British Airways Boeing 747
Facing higher gas prices in the early 1970s oil crisis, along with an increasingly competitive airline market, the British government in 1971 decided to merge its two flag carrier airlines: British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), along with two other regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. The new company would be known as British Airways. It adopted a livery that mixed BOAC’s distinctive blue cheatline with BEA’s Union Jack tail motif.
British Airways formally came into being in March 1974 as Britain’s sole flag carrier airline. Over the next few years, the new airline would divest itself of its predecessors’ Hawker-Siddeley Tridents and BAC One-Elevens, going to an all-Boeing fleet (to the point that British tabloids insisted that BA stood for “Boeing Always”). The exception to the rule was the Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde, which entered service in 1976 with both British Airways and Air France as the world’s only scheduled supersonic airliner.
British Airways had inherited both BEA’s and BOAC’s huge number of routes and destinations, making it one of the world’s largest airlines by both routes and fleet size. Despite this, British Airways continued to post losses in its first decade of existence, and in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s drive to reduce the size of the British government and its subsidies, British Airways was privatized over the course of the 1980s. This proved to be a wise course, for along with a reorganization and with new management, the airline not only became profitable, but highly successful.
In 1984, British Airways discarded its earlier all-white scheme for a more somber, businesslike gray scheme, reflecting its new private status, though it added the crest of Britain’s royal family to the tail above the subdued Union Jack. It also became far more aggressive in marketing and competition with other British international airlines—namely British Caledonian, Laker, and Virgin Atlantic. British Airways was able to acquire Caledonian in 1988 and Laker had gone bankrupt in 1982; British Airways’ campaign against Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic grew so poisonous that Branson successfully sued the airline in 1993, claiming “dirty tricks” against Virgin. Not helping the airline’s image was its acquisition of Dan-Air London in 1992, another popular though unprofitable airline.
Despite its bad press, British Airways continued to post profits and do well in the international market, becoming by 1990 one of the few airlines to fly to every continent in the world. In 1997, British Airways changed its livery back to an all-white scheme (which was becoming popular with other airlines at the time as the “Eurowhite” scheme), but controversially removed the Union Jack flag from the tails in favor of “World Images” motifs, reflecting the wide number of British Airways destinations. This angered the British public and left the airline wide open to Virgin Atlantic, which promptly added Union Jacks to its fleet and branded itself as the true British flag carrier. By 1999, British Airways discarded the World Images for a stylized Union Jack that had been carried by its Concordes.
Competition in a deregulated airline industry, especially from Virgin Atlantic, led British Airways to begin posting losses in 2000, losses accelerated the next year post 9/11. An attempt at a merger with KLM failed the same year, and the airline also faced labor problems. British Airways was forced to sell its low-cost carrier, Go, in 2001 as well. Because of fuel prices and age, the airline also retired the Concorde in 2003. Though British Airways did not risk bankruptcy, it could not maintain its losses for long, and in 2008, British Airways merged with Iberia of Spain. Both airlines would retain their identities, but operate under the umbrella of the joint-owned International Airlines Group.
Today, British Airways remains one of the world’s largest airlines and is Britain’s largest. It owns stock in several companies, and owns outright BA CityFlyer (flying from London’s downtown City Airport), OpenSkies (low-cost flights from Paris to New York), British Airways Limited (low-cost flights from London-City to New York), and British Airways World Cargo. Though it is the world’s largest operator of Boeing 747s, it is no longer “Boeing Always,” and flies a wide variety of both Boeing and Airbus products, including the A380 and 787 Dreamliner.
This particular British Airways 747 shows the "Asia" version of the "World Images" livery that was so controversial in the late 1990s. The tail uses a stylized Chinese ideogram pattern, complete with ink chop. As it was disliked by the British public, the World Images did not remain for long.
British Airways Boeing 747
Facing higher gas prices in the early 1970s oil crisis, along with an increasingly competitive airline market, the British government in 1971 decided to merge its two flag carrier airlines: British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), along with two other regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. The new company would be known as British Airways. It adopted a livery that mixed BOAC’s distinctive blue cheatline with BEA’s Union Jack tail motif.
British Airways formally came into being in March 1974 as Britain’s sole flag carrier airline. Over the next few years, the new airline would divest itself of its predecessors’ Hawker-Siddeley Tridents and BAC One-Elevens, going to an all-Boeing fleet (to the point that British tabloids insisted that BA stood for “Boeing Always”). The exception to the rule was the Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde, which entered service in 1976 with both British Airways and Air France as the world’s only scheduled supersonic airliner.
British Airways had inherited both BEA’s and BOAC’s huge number of routes and destinations, making it one of the world’s largest airlines by both routes and fleet size. Despite this, British Airways continued to post losses in its first decade of existence, and in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s drive to reduce the size of the British government and its subsidies, British Airways was privatized over the course of the 1980s. This proved to be a wise course, for along with a reorganization and with new management, the airline not only became profitable, but highly successful.
In 1984, British Airways discarded its earlier all-white scheme for a more somber, businesslike gray scheme, reflecting its new private status, though it added the crest of Britain’s royal family to the tail above the subdued Union Jack. It also became far more aggressive in marketing and competition with other British international airlines—namely British Caledonian, Laker, and Virgin Atlantic. British Airways was able to acquire Caledonian in 1988 and Laker had gone bankrupt in 1982; British Airways’ campaign against Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic grew so poisonous that Branson successfully sued the airline in 1993, claiming “dirty tricks” against Virgin. Not helping the airline’s image was its acquisition of Dan-Air London in 1992, another popular though unprofitable airline.
Despite its bad press, British Airways continued to post profits and do well in the international market, becoming by 1990 one of the few airlines to fly to every continent in the world. In 1997, British Airways changed its livery back to an all-white scheme (which was becoming popular with other airlines at the time as the “Eurowhite” scheme), but controversially removed the Union Jack flag from the tails in favor of “World Images” motifs, reflecting the wide number of British Airways destinations. This angered the British public and left the airline wide open to Virgin Atlantic, which promptly added Union Jacks to its fleet and branded itself as the true British flag carrier. By 1999, British Airways discarded the World Images for a stylized Union Jack that had been carried by its Concordes.
Competition in a deregulated airline industry, especially from Virgin Atlantic, led British Airways to begin posting losses in 2000, losses accelerated the next year post 9/11. An attempt at a merger with KLM failed the same year, and the airline also faced labor problems. British Airways was forced to sell its low-cost carrier, Go, in 2001 as well. Because of fuel prices and age, the airline also retired the Concorde in 2003. Though British Airways did not risk bankruptcy, it could not maintain its losses for long, and in 2008, British Airways merged with Iberia of Spain. Both airlines would retain their identities, but operate under the umbrella of the joint-owned International Airlines Group.
Today, British Airways remains one of the world’s largest airlines and is Britain’s largest. It owns stock in several companies, and owns outright BA CityFlyer (flying from London’s downtown City Airport), OpenSkies (low-cost flights from Paris to New York), British Airways Limited (low-cost flights from London-City to New York), and British Airways World Cargo. Though it is the world’s largest operator of Boeing 747s, it is no longer “Boeing Always,” and flies a wide variety of both Boeing and Airbus products, including the A380 and 787 Dreamliner.
This particular British Airways 747 shows the "Asia" version of the "World Images" livery that was so controversial in the late 1990s. The tail uses a stylized Chinese ideogram pattern, complete with ink chop. As it was disliked by the British public, the World Images did not remain for long.