Late, late, late.

I'm torn once again here, as to whether my annoyance at what I'm about to describe is justified. Lateness. Ugh. I abhor it on a personal level, and am always, always punctual. Whether turning up at a friend's house at the time I say I will, or something more important like an interview or meeting, I will always arrive on time if not early, and can't stand it if for some reason I don't or can't. With that in mind, I would always, always arrive for a flight with oudles of time to spare. What I can't get my head around then, is how people can very, very nearly miss a flight due to lateness. Especially with so much at stake. Most airlines won't refund or change bookings for late passengers, unless there are very extenuating circumstances which explain their lateness. So to miss a flight ultimately means throwing away an awful lot of money.

Of course I am sympathetic towards extenuating circumstances. Stansted Airport is connected to London Liverpool Street station by the Stansted Express train - and as with any form of public transport, delays happen. We often have hoardes of passengers running up to check in apologetically at the last minute because their train has been delayed. With this I have no problem whatsoever. What I simply CAN'T understand, and in all honesty (here I go again) what makes me mad, is people who saunter up to check-in at the very last minute (or sometimes after the last minute which is even worse as it means we have to re-open the flight) with NO sense of hurry, or apology, or even any sort of awareness that they are late. When this happens we tend to play the guilt card and point out that they are very lucky and have almost missed the flight - especially when we have to re-open it for them. Sometimes even that doesn't even register with them. Perhaps people don't get as excited about their holidays as I do about mine, and missing the flight is no big deal, they'll just go and sit at home for two weeks instead?!

The reason I am torn then is this: I have forgotten since working at the airport, what constitutes common knowledge, the sort of things that Average Joe Passenger (this Average Joe chap seems to be clocking up some air miles with me!) are just aware of... and what are the things that I only know because I work there. In people's defence, if they are new to flying, perhaps they simply don't realise that one needs to arrive at the airport in time to go through the increasingly rigourous security checks, and that the boarding gate probably ISN'T right next to the check-in desk. Perhaps they think that catching a plane is literally like catching a bus, you can arrive at the last possible minute. To counter that though, most airlines will include the check-in time on their ticketing. I would also like to think that even if you don't fly regularly, you are aware enough that an airport is a big and busy old place and that time must be allowed.

My question is this...is turning up that late ignorant or arrogant?! Answers on a postcard please! (That's if you make your flight, get to your destination and are able to send one).

The other side...

Recently, for the first time since starting my airport check-in 'career' I was a passenger; I flew! (the use of quotation marks here is quite deliberate, as there is about as much chance of me gaining any sort of promotion within my company as there is of an ice cube surviving in hell). For many passengers, the whole airport experience is as much part of the holiday as lying on a beach - or in our case, taking in the lovely city sights and eating far too much. Of course it is also true that for some passengers the airport is the most stressful and ultimately worst part of the whole thing. My experience, as you might expect though, was entirely different. I was after all, just turning up at the office. What I felt instead of the excitement and buzz of the airport experience, was an absolute sense of SMUGNESS; of being in the know, and bizarrely in some small way, of power. It began when I drove to the airport staff car park, and used my ID card to open the barrier (The sense of power was increased as I scornfully and heroically walked past the signs saying 'Please note that staff holiday parking is strictly prohibited'. Oh how differently I might have felt if my car had been noticed and towed - but it wasn't. One-nil to me.). It continued when I took my girlfriend through the undercroft and used the staff lift to enter the terminal building (having been sure to point out that the undercroft was called the undercroft). I'm less sure as to the illegality of this part, as technically it is just another entrance. But crucially, one that I know about and Average Joe Passenger doesn't. Ha. Two-nil. This smugness and constant wish to point out how much I knew essentially continued throughout the whole airport experience. I must say looking back that if I was my girlfriend I would have thought I was a bit of an arsehole - 'yes Chris', I can imagine her thinking, as I felt the need to explain every little thing and use all the technical terms: 'I get that you work here, aren't you clever?!'. But she said nothing of the sort, so I must now thank her for allowing me to indulge in my fleeting moment of superiority and knowledge!

To further explain this sensation, I liken it to the feeling of going into your office at the weekend in civilian clothes, and being caught by the cleaner asking who you are and why you're there. The ensuing moment of satisfaction where you explain that you work there, maybe do some name dropping, and make the cleaner feel a bit silly, is short yet priceless. Well, that is part of it. The other part is just about knowing what was going on. I feel again looking back that I rather underestimate the fact that most people actually understand perfectly well how airports work and have no requirement for explanation. Either way, I enjoyed lauding it.

What I was desperate to be able to do, was to put myself in the shoes of the passengers that I frequently deal with, to see if my job is easier or harder than I give it credit for, or to see if the passenger experience is more stressful than it seems. I thought that I would either become more sympathetic towards passengers as I check them in, or be a 'better' passenger armed with my very broad knowledge of exactly the kinds of things that annoy check-in staff. In truth though, I had such fleeting experience with check-in on both the outgoing and return flights, that I was unable to form an opinion. The other thing I'd wanted to do was to compare the way other companies check-in passengers compared to the way we deal with things. Especially given the reputation of the particular airline we flew with. As I don't wish to enter into any sort of product placement, I shall not name said airline... but its the Irish blue and yellow low cost one. The one whose cabin crew girls seem to have doughnuts attached to the backs of their heads. The one who have the cheek to charge you up to forty pounds to print a boarding card, and for whom customer service is quite literally the least of their priorities. The one whose name rhymes with 'Lion Bear'. (There we go, name dropping skillfully avoided.  I think I've preserved an air of mystery). I must report though, that because we only had to drop carefully weighed bags having been good students and printed boarding cards, that the check-in was entirely hassle free and forgettable.

So, did working at the airport made me a different sort of passenger? I'm not sure it did. Nothing I did with my packing, nor my lack of asking silly questions should in theory be beyond anyone. It did however make me, I'm sure, a pretty annoying travel partner. 'Ah look, there is the despatcher'. So what?! It was nice to be on the other side of the desk for a change though.