Whyte's are flying high
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journeys. The landside operates on the public side the Customs area. The airs bus is for passengers who do wish to clear Customs.
A fleet of airside buses ; used to collect passengi from the airport terrnii building to their planes, and v versa when aircraft have to II on bays not connected by pie Whyte's have 10 R 1114 Fc Duple buses and three ex-Tli Bedford VAL buses norme available to provide this serv for 26 foreign and Comm( wealth airlines.
The -ramp" airside buE
; all controlled from an office he apron at Heathrow Cenand are connected by a tworadio system. Supervisors kept informed of flight vements by teleprinter and lephone by the airlines. hyte's supervisors are all psv ivers who have come up rough the ranks with the cornny.
During the summer and ime weekends Whyte's also )erate a shuttle service for 'port spectators. The airport is II a tourist attraction in its own )ht and the traffic generated is iough to justify a 15-minute .adway service from the ?.rimeter car park to the ueen's Building in the Central British Rail runs a Waterloo Heathrow Airport rail link via
.1tham. The Felthameathrow end of the service is
operated by Whyte's Airport Service under contract to BR. Surprisingly, passenger demand for this service has not been noticeably hit by the introduction of the LT Underground to Heathrow Central, Three buses are used on the Feltham service and are in fact the only full-size buses operated by Whyte's fully licensed for the public road. The majority only operate within the confines of the airport on private roads.
Trade plates are used when the vehicles need to be driven to the company head office at Colnbrook or its maintenance base at Staines. As much of the operation is carried out on private roads most buses run on duty-free fuel, Whyte's pay an agreed amount of duty for mileage between the airport and Colnbrook or Staines.
Despite operating much of the mileage on private roads Whyte's Airport Services pay a great deal of attention to preventive maintenance. Originally, maintenance was carried out at the company headquarters at Colnbrook. With the expansion of the fleet Whyte's purchased a garage vacated by Beach's at Staines where undercover workshop space and inspection pits are available. All buses are serviced every three weeks.
Whyte's have had little problem with Ford engines and place much of the credit for this on the oil used. Leslie Whyte and his chief engineer feel that regular oil changes and the high quality of Morris's of Shrewsbury engine oil has contributed to the success of the business. Clutches are more troublesome; with most of the buses' mileage being clocked on relatively short journeys or heavily congested roads a vast amount of gearchanging is necessary. Whyte's are very enthusiastic about the performance of their Ford buses and will be happy to remain with Ford. They would, however, be interested in an automatic R-Series. The latest Whyte's Fords have four-speed manual gearboxes with a 5.57 rear axle ratio.
Whyte's employ about 1 50 staff, many of whom work airport shifts. All are trade union members and Whyte's have a good record in the area of industrial relations. A good working relationship was apparent between management and staff during my recent visit to the operator, both on and off the airport.
Fuel conservation is particularly important today so at Whyte's Colnbrook headquarters a full pump maintenance service is provided; in addition to maintaining the equipment at the home fleet Whyte's are able to offer a fuel pump service to other transport operators Whyte's Colnbrook head quarters house a successful business in addition to the company's offices. A successful filling station is in operation together with workshops specialising in carrying-outwhile-you-wait Department of Transport car tests. Here two lines have been set up to enable a fast and efficient service to be carried out. Behind the filling station and office complex is the fuel pump workshop and a large bus parking area.
Whyte's Airport Services Ltd's story is a true success story. It is not, however, a story of how to achieve success via short-cuts. • Whyte's have bought vehicles properly designed to carry out their duties on the airport. The latest 15 Willowbrook-bodied R1014 Fords can carry over 7.6 cu m (270 cu ft) of luggage and 31 passengers.
Heathrow Airport is still expanding and Whyte's are confident, that any new demand in the future can and will be met efficiently and continuously.