The first aim of passengers arriving at an airport, especially a huge one, is to get themselves and their luggage checked in; a weight off their minds and shoulders. Next is to go through the portal between normal life and the rest of the world. It’s years since I have flown and I am sure the presenting of passports, getting X-Rayed, confiscating of water bottles etc has been quadrupled in stress with the pandemic, though hopefully far fewer people are flying.
Covid has taken away that other entertainment or ordeal; ‘seeing people off’. In normal times getting to the airport early was quite likely, having left home very early ‘just in case’ and because passengers were told to be at the airport two hours before their flight. This left limbo time to have coffee with friends or family, sad or happy depending on who was going where and for how long, perhaps for ever. One of my Asian colleagues at Heathrow did a wonderful impression of the difference between an English farewell and his relatives and fellow countrymen; he said he preferred the English style… English small group no more than five… ‘right then, goodbye, have a good trip.’ Relative walks towards the portal, turn of head and slight nod, relatives give small wave and he strides forward, never looking back as he is swallowed up into the portal. My friend’s family; at least twenty, plus young children clinging shyly or sliding across the floor and running around; there is wailing and gnashing of teeth as the departing ones walk reluctantly to the portal, stopping and turning twenty times and walking backwards through the barriers.
What happens on the other side? Unless you are a seasoned traveller you will feel lost among swathes of people nervously looking at the departures board every two seconds, then seeing their flight is delayed by two hours; they could have spent more time landside with the relatives. Others surge forward to pass under the sign saying Gates 65 to 97, blissfully unaware that Gate 97 is miles further on. I once saw a poor lady buttonhole a young man in a uniform that had nothing to do with airlines or customer care; she was saying ‘I just can’t take any more’ while he was looking round for means of escape.
But if you are travelling business or first class you can escape this hell hole by going to your airline’s Club Lounge. They vary, some are an oasis of calm, others very different. I ended up as a lounge assistant after Cyberspouse’s attempts, while patrolling Heathrow, to find me a job that earned more than working in the local playgroup and didn’t involve computers. He came home and announced he had found a job where all I had to do was make coffee.
My interview, if you could call it that, was with a very nice manager and with hours 11am to 2.30pm in the Qantas Lounge catering for one morning flight, it sounded a dream; what I didn’t know was that the woman I had to work with was a right… and a real…
Qantas Lounge Terminal Three at that time (end of the twentieth century ) was down a quiet corridor, up some stairs, down an even quieter corridor. The Qantas staff on the desk were very pleasant and our job easy. Making coffee was simple, filter coffee dripping into a jug. We put out biscuits and served up ready made sandwiches at eleven o’clock. The passengers were friendly and of course spoke the same language. It was a homely place to be, a medium size business lounge with a quiet first class round the corner; lots of passengers bumped into friends.
Passenger/customer service is easy, all you have to do is treat them how you would like to be treated. The pettiness of my ‘colleague/boss’ was soon brought home when I made a tray of tea; teapot, milk jug, sugar. I added a pot of hot water so they could adjust the strength or top the pot up, which irked her greatly. Why? Passengers had paid plenty for their fare and a drop of hot water was no trouble for anyone. Fortunately she spent most of her time draped over the front desk chatting to the ‘the girls’ or on the phone in the kitchen chatting inanely to one or other of her twin daughters. I was happy to get on with all the table clearing etc. by myself.
There was one task I found myself doing which was certainly outside my comfort zone. One of the Qantas staff asked if I would mind ‘popping down to fetch the papers’; I innocently agreed. The incoming morning flight brought ‘The Australian’ newspaper, but to collect it involved going down in the pair of old lifts that I always avoided. Not only do I hate lifts, but I had seen them being mended enough times to not trust them. Even worse, like something out of Doctor Who, I was given the secret key that allowed the lift to go to depths passengers must not go. When the doors opened there was the bundle of newspapers waiting, but this was not the basement. There was a strong smell of kerosene; this was the outside, the real outside airside where planes park. I was terrified of being stranded down here, trying to reach the bundle of papers while keeping one foot in the lift doors so they wouldn’t close. When I finally made it back to the sanctuary of the lounge my colleague was ready with acid remarks that I was not supposed to have gone as it was not one of our jobs.
As usual at Heathrow things were changing and after a couple of years Qantas was moved over to Terminal 4, their passengers to share the British Airway Lounge. I didn’t lose my job, we were about to be absorbed into a different company and I was about to work longer hours and meet a lot more people.
A footnote. Qantas now has a new dedicated lounge in Terminal Three and from the pictures it looks a lot different from the old one.
What are you departure experiences at airports?
Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 
I learned to fly from as small an airport as possible.
