Liverpool John Lennon Airport maintenance electrician, Brendan Liggett, has seen some things.
Having been an employee at the airport for the past 40-years, the 66-year old has been in prime position to witness our holiday habits and observe the changes to the airport over time. As part of the How It Used to Be series, the Liverpool ECHO spoke to Brendan about his life working at the airport over four decades.
Born in Speke but now living in Runcorn, he started his job as a maintenance engineer at the airport in August 1983. Brendan told The ECHO: "When I first came to the airport it was a different place altogether.
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"It wasn't called John Lennon Airport at the time, it was Liverpool Airport. But people still referred to it as Speke Airport."
A time-served electrician with a young family, Brendan said he was looking for some stability when he applied for the job at the airport, despite fearing he didn't have enough experience. Now a team leader, he makes sure the airport's buildings and services continue to function.
It's obvious from spending a few minutes in Brendan's company just how rewarding he has found working a the airport. He describes it as a "happy place", something he puts down to good mood of people "in holiday mode" as they arrive.
Brendan said: "People when they're coming to the airport, they're very happy. They're going on holiday or going to some event. But when you see them coming back to the cold weather you see a big difference in their attitude and everything."
And it's through years of watching passengers come-and-go through the terminal, that he's able to offer up one particular observation about its passengers - something he notices every day. He says: "I quite like watching people coming and going. But for some reason, everyone going on holiday seems to wear brand new trainers.
"I don't know if it's unique to Liverpool or it's Manchester as well, but if you look at people's footwear they wear brand new trainers." Maybe this is just a habit of Liverpudlians when it comes to the ritual of going on their jollies?
But in his 40-years, Brendan has seen some major changes at the airport. In the mid-'80s, he remembers the airport operating mid-week with just three flights a day, adding: "One was to Dublin and the other two were to the Isle of Man."
He credits the airport coming under the control of British Aerospace in 1990 as the beginning of its "revolution". The company's involvement, as well as that of Direct Holidays, meant they were able to attract major airlines like Ryanair and later EasyJet to the airport.
Prior to the pandemic, Liverpool John Lennon Airport was handling over five million passengers per year with flights to over 70 destinations in the UK and across Europe. It's also one of the major employers in the region.
Brendan said: "When it was renamed John Lennon Airport, that made a big difference to us having a name like that as well. It put us on the map, so to speak."
Not that the now busy and bustling airport bothers, Brendan - who said: "I love it when it's busy. I don't mind a bit of grief as that comes with the job."
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And it's a job that Brendan clearly loves, stating "it's not just a workplace". Over the years working there he's managed to meet Elton John and Paul McCartney, as well as witness some of history's most iconic aircraft take off from the runway, such as The Galaxy and Concorde.
But there's one near-disaster in the mid-'90s he still remembers clearly. He had received a telephone call to go to the duty manager's office and was instructed to bring his tools with him.
Brendan said: "I said what's the problem, and he said I'll tell you when you're here." After arriving at the office, his manager pointed to a coffin on top of a carousel.
The coffin had arrived in the last hour and the deceased's relatives were at the airport and coming to take it away. He said: "The lid had come off and there was an arm hanging out.
"We needed to get the arm back in and screw the lid back on. I went over to look at the arm hanging out - but rigor mortis had set in, so it was stiff.
"I managed to push it back in and screwed the lid down quickly, just in time before the relatives arrived and the hearse came to pick it up. 10-seconds earlier and they would have seen everything."
Other things that continue to amuse Brendan and spark his mischievous sense of fun is when he's asked by an American passenger for directions to "the bathroom". Another is when passengers walk up to him while he's wearing his dayglow vest with name and job tittle on his chest, to ask if he works at the airport.
Despite now being of retirement age, Brendan was asked by the airport managers if he would like to continue his employment there, at least until August 2023 when he will have been there for 40-years. And it's this recognition, and camaraderie from colleagues, he's been most thankful for in the past year after suffering a personal tragedy.
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In May 2022, Jean - Brendan's wife of 42-years - died unexpectedly. Brendan said: "We thought it was long covid. She went to the doctors and they said it was more than that, you need to go to hospital."
Brendan told Jean and his son he would meet them at the hospital, but as they arrived, Jean fell in the car park and hit her head. An off duty nurse attended to her and they went inside and ran some tests.
Brendan continued: "They had done a CT scan on her due to the fall and the doctor said they had some bad news. They found a tumour on her brain. Devastated."
Jean was sent to the Walton Centre for further investigations to take place that led to the worst news they could have heard. Brendan said: "The specialist got us all together. The tumour had spread that much that they couldn't do anything.
"We asked how long she had and the doctor said unfortunately it's going to be weeks rather than months. It was eight days in the end she lasted.
"This year has been a traumatic year for us, to say the least.
"But I couldn't say more about the help I was given by the airport and from colleagues as well. I was off about three months; it was a case of when you're ready, come back. After three months I was ready to come back, there's only so much you can do and you've got to get your life back on track again."
Does this story awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
Now back at work, Brendan has no immediate plans to retire. He added: "I'm too busy, too active to retire. They asked me if I still wanted to stay on and I said yes.
"I'm not looking forward to the day I do leave. It's been a good experience over the last 40-years."
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