British Caledonian

Although the introduction of the DC-10 resulted in a huge increase in BCal's long-haul passenger and cargo capacity, the actual loads exceeded the airline's forecasts and helped it grow its traffic volumes on its scheduled services to West Africa and South America.^[137]

BCal was so pleased with the DC-10's performance that it decided to convert both of the options it had taken when placing the original order for two aircraft during 1976 into firm orders for delivery in autumn 1978 and spring 1979 respectively. However, a subsequent strike at the manufacturer's plant meant that

By 1978, BCal had fully recovered from the 1974 crisis year, which had threatened its very existence at that time. After the severe contraction forced upon it by the early 1970s' oil crisis, the company's core scheduled operation was growing again with new widebodied aircraft and routes being added and schedules being expanded. Business was booming with planes being fuller than at any time in the firm's history. The airline recorded a pre-tax profit of £12.2 million during its 1977/78 financial year to 31 October 1978.[143]^[144] This translated into a £10 million retained profit. It was the company's best financial result since its formation back in November 1970. BCal's senior management decided to allocate £644,000 of the retained profit to a new profit-share scheme^[143][145] to reward its staff for their hard work, and as an incentive for the future.^[146] BCal's profit-share scheme, which began the following year, was one of the first of its kind in the UK airline industry.

BCal also became a "scheduled service only" airline during 1978,^[147] implementing a decision taken the year before when the share of passengers travelling on charter flights had declined to just 15% of all passengers carried. There were two reasons for BCal's withdrawal from the charter market:

• A 25% contraction of the transatlantic ABC flights market as a result of the initial success of the daily Laker Airways Skytrain low-fares, "no frills" scheduled operation between London Gatwick and New York JFK, which had begun in the previous year's autumn season.^[148]
• A steady decline in charter rates in the European
  package tour holiday market where BCal used to supply whole-plane charter seats to its Blue Sky Holidays tour operator affiliate as well as third party tour companies
  .

In early 1978, BCal introduced an updated livery.[30]^[125]

1978 was furthermore the year Adam Thomson held the chairmanship of the Association of European Airlines (AEA).^{[nb 16]}

In addition, the

The year before, the Government had announced its intention to take pro-active steps to help ensure Gatwick's development as a genuine alternative to Heathrow. It was hoped that this in turn would assist BCal's development as a serious alternative to BA and the other major, established scheduled airlines.[144] These steps included inviting BCal and Britain's other independent airlines to apply to the CAA for route licences to operate scheduled services to destinations in the British Isles and in Continental Europe that were not already served from Gatwick, thereby increasing the reach of the airport's scheduled route network as well as providing more connecting traffic for BCal.^[144]

BCal was keen to expand its limited short-haul European network beyond the existing four routes linking London Gatwick with Paris Charles de Gaulle,

It was used by 60,000 passengers during the first year of its operation.[164]

1978 was also the year BCal set up a task force headed by Gordon Davidson, BA's former Concorde director, to investigate the possibility of operating the Concorde supersonic airliner viably on the airline's long-haul route network as there were still two unsold, "white tail" examples available at that time.^{[144][166][167][168][169][170]}

Another important reason for BCal's decision to set up a Concorde task force was that the 1976 aviation policy review had exempted Concorde from the "spheres of influence" policy^[110] and therefore it was possible for BA to operate supersonic services to prime business and leisure destinations within BCal's sphere of influence, such as Lagos or Rio de Janeiro for example. To ward off this potential threat, BCal's senior management decided to develop its own Concorde plans, either independently or in partnership with BA.^[108]

The most obvious choice for a supersonic service was Gatwick—Lagos, the backbone and main money spinner of BCal's scheduled operation.

BCal put in a bid to acquire one of the remaining two "white tail" aircraft.[144]^[166][169] The bid was not successful.

However, BCal eventually arranged for two aircraft to be leased from BA and

In 1979, the airline took delivery of its delayed third and fourth McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 widebodied aircraft during the first and third quarter. This permitted the aircraft's introduction on its daily Gatwick—Houston schedule as well as the replacement of the remaining 707-operated services on its mid- and South Atlantic routes.^[138] The narrow-bodied capacity released was used to add frequencies on existing routes as well as to launch services to new medium- and long-haul destinations. As a result, BCal launched a fourth weekly service to Brazil.^[175] It also launched a new route to Oran^[176] and added Quito^[177] and Guayaquil^[177] to the mid-Atlantic schedule.^[178] The company furthermore increased frequencies on its short-haul routes. A fourth daily round-trip was added to both Gatwick—Manchester and Gatwick—Brussels. A third daily frequency operating on week days was added to the Newcastle—Amsterdam sector of BCal's Glasgow—Newcastle—Amsterdam regional route.

During that year, BCal also established a wholly owned helicopter subsidiary^[179] and it placed the UK launch order for a brand-new widebodied aircraft, the Airbus A310.^[180]

This was also the time BCal came up with a proposal to create a new network of European low-fare services. These were to be marketed under the trademark Miniprix and were meant to counter

BCal was evaluating both the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 narrowbody as well as the Airbus A310 and Boeing 767 widebodies as suitable long-term replacements for its existing narrow-bodied aircraft on these routes.^{[174][181][183][184]}

BCal's setbacks during 1979 included continuing frustration of the airline's desire to launch scheduled services to Scandinavia despite the conclusion of a new

BCal took delivery of three more

This accelerated pace of growth made BCal the fastest growing member airline of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) in both 1980 and 1981.^[198]

BCal received a boost during 1980, when the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved carriers (BCal, Cathay Pacific and Laker – subject to ratification) on the London – Hong Kong route to be able to pick up and put down passengers at intermediate stops in the Gulf states as the Hong Kong route was not otherwise expected to generate enough revenue for four carriers. For BCal this meant using their Dubai refuelling stop to carry passengers, cargo and mail between London and Dubai and Dubai and Hong Kong, despite objections from British Airways (BA) which already had such rights for Dubai and Bahrain.^[199][200]

BCal's 10th anniversary on 30 November 1980 coincided with the completion of its new corporate headquarters — aptly named Caledonian House — in Crawley's Lowfield Heath area close to the airline's Gatwick base. It was the first purpose-built headquarters in the company's history, which was designed to accommodate all 1,100 office-based staff at the airline's Gatwick base under one roof.^[201][202]

The high oil price during that period was a mixed blessing for BCal. It helped the airline fill its premium cabins on its oil-related business routes to Nigeria, Libya and Texas. On the other hand, the escalation of the jet fuel price and the fact that the high price of oil had considerably worsened the severe recession in Britain at that time significantly increased the company's operating costs, while at the same time reducing overall demand for its flights. BCal therefore decided to reduce off-peak frequencies on most of its short-haul routes from the start of the 1980/81 winter timetable period. This also included combining week-end, off-peak flights from Gatwick to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester by converting non-stop flights into one-stop operations.

Among the set-backs BCal suffered at that time were the CAA's rejection of its application to serve

BCal ended the 1979/80 financial year with a healthy profit of £9.7 million.^[204]

BCal received another new DC-10-30 widebody in 1981.^{[193][194][197]} The delivery of this aircraft enabled the airline to increase frequencies on the prime long-haul routes to West Africa from seven to 10 weekly round-trips.^{[205][failed verification]} It also permitted a frequency increase on the Gatwick—Dubai—Hong Kong route from four to five weekly round-trips.

At the start of the 1981/82 winter timetable period, BCal added Douala (Cameroon) to its network.^[206]

Also in 1981, BCal opened a new engine overhaul plant at

BCal ended its 1980/81 financial year with a £6.2 million loss as a result of high fuel prices, a major recession on both sides of the Atlantic and heavy route development costs.^[204]

Expanding eastwards

As a result of the network structure BCal had inherited from British United Airways (BUA), an exclusive north–south airline, it became a predominantly north–south orientated carrier as well. The predominant north–south route structure had been further reinforced by the 1976 "spheres of influence" policy, which had locked the airline's long-haul operation into two continents — Africa and South America.^[215][216]

BCal's senior management realised that it needed to develop the traffic flows across its network in an east–west direction to increase the network's reach and to enable its passengers to make omnidirectional flight connections. This was also essential to enable the airline to increase its economies of scale and to reach the minimum size envisaged in the Edwards report.^[217][218]

BCal's new Gatwick—Dubai—Hong Kong route was intended to be just the first step in this expansion to the East.

BCal had proposed running a conventional scheduled service from Gatwick to Hong Kong via Dubai utilising its rapidly growing fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 widebodies in a three-class configuration featuring a first and an executive class in addition to an economy cabin. BCal had also agreed to offer a limited number of low fares that would match the lowest fares Laker had proposed. The CAA decided to license BCal to operate unlimited scheduled services between London and Hong Kong.,^[195][225] rejecting both Cathay Pacific's and Laker's applications, clearing the way for BCal to become the second British scheduled carrier on that route.^[195][225]

However, Hong Kong's Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) unexpectedly refused to endorse BCal because many influential people in the Crown Colony felt very upset that Cathay Pacific was going to be excluded from one of the world's most lucrative air routes. This caused a minor diplomatic row between the UK government and the colonial administration in Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific immediately began a back-door lobbying campaign in the Crown Colony as well as in London, stressing that it had invested millions of

With the competition from Cathay Pacific, BCal decided to operate only four weekly round-trips instead of a daily service they had originally planned.[195]^[196] Cathay Pacific commenced a thrice-weekly service between Hong Kong and Gatwick via Bahrain on 17 July 1980 ahead of BCal, which began its four-times-a-week Gatwick—Hong Kong service via Dubai on 1 August 1980.^[195][196]

Routes to Europe

Following BA's decision to abandon the short-haul routes it had been operating from London Gatwick at low frequencies since 1978 and to surrender a number of unused licences to the CAA, BCal, Laker Airways and Dan-Air requested the CAA to transfer these licences to themselves.

