it wasn't exactly a secret that demand for travel would be huge.

9320

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118852656#Comment_118852656

Yeah I was shocked at that, more so the whole only 20 hours guaranteed on top of that but having to be available for 40!

That’s lousy money for that kind of job in this market. It’s a serious role with a lot of responsibility and serious customer interaction.

Blut2

Security in DUB always seems to pull an unusually high % of bags for pointless further inspection. Its no real harm when theres no queue, but I'd hope when the queue is hitting 30min+ they'd show some common sense and reassign the staff from doing that to open more lanes.

That and yeah, they really need to raise wages and guarantee more than 20 hours. Why would anyone sign up to a job that requires them to be available 40+ hours a week, work unsociable late/very early shifts, and only pays 20hrs x €14.14 an hour. Thats a princely sum of €283 a week minus the costs of getting to work.

Strumms

Yeah it’s pathetic… that 14.14 an hour… inclusive of shift pay..according to the DAA.. https://www.daa.ie/job-listings/airport-search-unit-dublin-airport/

29,952 per year basic… a busy job, serious responsibility, seriously shîte money.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118852656#Comment_118852656

I had been booked on a new route out of Dublin, to the beautiful town of Lübeck in northern Germany. A full service airline, Lübeck Air, with 23kg luggage allowance and inflight meal & drinks, landing at a no-fuss tiny regional airport, was really looking forward to a nice easy city break in a very historic place without queues etc at local airport on return. Alas they sent me an email to inform me of refund of fare as DAA had refused to license the route. I was puzzled, but obviously they were refusing to add to the air traffic as Dublin Airport couldn’t cope with the human traffic. A new 3 times per week route by Aurigny to Guernsey has been delayed going into operation. It’s a lovely place for a spring break. These airlines had applied long ago for their routes, so it isn’t that DAA couldn’t predict the likely traffic.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118853000#Comment_118853000

The pulling aside of bags for further inspection is, I believe, may be partly in response to the software package which flags potentially “suspicious items”. I’m guessing it may be overly sensitive compared to software/settings used at many other airports. Of course, for decades back software has been used to put false suspicious shapes (eg gun shape) which the operator has to click on; ok if it disappears, if it doesn’t luggage must be opened for inspection. It is implemented to keep staff alert and motivated. I would love to know about the settings used at Dublin Airport in comparison to others, but that’s not a secret likely to be revealed.

One thing I have observed in my travels through very small airports, some of these have been used for security staff training purposes, eg Newquay in Cornwall. Don’t know what it’s like now but at one time they opened every single checked-in luggage and called each passenger in a queue to account for items. It was infuriating, made it a miserable little airport to use on departure for that and a few other reasons. One man beside me had his leg gage opened in front of me, was full of colostomy bags with a horrible aul security bint asking “what are these for?” She stepped aside for a moment to get something from her office, and a junior security guy, looking all embarrassed, said “this is all to train me”. I subsequently read that it was serving as a school to train Airport security personnel for other airports in UK as it had few enough flights to pose too much real serious threat whilst offering the ability to go through every passenger with a five tooth comb on every regional/short-haul flight, generally in small aircraft.

Irish Steve

Looks like, as expected, DAA have managed to drop the ball yet again, and lose the plot. This morning, I get an E-mail from Ryanair to allow 3 and a half hours to get to the gate, which for a 06:35 departure is a serious PAIN. Then, this evening, when I check in on line, as I refuse to pay the extra for reserved seating, I get completely different information, which is saying to allow 2 hours total in the terminal. At that hour of the morning, that's one hell of a difference, and makes a nonsense of all the media nonsense that's going on.

What I'd like to see is the Commision for Aviation regulation introduce a mandatory requirement that DAA update the queue times on some form of on line spreadsheet at least 4 times an hour, with that spreadsheet remaining on line for at least a month so that people can see exactly when the peaks are happening at different times of the day, and on different days, and plan accordingly. The present system (mess) is not a system, it's yet again a shambles, maybe made worse by circumstances that are outside of the control of DAA, but some of what's happening at the moment could and should have been foreseen more clearly by the relevant people in DAA.

As for the chances of the regulator doing anything pro active, the chances of that are probably about the same as snow in August, the track record of pretty much every regulator in this country seems to be something along the lines of "that's not part of our remit".

