Xeque,
You are a busy person.
Your idea is sound but the competetive element of the different airlines would make it diificult to sell.
The number of desks and time open varies a lot between carriers and the market they are serving.
e.g. Ryan air is 2 desk 2 hours before departure.
PIA used to be (in my experience a few years ago) 3 Business/First ans 5 economy for a B747 opening from 5 hours (progressively) before departure.
Mansp.
Not quite right.
Most airports operate a CUTE (common user terminal equipment) system and there are now several 'front end' options that allow the check-in agent to use the same inputs no matter which airline system (even though more and more airlines are outsourcing their IT) is used.
Common check-in, where more than one flight for a single carrier is checked in on the same desk at the same time, is a more effficient use of desk space tha single flight check-in. If you have around 10 flights departing over a limited period you can nmormally save about 30% oif check-in resource but you do need more floor walking to haul late passengers out of queues.
The real issue/question is will airports of the future actually have check-in desks. We already see some carriers going to 100% kiosk (and on-line) check-in with a sepeate bag drop. Outside the UK, Germany for example, it is possible to check-in with baggage without coming into contact with an agent at any form of desk. This is the real future. The technology is already available. T5 would be an example (OK, probably not a good one just yet) whereby the total number of check-in desks available will be less than the totals of those available to BA in the other terminals used before the move.
Lastly,
Quote
"Reduce the total number of check-in desks to 200 (a 26% saving for the airport operator), keep them permanently open and make them available for any passenger on any departure."
Great in theory, and fine for check-in. The problem is down in the baghalls and the number of flights that can be handled simultaneoulsy - this is normally a physical restriction of how many trailers/ULD's can be in place at any one time and secondly, the number of workers to move the bags off the system. Again, T5 is a good example of what can happen if you do not move the bags off the system effectively.
Most of the points raised by Xeque have been thought of, tried and adapted to get the best use of resources within a competetive industry.
GH