After the ghastliness and horror of Heathrow”s Halloween-like Terminal 5 opening, a very amusing take on the chaos arrives in the form of a free online computer game where you play BA”s CEO Willie Walsh, scampering to clear a pile of bags onto ” and here”s the rather unbelievable bit ” a moving conveyor belt.
”Terminal Panic” can be enjoyed by going to www.weewilliewalsh.co.uk. Willie is a pink-shirted, tie-wearing sprite, whom you direct as your own on-screen puppet to haul suitcases to a security scanner and up onto a higher level ” dodging speeding baggage trolleys ” before dumping them on the belt. It”s strangely therapeutic.
A pile of ten must be delivered (if only!) while a counter displays the number of flights departing ” and all to the British Airways theme tune, that rather majestic, lilting piece with ambient, floating choral lines from the French opera Lakme (by Leo Delibes).
Who programmed this slice of satirical genius? Glasgow-based software company T-Enterprise - ”We”re fans of his and think he”s doing a great job turning round the problems he inherited,” it says on the site.