Lord Marshall Of Knightsbridge (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.
Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge was recruited by Lord King to be Chief Executive of the airline in 1983.
Together with Lord King and Saatchi & Saatchi, Lord Marshall is credited with BA’s turnaround in the 1980s.
Lord Marshall had previously been Chief Executive of Avis in the United States. The UK was of course a very different country in the early 1980s. Those in the UK who had been to the United States in the 1970s knew, for all of the faults of the US, of the competitive power of the market. Lord Marshall would later say:
“In a deregulated environment, where government policies can no longer fix markets and offer competitive protection, who calls the shots? The answer is obvious: the customer. It is the essential truth of the new world competitive order – of global business development – that customer choice, preference and demand are its real driving forces.”
Like Lord King, Lord Marshall joined BA with no experience of working in the aviation industry. Speaking to the New York Times in 1989, Lord Marshall said of BA:
”There was very little understanding of what the passengers wanted and what the marketplace was all about,” ”And ‘marketing’ was a word that did not exist in the company. They had a commercial director, but no marketing director.”
Lord Marshall oversaw a “night of the long knives” which resulted in the dismissal of over 70 senior managers.
“Almost like an archaeological excavation, we had to sweep away the dust and dirt of generations of economic and attitudinal litter, in order to expose the treasure trove of air transport quality that we knew had accumulated over years of network, product and technical development. Then it needed to be polished to the point where it would both attract the customer and dazzle the competition.”
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.
It was in January 1988 that BA introduced the “Club World” brand, roughly ten years after the concept of long-haul business class first became known.
Initially, long-haul business class was simply a separate part of the economy cabin for full fare passengers. Then, BA introduced its Super Club cabin.
BA claimed that the introduction of Club World in 1988 which featured a dedicated crew for the first time, improved catering and ground services, increased traffic by 31%.
Since then, Club World has become by far BA’s most important cabin and it has featured the airline’s biggest innovations. The financial performance of BA is inextricably linked to the volume of Club World traffic. So much so, it was to become known as the “profit engine” of BA.
The First Club World Seats
The initial Club World seat was a “slumber seat”.
In the 1990s, BA maintained a regular pace of change in the cabin. Another new cabin interior and seat was introduced in the early 1990s with seat-back TV for the first time.
British Airways Club World Advert 1993
The Cradle Seat
The next significant change to Club World came with the “Cradle Seat” in 1996.
British Airways Club World Cradle Seat
The concept behind this seat was that rather than simply reclining, the seat would tilt and, with the aid of “ears” in the headrest and a built in leg-rest, it would support the entire body whatever the position of the seat.
“Presenting a revolutionary view from business class”
At the turn of the century, BA announced one of the most significant innovations in its history, the first fully flat bed in business class.
British Airways Club World Cabin, 2000
Designed by tangerine, it featured a patented “yin-yang” layout of rear and forward facing seats that would convert into fully flat beds.
Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II returns to London airport on BOAC, 7 February 1952 (Image Credit: Heathrow)
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.
Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II has a long history with BA and its predecessor airlines, BOAC and BEA.
The Royal Family’s First Atlantic Flight
On 8 October 1951, then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke Of Edinburgh were the first members of the Royal Family to cross the Atlantic ocean by air.
They flew on a BOAC Stratocruiser aircraft “Canopus” G-AKGK from London airport to Montreal. This was also the first royal tour to start at the airport.
British Airways Logo (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.
BA, like much of the world, entered the 21st century with a sense of optimism.
There had been some difficult years with the adverse reaction to World Tailfins. The airline was also facing increased competition from low cost carriers and in 1999 reported its worst financial results since 1982.
“21st Century Air Travel”
However, at the turn of the century, there was a cause for optimism.
One event of course changed everything. 11 September 2001 was the single worst day in aviation history. The events of that day and its substantial human cost are well known. It had a profound impact on the US psyche and global geopolitics which are still felt to this day.
For BA, there was the immediate impact of the closure of US airspace to all civil aviation. 22 BA aircraft were diverted.
The Federal Aviation Administration placed an immediate ban on all non-US airlines flying to the US until such time they could be satisfied that security conditions could be met. US airspace reopened to domestic airlines two days later. The FAA gave BA permission to fly to the US again on 15 September 2001.
The Times, Europe Edition Front Page, Wednesday 12 September 2001The Guardian, Europe Edition Front Page, Wednesday 12 September 2001
At the time many wondered whether air travel would ever be the same again with some speculating that airports would have to be rebuilt to accommodate additional passenger screening processes.