Heathrow was pretty much exclusively bad.
At Southampton, I went from parking to flying in under 30 minutes.
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How very wise.
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Hi Janet, I don’t fly business or first class because I think its a waste of money so we always fly economy. We an still access the lounges because our bank has one in every airport. My husband loves lounges but I hate them. I don’t like to eat the food as it is put out for people to serve themselves and I don’t like that. The people who use the lounge are mainly businessmen so there is nothing fun to watch. I insist we have junk food in a restaurant and then sit at the gate where I watch the much more interesting people. This is meant in the kindness spirit towards the people who serve and keep the lounges nice. They just don’t cater to the people watchers of the world.
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Good points and with Covid I can’t imagine much food being put out. One time we did have a passenger with an allergic reaction to sea food – she hadn’t eaten a prawn sandwich, but someone must have moved the food tongs around!
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Nerves, nerves, and more nerves!
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Yes, yes, yes… Becky.
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Airports, yuk! The last we flew was two year ago to see our daughter. Living in New York State, it was a cross country flight to the west coast of US. Decided to never fly again when I had to wait an hour in line for a Starbucks coffee. Not my cup of tea…or, coffee. Not Starbucks, love their coffee, but waiting in line for a long time with a wave of humanity. I’m done. PS, I prefer the English method, too 😉
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Hello Steve, yes queues and waiting are synonymous with airports.
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Last time we flew was from Thailand, February last year, and as it was very late and our flight delayed we opted to spend an eye-watering sum upgrading. The business class lounge at Bangkok was wonderful and offered just about anything to eat and drink and by-passing the queues for boarding was also bliss, but by the time we’d got on to the plane [upstairs] and to our lovely, stretch-out seats I was too tired for the gourmet meal & champagne on offer and only wanted to sleep-which I did!
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Well worth the upgrading. If you ever saw the Australian comedy Kath and Kim, there was an episode where their flight got cancelled and they just enjoyed a holiday in the airport lounge instead!
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In a previous parallel universe, I spent so much time in both domestic and international airports it still gives me nightmares. 😉
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Yes Doug, no wonder you get nightmares.
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I have a few horror stories about airports and planes. My father used to refer to flying as being packed in a bus with wings. We never flew business-class. My sister did. Business related.
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Your father was right!
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Not my favorite places, airports. They lead to airplanes.
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Back in the late 1960’s, I can remember going to the airport just for fun, watching the planes, having a meal in the restaurant with friends. Parking was easy and security was not an issue.
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Yes Geoff the days of going to airports for an outing are long gone, local airfields for small planes are the place to go now.
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In 2000, I paid full price for a scheduled BA flight from Heathrow to Beijing. Travelling alone for the first time, I found the passenger experience completely different to what I had known from package holidays and charter flights. I was shown into the BA lounge, where free refreshments were available, then we boarded the aircraft, which was half empty. Having that amount of room around me was so relaxing, I thought I could get used to that way of travelling.
On the return from Beijing, the lounge there was quite swish, and it was only for foreign passengers. However, all refreshments had to be paid for, in foreign currency. A small coffee cost almost £4, and a baguette was £11.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hello Pete, I think half empty flights make a great difference and the same has happened to me. Lounges do make a pleasant start to the journey even if you have to pay. Have you written any blogs about Beijing?
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Sent you two links, so they are awaiting moderation. 🙂
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I posted about the trip in 2013, but there are no photos, as I still had a film camera at the time.
https://beetleypete.com/2013/11/29/holidays-and-travel-china-2000-part-one/
https://beetleypete.com/2013/11/30/holidays-and-travel-china-2000-part-two/
Best wishes, Pete.
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That was an opportunity you must be glad you took back then. How very different from the quiet life in Beetley.
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I do like that feeling of finally being checked in and through security; I feel like I can finally relax and start to enjoy the trip. I’m not a fan of lifts either, so I felt your fear as you went way down to get the papers…
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Yea Jim there is so much preparation that goes into a flight even if it’s just a holiday – getting there, locking up the house etc. Glad you felt the lift fear!
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Janet, it was interesting to read your experiences from the other side as such! Oh, I felt for your with the old lift and think I would have dashed back and said no way! Flying has become so stressful and busy although one year my mother and I treated ourselves to Clubclass BA and it was bliss! Usually I fly a few times a year and never thought I would miss it but I do after two years bound to the ground. Yet … what will it be like in a covid world? So many people in close proximity!
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Thanks Aninika, more insights on airside coming soon. Our son and family had to fly back from the USA last summer as his three year post was finished. They said it was horrid wearing masks all the time. I haven’t forgotten the thrill of relaxing on board a plane at last and seeing the aisle slope upwards and feeling take off.
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