1970
Dan-Air Engineering opened a new hanger at their base in Lasham this year. The large, heated hanger could comfortably handle the growing fleet and would be able to provide third party contracts from other airlines. Lasham is a quiet Hampshire village and although the airfield had been active since before the second world war, much of its activities until Dan-Air came along, consisted of the country's largest gliding club. The relatively small Dan-Air fleet between 1953 and 1966 had not cause much noise disturbance. Now with sixteen jets, three Airspeed Ambassadors, a Bristol Freighter, and a Dakota to be maintained - there was a lot more. Other airlines also asked Dan-Air to main their aircraft. Residents had complained about the noise during engine testing, together with the arrival and departure of large aircraft did bother locals. The expansion of the engineering division was bound to provoke more complaints. The new hanger was given go ahead was given, on condition that no aircraft engines would be tested between 8 pm and 6 am.
Dan-Air rival Autair celebrated its tenth anniversary with a change of name. Court Line Aviation was born in January. Autair had been in financial difficulty throughout much of 1969 and withdrew all of their scheduled flights in Autumn of that year. The airline sold all of their turboprop aircraft, as well as their BAC 1-11 400 series fleet which went to Cambrian Airways. These would be replaced with larger 500 series 1-11s and the new airline would exclusively fly charter flights. British Midland Airways would also entering the jet-age with the acquisition of BAC 1-11 jets for domestic scheduled services.
At the same time, British European Airways (BEA) announced they were entering the charter market with their own subsidiary airline; BEA Airtours. The new airline would operate a fleet of fully refurbished Comet jet aircraft. Donaldson Airways, the Scottish based cargo airline began passenger flights in 1970 using Bristol Britannia aircraft. The airline announced they had Boeing 707 jets on order.
Meanwhile, in February, a consortium of UK airlines asked the ATLB to allow them to raise regional fares by 5 1/2% claiming that if they were not allowed to, they would lose a collective £2,000,000 due to increases in aviation fuel prices. The request was granted and was met with protest from Travel Agents. British United Island Airways (BUIA) The Successor to British United continued to lose money and said that if they were not allowed to increase fares, that they would not be able to continue. British European Airways was also operating at a loss.
The Comet and BAC 1-11 pilot training, which last year had been undertaken at Newcaslte Airport was moved to Tees-Side for 1970. The training flights would operate Monday to Friday inclusive through January and February and could be extended until March. It remained to be seen whether the flights would aggravate Tees-Side residents as much as they did at Newcastle. To make matters worse. The BAC 1-11 fleet of Court Line would carry out their training at the same time.
Staff numbers at Gatwick had increased to 500, this included those employed in associate companies, Dan-Air Bonded Stores, Gatwick Handling and Gatwick Chauffeur Cars. The airline announced plans to phase out the Ambassador and Dakota fleet within three years. A replacement for the Dakota on the Newcastle-Liverpool-Cardiff-Bristol schedule was dues to be announced.
The Edwards Committee had made their report 'British Ar Transport in the 70s' in May and the white paper had been submitted in November 1969. The terms of reference were released in January 1970 and stated;
'To enquire into the economic and financial situation and prospects of British civil air transport industry and into the methods of regulating competition and of licencing of currently employed: and to propose with due care and attention to other forms of transport in this country what changes may be desirable to enable the industry to make its full contribution to the development of the economy and to the safety and service of the travelling public' (Editors note* This was copied verbatim - any grammatical errors are not mine)
The committee focused its attention on major issues facing the industry, and proposed courses of action for its development over the next decade. One of its recommendations was the creation of a small regional airline around the nucleus of British Air Services Ltd (The largest carrier through Liverpool) However the White Paper envisages small opportunity for the development of this group, as it foresees limited development of air services from the regions to the continent of Europe in order to 'protect the British flag carriers' from competition by foreign long-haul carriers.
In February Dan-Air announced that the twice daily 'bus stop' service from Newcastle-Liverpool-Bristol-Cardiff would be increased to three times daily from June. The new programme would be operated by 26 seat Nord 262 aircraft. A series of charter flights to Cyprus fro Gatwick were to be carried out using Comet aircraft. The Air Transport Licencing Board (ATLB) heard objections from BEA who flew a scheduled service from Heathrow. Dan-Air were successful with their application.
In March the carrier was advertising for 'Air Stewardesses' the age range was 20-28 and applicants had to be well groomed, have good eyesight and be educated up to GCE or equivalent moreover they had to be single. In March, Dan-Air became the 'football fans choice' when five Comets were chartered from Gatwick to fly fans to watch a match in Berlin. The aircraft took of fifteen minutes apart. Meanwhile, two BAC 1-1s and a Comet took off from Newcastle to fly fans for a match in Brussels. A further two BAC 1-11s took off from Manchester to take Man City fans to Oporto for a game. Just days later, two more 1-11s flew to Paris from Glasgow, full of Celtic fans.