It will be interesting to see just how bad things are tomorrow morning, I'm not looking forward to it at all, I'm only going because the stupidity of European Money Laundering rules means that I can't present the documents that the bank needs at the branch in Newry, and I have to travel to the branch in the UK in order to open an account for the money relating to the sale of my parent's house. It's going to be a long hard day, even if things do go well.

lordleitrim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118853510#Comment_118853510

Not sure a day by day, week by week, month by month comparison would help gauge typical congestion at the time one wants to fly. Last Thursday could average 10 minute queues but next Thursday or the Thursdays across next month could have far more flights as summer schedules commence, it could be a Bank Holiday or midterm break so far more pax could be at the airport resulting in 90 minute waits for the same day or time. I think a guesstimate of windows eg 6am to 9am like some businesses (banks, popular restaurants etc) use to say when services are lighter or busier might help.

The wait time advised by the DUB app isn't great for advance planning either. It could say 10 mins when I leave my house but by the time I've driven to and parked in long term and arrived at the terminal on the shuttle bus, it could deteriorate to a 90 minute wait.

I think Covid related absenses are hampering things too. HSE today said there have been 100s of 1000s of cases in the past week and only a minority are being reported on the database. Such numbers must also be feeding into security staff absences.

It really is a perfect storm of a debacle....

bikeman1

They really could get a lot more interested in if they guaranteed more than 20 hours of work. Like at this stage surely they need permanent full time staff and mountains of them to get back up to the numbers needed.

It’s really unfair to have people up all night to make a short flight to UK or Europe to catch a morning flight. Makes the whole thing unbearable and very stressful.

goingnowhere

Already 40 minute queue in T1 before 5am

Jacovs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118854127#Comment_118854127

Just to point out why they only give 20 hour contracts (and by no means do I support it because I used to be one of those on a 20 hour contract, not with the DAA but elsewhere in the airport, but same thing applies).

There is a morning peak for example from 0500-0900. If they need 100 people just for those 4 hours peak time then they will look for 100 x 20 hour contracts to be filled. If they were to appoint full time staff then they can only get 50 x 40 hour contracts filled for the same cost of labour. But then those 50 people would be doing 8 hour shifts, so once the peak is over they arent all needed from 0900-1300 and end up being over staffed.

Then there is an evening peak again. You could split the 100 x 20 hour staff, 50 in the morning and 50 in the evening to cover both peaks.

Not the consumer's problem? Eventually it is if the DAA increases their airport charges and it gets added onto the cost of a plane ticket.

Thats why at the start of COVID the DAA made generous offers to the staff thats been there and were on full time contracts, to get them out and get cheaper staff in now.

What I have seen some companies in the airport do if they have too many staff on full time contracts but not enough to cover the morning and evening peaks, is introduce split shifts. That means yes you get 40 hours a week, but you have to do 0500-0900 in the morning and again 1700-2100 in the evening for example. Absolute pain in the hole, or it was for me anyways.

And also, the government loves the 20 hour contracts, it gets twice as many people off social welfare and makes the unemployment numbers look better.

California Dreamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118854452#Comment_118854452

Hang on till we all take out our crystal balls!

trellheim

It will almost definitely not be fixed for ages . DAA have dropped a massive ball in not staffing the completely expected surge in passenger numbers. I expect no manager to take any responsibility for this.

At the very least they could allow luggage dropoffs earlier than (-3) but the airlines would need to staff the desks accordingly and DAA would need to pay them to do it so that aint gonna happen as the DAA directors pension plan payments are more important

eastie17

I took two flights to get to Munich from Cork last week (ORK to AMS, AMS to Munich), was still easier than going through the shithole that Dublin airport has become.

Very little food offerings in Cork airport as others have said, presumably due to lack of hiring, one small coffee shop and a pub that only serves crisps but does of course manage to lorry out the pints at all times of day or night.

donkey balls

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118854466#Comment_118854466

Split shifts nearly put me in an early grave and back then I was full time 40hrs contract, My company paid me a split shift allowance but I was totally drained.

DHL ramp lads also did split shifts and I know a lad driving for Dublin bus that does them, I've done all types of shift work and the split shifts was the worse, You also got to factor in the millage and fuel costs in as well.

As for checking in and going through security I arrived at the airport for 0300 and was through security by 0415 the other morning this was T1, The last two times I went through security as T2 last month and December and we sailed through.

bikeman1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118854466#Comment_118854466

I understand exactly why they do it from a cost point of view, but they are really missing out on the big picture stuff. It is a classic case of an accountant going to far and not zooming out and looking at the business on the whole.

If it requires staff to be there and resourced, then this is what is needed. The DAA are (in normal times) absolutely rolling it in. Over 30 million passengers, and they can't properly fund and pay decent salaries to a very important safety function.

Who cares if they are quiet for a few hours of the day? That is the nature of some jobs, mad rush and then very little. They are only being paid €14.14 per hour in Dublin. It's not huge money.

