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History of British Airways
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History of British Airways
The predecessor companies of British Airways (BA), the United Kingdom's national airline, go back to five airlines established in the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1922. The first of these was Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), which operated the world's first daily scheduled international flight for commercial aviation in 1919.
The present company was formed in 1974 with the merger of the two largest UK airlines, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), and including also two smaller regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. The merger was the completion of a consolidation process started in 1971 with the establishment of the British Airways Board, a body created by the British government to control the operations and finances of BOAC and BEA, which initially continued to exist as separate entities.
British Airways acquired the supersonic Concorde in 1976, operating it on transatlantic services. The same year it assumed sole operation of international flights to North America and Southeast Asia from rival British Caledonian. The formation of Virgin Atlantic in 1984 began a tense rivalry, which led to "one of the most bitter and protracted libel actions in aviation history".
Under the leadership of Chairman Sir John King and CEO Colin Marshall, British Airways was privatised in February 1987, and in July of the same year, it launched the controversial takeover of British Caledonian. Following privatisation, British Airways entered a period of rapid growth, leading to the use of the slogan "The World's Favourite Airline", and dominated its domestic rivals during the early 1990s. Faced with increased competition and higher costs in the mid-1990s, CEO Bob Ayling led a restructuring effort, leading to trade union clashes; the carrier also invested in regional European airlines, courted international airline partnerships, and attempted a controversial ethnic livery rebranding campaign.
In the early 2000s, CEO Rod Eddington implemented further cost cuts, the retirement of Concorde, and the removal of ethnic liveries. Under Willie Walsh, who became CEO in 2005, British Airways faced a price-fixing scandal, moved its primary hub to Heathrow Terminal 5, and experienced threats of industrial action, leading to a strike in March 2010. On 8 April 2010, it was confirmed that British Airways and Iberia Airlines had agreed to a merger, forming the International Airlines Group, although BA continues to operate under its own brand. The combined airline became the world's third-largest carrier (after Delta Air Lines and American Airlines) in terms of annual revenue.
British Airways earliest corporate ancestor is the first British airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), which was founded on 5 October 1916 as a subsidiary of Airco, an aircraft manufacturer. AT&T operated the world's first daily scheduled international flight for commercial aviation on 25 August 1919. Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) established Daimler Air Hire on 7 June 1919 and acquired AT&T and its parent Airco in 1920. After the Airco subsidiary, including AT&T, filed for bankruptcy, BSA acquired its aircraft from the liquidator and combined these assets with Daimler Air Hire to form Daimler Airway in 1921. On 31 March 1924, Daimler Airway joined with three other pioneer airlines that started up during the immediate post war period—Handley Page Transport (established in 1919), Instone Air Line (1919), and British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd (1923)—to form Imperial Airways. Imperial developed routes throughout the British Empire to India, some parts of Africa and later to Canberra, Australia. Meanwhile, a number of smaller UK air transport companies had begun operating, and by 1935 many of these had merged to form the privately owned British Airways Ltd. Following a government review, Imperial Airways and British Airways were nationalised in November 1939 to form the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).
Post-war, BOAC continued to operate the majority of long-haul services in Britain, other than routes to South America; these were flown by British South American Airways, which was merged back into BOAC in 1949. Continental European and domestic flights were flown by a new nationalised airline, British European Airways (BEA), which compulsorily took over the scheduled services of existing UK independent airlines. On 2 May 1952, BOAC became the world's first airline to operate jet airliners; the inaugural flight with the de Havilland Comet 1 was from London to Johannesburg. However, the Comet's service introduction was plagued by structural problems and accidents, leading to its withdrawal in 1954 and replacement with the upgraded Comet 4 models in 1958.
The first attempt to create a new combined British airline through the merger of BOAC with BEA arose in 1953 out of inconclusive attempts between the two airlines to negotiate air rights through the British colony of Cyprus. The Chairman of BOAC, Miles Thomas, was in favour of the idea as a potential solution to a disagreement between the two airlines as to which should serve the increasingly important oil regions of the Middle East. In this proposal, Thomas had backing from the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, Rab Butler. However, opposition from the Treasury blocked the idea, and an agreement was reached instead to allow BEA to serve Ankara in Turkey, and in return to leave all routes east and south of Cyprus to BOAC. However, the solution was not entirely satisfactory to BOAC, as BEA's effective control of Cyprus Airways gave it the ability to continue to serve destinations ostensively ceded to BOAC, including Beirut and Cairo by using Cyprus Airways as its proxy.