Many security measures were implemented such as installing armour plated cockpit doors and the submission of advance passenger lists to US authorities.
BA subsequently announced a review of its business which became known as “Future Size and Shape”. This resulted in a substantial cut in capacity, thousands of job losses, and numerous cost-cutting initiatives – many of which did not go unnoticed by passengers.
This set the course for BA the rest of the decade with a focus on improving its balance sheet by selling its 25% stake in Qantas and disposing of regional operations, simplifying its fleet, removing legacy complexity and no significant capacity growth. It was only towards the start of this decade did BA start growing again.
Many at BA’s parent IAG, mindful that Ryanair was able to secure a substantial discount from Boeing for new aircraft after 11 September 2001, are determined that this does not happen again. Put in fairly crude terms, they want the next shock to the aviation industry to be an opportunity, not a problem, for IAG.
London Heathrow Terminal 1, 1969 (Image Credit: Heathrow Airport)
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.
London Heathrow airport has been BA’s principal UK hub for the entirety of its, and much of its predecessors, existence.
Whilst the airport has its operational constraints and at times BA has had a difficult relationship with its owner that could be summed up as “Can’t live with you. Can’t live without you.”, if affords the airline a dominant position in one of the most lucrative premium traffic markets in the world.
This is so much so that rival airlines are prepared to pay tens of millions of dollars for a single pair of arrival and departure slots.
The Origins of Heathrow
Heathrow traces its origins to the 1920s.
In 1925, RAF test pilot Norman MacMillan was forced to make an emergency landing at the small rural hamlet of Heathrow and considered the terrain ideal for an airfield.
Four years later Norman MacMillan joined forces with British aero-engineer Richard Fairey who needed a new airfield for his aircraft-building business. Richard Fairey bought 150 acres of farm land at Heathrow and built a new aerodrome, to be known as the Great West Aerodrome.
The site was requisitioned by the Air Ministry during World War Two. An RAF base was built on the site with three runways and a control tower. Following the end of World War Two it was considered surplus to requirements.
After The Second World War: London Airport Opens
On 1 January 1946, ownership of Heathrow passed to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
On that day, the first flight to depart the airport was a British South American Airways “proving” flight to South America operated by a Lancastrian Star Light. The aircraft, carrying mail and freight only, arrived in Rio de Janeiro 32 hours later, before continuing to Montevideo and Buenos Aires.
British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian Starlight Aircraft, London Heathrow Airport, 1946 (Image Credit SWNS / London Heathrow Airport)
The first passenger flight to arrive at the airport a BOAC flight service from Sydney on 31 May 1946. The Lancaster aircraft took 63 and 1/4 hours to fly from Sydney, landing 2 hours ahead of schedule. BOAC’s three times weekly “express” service to Sydney was the first route the airline transferred to London airport, having previously operated from Hurn (also known as Bournemouth International) airport.
Pan American World Airways and American Overseas Airlines transferred services to New York from Hurn to London Airport that week.
Passengers pictured arriving at London Airport from a Pan American World Airways flight from New York, 31 May 1946 (Image Credit: SWNS / London Heathrow Airport)
The airport was a far cry from the modern terminals of today. Passengers initially used former military marquees along Bath Road as departure and arrival terminals that were exposed to the elements.
– though there was a branch of WH Smith!
London Airport, 1946 (Image Credit: SWNS / London Heathrow Airport)
Each marquee was equipped with floral-patterned armchairs, settees and small tables containing vases of fresh flowers. There was also a branch of WH Smith! To reach aircraft parked on the apron, passengers walked over wooden duckboards to protect their footwear from the muddy airfield.
Departure Lounge, London Airport, 1946 (Image Credit: SWNS / London Heathrow Airport)
The 1950s – The Central Area & Europa Terminal Open
Baggage Sorting Area, London Heathrow, 1950s (Image Credit: Heathrow)
As passenger numbers grew in the 1950s, architect Frederick Gibberd was commissioned to design permanent buildings for the airport.
The Central Area was created, along with the Europa Terminal, an office block known as The Queens Building (pictured below in the 1977), and a 127 feet Control Tower. The new terminal was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 December 1955.
Her Majesty The Queen, Heathrow Airport, 1977 (Image Credit: Heathrow)
The 1960s – The Oceanic Terminal & Terminal 1 Open
Terminal 3 opened in 1961 and was originally known as the Oceanic Terminal and became the principal base for long haul flights.
