British Airways

British Airways

Today I will talk about British Airways and I have these following points:

First I will talk about the BA:

the history

oneWorld

some company facts

brands

the logo

And then about the flagship Concorde:

the project and about the BA-Concordes

the terrible blow of Air-France Concorde

some facts

the history of BA

One year after the first world war a british airline founded the “Aircraft Transport and Travel”. On 31st of March 1924, four small british companies band together (zusammenschließen) named “Imperial Airways Limited” (IAL).

These 4 small companies were “Aircraft Transport and Travel, Handley Page Transport, Instone Airlines and British Air Navigation”.

The IAL had over 250 employees and 18 airplanes. The main objective was to create a worldwide flying route (Streckennetz) but the second world war was a problem for this plan.

In the year 1936 independent airlines merged and named themselves “British Airways Limited” (BAL)

There was a competition between IAL and BAL and in the british parliament was a discussion and they had to solve this problem. The solution was a close cooperation.

So in the year 1939 IAL and BAL got the name “British Overseas Airways Corporation” (BOAC). But in 1946 a new company named “British European Airways” (BEA) was founded.

After 25 years was a merger between BOAC and BEA. The new official name was “BRITISH AIRWAYS”

In the year 1978 BA introduced the Concorde. 6 years later the BA had a big deficit and they could only survive from the governments subsidies. Many employees lost their jobs.

Shares (Aktien) of the BA were on the stock exchange in London, New York and Toronto in the year 1987.

oneWorld

BA, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Quantas founded the oneWorld in September 1998. One year later Finnair and Iberia become members of oneWorld too and also Aer Lingus and LanChile in the year 2000.

some company facts

BA is very involved in Germany and they have nine big airports and the route between Germany and Great Britain has a share of the market of 60 %. The “Deutsche BA” is a subsidiary (Tochtergesellschaft) and they have a flying route inside Germany.

62.000 employees in 100 countries are working for the BA. The BA has 373 airplanes and they fly to 168 destinations in 87 countries. Over 48 million passengers fly with the BA. BA has 19 cooperative partners and franchise partners for example: Deutsche BA, BA CitiExpress, Comair, Finnair and others.

brands

British Airways has seven brands:

Concorde

First Class

Club World

World Traveller Plus

World Traveller

Club Europe

Euro Traveller

Executive Club

Concorde:

The Concordes from BA got some renovations (Erneuerungen). The seats are more comfortable and the furnishings (Innenausstattung) are lighter and the colour is white. The new washrooms are larger. In the kitchen there are new meals offerd, for example: smoked salmon with Bloody-Mary-Dip and crab risotto (Krabbenrisoto).

First Class:

Every FIRST Class passenger has his own privacy and his own service.

Club World:

Club World is for business travellers and the seats are very exclusive, because if you press a button the seat changes into a bed.

World Traveller Plus:

World Traveller Plus has a separate cabin and offers more comfort than World Traveller.

World Traveller:

World Traveller is for longer flights. The seats are very comfortable and the passengers have their own TV screens offering 12 channels (Kanälen)

Club Europe:

Club Europe is for short routes. Club Europe offers luxurious leather seats and the hand luggage (Handgebäck) may weigh up to 18 kilos.

Euro Traveller:

Euro Traveller is the best connection between the European continent and Great Britain. The cabin (Kabine) is light and friendly. The seats are very comfortable.

Executive Club:

You have a lot of advantages with the executive Club.

logo

The BA-logo was designed by Newell & Sorrell and they created a three dimensional “Speedmarque” in the colours red and blue. And the letters are round and soft.

the project and BA-Concordes

The flagship Concorde is a flamboyance (extravaganz) of the air and a wonder of the technology. The Concorde arose of the aeronautics (Luftfahrt) and astronautics (Raumfahrt) between Europe and USA. There was a competion between the USA and the former Sowjet (Sowjetunion). So their motto was: If they can send people into the cosmos, they can also fly people around the globe.

British engineers and French aircraft designers made the first plan for a Concorde in the middle of the 50ies. They made many tests for over 7 years. On 3rd of March 1969 the Concorde started the first flight, that was 4 months before an American astronaut landed on the moon. Now the Concorde was a symbol for technical achievement (Errungenschaft, Leistung) and a luxus symbol. But the Concorde wasn’t an economic success, because the price for one ticket is € 31.000. Most managers, movie stars or jetsetters fly with the Concorde.

Only 20 Concordes were produced. The BA and Air-France are the only lines who have Concordes. The BA has seven Concordes. In the year 1960, BA had the first reservation for the Concorde. On 7^th of February 1996 BA’s Concorde get a personal record. The Concorde started from London to New York and needed only 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

the terrible blow of the Air-France Concorde

On 25^th of June 2000 the Air-France Concorde had a terrible blow (Schicksalsschlag). Over 100 people died, because a tyre burst and the tank was damage caused by fire. All Concordes of BA and Air-France were not allowed to fly.

Specialists made after the accident many tests and some improvements (Verbesserungen) on the tank and on the undercarriage (Fahrgestell) and they also developed a new tyre. One year after the accident the Concordes could fly again.

Some facts

The important condition (Voraussetzung) is the construction. The Concorde is like a shot (wie ein Pfeil) and has a turned down (herunterklappen) nose. So the pilots have a better view. The Concorde flies Mach 2,2 that is 2.179 km/h and that breaks the sound barrier (die Schallmauer durchbrechen). That is the reason why the Concorde needs 4 times more kerosene than a normal passenger plane. The flagship is 62,2 metres long and 11,3 metres high. The span (Spannweite) is 25,5 metres and 100 passengers can fly with the Concorde. The freight is 2,5 tons.

The BA-Concorde flies to New York 2 times daily and one time in the week to Barbados. (Barbados is an island)

The BA will use the Concordes until 2010.