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them without health clearance, should a receptionist not be readily available. The answer given
was one or two minutes, and it was thus clear that the shift system must be designed to permit
sufficient girls to be available at all times.
It was noted that, should the need have arisen, the health control unit were entitled to hold
an aircraft for up to two hours, although this was not considered desirable.
The unit was not informed in advance of the approximate passenger load of each aircraft.
It was not therefore possible to determine how many receptionists should be sent to clear a flight.
The usual practice was to send two receptionists to a conventional aircraft and four to a jumbo,
but this was not always satisfactory. Designing a shift system to meet the needs of the years ahead
required complete schedules for that period. Requests for the proposed 1972/3 timetables were
made to the airlines concerned, however British Overseas Airways Corporation ultimately provided
the majority of these.
From the information collected it was possible to construct a mathematical model and
subsequently a computer programme, which could be applied to a specific timetable. This formed
the basis for developing a suitable shift system and for determining the number of receptionists
required to meet flights. The assumption was made that two receptionists meet a conventional
aircraft and four a jumbo, and the efficiency of the model was measured in terms of the percentage
of aircraft inadequately served, i.e. where fewer than the specified number of receptionists were
available.
The model was applied to specific timetables and, for each hour, an estimate obtained of
the number of girls required to meet flights. The fluctuations in work-load were thus highlighted
and a shift system built around these. After applying the model to the 1971 schedule the conclusion
was made that the health control unit appeared to have sufficient staff to cope with the work-load
generated. However, using the same method for 1972/3 it was evident that additional staff would
be reouired.
A possible shift system for 1972/3 was:
0900 hours 2100 hours
0700 hours 1300 hours
0900 hours 2100 hours
1300 hours 2200 hours
as opposed to the current system:
0830 hours 2030 hours
0730 hours 1930 hours
0830 hours 2030 hours
It was decided that a total of 80 receptionists would probably be sufficient for the suggested
system. This included staff to deal with the work in the other sections of the unit but it did not
include shift leaders.
It was concluded that the existing level of staff in 1971 appeared to be adequate to cope
with the current volume of traffic. However, more receptionists would be required for 1972/3.
The recommended shift system would permit the new jumbo pier to be manned as necessary.
Finally, it seemed that the flow of work in the health control unit would be facilitated if there
were more co-operation from the airlines. It would be most helpful if the unit were informed well
in advance of the aircraft passenger load, and if the airline staff were to hold a flight for at least
five minutes, should an emergency ever arise when receptionists were not available.
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