Boeing 747 days are numbered

[Eric Mc]

The less said about the “World Image” era, the better.

[JuniorD]

Eric Mc said:

The less said about the “World Image” era, the better.

I still have a selection of name badges in the various World Image designs, but just one in the Landor design - in which my first name is spelt wrong

Don’t know if was a factor at all, but the lack of success of the World Image thing was often put down to CEO Bob Ayling’s alleged colourblindness.

[5150]

I'm a Landor fan also - wish they'd kept that one over the 'lower case' Negus.

The BOAC is easily the best IMO, but technically it's the wrong aircraft for the paint job

(For info: the last Virgin 747-400 leaves LHR tomorrow lunchtime)

[Eric Mc]

All the retro colours were applied to the "wrong" aircraft for that matter. The BOAC scheme was only ever seen on the 747-136s. The Negus scheme was carried by 747-136s and 236s and the BEA Red Square was discontinued between 1968 and 1972 - long before the Airbus A319 arrived on the scxene.

But I thought they looked great on the more "modern" aircraft and, of course, the BEA Red Square markings will still be seen on the Airbus 319.

I would have liked to have seen some of the other ancestral schemes carried as part of the 100th anniversary but costs restrictions obviously prohibited going too mad.

[5150]

Hence I thought the Landor was the most appropriate to keep - it was the only paint job that was on the right aircraft. . .

Maybe someone can shed some light on who made the decision? I guess it's probably something to do with ownership / where that airframe was headed after life at BA?

[Eric Mc]

An Imperial Airways 777 or 787 would have looked impressive.

Also, I'd have liked some recognition of other airlines that are part of the BA story, such as Cambrian, Northeast/BKS and even Railway Air Services. And the BEA "Arrow" scheme would have looked good too on a smaller Airbus.

[aeropilot]

5150 said:

Hence I thought the Landor was the most appropriate to keep - it was the only paint job that was on the right aircraft. . .

Maybe someone can shed some light on who made the decision? I guess it's probably something to do with ownership / where that airframe was headed after life at BA?

Or more likely what has happened to them since they were last flown?

Bear in mind when these were flown out to places for storage when flying suddenly stopped, they were not intending to retire them at that point......its a decision that was made subsequently in light of the situation, and the Negus scheme airframe was the one out of the 3 that was still at LHR. It maybe that the Landor scheme one was higher hours/cycles and was deemed not worthy of 'reactivating' at Cardiff to make a last flight?

There could be lots of reasons, unrelated to nerdy preservation ideas - BA is a business and one that is struggling to survive this current situation.

[surveyor]

I rather suspect from what I have read that BA don’t like to admit that their supposed inferior BEA cousin is part of the outfit.

[5150]

aeropilot said:

Or more likely what has happened to them since they were last flown?

Bear in mind when these were flown out to places for storage when flying suddenly stopped, they were not intending to retire them at that point......its a decision that was made subsequently in light of the situation, and the Negus scheme airframe was the one out of the 3 that was still at LHR. It maybe that the Landor scheme one was higher hours/cycles and was deemed not worthy of 'reactivating' at Cardiff to make a last flight?

There could be lots of reasons, unrelated to nerdy preservation ideas - BA is a business and one that is struggling to survive this current situation.

Indeed - thought it would have been a business decision over a plane spotter one . . .more things to be concerned about than which one to preserve. . . under normal conditions, there'd probably be a whole department set up just for that decision . . . ! ATB

[Eric Mc]

surveyor said:

I rather suspect from what I have read that BA don’t like to admit that their supposed inferior BEA cousin is part of the outfit.

That might have been the attitude back in 1974 but it's so far back in the past now, the current BA employees will, most likely, have little or no memory of those days.

[aeropilot]

Eric Mc said:

surveyor said:

I rather suspect from what I have read that BA don’t like to admit that their supposed inferior BEA cousin is part of the outfit.

That might have been the attitude back in 1974 but it's so far back in the past now, the current BA employees will, most likely, have little or no memory of those days.

Indeed, there's only likely to be no more than a handful of pre-merger staff left, if any at all, as even someone that joined at 16 only a year or so prior to the merger, would now be 64/65 years old.

[Eric Mc]

There was a lot of antagonism to the merger back in the period 1972-74. In fact, this antagonism may even have had an indirect role in the crash of Trident G-ARPI in June 1972. There was a lot of ill feeling amongst flight crew, cabin staff and management at that time and rows in the staff rooms were fairly common.

By all accounts, Captain Keys (the Captain on the ill fated Trident) had a major blow up in the staff room that morning over this and some other issues. His autopsy revealed that he had advanced coronary heart disease and he may have suffered a heart attack.

Strike action by "soon to be" BA staff was also a factor in the huge death toll that occurred with the crash of the Turkish Airlines DC-10 as it took off from Paris in March 1974.

[nonsequitur]

Eric Mc said:

There was a lot of antagonism to the merger back in the period 1972-74. In fact, this antagonism may even have had an indirect role in the crash of Trident G-ARPI in June 1972. There was a lot of ill feeling amongst flight crew, cabin staff and management at that time and rows in the staff rooms were fairly common.

By all accounts, Captain Keys (the Captain on the ill fated Trident) had a major blow up in the staff room that morning over this and some other issues. His autopsy revealed that he had advanced coronary heart disease and he may have suffered a heart attack.

Strike action by "soon to be" BA staff was also a factor in the huge death toll that occurred with the crash of the Turkish Airlines DC-10 as it took off from Paris in March 1974.

IIRC, BEA baggage handlers.

[Eric Mc]

I don't recall the exact reasons for the dispute but labour relations in BEA and BOAC, in the lead up to the creation of BA, were in very poor shape. The merger had started with a government committee set up as far back as 1970 - so staff had been stewing in uncertainty for almost four years before the merger finally happened in April 1974. It was not really a happy time for the employees.

Indeed, the entry of the 747 into BOAC service was delayed for almost a year due to a pay dispute with BOAC pilots.

Being Irish, I was quite chuffed because it meant Aer Lingus began their 7447 operations before BOAC did

[Mark V GTD]

Eric Mc said:

The less said about the “World Image” era, the better.

Why? I thought the various tail designs looked fantastic.

[Eric Mc]

Mark V GTD said:

Eric Mc said:

The less said about the “World Image” era, the better.

Why? I thought the various tail designs looked fantastic.

Some of them were quite nice. Indeed, the current scheme was one of them - known as Chatham Dock Yard.

But for projecting a unified corporate image it was a disaster - as well as causing all sorts of maintenance and other practical day to day headaches.

[Halmyre]

Mark V GTD said:

Eric Mc said:

The less said about the “World Image” era, the better.

Why? I thought the various tail designs looked fantastic.

Agreed, although some worked less well than the others.

I remember the embarrassing spectacle of Thatcher covering up the tail on a model 747.

[aeropilot]

Eric Mc said:

I don't recall the exact reasons for the dispute but labour relations in BEA and BOAC, in the lead up to the creation of BA, were in very poor shape. The merger had started with a government committee set up as far back as 1970 - so staff had been stewing in uncertainty for almost four years before the merger finally happened in April 1974. It was not really a happy time for the employees.

Indeed.

I had 3 uncles working at LHR at that time, one worked for BOAC, one worked for BEA and the other worked for BAA......

[Eric Mc]

And of course, all those entities were state owned at the time too - with all that entailed.

[nonsequitur]

Halmyre said:

Mark V GTD said:

Eric Mc said:

The less said about the “World Image” era, the better.

Why? I thought the various tail designs looked fantastic.

Agreed, although some worked less well than the others.

I remember the embarrassing spectacle of Thatcher covering up the tail on a model 747.

As crew we had nicknames for some. IIRC the 'birdy' one was 'Swallows in Porridge'.