London Air Travel

London Air Travel » Page 56

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 theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

Twenty years or so ago, if you took a flight in BA Euro Traveller you’d be served a complimentary meal plated on china and offered unlimited drinks from the bar.

Regardless of the fare purchased you’d also have a generous luggage allowance and be able to select a seat for free.

All that has changed since. The reason? The rise and rise of low cost airlines in Europe which, it is no exaggeration to say, has completely revolutionised travel in Europe.

20 years ago easyJet had just one route at London Gatwick, now it has around 50% of slots at the airport.

It is conventional wisdom that the network legacy airlines have aped low cost airlines. They certainly have adopted many aspects of their business model. Some of this is in a good way. There was a time when a one-way fare would cost little different from a return fare and fares came with Saturday night stay restrictions.

Low cost airlines have also adopted many aspects of legacy network airlines. They introduced allocated seating, when it used to an absolute free-for-all on boarding, introduced more services to primary airports, added priority ground facilities and smarted up their image. easyJet is also planning to introduce its own frequent flyer currency.

BA has for 20 years sought to differentiate itself from low cost airlines in its advertising, with mixed success.

“There Are Other Ways, Then There’s British Airways” (2003)

The timing of this advert was unfortunate as it had to be pulled as BA experienced unofficial industrial action at Heathrow at the time it aired.

Continue reading “BA100: 38. Competing Against Low-Cost Airlines”

London Air Travel » Page 56

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 theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

British Airways was certainly late to the Airbus A380 party.

It was on 18 March 2008, flight SQ308 arrived at London Heathrow from Singapore Changi airport marking the beginning of scheduled Airbus A380 flights between London Heathrow and Singapore.

Singapore Airlines has always prided itself on industry firsts, so it was natural that it would be the first airline to operate the aircraft.

Emirates and Qantas soon followed at London Heathrow. As did Etihad, Korean Air, Malaysian Airlines, Qatar Airways and Thai Airways.

It wasn’t until five years later in 2013 did BA take delivery of the first of 12 Airbus A380 aircraft. This was of course the first long-haul aircraft BA ordered from Airbus.

The aircraft now operates year-round from London Heathrow to Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Singapore and Washington Dulles. It also operates on a seasonal basis to Boston, Chicago and Vancouver.

It’s a relatively small fleet compared to the Boeing 787 and 777, but it’s a popular aircraft with passengers, particularly for its First Class cabin. World Traveller Plus and World Traveller are also relatively comfortable compared to other aircraft.

Ever since BA took delivery of the aircraft there had been speculation whether it would order more. That has now been settled. Its options to acquire seven more new aircraft have expired. It had explored leasing second-hand aircraft but the costs of conversion are considered too high.

Whilst BA was one of the last airlines to take delivery of the A380, it is perfectly feasible that, along with Emirates, BA may be one of the last operators of the aircraft.

Air France has chosen to retire its fleet early, rather than refurbish aircraft. Lufthansa is to also hand back aircraft to Airbus. Many airlines such as Malaysia Airlines and Qantas have reduced Airbus A380 services to Heathrow. Qantas clearly now has other priorities, with ultra long-range aircraft. Airbus confirmed earlier this year that it is to end production of the aircraft in 2021 after Emirates decided to reduce its outstanding orders.

The launch of the aircraft, dubbed a “flying hotel” at the time, generated a huge amount of hype. And this is one where BA can claim to have got one over Virgin Atlantic. Virgin generated a huge amount of PR with an order of 6 aircraft in 2000 and promises of childrens’ play areas, gyms, showers and games arcades. 

Without any hint of irony Sir Richard Branson quipped in 2005: “To be perfectly honest, it would be quite nice if BA were to buy some A380s as well – because it would support British aerospace and it would support Europe.”

Last year, Virgin finally cancelled its entire A380 order.

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:

© Copyright London Air Travel 2019

London Air Travel » Page 56

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 theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

The UK advertising regulator the Advertising Standards Authority has recently banned two adverts for Philadelphia cheese and Volkswagen because they breached new advertising rules on gender stereotypes.

Under new rules introduced this year “Advertisements must not include gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence.”

What would the Advertising Standards Authority of today made of this BA advert from 1996?

The advert depicts a mother holding a baby, but with the face of an older businessman superimposed over the baby’s face. The text of the advert reads “The new Club World cradle seat. Lullaby not included.”

Many female passengers at the time wrote to the airline to complain it was demeaning to cabin crew.

BA has been far from alone in this regard. There are things Virgin has done in the past that look absolutely cringeworthy today. It can be said with confidence that if this advert was run today the airline would be in teeth of a social media storm.

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:

© Copyright London Air Travel 2019

London Air Travel » Page 56

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 theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

British Airways was granted a coat of arms in 1975.

The central shield of BA’s coat of arms features a quarter union flag which appeared on the first two British Airways liveries, Negus and Landor.

The shield is supported by a winged horse and a winged lion. The lion, as the heraldic symbol of England is shown with wings to reflect flying and a crown to reflect supremacy.

Above the shield is a helmet, topped with an astral cloud and a full sun. The motto is “To Fly. To Serve”

The coat of arms also featured on the tail fin of the Landor livery which was introduced in 1984.

The coat of arms was removed from the livery when the Project Utopia and then Chatham Dockyard livery was introduced in 1997.

However, following a brand relaunch in 2011 when companies tracing their heritage was very much in vogue, the coat of arms and its motto was resurrected and featured prominently in advertising.