BCal applied to take over BA's London Gatwick—Frankfurt route and its dormant Gatwick—Geneva^[226] licence. BCal was awarded licences for both routes.^{[227][228][229]}

The fairly liberal

The launch of the two new routes coincided with the introduction of a dedicated business class cabin on all of BCal's short-haul flights to Europe, the first time the airline had offered two classes on its short-haul routes since its inception, with the exception of a brief period in the early 1970s during which it had offered a first class on the Gatwick—Paris route. BCal used the Executive Class brand for both its new European and its longer established long-haul business class.

Falklands War and re-entry into the charter market

The 1982

Despite being a difficult year for BCal, it managed to stay in the black during that period. The airline made a pre-tax profit of £1.1 million, which translated into a £300,000 retained profit, in the financial year to 31 October 1982.[234]

Launching a new narrow-bodied aircraft

In 1983, BCal became the first non-French airline to order the Airbus A320. BCal placed a firm order for seven A320s and took an option on another three, with deliveries of the aircraft on firm order due to commence during the spring of 1988. The options were subsequently converted into firm orders as well.^{[235][236][237][238]}

Although the A320 was bigger than BCal's actual requirement, it was the technologically most advanced contender with 27% lower seat-mile costs than the BAC One-Eleven.^[239] Airbus Industrie had also offered the airline a generous discount to sign up as a launch customer. Having BCal [co-]launch a brand-new narrow-bodied aircraft, gave the manufacturer added credibility in its global sales campaigns. This was of particular importance in the all-important US market, which Airbus needed to penetrate with its new aircraft if it wanted to break the stranglehold Boeing had enjoyed in this market segment with the 737 for over 15 years. Airbus knew that the major US carriers would be suspicious of the new aircraft's commercial credentials if only state-owned (and at the time subsidised) airlines (Air France and Lufthansa) of countries, whose aerospace industries benefitted from orders, as launch customers. Therefore, having a successful wholly independent airline with a major, worldwide scheduled presence like BCal order a brand-new, technologically advanced aircraft came in handy.

BCal intended to use its A320s to replace the ageing One-Elevens on its short-haul European and medium-haul North African routes.^[238]

1983 turned out to be another tough year for BCal. Continuing restrictions on the airline's South American services and other schedule cutbacks in response to the early 80s recession reduced aircraft utilisation. This led to a decision to fill spare long-haul aircraft capacity with third-party work. BCal's third-party business included a twice weekly Gatwick—Luxembourg—Barbados service on behalf of Caribbean Airways,^[240] weekly Gatwick—Frankfurt—Mahé services under contract to Air Seychelles and a wet lease agreement with Surinam Airways to operate a weekly Paramaribo—Gatwick—Amsterdam service. The Caribbean Airways and Air Seychelles contracts used spare capacity on BCal's DC-10-30s, while the Surinam Airways wet lease utilised the ex-Laker DC-10-10s operated by British Caledonian Charter.^[241][242] Although BCal's airline operation incurred a loss of £655,000 in the financial year to 31 October 1983, the airline managed to make an overall pre-tax profit of £2.6 million. This translated into a £300,000 retained profit at group level.^[234][243]

Reorganisation and improved industrial relations

During the early 1980s, BCal and its affiliated companies adopted a new organisational structure to reflect the growth in the group's business and the diversification into new activities. Caledonian Aviation Group (renamed British Caledonian Group in 1986) became the new

In addition, this was the time BCal, which had always prided itself on its industrial relations record, claiming it never lost a full day's operation as a result of industrial action^[234][244] began implementing a new co-operative, industrial relations strategy. The airline termed its new industrial relations strategy "The Way Ahead".^{[245][246][247]} This strategy was designed to make the airline the most productive among its peers in Europe by redefining established working practices. Its aim was to achieve a significant reduction in labour costs through increased productivity, thereby putting the firm ahead of its rivals. It was hoped that this would ultimately translate into higher profits as well.^[247]

The strategy sought to gain acceptance (among eligible BCal employees) by offering them a higher basic rate of pay and a greater personal involvement in the management's decision-making process in return for forgoing overtime pay and agreeing to new, more efficient working practices that resulted in increased

The successful implementation of the new industrial relations strategy in 1983 made BCal employees the highest paid airline staff in the UK at the time.^[citation needed]

A major shakeup

In 1984, the UK Government began to prepare then wholly state-owned BA for privatisation in earnest by appointing a new

In June 1984, BCal's original proposal to share out BA's routes ahead of the latter's privatisation was followed up by a plan BCal had jointly formulated with eight other UK independent airlines. This plan sought to give the independents a greater share of the UK's air transport market by reducing BA's share. Measured in terms of capacity tonne kilometres (CTKs), it would have increased the independents' share from 17% to 40% while reducing BA's share from 83% to 60%. For BCal alone this would have doubled its share from 15% to 30%. In their submission the independents claimed that privatising BA in its existing shape would allow it to dominate and destroy its competition. They also regarded BA's continuing dominance as incompatible with the CAA's goal of a less-regulated air transport market. BA countered the independents' contentions by maintaining that rather than benefiting consumers through increased competition, the independents' intent generally, and BCal's in particular, would merely result in substituting its own services with those of other carriers.^[263]

The opposing views of Britain's leading independent airlines on one hand and BA on the other regarding the future shape of the British air transport industry led to a review of the Government's airline competition policy by the CAA. The result was CAP 500, a Government-commissioned

The CAA broadly endorsed BCal's proposals by recommending the transfer of BA's routes to Saudi Arabia and Harare as well as its Caribbean and Iberian peninsula routes to BCal. The CAA also recommended removing all capacity restrictions on BCal's existing short-haul European routes. It furthermore advocated increasing the opportunities for designating BCal as the second UK flag carrier on additional long-haul routes where BA was the only UK scheduled airline. This was to be achieved through appropriate amendments to the relevant bilateral agreements.^[257][265]

Full implementation of CAP 500 would have resulted in strengthening BCal's position at Gatwick by making it the sole UK scheduled airline on all trunk routes from that airport while maintaining BA's status as the dominant UK scheduled carrier at Heathrow.^[257][265]

In the event, under pressure from BA's board and to ensure BA's successful flotation, the Government decided not to accept the CAA's recommendations in full.^[266] Instead, it settled on a limited route transfer from BA to BCal.^[267] This entailed transferring BA's profitable Saudi Arabian routes to Dhahran and Jeddah to BCal to add to its new route to the Saudi capital Riyadh.^[257][267] The Government thought that this would strengthen BCal by making it the sole UK flag carrier to all of Saudi Arabia and that it would tie in well with BCal's "linking the oil capitals of the world" corporate strategy, which it had successfully pursued since the late 1970s. To be seen as even-handed by both parties and to counter BA's accusations of displaying favouritism towards BCal, the Government required BCal to hand over to BA its loss-making South American routes as well as its unused licences to serve a number of additional destinations in the US and Morocco.^{[257][267][268]}

The limited route transfer on which the Government had decided was far less ambitious than either BCal's own proposals or the CAA's recommendations and would still leave it far smaller than BA and the giant US carriers. Although this was less than it had bargained for, BCal's senior management decided to accept the Government's decision because they estimated the two Saudi Arabian routes BA was going to transfer to be worth £18 million in additional annual profits.

1984 was a record year for BCal. It ended the financial year to 31 October 1984 with a pre-tax profit of £17.1 million, which surpassed the record financial performance of 1978. This translated into a £10.9 million retained profit at group level.[234] These profits were the result of improvements in the British economy, which had recovered from the severe recession of the early 1980s, and BCal beginning to reap the benefits of the new industrial relations strategy it had begun implementing the year before.

Also in 1984, BCal received two brand-new A310-200 widebodies at its Gatwick base.^[270][271]

In 1984, the CAA awarded BCal a licence to commence scheduled services from Gatwick to

Libreville was added to the network during 1984. At the start of the summer timetable period, frequencies to Frankfurt and Geneva increased to three daily round-trips. Connectair^[274] and RFG^[274] joined the British Caledonian Commuter scheme adding new, regional feeder routes from Gatwick to Antwerp and Paderborn. Connectair also assumed the operation of BCal's Gatwick—Brussels route. BCal furthermore decided to withdraw its Glasgow—Newcastle—Amsterdam regional service to focus its operations on providing worldwide scheduled services from London only.

