A special series of 100 adverts, aircraft, airlines, brands, cabins and routes from the 100 year history of British Airways and its predecessor airlines.
British Airways Airbus A350-1000 Aircraft, World Traveller Plus cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)
This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
Like long-haul business class, which airline can claim credit for first introducing premium economy depends on who you ask.
Virgin Atlantic claims to have first introduced premium economy in 1992 with its “Mid Class” for full fare economy passengers (this was of course how long-haul business class first originate), later to be rebranded Premium Economy in 1994 and Premium in March 2018.
BA introduced its own premium economy cabin, World Traveller Plus, on 29 October 2000. This took the number of travel classes on long-haul aircraft to four. The cabin was explicitly targeted at premium leisure customers and cost-conscious business travellers, with the emphasis very much encouraging World Traveller passengers to trade up and not Club World passengers to trade down.
This was the first seat, which you’ll still find on all Boeing 747 and non-refurbished Boeing 777-200 aircraft, designed by Recaro:
Original British Airways World Traveller Plus Seat (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways, “The World’s Favourite Airline”, 1983.
1987, the year of “Big Bang”, “Wall Street” and BA’s privatisation.
Nearly ten years after the UK Government first officially announced plans to sell a stake in BA in 1979, the airline was fully privatised on 11 February 1987.
This was the result of a huge turnaround in both financial performance and public perception.
In 1982, the Financial Times quipped that privatisation of BA might lure some investors, but only because “every market sports a few masochists.”
BA was of course a number of state industries to be privatised at the time. Whilst the British Gas privatisation was infamous for the “Tell Sid” adverts on UK television, BA’s was supported a huge marketing campaign around the world in the US, Canada, Japan and Switzerland. The initial share offering was 11 times over-subscribed. 94% of BA employees bought shares in the airline.
“Britain’s Highest Flying Company”
Here is a rather self-congratulatory advert “Monument” from 1987, highlighting BA’s superior financial performance at the time.
More people choose to fly British Airways to more places than ever before. That’s why all around the world it’s saluted as the world’s favourite airline.
In fact, it’s been turned into one of the world’s most profitable airlines.
Even here in Britain one does detect a certain sense of pride in the fact that British Airways is now bringing in a gross revenue of over 300,000 pounds every hour. That’s the kind of success you have to take your hat off to.
The world’s favourite airline is Britain’s highest flying company.
Shareholders have certainly had mixed fortunes since privatisation. BA went for a very long period at the start of this century without paying any dividends as it sought to shore-up its balance sheet. Though many private shareholders did very well out of a discount on flights.
BA remained a publicly listed company until it merged with Iberia in 2011 under the umbrella of International Airlines Group, a company that is resolutely committed to regular returns to shareholders.
1987 was also the year of “Big Bang” when the City Of London was deregulated. Restrictive practices in the City and rules on foreign ownership of stock brokers were abolished. This helped develop London into a major financial centre to rival New York.
It was also that year the film “Wall Street” was released starring Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko who made the now infamous “Greed is good” speech. “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.”
Dreamflight, London Heathrow, 2015 (Image Credit: British Airways)
This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
Founded in 1986 by former BA staff members Patricia Pearce MBE and Derek Pereira, Dreamflight is a registered charity that raises funds to charter a BA Boeing 747 carrying hundreds of children with a serious illness or disability on a once in a life time trip to Orlando, Florida.
Approximately 200 children travel on each annual flight together with BA cabin crew and a dedicated medical team, including doctors, nurses and physiotherapists who are on hand 24 hours a day throughout the trip. The flight is also supported a team of BA volunteers who assist with its departure at Heathrow.
Paralympians Natasha Baker MBE and David Smith, who both won Gold at the Rio 2016 Paralympics both took part in Dreamflight as children.
Speaking in 2016, Natasha Baker MBE said: “Dreamflight totally changed my life. I went from being such a dependent, shy child to a confident young lady and it’s just great to see that it can happen to so many other people.”