Continue reading “BA100: 41. The British Airways Coat Of Arms”

London Air Travel » Page 56

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 theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

The Airbus A320 is now the workhorse of BA’s short-haul operation. However, its first delivery to BA came by accident.

When BA acquired British Caledonian in 1988, it inherited an order for 10 Airbus A320 aircraft which BCAL had placed at launch of the aircraft in 1983.

The first aircraft were delivered after the merger with BA. The first scheduled Airbus A320 passenger flight was from Gatwick to Geneva in April 1988. The aircraft were promptly dispatched to Heathrow.

In 1998, BA placed its first order for Airbus aircraft with an order for 59 Airbus A320 family aircraft with options on a further 129 aircraft. This was at the time BA’s single largest order for an aircraft.

The first Airbus A319 aircraft were delivered to BA in Birmingham in 2000 but were subsequently transferred to Heathrow as it sought to replace Boeing 757 & Boeing 767 aircraft with smaller capacity aircraft.

It has since proven to be extremely effective and efficient aircraft. Though BA is in the process of reducing the number of Airbus A319 aircraft, in favour of the Airbus A320. The latter aircraft have also been subject to “densification” as BA seeks to compete with low cost airlines.

BA currently has 42 Airbus A319, 67 A320 and 18 A321 aircraft at Heathrow and Gatwick. BA has also since taken delivery of 10 Airbus A320neo and 5 Airbus A321neo aircraft.

It was thought until recently that BA and many of its fellow IAG airlines would operate exclusively the Airbus A320 family on short-haul routes. IAG took the aviation industry by surprise earlier this year by announcing a letter of intent to acquire Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. However, IAG has yet to convert this to a firm order.

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:

© Copyright London Air Travel 2019

London Air Travel » Page 56

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 theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

If truth be told, long-haul economy is not an area where BA can claim to have led the airline industry in innovation.

Virgin Atlantic can with some justification claim to have led the industry with seat back TVs as well as extra touches such as complimentary ice creams. Virgin claims to be the first airline to offer seat back TV to all passengers from June 1991.

The “World Traveller” brand was introduced in 1991, replacing what was previously known as economy. The idea behind the rebranding was to present the cabin as a product in its own right, rather than simply the back of the aircraft.

The cabin last went through a complete “end to end” revamp in late 1998 with the aim of “Making time fly” for passengers. After extensive passenger research, BA rethought the entire passenger experience, introducing allocated seating, new seats and cabin interiors, amenities and seat back in-flight entertainment.

The “innovative” double-decker meal tray structure did not last long.

Continue reading “BA100: 43. World Traveller”

London Air Travel » Page 56

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 theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

Former CEO of British Airways Sir Rod Eddington was once quoted as saying that when he woke up in the morning his first thought was whether BA aircraft are still in the air or not.

On one morning during Rod Eddington’s tenure, they were not.

The reason why dates back to 1997 when, as part of a business efficiency programme, BA decided to outsource its in-house catering function to Gate Gourmet. The company was subsequently sold to the private equity firm Texas Pacific Group.

8 years later, in the peak of the 2005 summer travel season, it would come back to haunt BA in quite spectacular fashion.

The exact facts behind this episode are subject to claim and counter-claim by all parties involved.

The issue first emerged in August 2005 when BA announced there would be no catering any BA flights to or from London Heathrow due to industrial action at Gate Gourmet.

What had happened is that Gate Gourmet had been in negotiations in what was then the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) on changes to its working practices, such as how many employees are required to load a dishwasher. Gate Gourmet claimed that a failure to reform its working practices threatened the long-term viability of the business.

Members of the TGWU rejected the offer. Around 667 of 2,000 Gate Gourmet employees at Heathrow took part in unofficial industrial action in protest and were sacked by Gate Gourmet.

If that wasn’t enough, the episode escalated further for as the next day BA ground staff at London Heathrow took part in a wild cat strike in sympathy with Gate Gourmet staff.

This grounded the airline’s entire London Heathrow operation for over 24 hours. It took days for the operation to return to normal, with passengers queuing outside Heathrow terminals in tents, all in front of the world’s media. 900 flights were cancelled and the estimated cost of the strike to BA was £40m.

Continue reading “BA100: 44. The Gate Gourmet Dispute”

London Air Travel » Page 56

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 theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

An inevitable consequence of operating a global airline is that it will be caught up in major geopolitical events.

On 6 September 1970 members of Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine made an unsuccessful attempt to hijack an El Al Boeing 707 flying from Amsterdam.

The hijackers were overpowered and the aircraft landed at Heathrow. One of the two hijackers was shot. Another hijacker, Leila Khaled, was held in custody in the UK. Members of the Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine sought to negotiate her release.

On 9 September 1970, a BOAC Super VC-10 aircraft operating as flight BA775 and piloted by Captain Cyril Goulborn, having started its journey in Mumbai, departed Bahrain for Beirut.

The aircraft was hijacked by members of the Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine. The aircraft landed in Beirut before being made to fly to Zerqa (also known as Dawsons Field) which was a military airfield 20 miles north of Amman.

Also at the airfield was a hijacked TWA Boeing 707 and a Swissair DC-8 aircraft.

The 105 passengers and 10 crew on board the aircraft were held hostage for several days until British, German, Swiss, and Israeli authorities agreed to release Leila Khaled.

All passengers and crew were released from the aircraft before all three aircraft were blown up on 12 September 1970. All passengers and crew from the BOAC flight subsequently returned to the UK.

Continue reading “BA100: 45. Dawson’s Field Hijacking”