The ongoing strike threat at Stansted is the latest in a long history of turbulence at the Essex airport. Stansted is no stranger to strikes: “Deadlock over Stansted Bank Holiday strikes”, and “Unions call off Stansted strike after BAA meeting”, are just two headline stories from 2006 and 2007.

But it’s not just striking workers that have troubled the airport in recent years. Snaking security queues and delays in baggage handing over the last two years have infuriated passengers.

The Sunday Times reported in February that BAA was accused of concealing delays faced by millions of passengers at its airports, including Stansted.

BAA claimed that it almost always meets a CAA-imposed target that 95 per cent of passengers wait no more than 10 minutes to pass through security. However, the report claimed that BAA achieved this target only by not counting from the back of the queue.

Further to negative headlines, a decision on Stansted’s expansion has been delayed until at least next month. Stansted was due to get the green light to grow from 25m to 35m passengers a year this summer, ahead of a proposal to build a new runway, but expansion has stalled amid political and local opposition.

In light of the results of the Competition Commission’s inquiry into BAA, the organisation could be forced to sell three of its airports, with Gatwick and Stansted most likely to be auctioned first.

Poor passenger service was among the reasons behind the Commission’s decision, but can a new owner revolutionise Stansted and bring an end to strikes?

The fact that Ryanair has made an audacious bid to take over the airport is indicative of the airport's woes. Any new owner would streamline much of the airport’s operation, which is bound to ruffle a few feathers.

With structural and management changes would come dissatisfied workers, and with them the potential for more strikes and disruption while changes are pushed through.

So forgive me for not being optimistic about the sale of Stansted, I think the airport will be keeping me busy writing delay/chaos/strike headlines for plenty of years to come.

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