Firstly - I agree that LTN is now a poor experience but, because it is my local, I use it in preference to STN or LGW due to further travelling times to them and they are no better, of course!
Two weeks ago I left JNB (a 2nd World country, I suggest
) I had checked in on line for my BA back home to LHR but the system had not been able to print a BC and it told me to do so at the airport.
Approaching a bank of three auto check in machines - which served several carriers!!!! - I was greeted by two smiling members of staff who were there to help. Yes, that is HELP all pax, irrespective of carrier, provided by the airport.
The woman who took my enquiry asked me which carrier I was on and then immediately set that up on the touch screen and then asked for the flight number. As it happened, I had got the print out in my hand was ready with the locator as that was what I was expecting to put in. So she quickly changed the screen input to accept that. When she saw that I knew my way around, she left me to it - with a smile - whilst turning to another pax.
If that was not enough ... on approaching the slow bag drop area, the queue passes a staffer who checks your self issued BC and your passport and tells you if you are in the correct line, redirecting where needed.
Let's recap ... the airport provides extra members of staff to help those pax that are not sure of what to do and where to go. They have them at strategic points and they are polite and helpful. I wonder if that has any positive result in the way that pax are fed to the check in agents? I wonder if pax feel calmer and as if the airport really wants them to be there?
I won't ask LTN take note because it's already waaay too late. LTN has miles of corridors but no travelators. Some gates are a walk around three sides of a square taking 15 mins to walk - because they chose not to build a bridge across the one side of the square. All to save money and so reduce the customer experience for the times that you can save money and improve matters are VERY few.
The UK airports went down the route of using automation to save money and care not what the pax thinks (yes, we all know that they pretend to care!) and they design their terminals for the shops not the customers. Same old, same old.