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Airlines, airports need to 'stop fighting'By Julie Clothier for CNN  Airlines have increased the presence of self check-in systems and decreased manned check-in desks. QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSLONDON, England (CNN) -- Fighting between British airports and airlines over who is to blame for problems following the discovery of alleged plot to blow up transatlantic flights will only make matters worse, says one aviation observer. Airline officials have accused the British government and airport authorities of mishandling new security measures introduced since the alleged plot was uncovered. On Friday, low-cost carrier Ryanair issued the British government a seven-day ultimatum to restore airport security measures to normal or run the risk of being sued for compensation. But Duncan Alexander, EMEA managing director for global travel and transport information company OAG, told CNN such moves would ultimately be unhelpful. "What they need to do is sit down together and work out a contingency plan, work together and learn from the lessons learnt," he said. "Particularly in the UK, this sort of disruption is going to happen again." Simple technology needs to be taken advantage of, particularly when it comes to communicating with passengers, Alexander said. He said some airlines were beginning to capture passenger data so that they could inform them quickly if there was a disruption. "This is not about abusing personal information, it's about using a simple form of communication like SMS text messages, whereby one operator can send a message to a wave of passengers telling them not to come near the place if there's a disruption at an airport." He said it was ironic that some new technology had not coped with the pressure of the delays. Over time airlines have significantly reduced the number of manned check in desks, which had contributed to processing delays during the aftermath of last week's chaos. "It's ironic that systems like self-service check ins, were put in place to make life easier for certain types of passengers, like frequent flyers and business travelers, didn't cope," Alexander said. "They are fantastic most of the time and offer efficiency for airlines in many ways, but some airports were already at the brink of their capacity at peak times. They were already pretty stretched." He said new restrictions about hand luggage would hit low cost airlines the hardest because they relied on aircraft having short turnaround times on the tarmac. "These new measures have lasted longer than I thought they would have. Last week I thought things would return to normal fairly quickly so I have been taken by surprise. "Even if a passenger uses the fast track, self-service check-in system they still have to drop their luggage somewhere. That system works well when one in 10 people onboard are using it but it collapses when every one needs to check luggage in. "I can't remember the last time I checked in luggage -- apart from going on holiday. Next time I travel for business I probably will have to." There were also implications about whether current levels of baggage handlers could cope with processing the increased number of bags being checked in. British Airways, the worst-affected airline, said Friday it had almost cleared a backlog of 5,000 pieces of luggage separated from their owners amid hundreds of delayed and canceled flights. The airline canceled 19 short-haul services from Heathrow Airport Thursday, and said it planned to operate a full service on Friday. 
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