I worked a year (1969-70) on BOAC check-in, LHR Terminal 3. About 10 blokes and 80 girls. Most of the girls were grounded stewardesses – guess there must have been an age limit of about 35.
Shift pattern was 2 lates, 2 days, 2 earlies, 3 off. Typical late shift (14:30-22:30) would be: get in, check roster, 3 flights to look after. Get sent for coffee until 15:00. Work each rostered flight from 90’ before departure to 30’ before. Have an hour for tea. Get sent home round about 20:00 – total eight hours' pay for 5’30 duty of which 3 hours’ work, 1’30 in the canteen and an hour just chatting with the girls in the back office.
Absolute heaven.
If anyone had asked in those days ‘how do I get an upgrade’ we check-in staff would have had a simple answer – ‘be nice to us’. We had quite a say in the matter and at that time it was straight from Economy to First.
One flight you prayed you would not be rostered on was the Sunday afternoon Syrian Arab departure. Always full and every single passenger – all 79 of them on a Caravelle – was continuing on to Delhi, and every one was trying to cheat on the excess baggage. Plus, about a third of them had guns. That is to say, they had been ‘selected’ to have a package loaded, under bond, in their name. We assumed they knew nothing about it and the packages got off in Damascus, but as conscientious check-in clerks we were obliged to deduct all these 8kg and 10kg packages from their baggage allowances and charge them excess. Trouble was, every passenger was mainfested under the name of Singh (or Kaur for women) and there might be five ‘V. Singh’ aboard, only two of whom had guns – we had to try and find out which two – then try to persuade them to part with their money.