Originally Posted by
mikemmb
Hi Rog747, Thanks for popping in, much appreciated.
As you can probably see from the above, I have managed to line up a few of my brain cells and am now fairly certain about the name and location of the small check in system that played a significant part in the onward direction of my working life!
Still not sure of the date when the "T1 Domestic Check In" system was installed (or was it simply an upgrade to an older system?).
My guess is that it I was there in the early 1980's (definitely not pre 79).
A photograph of the "T1 Domestic Check In" from that era would be great, but I have spent some time on the web searching and drawn a blank.
Mike
Ah right OK - well at T1 most check in was done at ''Islands'' positioned along the middle of the departures floor (apart from BA Domestic and Belfast at Gate 49) I was there on and off 74-75 with Northeast, then BMA 77-85
BMA which was all Domestic then was at the far (north) end of T1 by the balcony looking down over the Domestic arrivals area and Dom. baggage carousel and north door exit...
We were Island A.
Opposite us was BA European check-in and they had islands all the way down to the end (International end)
Some BA long haul came to T1 and that was done at the far end.
Aer Lingus were somewhere nearer us - perhaps they were opposite us???
At the far end was enhanced security area for Tel Aviv flights.
At this end were the International Departures doors to go through to Security and the International Deps lounge.
To the left of these doors I seem to recall the out of gauge bag drop...That is all I recall.
I think Cyprus Airways were still checked in by BA post 1974 Tridents, - not sure if they went to T2 when they had the 720B's ?
I dont think South African had come over to T1 in my time. El Al - maybe?
Ticket Desks were on the entrance side of the Terminal.
So BA Domestic check in (not Shuttle) and BA staff travel check in was over by the windows.
BA did then move those desks but I am sorry I cannot recall where to.
The BA Belfast was done at Gate 49 They parked on the Novembers...near Gate 1
the Shuttle Gates were around gate 5 that served all the flights parked on A1 A3 A5 & any on the N's.
Domestic security check was minimal for pax and for us, but more so for the BA Belfast pax at Gate 49 who had to go past a plain clothes SB guy who was at a podium iirc.
Coaching flights was done from Gate 1 as were the domestic coaching arrivals.
BMA used gates and stands B2 B4 A7 A9 B10 and pax would walk over to B12
and coaching of course...but we sometimes parked on N49 and N51 and walked them in I think to Gate 1.
EI used B6 & B8 (so did we on the odd occasion, but it was a sort of Customs cum Special Branch area)
Ticketed pax with HB could go straight to the gate if it was open, and the LMC's even with hold bags could do too (aka Take a Chance, or Runners as we called them)
Close out at check in with hold bags at the desk was at -20 and -10 at the gate...
If we had all the pax on the list sitting at the gate by -20 and the aircraft was ready to be boarded we would rock n roll and get it going - It was a pleasure to see the aircraft actually airborne at 'departure time' - The pax and crews loved it.
We could push off the A or B stands and whizz round to 28R and sneak in at the intersection and be up and away PDQ.
On very busy mornings around the 08.00 peak rush hour BAA apron would park one of the DC-9's arriving say from MME on stand 151 - We would think WTF are they thinking but sometimes we just had to go with it and try and still get it out on time at 08.55 BD332. Other times as it was taxying in a stand change would come up for something much closer to T1.
BAA were not all bad lol.
Fast forward to about 1983/84 by now BMA had taken on BA head to head with GLA EDI and now BFS. We were now not just big - but very big.
It was decided to knock through B2 to B4 and make a new dedicated BMA gate check in at Gate 4 for the businessmen and a lounge for all BMA flights who would then be called to other gates if the aircraft was parked elsewhere. We still had Island A of course.
The Shuttle was a success for BA during a period of internal strife but November 1, 1982 would throw a major spanner in the works. That was the day that British Midland, the only other British airline of size with a presence at Heathrow, began its own ‘Diamond Service’ flights between Heathrow and Glasgow. These used DC-9s six times daily, neatly dovetailed in between the BA shuttle services. They offered lower fares as well as full in-flight service (Hot breakfast and Cornflakes and milk for breakfast).
Midland’s operations would soon extend to Edinburgh and Belfast and the impact on BA’s shuttle was profound.
BA responded with an advertising campaign that showed a single passenger being flown in comfort on a back-up aircraft and BA used Concorde to show off on the Shuttle.
To pass the advertising standards this needed to have actually happened and apparently it had once, although there were many times when a handful of passengers were all that were onboard anyway. The Shuttle was rebranded on August 30, 1983 as the Super Shuttle on all four routes as a competitive response to British Midland’s entry onto the routes with its Diamond Service. The Super Shuttle competed against BD by moving away from the no frills offering. The revised service offered on-board service. There was a hot breakfast on early morning flights and a free bar and hot beverages on other flights. New aircraft such as the 757 were dedicated to the Shuttle.
There is this old thread too
Heathrow Domestic Pier