1984 also marked the end of the long-haul, narrow-bodied era for BCal when the last Boeing 707 left its fleet.^[276]

1985 was the year that broke all previous financial records at BCal. The pre-tax profit in the financial year to 31 October 1985 reached an all-time high of £21.4 million. The retained group profit for that period was £11.3 million.^[234] The profit attributable to BCal's airline operation represented an improvement of almost £12 million compared with the previous year's results.^[276] During that year, BCal carried 8% more passengers and 20% more cargo compared with the year before.^[276]

The limited route transfer on which BCal had agreed with BA and the Government took effect at the start of the 1985 summer timetable period, when BCal commenced scheduled operations from Gatwick to Dhahran and Jeddah, replacing the BA service from Heathrow.^[277][278] At the same time, BCal relinquished its traffic rights to Recife, Salvador, Rio, São Paulo, San Juan, Caracas and Bogotá. BA acquired these traffic rights and began serving most of these destinations from Heathrow.^[278]

The temporary lease of a Viscount sporting the full BCal livery^[281] for the duration of the 1985 summer timetable period enabled the airline to increase capacity on the Gatwick—Brussels route by replacing smaller aircraft Connectair had used to operate that service under the British Caledonian Commuter scheme and to add more capacity on week-ends on the busy Gatwick—Jersey route.^[282][283]

Two more, second-hand DC-10-30s were acquired to replace BCal's A310s, which left the fleet when the additional DC-10s arrived.^[279][284]

1985 also saw the establishment of British Caledonian Flight Training, a new flight crew training facility.^[285]

As Gatwick became busier, BCal's senior management called on the Government to ban all

The collapse of the oil price during the mid-1980s had serious repercussions for BCal's revenue and profit projections as this impacted the oil-related business routes on which the airline had depended for most of its profits since the late 1970s. All of these routes carried fewer premium business travellers than anticipated. This in turn led to a sharp decline of those routes' profitability and, hence, their contribution to the airline's overall profitability. In the case of the newly acquired Saudi Arabian routes this meant that they delivered less than half the projected profits.[220]^{[236][286][287][288]}

The limited route transfer had allowed BCal to grow its scheduled capacity to about 18% of all UK scheduled airline capacity, while BA only suffered an insignificant reduction in its share of total scheduled capacity.

BCal's 18% share was still far less than the minimum size BCal needed to acquire the economies of scale to compete with BA and the giant US carriers on a level playing field.^[216] This was also less than what had been envisaged in the Edwards report prior to BCal's formation.^{[nb 24][289][290]}

This situation was unsatisfactory for the airline and unrewarding for its shareholders.

Therefore, under pressure from its controlling shareholder 3i, the search for a new, long-term strategy began.^[286][291]

As a consequence of its main shareholder's dissatisfaction, the British Caledonian Group's board of directors established contact with ILG's board in November 1985.

The latter represented a return on total equity employed plus previously retained earnings of 18.2%. This was substantially better than BCal's short-haul operation could have hoped to achieve on its own.^[294]

Despite several rounds of talks being held that lasted well into the first half of 1986, both sides eventually decided not to proceed further with their joint venture study and to go their separate ways.^[292]

Unexpected reversal of fortunes

BCal had high hopes for 1986. It expected to make record profits representing a substantial improvement on the previous year's pre-tax profits of £21.4 million.^[295] The British Caledonian Group expected its turnover to exceed half-a-billion pounds while BCal expected to carry just under two-and-a-half million passengers. The year's crowning glory was to be the flotation of the British Caledonian Group on the London Stock Exchange.^{[291][296][297]}

Instead, 1986 turned out to be BCal's "annus horribilis" during which it faced its most acute crisis as a result of events beyond its control. The airline was never going to recover from this crisis, which ultimately sealed the company's fate.

The events that brought about a dramatic turn-around in BCal's fortunes plunging it into a £19.3 million pre-tax loss (translated into a £14.4 million retained group loss).^{[298][299][300]} included

• the
  bombing of La Belle nightclub in West Berlin, which injured over 200 and killed three.^{[301][302][303]}
• the world's worst nuclear accident in Chernobyl in the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on 26 April 1986^{[301][302][303]}
• the adverse impact of the devaluation of the
  Nigerian currency on BCal's earnings from passenger and freight bookings originating in Nigeria and paid for in the local currency, which the Nigerian government of the day prevented from being repatriated to the UK.^{[268][284][304][305]}

The third had a serious impact on BCal's finances at a time of crisis as it denied the airline speedy access to a substantial amount of money derived from passenger and cargo sales in its most important and most profitable overseas market. This resulted in a significant revenue loss.[284]^{[303][304][305]}

What was already a bad situation for the airline was made worse by the continuing decline of the oil price, which had started the year before. The rapid fall in the oil price reduced the oil industry's spending power, thereby significantly reducing the number of oil-related business passengers planning to fly with BCal in future.^[284] As these passengers used to account for a major share of the airline's high-yield premium bookings, future revenue and profit projections needed to be revised as well to take account of much reduced demand for the company's most expensive tickets.^[284][297]

In addition, the Government announced the withdrawal of BCal's licence to operate the high-frequency

As a result of the problems it was facing during that time, BCal announced 1,000 job losses out of a total worldwide workforce of 7,700[216]^[234][306] which given there was no overall reduction in services Flight International described as suggesting "that the slim down was overdue"^[308] It also needed to make adjustments to its schedule to take account of the expected changes in traffic patterns. This led to an immediate reduction in the number of weekly frequencies on BCal's underperforming Saudi Arabian routes. The aircraft capacity released was redeployed on BCal's well-performing route to Dubai and Hong Kong.^{[nb 25][308]}

Altogether BCal suffered a total revenue loss of £80 million^{[nb 26]} while the airline itself lost two-and-a-half million pounds every month at that time.^[234][304]

The airline embarked upon a major asset disposal programme to compensate for this significant revenue loss and to have sufficient funds to keep the business running.^[299][300] These asset disposals included the profitable sale of two, relatively young McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 widebodied aircraft to Continental Airlines, the sale and lease-back of the entire 13-strong, short-haul BAC One-Eleven fleet, the sale of six of Caledonian Hotel Holdings' hotels,^{[nb 27]} the sale of Caledonian Airmotive to US-based Ryder Systems, the sale of Caledonian Leisure Holdings and the disposal of British Caledonian Helicopters the following year.^{[236][298][304][309]}

Despite facing a major crisis, BCal continued adding new aircraft, routes and flight frequencies in an effort to maintain a competitive operation.

Two more 747s joined the fleet during 1986.^[284][308] This permitted a major capacity increase on the popular Gatwick—Dubai—Hong Kong route.^[220][308]

During that year, Muscat,^[220][308] Gaborone^[298] and Aberdeen^[310] joined the network.

BCal's acquisition of a fifth 747 the following year permitted the launch of a new route from Gatwick to Tokyo on 31 May 1987, at a frequency of three return flights per week.^{[216][284][311]} In addition, for the first time in five years, two new European routes were launched from Gatwick. These served Milan Linate^{[216][284][312][313]} and Nice^[216] at a frequency of 13 and three return flights per week, respectively.

Merger discussions

By July 1987, BCal had already exhausted most of the proceeds from the asset disposal programme.

The proceeds from the sale of two DC-10s to Continental Airlines was all that was left to keep the airline in business. Senior management realised that the company was unlikely to survive on its own and that it needed to act fast if it wanted to avoid BCal's collapse.^[314]

Therefore, the search for a financially strong partner acquired a renewed sense of urgency.

Several rounds of talks that were aimed at achieving a full-scale merger ensued with various airlines in the UK, the US, Canada and Europe.

BCal's future prospects as a stand-alone, medium-sized airline operating a variety of short-, medium- and long-haul scheduled services were rapidly diminishing against a background of looming consolidation in the airline industry. This was driven by the giant US carriers that had begun channeling their traffic flows into powerful hub-and-spoke operations, rather than feeding these into the networks of BCal and other international partner airlines, in the wake of US deregulation. In addition, BA's impending privatisation and the Government's refusal to fully implement the recommendations contained in the CAA's airline competition White Paper meant that BCal was unable to acquire the economies of scale it needed to compete with these airlines on a level playing field. This prevented BCal from achieving higher volumes over which to spread its fixed costs.^[260] It also deprived the airline of the capacity to generate the funds to continue investing in fleet renewal, further network expansion and new information technology systems.^[260]

BCal's basic dilemma at the time can be summed up as follows:

It had become a mid-sized airline that was too big to be a specialist, niche operator. Yet it was too small to effectively compete with BA and the US giants in terms of economies of scale and scope. At the same time, it was unable to match the significantly lower costs of emerging, aggressively expanding Far East competitors, such as Cathay Pacific.^[315]

BCal's precarious financial position made it obvious for most of its rivals and seasoned industry observers that the ailing airline lacked the financial strength to survive on its own for much longer.

BCal had valuable traffic rights to operate scheduled services on a number of lucrative, long-haul routes to parts of the world that were not served by any other British airline at that time. It therefore became a desirable takeover target and a bidding war ensued between several potential suitors.

The chief protagonists in this takeover battle were BCal's archrival BA as well as ILG/Air Europe and SAS.