Each flight is given a special send-off at London Heathrow with BA staff and special guests. These have included the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Since the first flight in 1987 more than 5,800 children have flown on Dreamflight. There’s more information at Dreamflight.
Dreamflight, London Heathrow, Sunday 14 October 2018 (Image Credit: British Airways)Dreamflight, London Heathrow, 2016 (Image Credit: British Airways)Dreamflight, London Heathrow, 2017 (Image Credit: British Airways)
You can continue reading our 100 part series on the history of British Airways and its predecessor airlines Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA in numerical order,by theme or by decade.
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This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
The very first frequent flyer programme can be traced back to 40 years ago, after the deregulation of the US aviation market in 1978.
Deregulation allowed US airlines to choose their own routes and set their own fares without approval the federal Civil Aeronautics Board. Established airlines facing newer upstarts turned to incentive programmes to revive falling revenues and profits.
The very first frequent flyer programme is credited to a small regional US airline called Texas International Airlines. By today’s standards, it was relatively unsophisticated. Passengers earned paper coupons which could be pooled to earn free flights.
American Airlines launched its “AAdvantage” programme on 1 May 1981, which American widely credits as the first true frequent flyer programme. At the time of launch, it wasn’t certain it would last. However, all major US airlines quickly followed suit. And they were an instant success.
By 1984, an estimated 75% of US business travellers were members of a frequent flyer programme. The programmes soon expanded their reach with the ability to earn miles from car hire and hotels, and redeem miles on international partner airlines.
Even without the aid of internet blogs and forums passengers quickly learned how to exploit the programmes to maximum advantage.
The Launch Of The Executive Club
BA launched the Executive Club in 1982.
Relatively little is known about its early years – though its name clearly indicates it was targeted at what were then predominantly business travellers. Some of the earliest BA lounges at Heathrow were known as Executive Club lounges.
The Air Miles Currency
The Executive Club was not at first traditional mileage accrual programme. The first miles based loyalty programme in the UK was in fact Air Miles which launched in 1988.
This was acquired by BA in 1994. For many years, the only way to earn miles flying on BA was to credit your flight to another airline programme.
In the 1990s, in response to American Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic and others gaining access to Heathrow, BA introduced Air Miles as the currency for its frequent flyer programme.
This became BA Miles in 2000 with Air Miles, later to become Avios, continuing as an independent programme.
The programme has been through periodic changes over time. In its early years the emphasis was very much on exclusivity. Additional tiers have also been added such as Bronze, and Gold Guest List – no matter how high you reach in the hierarchy, there is always something you don’t have access to. There is of course the elusive invitation only Premier status, which is a case of if you have to ask…
Whilst the Executive Club remains geared towards rewarding most those who are seated closest to the nose of the aircraft, there has been emphasis on becoming more inclusive. The programme is aimed at leisure travellers, just as much as business passengers. BA has tried to move away from the perception of a hierarchical club to one where each membership tier carries its own identity and benefits:
British Airways Executive Club Blue Tier (Image Credit: Landor for British Airways)British Airways Executive Club Silver Tier (Image Credit: Landor for British Airways)
Of course today, miles can be earned through many more means than flying. Spend any time in Central London and you’ll regularly see BA branded American Express cards tapped on to Tube gates and contactless payment readers.
The formation of International Airlines Group in 2011 saw Avios become the currency of the Executive Club with sister airlines Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus also later adopting the currency. As Avios balances can be moved between programmes, this increased opportunities for earning & redeeming Avios, and the scope for arbitrage. Avios issuing activity also become consolidated under a separate division of IAG, known as IAG Loyalty.
In total, over 100 billion Avios are issued across all participating programmes a year to more than 8 million active members. Around half are issued through means other than flying. The sheer scale of the programme does make it an extremely powerful, and some would say a distortive influence which smaller rivals such as Virgin Atlantic struggle to compete against.