The 1960s was the era of the emergence of the celebrity and popular culture. Many famous faces from The Rolling Stones to Joan Collins would be pictured departing London airport on BEA and BOAC aircraft.
In September 1996 London Airport was renamed Heathrow. This was intended to distinguish it from Gatwick and Stansted, which at the time were all owned by the British Airports Authority.
Terminal 1 was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in April 1969. BEA operated the first flight out of Terminal 1, BEA 5362 to Edinburgh, on 17 April 1968.
On the opening of Terminal 1, the Oceanic and Europa terminals were renamed Terminals 2 & 3 respectively.
Baggage Belt, Terminal 1, London Heathrow 1960s (Image Credit: Heathrow)
BA’s main home at Heathrow was Terminal 1 from 1968 to 2008 until the opening of Terminal 5, with a brief reprise from 2012 to 2015 following BA’s purchase of bmi. BA operated the last flight out of Terminal 1, BA970 to Hanover, on 30 June 2015.
The 1970s – The Jumbo Jet & Supersonic Era
In the 1970s, Heathrow readied itself for the era of the jumbo jet and Supersonic air travel.
Terminal 3 had to modified to accommodate the Boeing 747 which was more than twice the size of its immediate predecessor, the Boeing 707.
Ahead of the launch of scheduled Concorde flights to Bahrain in January 1976, part of Terminal 3 was converted into an exclusive Concorde terminal with a dedicated check in area, with an escalator to Concorde lounge, adjacent to the boarding gate for Concorde. Passengers were also promised that their luggage would go direct from check-in to the hold aircraft.
The 1980s – Terminal 4 Opens
Terminal 4 when it opened in 1986, at a cost of £200 million, became BA’s principal base for long haul flights, with a small number of short haul routes.
Terminal 4 Under Construction, London Heathrow Airport (Image Credit: Heathrow)
The terminal was officially opened by the Prince Charles & Diana, Princess of Wales on 1 April 1986. It opened to passenger flights shortly after on 12 April 1986.
Prince Charles, Princess Diana, London Heathrow Terminal 4, April 1986 (Image Credit: SWNS / London Heathrow Airport)
Although Terminal 4 was intended to ease congestion in the Central Area, it was ill-suited in its design for long-haul flights. It was located south of the southern runway, so you had to cross an active runway to reach the north runway.
The 1980s saw BA launching more long haul routes at Heathrow with services to Bogota, Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Orlando, Pittsburgh and Tampa in 1985.
The 1990s – American Airlines, United & Virgin Atlantic Enter Heathrow
1991 was a significant year for Heathrow. Under a treaty between the UK and US governments only BA, Pan American World Airways and Trans World Airlines could fly to the US from the airport.
All other airlines, notably Virgin Atlantic and a number of US airlines following the deregulation of US aviation in 1978, had to fly from Gatwick.
Both Pan Am and TWA were heavily indebted and reeling from the collapse of international travel following the Gulf War, rising oil prices. Many clients, particularly business customers, actively avoided Pan Am the aftermath of the Lockerbie disaster.
Pan Am entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early 1991. It sought to raise around $290 million by selling its London routes to United Airlines. American Airlines purchased TWA’s London routes for $440 million.
This required a renegotiation of the bilateral treaty between the UK and the US. It also required a change in UK law which barred new airlines flying from Heathrow, which was intended to facilitate growth at Gatwick. This was lifted by the UK government in March 1991.
Virgin Atlantic started flying from London Heathrow to New York JFK and Los Angeles from July. In classic fashion, Sir Richard Branson dressed up as a pirate, covered a model BA Concorde at Heathrow with a Virgin logo and declared the airport “Virgin Territory”. This marked a significant deterioration in the relationship between the two airlines.
In total, the number of airlines competing against BA at Heathrow increased from 70 to 87.
The 2000s – Security Alerts & Industrial Relations Tensions
Following the events of 11 September 2001, BA embarked on a process to streamline its business and cut costs.
Many routes to Central & South America were transferred to Gatwick in the 1990s moved back to Heathrow. Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Harare and Lusaka were also moved to Heathrow. Other Heathrow routes such as Manila and Taipei were suspended.
The process of reforming working practices and reducing labour costs was not an easy one. BA ground staff at Heathrow walked out at the start of the summer holidays in July 2003 over the introduction of a new swipe card system. Whilst industrial action in aviation wasn’t new, wildcat strike action at the time was very rare.