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History of British Airways
The predecessor companies of British Airways (BA), the United Kingdom's national airline, go back to five airlines established in the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1922. The first of these was Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), which operated the world's first daily scheduled international flight for commercial aviation in 1919.
The present company was formed in 1974 with the merger of the two largest UK airlines, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), and including also two smaller regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. The merger was the completion of a consolidation process started in 1971 with the establishment of the British Airways Board, a body created by the British government to control the operations and finances of BOAC and BEA, which initially continued to exist as separate entities.
British Airways acquired the supersonic Concorde in 1976, operating it on transatlantic services. The same year it assumed sole operation of international flights to North America and Southeast Asia from rival British Caledonian. The formation of Virgin Atlantic in 1984 began a tense rivalry, which led to "one of the most bitter and protracted libel actions in aviation history".
Under the leadership of Chairman Sir John King and CEO Colin Marshall, British Airways was privatised in February 1987, and in July of the same year, it launched the controversial takeover of British Caledonian. Following privatisation, British Airways entered a period of rapid growth, leading to the use of the slogan "The World's Favourite Airline", and dominated its domestic rivals during the early 1990s. Faced with increased competition and higher costs in the mid-1990s, CEO Bob Ayling led a restructuring effort, leading to trade union clashes; the carrier also invested in regional European airlines, courted international airline partnerships, and attempted a controversial ethnic livery rebranding campaign.
In the early 2000s, CEO Rod Eddington implemented further cost cuts, the retirement of Concorde, and the removal of ethnic liveries. Under Willie Walsh, who became CEO in 2005, British Airways faced a price-fixing scandal, moved its primary hub to Heathrow Terminal 5, and experienced threats of industrial action, leading to a strike in March 2010. On 8 April 2010, it was confirmed that British Airways and Iberia Airlines had agreed to a merger, forming the International Airlines Group, although BA continues to operate under its own brand. The combined airline became the world's third-largest carrier (after Delta Air Lines and American Airlines) in terms of annual revenue.
British Airways earliest corporate ancestor is the first British airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), which was founded on 5 October 1916 as a subsidiary of Airco, an aircraft manufacturer. AT&T operated the world's first daily scheduled international flight for commercial aviation on 25 August 1919. Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) established Daimler Air Hire on 7 June 1919 and acquired AT&T and its parent Airco in 1920. After the Airco subsidiary, including AT&T, filed for bankruptcy, BSA acquired its aircraft from the liquidator and combined these assets with Daimler Air Hire to form Daimler Airway in 1921. On 31 March 1924, Daimler Airway joined with three other pioneer airlines that started up during the immediate post war period—Handley Page Transport (established in 1919), Instone Air Line (1919), and British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd (1923)—to form Imperial Airways. Imperial developed routes throughout the British Empire to India, some parts of Africa and later to Canberra, Australia. Meanwhile, a number of smaller UK air transport companies had begun operating, and by 1935 many of these had merged to form the privately owned British Airways Ltd. Following a government review, Imperial Airways and British Airways were nationalised in November 1939 to form the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).
Post-war, BOAC continued to operate the majority of long-haul services in Britain, other than routes to South America; these were flown by British South American Airways, which was merged back into BOAC in 1949. Continental European and domestic flights were flown by a new nationalised airline, British European Airways (BEA), which compulsorily took over the scheduled services of existing UK independent airlines. On 2 May 1952, BOAC became the world's first airline to operate jet airliners; the inaugural flight with the de Havilland Comet 1 was from London to Johannesburg. However, the Comet's service introduction was plagued by structural problems and accidents, leading to its withdrawal in 1954 and replacement with the upgraded Comet 4 models in 1958.
The first attempt to create a new combined British airline through the merger of BOAC with BEA arose in 1953 out of inconclusive attempts between the two airlines to negotiate air rights through the British colony of Cyprus. The Chairman of BOAC, Miles Thomas, was in favour of the idea as a potential solution to a disagreement between the two airlines as to which should serve the increasingly important oil regions of the Middle East. In this proposal, Thomas had backing from the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, Rab Butler. However, opposition from the Treasury blocked the idea, and an agreement was reached instead to allow BEA to serve Ankara in Turkey, and in return to leave all routes east and south of Cyprus to BOAC. However, the solution was not entirely satisfactory to BOAC, as BEA's effective control of Cyprus Airways gave it the ability to continue to serve destinations ostensively ceded to BOAC, including Beirut and Cairo by using Cyprus Airways as its proxy.
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