For BA, it is also a customer service recovery device. Whether it’s a faulty in-flight entertainment system or a complete operational meltdown at Heathrow, a dolloping of Avios can help smooth everything over. Some frequent flyers would say that, in truth, their loyalty is to the Executive Club, not the airline itself.
BA Executive Club Ads (Image Credit: British Airways)
At some point BA is expected to follow US airlines and start issuing miles by reference to the price paid for the ticket rather than distance flown. Reward flights will also be subject to “dynamic pricing” rather than a set tariff. Subject also to IT upgrades, members of different frequent flyer programmes that use Avios will also have access to a single “Avios Bank” across all programmes.
You can continue reading our 100 part series on the history of British Airways and its predecessor airlines Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA in numerical order,by theme or by decade.
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British Airways Boeing 747, Negus Livery, London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)
This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
The Negus & Negus livery, taking its name from the design agency responsible for it, was the first BA livery following the merger of BEA and BOAC.
The livery was intended to combine elements of both BEA and BOAC’s identity. It featured BEA’s signature red and a quarter Union Jack on the tail fin to reflect BEA. The blue and white fuselage and the small Speedbird logo was intended to reflect BOAC. This was to appeal not only to the respective customers of BEA and BOAC, but also their staff.
At the same time, the design was intended to be bold enough to make the new, for BEA & BOAC passengers, British Airways name stand out.
British Airways post BEA & BOAC merger advertisement
The livery first came into effect in September 1973 when the British Airways name was adopted in advance of the formal merger of BEA and BOAC in April 1974. The first aircraft to bear the new livery was a BOAC Boeing 707. It took seven years to fully repaint all BEA and BOAC aircraft, with some aircraft carrying hybrid liveries for many years.
“British airways” was in June 1980 abbreviated to just “British”. However, this was considered outside of the UK to be overtly nationalistic in tone. The quarter Union Jack on the tail fin was of course retained for the Landor livery introduced in 1984.
As has been widely publicised, BA has painted one of its current Boeing 747 aircraft, G-CIVB, in the Negus livery to mark its centenary year.
You can continue reading our 100 part series on the history of British Airways and its predecessor airlines Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA in numerical order,by theme or by decade.
If you would like to receive all future articles published by London Air Travel directly by e-mail, then enter your e-mail address below:
BOAC / Imperial Airways Aviation Posters (Image Credit: British Airways)
This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
In the early days of commercial aviation, long before television advertising (let alone digital) took hold the principal means by which airlines advertised their services was the poster.
American Airlines, Braniff International Airways, Pan American World Airways, Swissair, Trans World Airways, United Airlines and many others all used the medium to great effect.
This was not only to sell the relatively new and glamorous idea of flying to a small constituency of wealthy travellers, but also their respective fleets and route networks, to passengers in their home markets and around the world. They use a variety of techniques from painting, to illustration and modernist graphic design.
In an era where there is an endless stream of digital content which can often prove to be ephemeral, so much so it’s easy to just glaze over it all, these posters have endured.
Concorde and Santa Claus, Rovaniemi, Finland, 1997. Photo by Eric Chretien/Gamma-Rapho published under license from Getty Images. Unauthorised distribution and reproduction prohibited.
This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
In addition to regular scheduled flights to Barbados and New York, Concorde used to operate charter flights to scores of destinations around the world.
At Christmas, Concorde used to operate special flights to Rovaniemi, Lapland. In a Christmas promotion, BA gave away 1,000 seats on Concorde flights to Lapland.
In a TV advert that says just enough, but not too much to spoil Christmas for many young children and their parents, a child when told by her father that he has won tickets to Lapland on Concorde replies “I don’t believe in Concorde”.
You can continue reading our 100 part series on the history of British Airways and its predecessor airlines Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA in numerical order,by theme or by decade.
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British Airways Boeing 767 Aircraft, Project Utopia Livery, Golden Khokhloma (Image Credit: British Airways)
This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
The Boeing 767 must be the one aircraft in the BA fleet that had been a source of immense frustration to both passengers and crew, but in spite of its foibles, many still had a soft spot for it.
BA originally ordered 28 Boeing 767-336 aircraft in stages from the late 1980s onwards. The first aircraft entered service from early 1990 and operated short-haul flights, predominantly to Paris Charles de Gaulle.
They were soon joined later that year by long-haul configured aircraft, replacing TriStar aircraft to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Riyadh, Doha, Jeddah and Khartoum.
The last aircraft were delivered in 1998 with fleet then operating from Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester. Whilst the Boeing 767 fulfilled its initial promise of offering flexibility across short and long-haul operations, it fell out of favour.
At the turn of the century, BA put its whole network under review with the aim of cutting capacity and radically simplifying operations.
BA drastically downsized operations at Gatwick by reducing the number of different types of aircraft, leaving long-haul flights operated exclusively with the Boeing 777-200.
A combination of the Eurostar winning traffic from airlines and BA downsizing its short-haul operations at Heathrow meant that the much smaller capacity Airbus A320 series was preferred over the Boeing 757 and 767. 7 Boeing 767s were dispatched to Qantas, leaving 21 in the fleet.
The precise ratio of short and long-haul aircraft oscillated over time. However, before BA began progressively retiring the aircraft, 14 were in a long-haul configuration and 7 in a short-haul configuration.
BOAC De Havilland DH106 Comet 4 Aircraft, London Airport, 4 October 1958 (Image Credit: British Airways)
This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
BOAC and Pan American World Airways were fierce transatlantic rivals in the 1950s.
In 1958, BOAC was in a race with Pan Am to operate the first transatlantic jet flight from London to New York. Pan Am had even taken out advertisements in UK newspapers promising to operate the first jet flight.
However, on 4 October 1958, BOAC flew two de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft between London and New York International Airport, Idlewild.
Pan Am actually had a Boeing 707 aircraft in London ready to operate its flights. This was a larger aircraft with capacity for 86 passengers in First Class, 143 in tourist class and 163 in economy class. However, it did not begin scheduled flights until 17 November 1958, partly due to difficulties in negotiating with pilot unions.
Flight and cabin crew operating a BOAC De Havilland DH106 Comet 4 at London Airport, 4 October 1958 (Image Credit: British Airways)
BOAC’s first flight was a mere 24 hours after the Port Authority of New York granted approval for passenger jet services following concerns over noise. It was also less than a month after the aircraft had been delivered to the airline and it had received its certificate or air worthiness.
The westbound flight left London at 09:55 local time and landed in New York at 15:15 local time after a refuelling stop for one hour and ten minutes in Gander, Newfoundland. The total journey time was 10 hours and 20 minutes.
British Airways “Surprise, Suprise” Cinema Stunt, 1991
This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by themeor by decade.
Many have been updated since first published.
Long before the era of smartphones, social media and carefully planned “flash mob” viral stunts, here’s a stunt developed Saatchi & Saatchi for BA in 1991.
A British Airways Holidays advert for romantic weekend breaks begins playing at a cinema before the screening of a film.
Everything starts as expected featuring a couple on holiday in Paris. It all looks perfectly predictable with footage of a couple walking arm in arm along the River Seine in Paris with French accordion music playing in the background.
An actress planted in the cinema audience playing the character of Michelle then pretends to recognise the man on screen as her boyfriend, Nigel, cheating on her with the other girl, Amanda, on screen.
Standing up, she starts shouting at the cinema screen to get his attention. He then recognises her in the audience and tries to explain away the situation to both her, and the girl he was in Paris with.
The actress has none of it, dumps her boyfriend, and storms out of the cinema to applause from the audience.
The voiceover then hastily wraps things up for BA Holidays. The stunt was repeated in cinemas around the UK (although the actress was asked to leave in one cinema by a staff member unaware of the stunt) and, although it took approval from Lord King for it to be signed off initially, it generated significant press coverage for BA as well as winning numerous awards.
