communicate :: collaborate :: commemorate

Heaven and hell in Europe

by Volker Weber

I think I will have to rewrite my favorite joke: heaven and hell in Europe. This is how it goes:

Heaven: the policeman is British, the lover is Italian, the cook is French, the engineer is German and it is all organized by the Swiss.

Hell: the policeman is German, the lover is Swiss, the cook is British, the engineer is French and it is all organized by the Italians.

Here is the twist: according to The Beeb Heathrow is now shipping truckloads of baggage to Milano to have it all sorted out by the Italians.

Who can rewrite hell?

Comments

I'm sure it will be fine as it will be managed by the british BA management remotely from London - ah I've gone and recreated hell without thinking. :)

Ahem. BAA is Spanish.

Dr Duncan Garrood (My role is to ensure that the airports for which I'm responsible deliver the best possible service and facilities for travellers and our airline partners) or Mark Bullock (Managing Director, Heathrow) do not sound Spanish to me. :-)

In June 2006, BAA was bought by a consortium led by Ferrovial, the Spanish construction company, and in August we officially delisted from the London Stock Exchange.

Source

As a Swiss, I have to insist that the joke goes like

Heaven: the policeman is British, the lover is Italian, the cook is French, the engineer is German and it is all governed by the Swiss.

and

Hell: the policeman is German, the lover is Swiss, the cook is British, the engineer is French and it is all governed by the Italians.

It's only a small detail, but a significant one. ;-)

Armin, I understand who owns the joint. But who runs it?

Actually, the central issue here is not who runs it, but what's it for?

That latter attribute, specifically its purpose or raison d'être, is defined by the strategy of its owner.

In this case the strategy appears to be to run a shopping mall in a place where people get on airplanes. Doesn't sound like a British strategy to me.

(Memo to self: Sign Wild Bill's petition when you get a spare moment.)

It is hard to believe. They are shipping the bags on trucks to Milano, where right now (as of April 1st) the international airport malpensa is being scaled back to a regional airport and al freight activities are reduced? These guys are insane.

Besides that, please note that Italian airports (well, more Roma Fiumicino to be fair) have a bad record when it comes to baggage handling.

Would be nice to find out who is paying the bill for these services...
and to whom.. ;-)

The Italians are -by far - much more experienced in losing baggage.
If I'd need to get rid of a large amount of airline baggage, I'd ship it to them as well. ;-)

SCNR,
/k

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vowe.net is a personal website published by Volker Weber a.k.a. vowe. I am an author, consultant and systems architect based in Darmstadt, Germany.

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