Jetting OFF

"I'VE SEEN LIVERPOOL AIRPORT TRANSFORM BEYOND RECOGNITION WHILE WORKING THERE FOR 46 YEARS.. BUT NOW I'VE CALLED IT A DAY'

- JESS MOLYNEUX

A SCOUSE grandad who is Liverpool John Lennon Airport's longest-serving employee has retired after 46 years.

For Steven Frear, now 66, our city’s airport was a very different place when he got his first role back in 1979.

For the first few years, Steve worked over at the old terminal building, now the Crowne Plaza Hotel, as a baggage handler, before a new modern passenger terminal was opened in 1986.

Through the years, the dad-of-three, stepdad-of-three and grandad of 14 has had numerous roles, from marshalling and refuelling aircrafts to being an airfield operations manager and more.

For the last 18 years, he has worked as an airport duty manager, a job were Steve said “no two days are the same.”

On February 26 - exactly 46 years to the day since he first started at LJLA - Steve officially retired.

He said what he will miss the most is “all the wonderful people” he has worked with for years.

Steve, originally from Gateacre, told the ECHO: “I started in 1979 and I got the job simply because my dad used to work there.

“He left and about 18 months later they phoned him up.

“They said do you want to come back and he said ‘no, I don’t’ - because he'd settled in another job - ‘but my son might be interested’