The bigger picture is the reputation of the airport. Every single person in the world LOVES an airport with good, fast security. This then lends the passenger to enjoy all the post security offerings. They have time and will spend money. Thus improving the attractiveness of concession units to operate there, as they have happy passengers who sailed through spending there.

Then you have the real point, security. God forbid if these, over worked, underpaid and disgruntled staff missed something serious. Then there is the reputational damage as well as a serious security risk on board.

I say it again, and airport with fast security (including peaks) is an attractive airport and will win more passengers.

pc7

Very true bike man, I will never ever ever go through LAX again. Would do every route possible to avoid it, if you offered me free flights I’d still say no

Jacovs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118856204#Comment_118856204

I agree with all you say.

Think of it this way. They can get double the amount of staff at peak times by giving 20 hour contracts than if they give 40 hour contracts. In theory that should alleviate the pressure at peak times more, which is what everyone wants.

The people in charge of budgets call the shots at the end of the day, and if computer says no then they dont care. There is no bigger picture for them, just the picture on their computer in front of them.

I have had these fights in that very airport with those very types.

That doesnt mean they cant pay them more per hour of course, to make the 20 hours more attractive. But not without paying current staff more too. Cant have new staff on more money than existing staff.

DAA knows they have no real competition. The long security queues are proof of that. If people had a real alternative they wouldve voted with their feet. But with most of the population in Dublin, majority wont be driving to Belfast or Cork or Shannon, extra risk and expense and maybe even takes longer too, even if it means standing in a queue for a few hours for free in DUB.

pinkypinky

I've got a flight on Saturday week at 6am from T1. I've seen some people posting about what flights are at what times. As a complete newbie, how can I figure out what the airport's busy-ness level at that time? I'd prefer not to wake up in the middle of the night just to check the app this Saturday!

Irish Steve

Only just home, having done a pain of a day to Bristol and back so that we could sort out some messy bank account nausea related to a trust account that was needed to execute my step father's will.

Tuesday AM, I get a mail message from Ryanair telling me that I need to allow 3 and a half hours before departure to clear security, so in theory, I'm supposed to arrive at 0300 for a 0630 flight. In their dreams! Then, later in the day, I get a notification during check in to allow 2 and a half hours, so in the end, that was what we went with, we left home here just before 0400, and arrived at the Red Zone car park at 04:16.

That's the first aggravation. Use Area A the signs say, so I follow area A, and drive up and down a few rows with no success, made more difficult be people going the wrong way down one way rows. Not even sure how, but I ended up on a roadway that went in the general direction of the Exit, and just before the exit, there's an arrow to the left for Parking, and another sign saying use Area A. Only one problem, there's no way back to Area A from that point, without exiting the car park, and having paid to get into the damn thing, the last thing I'm going to do is trigger an exit at that point. So, I go round the Park route, and after several attempts to get into a parking area, having been blocked by closed barriers all over the place, I gave up and did what I'd seen other do a few minutes earlier, and ignored one of the supposed exits that was beside an empty row, and threw it in there. That's the first time I've used the remodelled Red Zone, and it's the last,hopefully quick Park will be reincarnated real soon, they were always completely on the ball, and had staff on duty to direct people to the parking spaces, whereas the Red zone had NOTHING to provide any sort of quidance to where there were actual spaces available. That meant that by the time we'd got the bus to the terminal, it was 04:45 before we were in the queue. The experience there was different to what it used to be, the queue would move maybe 50 metres, then stop for maybe 3 or 4 minutes, then move again, and this went on throughout the security area, it seems that the queue before the boarding card check was being held to avoid overcrowding in the lead in to the active scanners.

Yes, DAA need more people on the ground, because the problem was that a significant number of scanners were not operational. That said, there was and is still a major issue at the scanner, which is that despite clear noticies up on the walls, telling people how to proceed through the scan stage, there were still significant numbers arriving at the belt, and only then starting to get their medications out of the case, and take off top coats, and boots, and put the relevant items in the scan trays, with the result that there were yet again delays because people were NOT ready when they got to the belts, and only when tney got there did they start preparing for the process, with the inevitable result of more delay.

Yes, DAA have once again made a mess out of things, but there are also considerable numbers of people that seem to be completely unaware of the basics of Airport security, and their ignorance and lack of preparation is serving to make a bad situation worse. We were eventually through the scan stage by 05:20, which meant that we had some 35 minutes "slack" in our schedule, better that way than late for the flight.