Proposed BA-BCal merger

On 16 July 1987, Sir Adam Thomson and Lord King of Wartnaby, chairmen of British Caledonian Group and British Airways respectively, surprisingly announced at a press conference the intention of the latter to acquire the former in an agreed £237 million bid.^{[234][288][299][316]} They had agreed on this deal only the day before. Officially this was presented as a "merger between equals" but within the industry it was widely acknowledged as a mutually agreed rescue deal to avoid the collapse of BCal.^[288][317] In addition, BA, which had been privatised only in February of that year, was keen to get hold of its main home-grown competitor's most valuable assets. These included BCal's lucrative traffic rights to those parts of the world BA could not serve itself as a result of the now defunct "Second Force" policy. This itself had resulted in a "spheres of influence" policy for BA and BCal that had prevented both airlines from competing with each other on a number of important long-haul routes. BA also saw this as a necessary move to fill the gaps in its global route map to acquire the economies of scale that would permit it to compete against the giant US carriers on a level-playing field. BCal's financial difficulties furthermore presented an opportunity for BA to forestall any competitive threat a revitalised BCal could pose to it in future, either on its own or in alliance with another airline. It therefore wanted to get hold of these assets before any competitor could lay its hands on them. Moreover, BA wanted to prevent BCal's assets from passing into the hands of any [partially] foreign-owned or controlled competitors. It felt that under such a scenario the long-term competitiveness of the entire UK air transport industry was threatened.^{[288][299][318]}

ILG/Air Europe's unsolicited counter bid

Following Sir Adam's outright rejection of ILG chairman Harry Goodman's offer to purchase BCal's short-haul operation,

To enhance its credibility as a serious contender, Air Europe's bid contained a detailed proposal to return BCal to profitability by way of a reorganisation. This proposal had been prepared by a retired BA head of route planning whom ILG had specifically hired for this purpose. BCal would be split into four discrete businesses, each of which with its own management accountable for the performance of that unit. The businesses would be a long-haul operation under the BCal brand, a short-haul operation merged with Air Europe's existing short-haul operation using the BCal brand on business routes and the Air Europe brand in leisure markets, and an engineering and a ground handling unit.[304]

The long-haul operation was to be re-equipped with a brand-new fleet comprising six Boeing 747-400s and 10 Boeing 767-300ERs to achieve a substantial reduction in operating costs and to permit an increase in frequencies. There were to be fewer services to Africa — where the new management wanted to keep only the really profitable routes to Nigeria and Ghana — while a second daily service to New York JFK was to be launched, Dubai was to be de-linked from the Hong Kong service and Hong Kong was to be served non-stop with the new 747-400s. In addition, there were to be more flights to the Middle East making use of unused licences to serve additional destinations in the region, which BCal had obtained during the early 1980s.^[199] There was also a plan to apply for traffic rights to serve other destinations in the Far East non-stop from Gatwick in competition with BA's existing services from Heathrow. This combination of more non-stop flights and higher frequencies to prime long-haul destinations would have resulted in a more attractive product for high-yield business travellers, thereby enabling the revamped BCal to become profitable again within a short period of time.^[304]

The short-haul operation was to have brand-new aircraft as well, which would have resulted in replacing BCal's ageing BAC One-Eleven 500s with the new Boeing 737-300s Air Europe had on order. It would also have resulted in adopting the Air Europe short-haul inflight product.^[304]

BCal's senior management rejected ILG's bid.

The October 1987 stock market crash and ILG's successful referral of the original BA-BCal merger proposal to the MMC resulted in BA tabling a revised bid to take over BCal. The fall in BA's stock value left BA's original offer worth £156.7 million and a condition of MMC approval was that BCal had to give up some routes reducing its value to BA.^[324][325] BA's materially inferior offer to buy out the shareholders of the British Caledonian Group led to BCal's senior management turn against BA and to recommend to their shareholders not to accept the revised bid.^[326][327] Instead, with the backing of BCal's controlling shareholder 3i, a desperate search for a "white knight", who was prepared to pay the same amount of money BA had offered to pay in its original bid, began.^[328]

Talks with

Parallel talks with British Midland, which wanted to transfer all of BCal's scheduled services from Gatwick to Heathrow, ended without result at an early stage because BCal's senior management felt that this was not feasible given the tight slot situation at London's premier airport.[260]

BCal maintained that it had held several rounds of exploratory talks concerning the airline's potential takeover with a number of US carriers that were willing to pay a substantial premium over BA's original bid to acquire BCal.^[331] These talks had come to nothing because the US carriers feared that there were insurmountable regulatory obstacles to such a cross-border acquisition in the highly regulated airline industry.^[260]

SAS's emergence as a potential "white knight"

SAS was prepared to offer £110 million for 26% of the British Caledonian Group's

SAS faced a barrage of hostile propaganda and delaying tactics from BA that were designed to stall any third party's competing bid to acquire BCal for as long as possible and got a mixed response to its planned counter bid for BCal from various departments of the UK Government.[335]^{[clarification needed]}

To counter these negative sentiments, SAS's proposals also included a plan to offer Dan-Air to participate in its merger with BCal by merging its scheduled services division with the new airline combine's scheduled operation, thereby strengthening its position at Gatwick and the airport as a hub.^[336]

SAS's rationale for launching a counter bid for BCal was the airline's desire not to be left behind in the then widely expected scramble for consolidation in the airline industry by becoming part of one of the four or five global airline groupings that were predicted to dominate the entire industry.^[337]

SAS thought that BCal's Gatwick base would give it access to a centrally located hub in the world's biggest international air travel market, thereby helping it to overcome its geographic isolation on the margins of Northern Europe.^[337] It also thought that BCal's lucrative long-haul routes from Gatwick to Africa and the Middle East would give it access to markets it could not profitably serve itself from relatively sparsely populated Scandinavia, and that this would make a good fit with its short-haul European routes — especially its comprehensive schedule to the UK from Scandinavia.^[337] SAS furthermore thought that by agreeing to transfer these services from Heathrow to Gatwick, it could also help solve BCal's long-standing problem of not operating enough short-haul flights to improve its long-haul loads from Gatwick.^[337]

Takeover by British Airways

On 11 December, the CAA told SAS that it needed a British investor to match the SAS bid or the CAA would recommend to the Department of Trade and Industry that BCal no longer qualified as a British airline and the trade secretary indicated to the House of Commons that in that case he would be likely to revoke BCal's licences.^[326]

To counter SAS proposals, BA made an alternative cash offer of £200 million for all of BCal's stock (equivalent to 972 pence per share) while also leaving the alternative of 80 million BA shares still open.^[326]

Faced with the prospect of its takeover target being snatched away from under its nose by SAS, British Airways initially began resorting to bullying tactics. In this it had the implicit backing of

BA was using a mix of rational and emotive arguments to convince both the regulators and the shareholders of the British Caledonian Group that its revised offer was in their best, long-term interest.^{[citation needed]}

At the time, SAS used to pursue a high-fares-high-yield strategy in its Danish, Norwegian and Swedish home markets. BA argued that the SAS bid for BCal would lead to higher fares and thus would not benefit British consumers. In addition, BA also argued that BCal's takeover by SAS, in which the governments of Denmark, Norway and Sweden jointly held a 50% stake^{[nb 28]} at that time, effectively represented a back-door nationalisation of a significant part of Britain's privatised air transport industry and contrasted this with its own, recent privatisation.^[339] In this context, BA highlighted that two of these governments represented countries — Norway and Sweden — that were not even members of the European Economic Community (EEC) at that time and therefore were not bound by moves to liberalise its member states' air transport markets. BA furthermore argued that this would call into question BCal's international traffic rights as most bilateral air services agreements contained a clause demanding airlines to be substantially owned and controlled by interests based in the countries they represented, and went on to argue that this could force the British Government to make concessions to its overseas counterparts that were not in the interest of the British air transport industry to preserve BCal's UK flag carrier status.^[339] BA moreover backed up its arguments with the threat that it would immediately apply to the CAA to have all of BCal's licences to operate scheduled air services revoked. BA based these threats on a clause in the 1982 Civil Aviation Act, which states that any airline claiming UK flag carrier status must be substantially owned and controlled by individuals who are UK nationals or entities whose headquarters are located in the UK.

In the event, the British Caledonian Group's controlling shareholder 3i decided to accept BA's final £250 million offer which it presented on 21 December 1987 with the proviso that it needed to be accepted or rejected that day.^[340] As the uncertainty surrounding BCal's future led to a further, significant deterioration of its financial position^{[nb 29]} and BA's final bid trumped SAS, the fiduciary responsibilities of the British Caledonian Group's board towards their shareholders meant that the only option left was to recommend the acceptance of the BA bid. 3i and the other shareholders decided to sell their stakes in British Caledonian Group plc to British Airways relinquishing control of BCal.^[234][340]

Following BA's successful takeover of BCal, SAS had a giant hoarding erected at the entrance to Heathrow's central area featuring an advertisement that ended with BCal's famous 1980s marketing slogan we never forget you have a choice.^[288][341]

The referral of BA's original bid to take over the entire British Caledonian Group to the MMC had resulted in the imposition of several conditions before the proposed deal was allowed to go ahead. These included BA releasing a minimum of 5,000 annual slots BCal had held at Gatwick^{[nb 30]} to competitors and requiring it to surrender to the CAA several of BCal's licences to operate scheduled services from Gatwick on a number of important, short-haul feeder routes.^{[260][324][342]} Although BA had been permitted to re-apply for these licences, the CAA decided to re-allocate all of them to rival airlines.^[343]

BA also needed to withdraw the objections to Air Europe's application to the CAA for licences to launch new scheduled services on several short-haul routes BCal already used to serve from Gatwick.^{[nb 31][303][324][344]}

Furthermore, both companies' combined turnover exceeded the minimum threshold that automatically triggers the referral of a proposed merger between two or more companies that conduct a significant part or all of their business in EU member states to the European competition authorities in Brussels. Therefore, the Competition Directorate of the European Commission (EC) needed to clear BA's takeover of BCal as well.