BA faced a call for industrial action by ground staff over the August 2004 bank holiday. This was called off, but the airline had offer a profuse public apology when it was forced to cancel many flights at Heathrow due to unexpected staff shortages.
A third consecutive summer of unofficial industrial action followed in 2005 when BA ground staff worked out in support of employees sacked by its catering supplier Gate Gourmet. The sight on TV news bulletins of passengers queuing in tents outside terminals would become a familiar one.
The airline remained exposed to geopolitical events. In August 2003, BA temporarily suspended flights to Jeddah and Riyadh on UK government advice of “credible intelligence of a serious threat to British aviation interests in Saudi Arabia”.
BA223 from Heathrow to Washington Dulles was also cancelled on New Year’s Day 2004 due to security concerns. Passengers on the previous days flight were interviewed on arrival and the cargo hold of the aircraft was searched. BA was also forced to cancel further flights to Washington and Saudi Arabia on 15 and 16 February 2004 respectively due to security concerns.
A plot to blow up a flight from London to the US in August 2006 prompted very severe restrictions on hand baggage and very public criticism by then CEO Willie Walsh over security queues and Heathrow forcing airlines to reduce their schedules.
Ongoing restrictions on hand baggage had a significant impact on transfer traffic. BA’s baggage handling infrastructure at Terminals 1 and 4 struggled to handle the volume of additional checked luggage.
That said, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. The introduction of a new premium check-in area in 2004, Zone R, and a new First Class lounge in Terminal 1 proved popular with frequent flyers.
Whilst this era was largely one of contraction, BA did add Calgary, Hyderabad and Shanghai to its network at Heathrow.
Whilst it did, after bedding down, deliver operational improvements, severe disruption due to heavy snow at Christmas 2010 exposed a still dysfunctional relationship between Heathrow and its airlines.
British Airways Airbus A320 Aircraft G-BUSK, London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Image Credit: British Airways)
Relations between the airport and airlines have improved to a degree. There is at least at a more proactive approach to capacity reductions ahead of severe weather.
The acquisition of bmi British Midland in 2012 has cooled BA’s enthusiasm towards a third runway. IAG does not pull any punches regarding its costs of and effectively accuses Heathrow of misleading the public.
Should a third runway ever be constructed it will have a competitive impact on BA. easyJet has indicated it will seek access to Heathrow and a number of long-haul airlines will also be able to secure access and / or more competitively timed slots. That all said, no-one can predict the state of the industry by the time the third runway opens.
British Airways Orchestra performing “The Flower Duet” (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 Flower Duet by Léo Delibes from the opera Lakmé has been the effective theme of BA.
It was first used in 1984 and has featured in many adverts and has often been played during the boarding of aircraft.
It has been remixed many times, including by Dave Stewart for “The world is closer than you think” advertising campaign in 1997 and subsequent campaigns such as “The way to fly” in 2004.
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:
Joanna Lumley and Chabuddy G – BA Safety Video July 2018 (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.
As we’re just outside the Top 10, here’s a miscellany of things that didn’t quite make it into 100 list.
Boeing 707 Aircraft – The successor to the VC10 aircraft and predecessor to the Boeing 747 at BOAC. Whilst the VC10 was much loved by passengers the 707 had a much better range and operating performance for longer range routes than the VC10. It was a substantially smaller aircraft than the 747, which heralded the era of mass travel.
British Airways Helicopters – This was originally formed by BEA in 1947. By the 1980s British Airways Helicopters had a fleet of 40 helicopters, operating principally in the North Sea. It was sold by BA in 1986.
British Asia Airways – A former wholly owned operating division of BA that used to operate flights to Taipei.
Croydon Airport – A former base for Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA, Croydon Airport long ceased operations but its visitors centre is open to visitors on the first Sunday of the month.
Flying Start – BA’s charity partnership with Comic Relief. Since 2010 it has raised over £20million for the charity. It is also the subject BA’s somewhat marmite safety videos.
High Life Magazine – BA’s in flight magazine has survived the digital age. Occasionally containing a few howlers and out of date route maps, nearly 200,000 copies are published each month with a readership of around 825,000. A dedicated version of the magazine is produced for routes to China.
Northolt Airport – This was a major base for British European Airways during the construction of Heathrow. It is now a Royal Air Force station and is used for civil and military aircraft.
The BA Heritage Centre – Based at BA’s Head Office at Heathrow and curated by the late Paul Jarvis, the BA Heritage Centrecontains a huge range of original materials from BA’s history and is available to visit by appointment.
