British Airways - Operations in the UK and Overseas - Essay Example

Two airlines, Handley Page and Instone, were established using modified bombers. The three companies underwent a period of great difficulty, especially competition from French airlines, which were cheaper. To solve these problems, they merged to be joined later by British Marine Air Navigation, forming Imperial Airways. Imperial Airways began local and overseas flights immediately, flying as far as Egypt and India with a crew of 250 and a fleet of 18 crafts (Gaskell, 2010). This paper is an essay on British Airways.
Later, Imperial Airways was a Brisbane, Australia route, whose duration would take grueling 12 days. The new airline added new planes such as the short S.23 C-class model, which signified that the airline was growing, as was a new carrier British Airways Limited (Gaskell, 2010).

After the start of the 1st World War, these two merged to form British Overseas Airways Corporation, which re-started its transatlantic flights after the war ended. In addition, they created the BEA, a new airline to handle European flights. At this point, the carriers needed to order new and more efficient aircraft. BOAC consequently ordered the Boeing Strato-cruiser, the Lockheed Constellation, and a Rolls-Royce engine-equipped version of the DC-4. It did not take long before they ordered a jet plane, the De Havilland Comet, which dramatically reduced the length of trans-Atlantic flights (Marriott, 2010). The early ’60s saw BOAC order the Rolls-Royce Conway engine driven 707-436 to tide over until the VC-10s were ready. By 1970, with the first 747 and rapid growth, BOAC and BAL were ready to merge and work as one, establishing British Airways in 1976.

BA’s most crucial year was 1976; it had a partnership with Concorde, coupled with big fleets of Lockheed TriStar and Boeing 747. The early 1980s saw the company face its second major threat, economic trouble, although measures were taken to privatize the company, which duly happened in 1987. Increasing competition from US-based carriers also forced BA's hand in the merger with British Caledonian, which saw the A320 among other planes enter the fleet (Marriott, 2010). This merger further enabled BA to begin operations at Gatwick Airport. However, its base remained at Heathrow, where BA operates approximately forty percent of the total flights. In addition, the airline has created service stations in Birmingham, Glasgow, and Manchester.

British Airways has built its brand around fast travel, which has seen it at the forefront of jet travel. The first jets for short-haul flights were ordered in 1980, with forty-four 737-200 planes delivered. New 737s were ordered in the late 80s, most of them being the 400-plane model with increased passenger capacity. Although not a choice of BA, the Airbus A320, entered the British Airways service after it merged with British Caledonian (Marriott, 2010). However, the planes proved quite efficient in their flights and duties. Medium haul flights were performed by the larger Boeing 757 fleet, as well as the 767, which were equipped with engines from Rolls-Royce. Several Boeing 767-300ER in turn, perform long-haul flights, which do not require huge passenger capacity. Most of these carry two hundred and fifty-two passengers, with additional Boeing 777-200 and 747-400 complementing this segment. Recently, the company replaced all Boeing 737-200s with Airbus A319, placing orders for more (Marriott, 2010).

In addition, the company also created a subsidiary airline, Go, which was to operate as a low-cost carrier, although it later merged with Easyjet (Robbins, 2009). British Airways has also undergone a logo change, which has seen its aircraft tails painted with a new color scheme. In addition to being a passenger carrier, BA is also a major cargo carrier with British Airways World Cargo being one of the world’s leading cargo carrier airlines.

British Airways has faced recent economic problems with the September 11th attacks especially hurting BA and other airlines, as well. Despite this, British Airways is now profitable again terms with an improved outlook for the future. With the decommissioning of the Concorde aircraft on 24th October 2003, British Airways had to re-strategize. This was informed by the fact that the Concorde had been their flagship carrier for over twenty-five years. This has seen BA taking part in alliances and partnerships with other airlines. In the year 2008, 40 million passengers used British Airways to travel (Robbins, 2009). With its new set of 237 aircraft, it seems that the company is set to serve its customers with comfort and speed shortly. Read More