Under-fire Manchester Airport bosses told to 'get a grip or get out'

Blackley and Broughton MP Graham Stringer says it was once the ‘best in the world’ but is now challenging the under-fire management at Manchester Airport to ‘get a grip or get out’. "It pains me to see the chaos and lack of service," said the Labour veteran and former chairman of the airport's board.

The comments follow a string of reports in the Manchester Evening News about long delays at security and problems delivering bags to arriving passengers, including how the airport has been plagued by staff shortages, and of long delays for passengers waiting to board flights. This weekend we revealed images of boxes piled high at security gate checks and reports of holidaymakers jumping over barriers and jostling for space.

Baggage handlers have said they are under more stress, with reports of passengers abandoning luggage to get away after waiting hours in vain for their bags. Amid reports of further long queues on Monday morning, a councillor claimed the continuing chaos was down to a 'failure of management', claiming the mayhem could last into the summer.

Today (Monday) Blackley and Broughton MP Mr Stringer, who led Manchester Council during the 1990s and who was chairman of the airport board from 1996 to 1997, told the M.E.N: "At that time Manchester Airport had just been voted by the international business community as the best airport in the world. A delegation from Changi Airport, in Singapore, came to see how they could compete. It pains me to see the chaos and lack of service to customers that now seems to categorise Manchester Airport. The current management need to get a grip or get out.

"Manchester Airport is not just a business and a successful product - it is partly owned by the people of Greater Manchester.