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:
British Airways, “The World’s Favourite Airline”, 1983.
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.
There is no client / advertising agency relationship that provokes more industry comment than BA and there is no more famous airline / advertising agency relationship than BA and Charles & Maurice Saatchi.
Saatchi & Saatchi, who were of course responsible for the “Labour Isn’t Working” poster campaign for the Conservative party in 1978, secured the BA advertising account in 1983.
Businesses can learn a lot from magicians. And from their earliest days Saatchi & Saatchi understood and exploited the power of illusion to create a desired reality in the minds of clients, potential clients, suppliers, potential high talent employees and the media
The relationship with Maurice & Charles Saatchi continued following their move to M&C Saatchi in the 1990s.
In 2005, the relationship ended with Bartle Bogle Hegarty securing the BA advertising account after a new tendering process that M&C Saatchi seemed destined to lose.
M&C Saatchi did not let go of the BA account lightly. They took out a double page advert in The Times the following day championing their work for BA and advising that they are now “taking new airline bookings”.
They reportedly revelled in advertising industry gossip that BBH was initially having difficulty pleasing BA. Allegedly a letter was drafted headed “British Airways. Serves You Right.” with the text “Please feel free to use the strapline in your upcoming advertising. Alternatively, simply stick it to the wall and stare at it for the next few months/years.”
In 2007, Saatchi also remade “The Face” advert for the now defunct airline Silverjet “Every day, Silverjet, the world’s most sivilised airline brings a select few people together”.
However, it’s not clear at whose expense the joke was: BA’s or the client actually paying for advert.
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:
British Airways staff wearing historic uniforms from BA and its predecessor airlines (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.
It’s only when you fly on an airline with sloppy uniform standards (*cough* American Airlines) do you appreciate its importance.
Apart from an expression of the airline’s image, it also has an important safety function in making members of airline staff instantly recognisable.
Designing an airline uniform is a huge logistical exercise. Uniforms must be designed for many different roles from pilots, cabin crew to ground staff. They must be capable of being worn in different climates and meet a whole host of practical and safety considerations.
Since the 1960s BA and its predecessor airlines have worked with major designers on their uniforms.
BOAC Uniforms
In the 1960s, BOAC cabin crew often used to wear different uniforms according to the routes they flew on.
Here is a paper dress for Caribbean routes modelled by BOAC cabin crew Pat Bleasdale on its launch in 1966. These were designed to be worn only once. They did not last long and were withdrawn after less than a year.
BOAC Paper Dress Uniform, Caribbean (Image Credit: British Airways)
BOAC stewardesses in Japan operating flights between the country and the UK from 1955 to 1974 wore kimonos. Each stewardess was given an allowance to buy a kimono of their choice from their local shop. The only requirement was that it must be of a traditional pattern and design.
The First Class cabin of a British Overseas Airways Corporation between Japan and London, with a BOAC Stewardess wearing a Japanese Kimono. Exact date unknown. (Image Credit: British Airways)
BEA Sylvia Ayton Uniform
Here is a uniform designed by a then unknown designer Sylvia Ayton in relatively restrained colours and style for BEA in the early 1960s.
BEA Sylvia Ayton Uniform
BEA Hardy Amies Uniform
During the 1960s, BEA approached Hardy Amies, official dressmaker for Her Majesty The Queen, to design a new uniform which had a much bolder, colourful and flamboyant style.
Successive designs by Hardy Amies survived the merger of BEA and BOAC and were retained by BA until the late 1970s.
BEA Hardy Amies Uniform (Image Credit: British Airways)British Airways Hardy Amies Uniform, Date Unknown (Image Credit: British Airways)British Airways Hardy Amies Uniform, Date Unknown (Image Credit: British Airways)
BA Baccarat Weatherall Uniform
The first official BA uniform was designed by the studio Baccarat Weatherall.
The main focus of the designs were on uniforms for female staff with the promise “to make British Airways girls the most elegant and attractive in the airline business”.
British Airways Boeing 747, Negus Livery (Image Credit: British Airways)
BA Roland Klein Uniform
It wasn’t until 1985 that an entirely new uniform was designed for all BA staff.
The French designer Roland Klein designed a uniform with the aim of conveying an informal, approachable style, fitting with the “Putting People First” approach of the time.
British Airways & Virgin Atlantic Aircraft, London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)
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.
