page_title: History of British Airways
section_title: 1970s: Consolidation and Concorde
hierarchical_section_title: History of British Airways / 1970s: Consolidation and Concorde
caption_attribution_description: English: British Airways Concorde G-BOAC, Heathrow, London, England - [photo by P.B.Toman]
context_page_description: British Airways, the United Kingdom's national airline, was formed in 1974 with the merger of the two largest UK airlines, British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways, and including also two smaller regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. The merger was the completion of a consolidation process started in 1971 with the establishment of the British Airways Board, a body created by the British government to control the operations and finances of BOAC and BEA, which initially continued to exist as separate entities.
  British Airways acquired the supersonic Concorde in 1976, operating it on transatlantic services. The same year it assumed sole operation of international flights to North America and Southeast Asia from rival British Caledonian. The formation of Virgin Atlantic in 1984 began a tense rivalry, which led to "one of the most bitter and protracted libel actions in aviation history".
  Under the leadership of Chairman Sir John King and CEO Colin Marshall, British Airways was privatised in February 1987, and in July of the same year, it launched the controversial takeover of British Caledonian.
context_section_description: The newly formed British Airways had inherited a mix of aircraft from its predecessors. It quickly retired the Standard VC10s that had come from BOAC and the last Vickers Vanguards from BEA. It also ordered the Hawker Siddeley 748 for use on Scottish routes to enable the Vickers Viscount to be retired. The first Lockheed L-1011 TriStar was delivered in October 1974, and introduced in January 1975; more TriStars were ordered in following years. The management of British Airways resisted political pressure to purchase the new Airbus A300, stating that it had no requirement for the aircraft; this rejection complicated Britain's integration into the European Union. Instead, the company planned to acquire American-made planes such as the Boeing 757; in 1976 the British government approved the purchase of multiple Boeing 737 aircraft. An innovation on 12 January 1975 was the British Airways Shuttle service from Heathrow to Glasgow (and later Edinburgh, Manchester and Belfast), which allowed a walk-on no reservation service with a "guaranteed seat" — this latter feature facilitated by backup aircraft or sometimes transfers to British Midland flights.
  The Secretary of State for Trade, Peter Shore, reviewed the Government's aviation policy and in 1976 announced a "spheres of influence" policy that ended dual designation for British airlines on all long-haul routes. British Airways and British Caledonian, the second-biggest airline in Britain, were no longer permitted to run competing scheduled flights on long-haul routes. British Caledonian had to withdraw from East Africa and from the London-New York and London-Los Angeles routes in favour of BA. In return, British Caledonian became the sole British flag carrier to the entire South American mainland, taking over routes formerly served by British Airways to Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.
  In 1976, British Airways commenced flying Concorde, making it one of two airlines to own and operate the supersonic Aerospatiale-BAC airliner. Simultaneously with Air France, BA inaugurated the world's first supersonic passenger service on 21 January, a daily service between Heathrow and New York becoming one of the airline's hallmarks. Initially, Concorde was a financial burden, required of the national carrier by the government, and it attracted criticism from the press as a white elephant. Several significant destinations suggested for Concorde, such as Tokyo, Japan, and Sydney, Australia never emerged as viable in reality.
  In 1981, Sir John King, later Lord King, was appointed Chairman of British Airways with the mission of preparing the airline for privatisation. King recognised the prestige that Concorde brought to the airline, purchased them outright from the government, and was turning a profit within a year. According to British Airways' management the aircraft broke even on flights holding around 40–45% of passenger capacity; in 1985 the average passenger capacity in use per flight was at 65%. BA used Concorde to win business customers, guaranteeing a certain number of Concorde upgrades in return for corporate accounts with the airline—a key factor in winning business from transatlantic competitors. Although the carrier did not disclose specific numbers, media reports estimated that the Heathrow to New York service made an annual £20 million operating profit by the early 2000s (decade).
caption: British Airways Concorde at Heathrow Airport in 1980
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