In addition to the conditions imposed by the MMC, BA agreed further concessions with the EC's Competition Directorate to prevent BA from abusing its dominant position at both of London's main airports. These included limiting BA's presence at Gatwick to a maximum of 25% of all available slots, relinquishing BCal's unused route licences and to not oppose Air Europe's designation as an additional UK flag carrier on Gatwick—Rome. BA also had to give a legally binding undertaking that it would not seek to increase its share of Gatwick slots above 25% through any additional acquisitions of other airlines and/or their slots until 1992.^[345] These measures were primarily intended as safeguards for other airlines that required access to a sufficient number of attractive slots at Gatwick to launch viable scheduled services in competition with BA. Otherwise, BA's dominant position at both of London's main airports would have made it virtually impossible for the much smaller independents to replace and enhance capacity lost as a result of BCal's takeover, especially on routes where BCal had competed with BA and which accounted for more than half of its net revenue earned from scheduled services.^[343][346]

Air UK was awarded the licences for BCal's former London—Scotland trunk routes from Gatwick to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Dan-Air obtained the licences for the old BCal routes from Gatwick to Manchester and Aberdeen^{[nb 32]} as well as from Gatwick to Paris Charles de Gaulle and Nice. The licence for BCal's Gatwick—Brussels route was transferred to Air Europe. The CAA also granted Air Europe permission to increase the frequency on its existing route between Gatwick and Paris Charles de Gaulle,^[347] where it had already competed with BCal, so that it could match Dan-Air's frequency. Both Air Europe and Connectair were successful in their applications for BCal's unused European route licences.^[348]

BA continued serving the routes until the new licence holders were ready to assume operations at the start of the 1988/89 winter timetable period.

BCal ceased to exist as a legal entity at 00.01 hrs. on 14 April 1988.

Cal Air International,^{[nb 33]} the former British Caledonian Charter operation,^[216][349] and British Caledonian Flight Training were not included in BA's acquisition of the British Caledonian Group.^[349]

BA replaced the former BCal short-haul fleet of 13 BAC One-Eleven 500s with 14 Boeing 737-200 Advanced.^{[nb 34][351][failed verification]}

The One-Elevens were transferred to BA's regional bases in Birmingham and Manchester.

The five second-hand 747s BA had inherited from BCal were replaced with its own 747-100/200s.^{[nb 35]}

In addition, BA stationed three

BA transferred the former BCal routes to Tokyo and Saudi Arabia to Heathrow. To compensate for this loss and to utilise its full slot allocation at Gatwick, BA moved its routes to Amman, Bermuda, Cairo, Khartoum, Larnaca, Luxor and Nassau to Gatwick, and routed a new Manchester—London—Islamabad service via Gatwick instead of Heathrow.^{[nb 36][352][353]}

BA transferred all of its international operations from Gatwick — including those it had inherited from BCal — to the then brand-new North Terminal,^{[nb 37]} which opened in March 1988.

The A320s BCal had ordered in 1983 began arriving at BA's new Gatwick base during the spring of 1988. These aircraft had been painted in BA's contemporary Landor Associates designed livery. BA operated its first commercial A320 service between London Gatwick and Geneva before transferring the entire A320 fleet to its main base at Heathrow later that year.

Reasons for the failure of British Caledonian

British Caledonian Commuter Services

To further improve its network connectivity and to transform Gatwick into a US style

The first airline to join the British Caledonian Commuter scheme in 1982 was Humberside Airport-based Genair.^{[355][356][357]}

Genair, which had been formed as a Manchester-based executive charter airline in November 1980, commenced operations with a single

• Airbus A310-200
• BAC One-Eleven 200/300/400/500 series
• Boeing 707-120B/320B/320C
• Boeing 747-100/200B/200B "Combi"
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10/30
• Piper PA-23 Aztec
• Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain
• Vickers VC10 1103/1109 series
• Vickers Viscount 800 series
• Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 100 series

Fleet in 1972

In May 1972 BCal's fleet comprised 32 jet aircraft.^[362]

5,300 people were employed.^[362]

Fleet in 1975

In March 1975 BCal's fleet comprised 24 jet aircraft.^[363]

4,846 people were employed.^[363]

Fleet in 1978

In April 1978 BCal's fleet comprised 29 aircraft with two DC-10-30 on order.^[364]

5,500 people were employed.^[364]

Fleet in 1981

In May 1981 BCal's fleet comprised 29 jet aircraft.^[365]

6,600 people were employed.^[365]

Fleet in 1984

In March 1984 BCal's mainline fleet comprised 25 jet aircraft.^[366]

6,300 people were employed.^[366]

Fleet in 1986

In March 1986 BCal's mainline fleet comprised 27 jet aircraft with seven

• On 24 September 1971, a
  spars, necessitating a lengthy repair. On an airliner with wing-mounted engines under the same circumstances, the engine mounting pins would probably have snapped.^[369][370]
• On 28 January 1972, a Vickers VC10-1109 (registration: G-ARTA) sustained severe structural damage to the fuselage as a result of an exceptionally hard landing at Gatwick at the end of a short ferry flight from Heathrow. The airline decided that repairs were not cost-effective and the aircraft was written off and scrapped at Gatwick in 1975.^[2][371]).^{[2][372][373][374]}
• On 19 July 1972, a
  decision speed during the takeoff run. This caused a temporary reduction of engine thrust which the flight's commander interpreted as engine failure requiring an immediate rejection of takeoff. The flight deck crew's decision to abandon their takeoff was delayed and as a result, the aircraft did not stop on the runway but, after crossing some rough ground, finally came to rest in a 1 m (3.3 ft)-deep lagoon. None of the six crew members and 79 passengers was seriously injured in the crash, but an elderly female passenger collapsed after being helped from the aircraft and subsequently died of cardiac arrest on her way to hospital.^[375]

• List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom

Notes and citations

Notes

Citations

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} "BCAL Atlantic growth", Flight International, 20 September 1973, p. 466
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Airline Profile: Number Forty-Two in the Series — British Caledonian", Flight International, 3 August 1972, p. 159
3. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 256-7
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Second Force at last", Flight International, 29 October 1970, p. 659
5. ^ "Independence for BUIA", Flight International, 30 July 1970, p. 151
6. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 93
7. ^ ^{a b} "Staff signed up", Flight International, 1 April 1971, p. 444
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "BCAL changes course", Flight International, 31 October 1974, p. 588
9. ^ "World Airline Survey", Flight International, 11 April 1968, p. 517
10. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 174-5, 195, 200–204
11. ^ ^{a b} "The Edwards Report — Principal recommendations", Flight International, 8 May 1969, p. 745
12. ^ ^{a b} "Government sets the course", Flight International, 20 November 1969, p. 760
13. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 199
14. ^ "Government sets the course", Flight International, 20 November 1969, p. 759
15. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 195-198
16. ^ ^{a b c d e} "British Airways Plc and British Caledonian Group plc; A report on the proposed merger" Archived 9 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Chapter 4, Competition Commission website
17. ^ ^{a b} Caledonian/BUA, Editorial, Flight International, 29 October 1970, p. 655
18. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 258
19. ^ ^{a b} Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 130
20. ^ Gatwick Airport: The first 50 years, Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2014, p. 103
21. ^ ^{a b c} The Caledonian punchbag, Flight International, 21 March 1987, p. 33
22. ^ ^{a b} "£30m value put on Caledonian". Flight International, 26 May 1979, p. 1714
23. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 159, 241
24. ^ ^{a b} "Second Force at last, Flight International, 29 October 1970, p. 660
25. ^ Thomson, A. (1990), pp. 94, 258
26. ^ "GUS Share in Caledonian" Flight International, 9 November 1967, p. 749
27. ^ "It's British Caledonian" Flight International, 9 September 1971, p. 395
28. ^ "World Airlines", Flight International, 18 May 1972, Supplement 17
29. ^ Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain G-CLAN (photo)
30. ^ ^{a b c} "B.CAL opens feeder link", Flight International, 21 January 1978, p. 165
31. ^ "BCal Saudi routes approved", Flight International, 9 March 1985, p. 7
32. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 512
33. ^ ^{a b c d} "BCAL Atlantic growth" Flight International, 20 September 1973, p. 467
34. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 262-3
35. ^ ^{a b} "Rest of the Package" Flight International, 1 April 1971, p. 440
36. ^ "Green light for second force" Flight International 6 August 1970, p. 186
37. ^ "Second force under way — The second-force statement" Flight International, 13 August 1970, p. 228
38. ^ Second force under way, Flight International, 13 August 1970, p. 227
39. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Airline Profile: Number Forty-Two in the Series — British Caledonian, Flight International, 3 August 1972, p. 160
40. ^ "Caledonian/BUA" Flight International, 12 August 1971, p. 245
41. ^ "British Airways loses Casablanca ..." Flight International, 28 February 1974, p. 257
42. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 273
43. ^ ^{a b} Caledonian/BUA, Flight International, 17 June 1971, p. 883
44. ^ Britain Goes It Alone, Flight International, 15 April 1960, p. 543
45. ^ The New Pattern Takes Shape, Flight International, 27 May 1960, p. 741
46. ^ Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, pp. 88/9
47. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 275
48. ^ ^{a b} CAA's guidance given, Flight International, 9 March 1972, p. 346
49. ^ ^{a b} Undue preference or national benefit?, Flight International, 27 April 1972, p. 579
50. ^ Air Terminal for Victoria, Flight International, 29 June 1961, p. 907
51. ^ Air Commerce ..., Flight International, 3 May 1962, p. 705
52. ^ Aviation News — UK and Irish airlines since 1945 (Update 5 British United Airways)
53. ^ Thomson, A., 1990, p. 271
54. ^ "West Africa changeover" Flight International, 22 April 1971, p. 542
55. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 272
56. ^ ^{a b} "Caledonian/BUA" Flight International, 17 June 1971, p. 886
57. ^ "Preparing for Paris", Flight International, 29 July 1971, p. 154
58. ^ ^{a b} "Three to Paris", 'Flight International, 11 November 1971, p. 753
59. ^ ^{a b c} Airline Profile: Number Forty-Two in the Series — British Caledonian, Flight International, 3 August 1972, p. 157
60. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 508
61. ^ ^{a b} "Airline Profile: Number Forty-Two in the Series — British Caledonian", Flight International, 3 August 1972, p. 156
62. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 276
63. ^ ^{a b} More money for BCAL, World News, Flight International, 29 November 1973, p. 886
64. ^ BCAL applies for walk-on fares, Flight International, 25 November 1971, pp. 848/9
65. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 273-4
66. ^ ^{a b} Aircraft "Gone but not forgotten ... BRITISH CALEDONIAN)", Vol 42, No 12, p. 42, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, December 2009
67. ^ No Frills — The Truth behind the Low-cost Revolution in the Skies, pp. 26–7
68. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 277
69. ^ "New world routes for BCAL" Flight International, 23 August 1973, p. 330- 331
70. ^ ^{a b c d} PIA to lease to BCAL?, Flight International, 24 February 1972, p. 284
71. ^ The war is over but the battle is beginning, Flight International, 25 May 1972, p. 756
72. ^ ^{a b c} Airlines updated — British Caledonian, Flight International, 19 July 1973, p. 85
73. ^ Wide look for BCAL, Flight International, 11 May 1972, p. 662
74. ^ Airline Profile: Number Forty-Two in the Series — British Caledonian, Flight International, 3 August 1972, p. 158
75. ^ BCAL chooses entertainment, Flight International, 24 August 1972, p. 267
76. ^ Britannia: no more long-haul, Flight International, 1 February 1973, p. 146
77. ^ BCAL: second force on Atlantic, Flight International, 5 April 1973, pp. 536–7 (1)
78. ^ BCAL: second force on Atlantic, Flight International, 5 April 1973, pp. 536–7 (2)
79. ^ ^{a b} British Caledonian Airways, Ltd. (BR)
80. ^ ^{a b} Caledonian Western, Flight International, 12 April 1973, p. 568
81. ^ "BCAL starts Atlantic schedules" Flight International, 5 April 1973, p. 530
82. ^ ^{a b} World News, Flight International, 5 April 1973, p. 530
83. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 280-283
84. ^ Gatwick Airport: The first 50 years, Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2014, p. 106
85. ^ "On November 1 British Caledonian...", Flight International, 15 November 1973, p. 811
86. ^ ^{a b} The airborne sector, Flight International, 21 November 1974, p. 708
87. ^ BCAL gets Paris de Gaulle rights, Flight International, 27 December 1973, p. 1051
88. ^ "BCAL in Paris", Flight International, 14 March 1974, p. 320
89. ^ The Spirit of Dan-Air, Simons, G.M., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1993, p. 88
90. ^ Dan-Air and BCAL joint timetable, Flight International, 9 May 1974, p. 588
91. ^ BCAL to Brussels ..., Flight International, 18 April 1974, p. 474
92. ^ ^{a b} Second-force second-thoughts, Flight International, 19 June 1975, p. 961
93. ^ Court Line bids for Horizon, World News, Flight International, 7 February 1974, p. 158
94. ^ ^{a b c} BCAL and the North Atlantic, Flight International, 24 July 1975, p. 109
95. ^ ^{a b c} BCAL and the North Atlantic, Flight International, 24 July 1975, p. 110
96. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 297-302, 304–307
97. ^ Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 201
98. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 304-307
99. ^ ^{a b} British Caledonian cuts back, Flight International, 24 October 1974, p. 527
100. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Scottish DC-10s and B.CAL’s wide-body plans", Flight International, 26 February 1977, p. 471
101. ^ CAA dilemma on UK trunk fares, Flight International, 20 March 1975, p. 439
102. ^ Air shuttles, Flight International 17 July 1975, p. 97
103. ^ Piper PA-23-250 Aztec D G-BBNN (photo)
104. ^ ^{a b} British Caledonian Airways ..., Airliner market, Flight International, 18 September 1976, p. 901
105. ^ British Caledonian Airways, Flight International, 30 January 1975, p. 129
106. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 303
107. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 340-1
108. ^ ^{a b c} Thomson (1990), p. 316-7
109. ^ UK abandons long-haul competition", Flight International, 7 August 1975, p. 173
110. ^ ^{a b c} UK aviation policy review: first in a long series, Flight International, 21 February 1976, p. 397
111. ^ ^{a b c} "UK aviation policy review: first in a long series", Flight International, 21 February 1976, p. 398
112. ^ B.CAL expands in South America, Flight International, 24 July 1976, p. 212
113. ^ B.CAL on the mid-Atlantic, Flight International, 30 October 1976, p. 1301
114. ^ ^{a b c d e} Scottish DC-10s and B.CAL’s wide-body plans, Flight International, 26 February 1977, p. 472
115. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 375
116. ^ "Britain to end Bermuda Agreement", Flight International, 3 July 1976, p. 4
117. ^ ^{a b} "Bermuda 2 initialed" Flight International, 2 July 1977, p. 5
118. ^ ^{a b c d} "Bermuda 2 initialed", Flight International, 2 July 1977, p. 6
119. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Bermuda 2: signed and sealed ...", Flight International, 23 July 1977, p. 254
120. ^ "Bermuda 2 capacity mechanism" Flight International, 13 August 1977, p. 465
121. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Bermuda 2 revisions create 12 new US gateways and agreement on Gatwick". Flight International, 15 March 1980, p. 825.
122. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 343-350
123. ^ "B.CAL to serve Dallas/Fort Worth" Flight International, 19 August 1978, p. 515
124. ^ "B.CAL wins Dallas appeal" Flight International, 27 January 1979, p. 238
125. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Hustlin' to Houston" Flight International, 12 November 1977, p. 1409
126. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 333
127. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 350
128. ^ Stormy Atlantic summer forecast, Flight International, 1 April 1978, p. 904
129. ^ "Low fares: the dam bursts — The North Atlantic" Flight International, 27 January 1979, p. 264, 268–9
130. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 321
131. ^ ^{a b} "B.CAL chooses DC-10s", Flight International, 12 June 1976, p. 1548
132. ^ The Spirit of Dan-Air, Simons, G.M., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1993, pp. 88, 101
133. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 319
134. ^ Gatwick Airport: The first 50 years, Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2014, p. 111
135. ^ Picture caption Flight International, 19 March 1977, p. 686
136. ^ Picture caption Flight International, 7 May 1977, p. 1236
137. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 341
138. ^ ^{a b} "B.CAL appeals on LA Skytrain", Flight International, 27 May 1978, p. 1590
139. ^ "747/DC-10 battle intensifies", Flight International, 26 August 1978, p. 603
140. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 359/60
141. ^ Picture caption, Flight International 11 November 1978, p. 1721
142. ^ Boeing 747-148 G-BDPZ (photo)
143. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 365
144. ^ ^{a b c d e} Caledonian reports best results, Flight International, 12 May 1979, p. 1547
145. ^ De La Haye, John "The immaculate prospectus" Flight International, 24 November 1979, p. 1747
146. ^ "Profit shares for B.CAL workers" Flight International, 12 August 1978, p. 456
147. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 340
148. ^ British Airports Authority Annual Report and Accounts 1978/9, British Airports Authority, London, 1979, p. 20
149. ^ ^{a b c} British Airports Authority Annual Report and Accounts 1978/9, British Airports Authority, London, 1979, p. 21
150. ^ British Airports Authority Annual Report and Accounts 1977/8, British Airports Authority, London, 1978, p. 19
151. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 354
152. ^ "Scottish DC-10s and B.CAL’s wide-body plans" Flight International, 26 February 1977, p. 475
153. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 360
154. ^ "CAA gives routes decisions", Flight International, 5 November 1977, p. 1342
155. ^ ^{a b} "The immaculate prospectus" Flight International, 24 November 1979, p. 1746
156. ^ "Gatwick moves: Air Canada reluctant, reprieve for Iberia" Flight International, 20 January 1979, p. 169
157. ^ "BA moves Spanish services to Gatwick" Flight International, 11 October 1980, p. 1410
158. ^ The Gatwick Express, p. 50
159. ^ "Please come to Gatwick, Britain tells carriers", Flight International, 16 April 1977, p. 1028
160. ^ British Airports Authority Annual Report and Accounts 1978/9, British Airports Authority, London, 1979, pp. 21, 76
161. ^ ^{a b} World News, Flight International, 17 June 1978, p. 1832
162. ^ ^{a b} "Summer launch for London airports helicopter link" Flight International, 18 February 1978, p. 416
163. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 355
164. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990), p. 356
165. ^ Aircraft (British Caledonian — The Airlink Service), Vol 42, No 12, p. 41, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, December 2009
166. ^ ^{a b} "B.CAL to lease unsold Concorde?", Flight International, 24 February 1979, p. 517
167. ^ B.CAL appoints Concorde consultant, Flight International, 24 March 1979, p. 881
168. ^ ^{a b c} Tories support B.CAL's Concorde plan, Flight International, 14 April 1979, p. 1132
169. ^ ^{a b} World News, Flight International, 28 April 1979, p. 1286
170. ^ New job for B.CAL Concorde man, Flight International, 21 July 1979, p. 158
171. ^ BCAL's African Profit ..., World News, Flight International, 23 December 1971, p. 994
172. ^ "B.CAL drops Concorde plans but asks for Hong Kong licence", Flight International, 30 June 1979, p. 2331
173. ^ Cheaper fares on Swedish routes?, Flight International, 31 March 1979, p. 965
174. ^ ^{a b c} Two Concordes, A310s and 20 new routes in B.CAL package, Flight International, 19 May 1979, p. 1637
175. ^ Short hauls ..., Flight International, 9 June 1979, p. 1978
176. ^ Short hauls ..., Flight International, 20 October 1979, p. 1264
177. ^ ^{a b} New "managerial thrust" for B.CAL, Flight International, 1 September 1979, p. 637
178. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 389
179. ^ Small World ... British Caledonian Helicopters, World News, Flight International, 28 April 1979, p. 1287
180. ^ B.CAL signs for A310s as Airbus clarifies new types, World News, Flight International, 3 November 1979, p. 1464
181. ^ ^{a b c} Thomson, A. (1990), pp. 367–369
182. ^ "Trade Secretary rejects UK—European low-fare routes appeal ...", Flight International, 1 November 1980, p. 1673
183. ^ ...B.CAL still deliberating, Flight International, 13 October 1979, p. 1175
184. ^ Airliner market, Flight International, 19 April 1980, p. 1176
185. ^ UK and Scandinavia reach air agreement, Flight International, 6 January 1979, p. 4
186. ^ B.CAL Swedish route rejected, Flight International, 5 May 1979, p. 1447
187. ^ Thomson (1990), p. 372
188. ^ "DC-10 loses certificate of airworthiness..." Flight International, 16 June 1979, p. 2114
189. ^ "B.CAL clears £5 million profit and seeks One-Eleven replacement", Flight International, 2 February 1980, p. 295
190. ^ Boeing 707-139(B) G-TJAA (photo)
191. ^ The Spirit of Dan-Air, Simons, G.M., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1993, pp. 59–60
192. ^ 747/DC-10 battle intensifies, Flight International, 26 August 1978, p. 603
193. ^ ^{a b} Airliner market, Flight International, 22 March 1980, p. 889
194. ^ ^{a b c d} B.CAL capacity will double by 1984, Flight International, 19 April 1980, p. 1176
195. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 378
196. ^ ^{a b c d} "Nott overturns CAA ruling and sanctions Hong Kong free-for-all", Flight International, 28 June 1980, p. 1441]
197. ^ ^{a b} B.CAL drops bid for Gatwick—Miami, Flight International, 29 March 1980, p. 972
198. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 392
199. ^ ^{a b} "Gulf rights for Hong Kong", Flight International, 25 October 1980, p. 1551
200. ^ "Short hauls ...", Flight International, 31 January 1981, p. 274
201. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 360/1
202. ^ Gatwick Airport: The first 50 years, Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2014, p. 125
203. ^ ^{a b} BA to start Manila service, World News, Flight International, 29 March 1980, p. 966
204. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 390
205. ^ ^{a b c d} Airbus A320 impresses BCal, Flight International, 26 December 1981, p. 1882
206. ^ Short hauls ..., Flight International, 3 October 1981, p. 984
207. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 353
208. ^ Caledonian engine facility on time, Flight International, 17 March 1979, p. 816
209. ^ B.CAL forms engine-overhaul subsidiary, Flight International, 28 October 1978, p. 1546
210. ^ Caledonian Airmotive starts work, Flight International, 5 July 1980, p. 7
211. ^ British Caledonian seeks Australian rights, World News, Flight International, 18 October 1980, p. 1490
212. ^ Laker and BCal bid for kangaroo route, Flight International, 7 February 1981, p. 330
213. ^ BCal kangaroo bid hits snag, Flight International, 4 April 1981, p. 955
214. ^ CAA refuses to license new UK—Australia operators, Flight International, 16 May 1981, p. 1366
215. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 375
216. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} The Caledonian punchbag, Flight International, 21 March 1987, p. 33
217. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 340
218. ^ ^{a b} The immaculate prospectus, Flight International, 24 November 1979, p. 1746
219. ^ B.CAL challenges BA for Far-East routes, Flight International, 5 January 1980, p. 7
220. ^ ^{a b c d} Soviet airspace warms up, Flight International, 5 April 1986, p. 8
221. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 377
222. ^ B.CAL drops Concorde plans but asks for Hong Kong licence, Flight International, 30 June 1979, p. 2331
223. ^ Three carriers seek licences for Hong Kong route, Flight International, 4 August 1979, p. 311
224. ^ Short hauls ..., Flight International, 8 December 1979, p. 1895
225. ^ ^{a b} B.CAL receives London—Hong Kong licence, World News, Flight International, 22 March 1980, p. 886
226. ^ CAA applies brake to UK airlines' European low-fare plans, Flight International, 22 March 1980, p. 888
227. ^ BA loses Gatwick—Zurich to Laker, Flight International, 21 March 1981, p. 796
228. ^ BCal takes another step towards lower fares, Flight International, 8 May 1982, p. 1135
229. ^ BA cuts, BCal adds, World News, Flight International, 9 October 1982, p. 1022
230. ^ Laker’s routes are frozen, Flight International, 13 March 1982, p. 596
231. ^ Sir Freddie Laker — The Man Who Gave Us Skytrain, Airliner Classics, November 2009, p. 85
232. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 398
233. ^ Airliner World (Mediterranean Package Tours — Cal Air/Novair International Airways), Key Publishing, Stamford, UK, October 2010, p. 70
234. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} "Chapter 4, British Caledonian Group pic" British Airways Plc and British Caledonian Group plc; A report on the proposed merger, Competition Commission website archive link
235. ^ "BCal buys A320", Flight International, 15 October 1983, p. 978
236. ^ ^{a b c} "The Caledonian punchbag", Flight International, 21 March 1987, pp. 33/4
237. ^ "BCal and the A320", Flight International, 21 March 1987, p. 35
238. ^ ^{a b} Thomson (1990) pp. 451–2
239. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 452
240. ^ Caribbean links with BCal, Flight International, 26 February 1983, p. 508
241. ^ Flight International, 28 May 1983, p. 1440
242. ^ BCal helps Surinam, World News, 22 October 1983, p. 1075
243. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 471
244. ^ B.CAL clears £5 million profit and seeks One-Eleven replacement, Flight International, 2 February 1980, p. 295
245. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 513
246. ^ ^{a b} BCal wins labour deal, Flight International, 17 August 1985, p. 4
247. ^ ^{a b c} The Caledonian punchbag, Flight International, 21 March 1987, p. 34
248. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 464, 491
249. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, p. 82
250. ^ The immaculate prospectus, Flight International, 24 November 1979, p. 1747
251. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Share out BA or we abandon Gatwick, warns BCal", Flight International, 12 November 1983, p.1268
252. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 363, 444
253. ^ ^{a b c d} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 482, 499
254. ^ ^{a b c} III. 1984: Opposition to route transfer — (2) Controversy over route transfer, Privatisation of British Airways: Its Management and Politics 1982–1987 (Kyohei Shibata, EUI Working Paper EPU No.93/9, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, 1994), Footnote 17 Archived 18 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
255. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 445
256. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 483
257. ^ ^{a b c d e} III. 1984: Opposition to route transfer, Privatisation of British Airways: Its Management and Politics 1982–1987 (Kyohei Shibata, EUI Working Paper EPU No.93/9, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, 1994) Archived 18 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
258. ^ ^{a b c d} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 496
259. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 448, 455/6
260. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "British Airways Plc and British Caledonian Group plc; A report on the proposed merger" Archived 9 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Chapter 5, Competition Commission website
261. ^ UK air transport review: everybody wants Heathrow, Flight International, 25 February 1984, p. 496
262. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 466/7
263. ^ ^{a b c} British airlines ask for reshape, Flight International, 23 June 1984, p. 1597
264. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 488–490
265. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 488–490, 499
266. ^ UK rejects US-style deregulation, Flight International, 20 July 1985, p. 5
267. ^ ^{a b c} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 503–506
268. ^ ^{a b} The Caledonian punchbag, Flight International, 21 March 1987, pp. 32/3
269. ^ Arabian flights disappoint BCal, Flight International, 8 March 1986, p. 7
270. ^ High Riwsk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 471, 508
271. ^ photo caption, Flight International, 31 March 1984, p. 794
272. ^ "Riyadh decision angers BA", Flight International, 25 February 1984, p. 497
273. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 476
274. ^ ^{a b} BCal strengthens Gatwick feed, Flight International, 25 May 1985, p. 5
275. ^ "BCal updates One-Eleven"[, Flight International, 5 January 1985, p. 47
276. ^ ^{a b c} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 508
277. ^ ^{a b} BCal Saudi routes approved, Flight International, 9 March 1985, p. 7
278. ^ ^{a b} BA squares up for sale, Flight International, 8 June 1985, p. 21
279. ^ ^{a b} Route changes force BCal A310 sale, Flight International, 22 June 1985, p. 7
280. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 511
281. ^ Vickers Viscount 806 G-AOYR (photo)
282. ^ Business booms at British Air Ferries, Flight International, 2 March 1985, p. 7
283. ^ BCal flies Viscount 800, Flight International, 4 May 1985, p. 7
284. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 568
285. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 514
286. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 519, 568
287. ^ Airlines axe Middle East flights, Flight International, 5 April 1986, p. 7
288. ^ ^{a b c d e} A question of choice, Editorial, Flight International, 25 July 1987, p. 1
289. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 201
290. ^ BCAL Atlantic growth, Flight International, 20 September 1973, p. 466
291. ^ ^{a b} It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, p. 83
292. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 525
293. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, pp. 86–89
294. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, p. 87
295. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, p. 90
296. ^ BCal reshuffles, World News, Flight International, 4 May 1985, p. 3
297. ^ ^{a b} "The Caledonian punchbag", Flight International, 21 March 1987, pp. 32, 34
298. ^ ^{a b c} "BCal loses £14.4m", Flight International, 11 April 1987, p. 8
299. ^ ^{a b c d e} British Airways bids for dominance, Flight International, 25 July 1987, p. 4
300. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 530
301. ^ ^{a b c d} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 523
302. ^ ^{a b c} It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, pp. 89/90
303. ^ ^{a b c d} The Caledonian punchbag, Flight International, 21 March 1987, p. 32
304. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, p. 103
305. ^ ^{a b} Nigeria paints over problems, Flight International, 22 November 1986, p. 10
306. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 524
307. ^ Aircraft (BRITISH CALEDONIAN — THE AIRLINK SERVICE), Vol 42, No 12, p. 41, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, December 2009
308. ^ ^{a b c d e} BCal: the good news, Flight International, 24 May 1986, p. 4
309. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 530, 545, 568
310. ^ News Scan — British Caledonian, Flight International, 13 December 1986, p. 7
311. ^ BCal starts non-stop Tokyo service, World News, Flight International, 13 June 1987, p. 37
312. ^ News Scan — Italy ... British Caledonian, World News, Flight International, 5 April 1986, p. 7
313. ^ BCal wins struggle for Milan, World News, Flight International, 7 March 1987, p. 3
314. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, pp. 100, 103
315. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 512
316. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 528/9, 537/8
317. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, p. 100
318. ^ Sir Adam Thomson, News, Obituaries, The Guardian, 1 June 2000
319. ^ Vultures hover over BCal, Flight International, 1 Augustl 1987, p. 4
320. ^ ^{a b} Government stalls BA/BCal merger, Flight International, 15 August 1987, p. 4
321. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, pp. 102/3
322. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 544
323. ^ Air Europe bids to compete in Europe, Flight International, 29 November 1986, p. 6
324. ^ ^{a b c} BA cleared to make new bid for BCal, Flight International, 21 November 1987, p. 4
325. ^ "1987: Great British airline ready for take off", On This Day, 16 July 1987, BBC News
326. ^ ^{a b c d e} "BCal bidders raise the stakes", Flight International, 19 December 1987, p. 4
327. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 542/3, 554
328. ^ ^{a b} It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, p. 104
329. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 532, 539, 541/2, 545–555
330. ^ BCAL gets Paris de Gaulle rights, World News, Flight International, 27 December 1973, p. 1051
331. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 531/2
332. ^ ^{a b c} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 559–561
333. ^ Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... BRITISH CALEDONIAN), Vol 42, No 12, p. 44, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, December 2009
334. ^ BCal choice rests with 3i, World News, Flight International, 19 December 1987, p. 2
335. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 555–559
336. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 546
337. ^ ^{a b c d} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., A., Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 1990, pp. 539, 541/2, 545–555
338. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 558
339. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, p. 555
340. ^ ^{a b} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 570/1
341. ^ SAS — moments of truth, Flight International, 9 April 1988, p. 23
342. ^ High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 541, 544
343. ^ ^{a b} It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, pp. 111/2
344. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, p. 113
345. ^ "EC approves BCal takeover", Flight International, 19 March 1988, p. 6
346. ^ Global Airlines: Mergers and Alliances, Hanlon, P., Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), London and New York, 2007 (3rd ed.), pp. 294, 296
347. ^ Air Europe throws down the gauntlet, Flight International, 3 December 1988, p. 20
348. ^ It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe., Simons, G.A., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1999, pp. 128
349. ^ ^{a b} Airliner World (Mediterranean Package Tours — Cal Air/Novair International Airways), Key Publishing, Stamford, UK, October 2010, pp. 70/1
350. ^ "The lion stays", Flight International, 12 March 1988, p. 5
351. ^ ^{a b} "BA pulls out of Gatwick South", Flight International, 16 July 1988, p. 12
352. ^ "Chapter 3 British Airways Plc", British Airways Plc and British Caledonian Group plc; A report on the proposed merger, Competition Commission website archived link
353. ^ British Airways boosts Gatwick routes, Flight International, 10 December 1988, p. 15
354. ^ ^{a b c d e} BCal launches commuter service, Flight International, 13 November 1982, p. 1424
355. ^ ^{a b c d e} High Risk: The Politics of the Air, Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 431/2
356. ^ Three UK commuters merge, Flight International, 2 October 1982, p. 968
357. ^ ^{a b c} Financing a high-risk venture — Genair collapse, Flight International, 15 June 1985, p. 40
358. ^ Concorde: Supersonic Speedbird — the full story (Chapter 7: And a magnificent lady too ... Concorde pilot Barbara Harmer), Mortons Media Group, Horncastle, 2013, p. 41
359. ^ Brymon for Birmingham, Flight International, 4 August 1979, p. 309
360. ^ Brymon expands through the slump, Flight International, 13 March 1982, p. 611
361. ^ British commuters grow — British Air Ferries/Guernsey Airlines, Flight International, 20 August 1983, p. 498
362. ^ ^{a b c} "World Airlines", Flight International, 18 May 1972, Supplement 18
363. ^ ^{a b c} "World Airline Directory", Flight International, 20 March 1975, p. 478
364. ^ ^{a b c} "World Airline Directory", Flight International, 22 April 1978, p. 1147
365. ^ ^{a b} "World Airline Directory", Flight International, 16 May 1981, p. 1417
366. ^ ^{a b} "World Airline Directory", Flight International, 31 March 1984, p. 826]
367. ^ Boeing 747-230B G-BJXN Mungo Park — The Scottish Explorer (photo)
368. ^ ^{a b} "World Airline Directory", Flight International, 29 March 1986, p. 60
369. ^ Incidents and Accidents > G-ASIX The Andes incident www.vc10.net
370. ^ Classic Airliner (VC10 – The story of a classic jet airliner: Disposal of British Caledonian VC10s), p. 59, Key Publishing, Stamford, 2015
371. ^ Individual Histories: G-ARTA A little VC10derness vc10.net
372. ^ Classic Airliner (VC10 – The story of a classic jet airliner: Disposal of British Caledonian VC10s), p. 60, Key Publishing, Stamford, 2015
373. ^ ASN Aircraft incident description Vickers VC-10-1109 G-ARTA — London Gatwick Airport (LGW)
374. ^ "BUA/Laker Tie-up", Flight International, 21 November 1968, p. 813
375. ^ ASN Aircraft incident description BAC One-Eleven 501EX G-AWYS — Corfu Airport (CFU)