When Sir Richard Branson founded Virgin Atlantic in 1984 Sir Freddie Laker, the founder of Laker Airways and the Skytrain, offered some words of advice “If you are taking on British Airways and Pan Am and they have massive ad budgets, you have to use yourself to get free advertising”.
Sir Richard had good reason to listen to the words of Sir Freddie. After its collapse, BA and Pan Am reached an out of court settlement with the creditors of Laker Airways in response to allegations of anti-competitive activity.
And take the advice he did. When Virgin Atlantic launched its inaugural flight from London Gatwick to Newark on 22 June 1984, Sir Richard was the public face of the airline. On the inaugural flight he dressed up in a captain’s uniform and partied with celebrities. A similar pattern followed for subsequent route launches.
TV documentaries would feature Sir Richard working in the cabin serving drinks and chatting to passengers. This was of course a sharp contrast to BA’s corporate image and Lord King and Colin Marshall.
Hot air ballon crossings the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with Per Lindstrand in 1987 and 1991 also generated huge amounts of publicity.
Of course, amongst all the many PR stunts by Virgin Atlantic, there has been no greater source of publicity for the airline than its David and Goliath rivalry with BA.
It is a story that has been well documented. The two airlines have a relationship that could at best be described as “complex”. Though, it is not always as straightforward as some would like to make out.
BA had to compete against many rivals in the 1980s such as British Caledonian, British Midland, and Laker Airways. However, the rapid ascent of Virgin Atlantic in the 1980s was different.
According to an internal BA report, allegedly leaked to Virgin Atlantic in early 1985, BA acknowledged that Richard Branson had given the airline “style and flair” and was a bigger threat to the airline than its other US cut price rival People Express. Virgin’s passengers were “trendsetter types” who, particularly younger travellers, regard it as “the airline to travel on”.
When Virgin Atlantic started operations at Heathrow in July 1991, Sir Richard dressed up in a pirates uniform and put a Virgin flag over a model Concorde aircraft and branded the airport “Virgin Territory”. Lord King was also reportedly furious at Virgin securing traffic rights to Tokyo Narita at the expense of BA.
Whilst Virgin was at the time, and still is, a fraction of the size of BA, the prospect of the airline muscling in on other lucrative routes such as Johannesburg clearly rankled BA.
“Dirty Tricks”
The nadir of the relationship was in the early 1990s.
In December 1991, Sir Richard issued an open letter to non-executive Directors of BA alleging that the airline had conducted a hostile and concerted campaign against Virgin Atlantic.
Amongst the allegations later made public by Virgin Atlantic against BA were:
Efforts by BA to obtain confidential computer information about Virgin Atlantic flights.
The solicitation by BA representatives of Virgin Atlantic passengers inside airports and at their homes.
Attempts by BA representatives to impersonate Virgin employees.
The shredding by BA employees of documents related to the case.
Efforts by BA to circulate to the news media misleading reports about Virgin.
Efforts by a British Airways consultant to plant hostile or negative reports in the news media.
These were covered in an edition of “This Week” entitled “Violating Virgin” produced by Thames Television in 1992.
In this programme it was claimed that David Burnside, BA’s Director of Public Affairs, had commissioned a consultant Brian Basham to produce a report questioning the financial viability of the Virgin Atlantic and other claims about businesses operated by Virgin, such as Heaven nightclub in London.
It was also claimed that BA staff were approaching Virgin Atlantic passengers as they arrived at airports in its then complimentary chauffeur service to entice them to switch airlines. Virgin even produced a pilot of a TV advertisement portraying BA staff approaching Virgin passengers as they stepped out of their limousines to enter the terminal.
A BA employee also claimed on camera, with their face & voice disguised, that they were instructed to shred documents related to Virgin.
The claims by Sir Richard were rejected outright by BA, in its subsequent words, “in terms which questioned the motivation and good faith of Virgin and Mr Branson” who then responded by suing by BA for libel.
During the course of litigation BA’s lawyers discovered that there “had been a few unconnected incidents of conduct on the part of a few employees that gave Mr Branson a basis for concern”.
Although BA insisted that its directors “had not been party to any concerted campaign against Richard Branson or Virgin Atlantic” and it neither confirmed nor denied specific allegations, it admitted that the internal investigation had found “incidents involving our employees which we accept were regrettable and which gave Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic reasonable grounds for concern.”
British Airways reached an out of court settlement with Virgin Atlantic on 11 January 1993, paid the airline £610,000 in damages and its legal costs and issued a public apology. This was covered in edition of ITV’s “World In Action” below:
