Taxi Driver Online

Manchester Airport are proposing a move from a fixed ''permit'' fee to a pay per journey for Cabs that operate from there.
Last year the permit fee was £270-£300 per year depending on when you paid.(there was a discount if you paid promptly).
However, since November they have been charging 40pence per entry into the feeder park (an area where cabs park before going onto ranks) and now this is set to increase to £1.60 per entry and no fixed amount.
The effect of this will be that any hackney driver will be able to work from the Airport (no problem there) and the amount payable by each driver will go up to £2,400 per annum or more from what used to be a fee of £270.
The licensing authority (Manchester City Council) have refused to sanction the fee (£1.60) to be added to the cost of each journey and instead allowed only 40 pence per journey (supposedly to pay for the Marshalls at the Airport).
This is an increase of some 900% and will mean the average driver is expected to fork out an extra £2,000 per annum from his own pocket.
No-one as yet has come up an answer to the question...''where is this money supposed to come from '' ?
The question is, is this legal ?
Any driver seeking to recover the money from passengers will be breaking the law.
A lot of passengers travel a very short distance from the Airport so a driver will end up paying £1.60 for a fare of say £8.00 effectively paying out 20% of his fare to the Airport.
Anyone have any experience of this at other Airports ?
Thanks

Cheshirebest

It is not compulsary to work the airport is it? If enough of the hackneys don't go there or preferably none of the hackneys, then maybe the airport will have a rethink.

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Grandad,

I would keep banging on at our council, and never take no as an answer.

Why should the trade pay the higher price out of their fares?

From memory don't you pay a fixed amount at the train station, which can be added to the meter?

IMO it's about time the lads in your manor got some new life at the top of the association/union tree, cos it looks like your existing leadership are a bit whimpish.

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IDFIMH

Yes, at the train station we are charged 20p and we are allowed to put this on the meter.
The other point here is that Manchester City Council (our licensing authority) are also the majority (55%) shareholders of Manchester Airport plc.
I think this is illegal for the simple reason that ''it cannot be legal for a Licensing authority to profit from people it licences'' as this creates an obvious conflict of interest......any thoughts on that ?
Grandad.....the Airport would love for us to leave as they have a company operating a ''taxi'' service using a bus licence (a taxibus service) with the full backing of the Airport.
It seems that that is their ultimate intention, to price us out of the Airport.
The fee is being raised to £1.60 from 40p......whats to stop it going to £3.00 or more next year and the year after ?
Thanks guys for the response...and I am sure I will get lots more since my post was on a saturday evening when most drivers are out making Jam.

Can't see that one working, as the council also benefit when a licensed vehicle parks in one of their car parks.

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IDFIMH

Nothing, and they will. You must get your council to put it on your tariff.

Get the local unions/associations to meet the top councillors ASAP.

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IDFIMH

They put the cost of collecting passengers by ANY vehicle up from NOTHING to a minimum of £1.80 (for up to 30mins) at a stroke last year.

A parking permit to cover all terminals is now £800 (April 2007) that's up from £350 the previous year.

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you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

It's happening at all airports. They see us making money from what they see as "their" customers, so they want to make some more money. If they get say an extra 50 pence per customer through car parking or taxi fares, how much extra revenue is that per year?

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Grandad,

Parking in a car park is one thing.......
But, this is a charge ''per journey''....if you see the difference.
They will charge irrespective of whether we ''park'' or not...
i.e. if the ranks are busy we will still get charged for picking up a job.

The GMB have quite a few members at Manchester, why don't you contact them on the following email address, GMB@traffordpark.org ask for Pat Conner or Kevin Flanagan.

Regards
BB

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Mick Hildreth (07814 032002)
GMB PDB P39 Southern Region Branch Secretary
mick.hildreth@gmbtaxis.org.uk
www.gmbpdb.org.uk

Yes. Ask them about the Private Hire car rank they allowed to operate unopposed in Manchester during the festive period.

Perhaps you could spare a couple of brain cells Mr BB? Then send them 1st class post tomorrow.

Well you surprise me again Mr GBC , maybe one day you will climb out of your back passage long enough to suggest something positive and helpful to other fellow cab drivers, but I doubt it.

Regards
BB

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Mick Hildreth (07814 032002)
GMB PDB P39 Southern Region Branch Secretary
mick.hildreth@gmbtaxis.org.uk
www.gmbpdb.org.uk

If the local GMB cab section didn't, or didn't appear to fight this rank, then that's regrettable, but it doesn't stop them fighting another battle.

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IDFIMH

According to George Simms he and Sean Kenny of the GMB along with Khalil Ahmed met with Gary Ellis and Bob Longworth of the Airport management committee in December, who told them they were going to charge a fee of one pound per fare. Another meeting was scheduled for that month were it is assumed a figure of one pound sixty was agreed upon. How come after the Airport suggested a figure of one pound you end up with a figure of one pound sixty?

The TOA Bulletin also said that the Airport are to take over pay and responsibility of taxi Marshals, introduce a compulsory public awareness training course and reposition taxi ranks.

The problem for anyone working any Airport in the country is that, at all times you are playing with their ball.

I understand this scheme comes in on April fools day this year, some might see that as being ironic?

The fact is that if you work the Airport you work there on their terms or you don't work there at all. I'm afraid that's a fact of life.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Your 13 GMB members in London are not my fellow Taxi drivers, and they never will be.

Talking about back passages, how are you and Terry making out nowadays?

Keep those hours up 'brother'