References

• Thomson, Sir Adam (1990). High Risk: The Politics of the Air. London, UK: Sidgwick and Jackson.
  ISBN 0-283-99599-8
  .
• Eglin, Roger; Ritchie, Berry (1980). Fly me, I'm Freddie. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
  ISBN 0-297-77746-7
  .
• Simons, Graham M. (1999). It was nice to fly with friends! The story of Air Europe. Peterborough, UK: GMS Enterprises.
  ISBN 1-870384-69-5
  .
• Simons, Graham M. (1993). The Spirit of Dan-Air. Peterborough, UK: GMS Enterprises.
  ISBN 1-870384-20-2
  .
• Calder, Simon (2002). No Frills – The Truth behind the Low-cost Revolution in the Skies. London, UK: Virgin Books.
  ISBN 1-85227-932-X
  .
• "Update 5 British United Airways)". Aviation News. 66 (3). St. Leonards on Sea, UK: HPC Publishing. March 2004.
• British Airports Authority Annual Report and Accounts 1977/8. London, UK:
  British Airports Authority
  .
• British Airports Authority Annual Report and Accounts 1978/9. London, UK: British Airports Authority.

Further reading

• Thaxter, D.J (2009). The History of British Caledonian Airways 1928–1988. Unknown Publisher.
  ISBN 978-0-95640-432-9
  .
• Bristow, A. & Malone, P. (2009). Alan Bristow Helicopter Pioneer: The Autobiography (Chapter 17 – Airline Ego Trip, pp. 253/4). Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Books.
  ISBN 978-1-84884-208-3
  .
• "Airline History – The BCal STORY: "I wish they all could be Caledonian Girls!"". Jets Monthly. Cudham, UK: Kelsey Publishing Group: 40–45. November 2011. (Kelsey Publishing Group online)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British Caledonian.

• British Caledonian — A Tribute.
• Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on proposed British Airways takeover of British Caledonian
• BA-BCal merger as reported on BBC News, 16 July 1987
• contemporary timetable images
• Daily Telegraph obituary of Sir Peter Masefield, BCal's former deputy chairman from 1978–1987
• History of British Caledonian's VC-10s
• [ Privatisation of British Airways: Its Management and Politics 1982–1987 (Kyohei Shibata, EUI Working Paper EPU No.93/9, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, 1994)]