As for the validity of the way that airport security is operated, that's a subject for another time and place, partly because at 01:20 on Thursday morning, I need some sleep, and I can't make coherent sense of this right now.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118857201#Comment_118857201

You bet it will be BUSY early Saturday morning. Count on it.

gzoladz

Dublin Airport app was updated to remove the security times...

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118859869#Comment_118859869

I can still see security times (Android) and no update pending

goingnowhere

Still working here

T1=10

T2=15

😀

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118856204#Comment_118856204

Pretty much this, and Christ I wish more companies of all sizes would realise it. The money spent on recruitment is insane (different sector but my sister went through interviews the last few years and in one case we added up the people involved and time etc. and it was just ridiculous.

For airport security jobs, as someone pointed out, so what if it's quiet sometimes? Most jobs are at some point. Never get that sinking feeling working from home that maybe the email or chat program has crashed without you noticing because it's been 3 hours since you heard anything? :P

Do they all need to be full time? No. But a lot of them could be.

gzoladz

Mmm...odd, it is gone from my 2 devices.

Anyway, I downgraded the app to the previous version and I can see the again.

goingnowhere

Classic DAA bunker management, hide the problem from the eyes of the media and therefore us

trellheim

My ios app for daa still has the waiting times

lordleitrim

Earlier this month when I was flying out of T1, it was the first time I noticed them intermittently pausing the boarding pass scanners before security to relieve congestion in the pre security queuing area. While it was busy, the overall wait time was only 20/25 minutes or so . This was a Thursday afternoon.

Irish Steve

My contempt for the DAA only deepens, only a manager that knows that there would be no consequences for their action would decide that it's a good idea to remove from the public domain the figures that give a real time display of their incompetence. The security queue times have been removed from the app, so now, they can pretend that everything in the garden is rosy, and there's no problem with their service. What a sickening joke.

Blut2

The security queue times are still on my app, and apparently most others in this thread?

I've been checking it a few times a day for the last week to get an idea of queue times for an upcoming trip and the vast majority of the time they're under 15 minutes in both terminals, too. I've only seen it over 30minutes once.

Hotblack Desiato

Perhaps the reason those times have been removed is that they were not remotely accurate?

john boye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118862509#Comment_118862509

That was my first thought. Very hard to accurately predict them atm I'd imagine

Caranica

I can still see the times (5 minutes both terminals) but there is an app update pending. I'm not planning on updating the app before I travel next week

Luxembourgo

Updated to great test it and yes it's gone now.

Dreadful form from the DAA.

Flew last Saturday, was interesting that despite the queues and stress every second bag was "randomly" stopped for a check. There is a time and place...

Chris_5339762

Yeah I'd say thats gone for practical reasons - whatever sensors they use do not go as far back as the queue stretches so they would be utterly innaccurate (and could trigger legal problems).

Don't be coming to Cork for your flights please, I'm happy with our well run quiet little airport.

olestoepoke

We are flying to Manchester at 6.30am this Saturday morning, we have fast track. What time realistically should we be at the airport. Not checking in bags, going straight to security with our boarding passes and a carry bag. I was thinking around 4am for a 6.30am flight should do.

gzoladz

This morning it seems to be chaotic and easing off from 730/800. Same trend as previous days although Fridays are logically busier.

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118863061#Comment_118863061

Well run?

https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2021/0414/1209900-cork-airport-closure/

I hope the government is paying attention to this. Dublin Airport is absolutely key infrastructure. If there’s a prolonged issue, Ireland becomes less and less attractive as a business destination. It’s making our infrastructure look like a joke.

Retaining staff at airports during the pandemic should have been a state priority. It’s not like we’re an island or anything … or what we utterly depend on having functional airports.

Degsy123

Same here, 6:30 flight with fast track. Think I’ll aim for 4 to be in the airport. Impossible to know 🙁

Chris_5339762

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118864224#Comment_118864224

Yes, that runway closure was a good idea in the end - got it all done at once while not too many people were travelling.

Innisfallen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118864246#Comment_118864246

Not sure the current Minister for Transport cares all that much about aviation.

Naos

I've a flight next Friday at 20:30 - any idea of Friday security times?

Problem I will have is, with Ryanair I can't check my bags in until 2 hours before the flight - so what am I meant to do...

trellheim

If you miss your flight and were at the airport in the recommended time can you make a 261 claim ? Does travel insurance cover this stuff ?

Irish Steve

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118865211#Comment_118865211

I had an email earlier in the week (Flew with them on Wednesday) that said check in desks were opening 3 and a half hours before departure. I don't know how long that will be in place, I am guessing it could be a while!

artanevilla

T2 ran out of food yesterday at about 1pm.