I wonder to what extent the maintenance etc arrangements of BA are in some way allowed to override the use of stands for arrivals and departures - and the maintenance base being about a 3 mile tractor drag from the terminal does not help.
Way back in the old Terminal 1 days I recall more than once BMI complaining about BA having aircraft on stand for extended periods, to the extent of doing engineering work while there, with others waiting for a stand.
I have to say I have never minded remote stands (I know our US cousins regard coaching as absolute anathema). With effective organisation it can be as quick, possibly even quicker, that coming through the remote satellites and then the convoluted arrangements of the Transit - whose usefulness was reduced, if not ruined, by different security requirements being imposed on it after it was designed.