Global Holidays chartered Dan-Air Comets to fly out of Belfast for 1971 Summer programme. When the brochures came out late in 1970 the take up was significant. Belfast had very few charter flights and residents of the province had been expected to fly to a UK mainland airport to access the majority of charters and scheduled services. The new charters would operate to Dubrovnik, Alicante, Gerona and Palma Dan-Air hoped to base a Comet at Belfast.
The Nord 262 was scheduled to be delivered in May, in preparation staff training began in earnest. The aircraft could land at airports and depart withing ten minutes. The Newcastle-Manchester-Bristol-Cardiff service replaced the Newcastle-Tees Side-Liverpool-Bristol-Cardiff route. Tees-Side had recently been dropped as a stopping point due to poor loads. The application seeking to add Manchester was approved by the ATLB, despite there being stiff opposition from Cambrian Airways. The plans to begin flights on July 6th ran into problems when the delivery date of the Nord was pushed back until June 28th. The delay, was due to necessary paperwork that had to be completed as the aircraft had not been on the UK registry. The hold up with delivery would 'almost certainly mean a postponement' said Dan-Air. When the aircraft did arrive it would have to pass air registration board tests and Board of Trade route proving flights. The Dan-Air spokesman said; 'No other aircraft but the Nord can do the service and we may have to keep on the old service for a week or two.' The news of the license award came a week after the meeting with the ATLB to consider the Cambrian objection. Cambrian had a licence for Glasgow-Manchester-Cardiff-Bristol, but had not operated on the route for 18 months.
Indeed the DC3 that had been operating the flights would have to carry one.'
The Dakotas which had been flying Link-City Services had seats for up to 36 people, the Nord 262 could carry 29 people in comfort, with 26 forward facing and three rear facing seats in a three abreast cabin. The aircraft had a small galley and therefore simple catering could be provided. The commuter aircraft had had an aisle, enabling cabin staff to move through the cabin when serving drinks. Dan-Air Dakota was the last of its type on scheduled service in the country. The aircraft, known affectionately by the last two letter of its registration; 'Papa Papa' had completed 18,000 hours of flying - 2,880,000 miles - or 1,200 times around the world. On its last flight, press joined Captain Falconer, one of the world's most experienced Dakota pilots, who had flown since wartime, said it was 'a sentimental journey' He said; 'She is the Rolls Royce of the air, there isn't a snag in her that hasn't been ironed out by now. There's still about 2,000 of them flying around the world.' Captain Falconer had made 22 Atlantic crossing on the Dakota. He would transfer to Comets when the aircraft finally retired. The last flight also had First Officer, twenty six years old Pete Evans, who would remain on the Bristol service when the Nord eventually arrived. As passengers departed Mrs. Phyllis Fraser of Weston-Super-Mare said 'Goodbye Jenny' to the stewardess. Mrs. Fraser, who was a weekly traveller on the aircraft, commented; 'The Dakota is an old lady, but she always gives you confidence, I shall miss her very much.'
Although the Dakota was available it could not meet the new timing schedules that the nifty Nord could achieve. Consequently the launch had to be delayed. Much fanfare was made of the brand new Nord aircraft that had joined the fleet. Advertisements in the press appeared ahead of its arrival. Dan-Air said it would aim to reach a five minute turn around at each airport the Nord landed at and that the only potential drawback was the possible tardiness of airport staff. The plan involved ground staff having passengers at the gate as the Nord landed. Once on stand, with one engine still running, passengers would disembark and new ones would board. Luggage would be simultaneously loaded and off-loaded. Trials had found the task possible.
The Liverpool-Amsterdam service that had been operated by Ambassadors was to get an upgrade when Comet jets would be introduced on the service. The two hours flying time would be halved and the 65 seat availability on the Ambassador would be increased to 105 with the Comet. With the promise of a full bar service and hot food, the route was expected to be popular with business men who would now enjoy a full day in Amsterdam and return after business hours.
Channel Airways had committed themselves to purchasing the BAC 1-11 despite their reputation as being financially weak. Hawker Siddeley began negotiations with Channel in 1967, with a view to purchasing a newer version of the Trident, guaranteeing the airline a 20% reduction in seat-mile costs over the Trident 1E. With a full payload of 139 the Trident 3 had a range of 1,930 miles or 2,570 miles with 100 passengers in a low-density seating configuration. The latter brought the Canary Islands within the aircraft's non-stop range from the UK and West Berlin. These were also the first Tridents ordered by a UK independent airline. Hawker Siddeley had five remaining unsold Trident 5E and Channel's order was worth £8 million. This was a substantial debt for a UK independent carrier. The arrival of Channel's Trident May 1968 coincided with the delivery of its second 1-11.
In 1968 Channel had reduced their outstanding jet aircraft orders due to the economic situation in the UK. This resulted in cancellation of three orders for Tridents and 1-11 jets. Channel's increasing dependence on the IT market made it a highly seasonal airline, unlike Dan-Air who operated scheduled services year round and had been successful with charters to winter destinations and long haul flights. Furthermore, the end of the winter there followed by a six-week period of intense activity starting in April, when all Dan-Air aircraft were contracted by Clarkson's to fly British tourists to and from Rotterdam for the Dutch bulb-field season from ten UK airports. The flights were popular with passengers and utilised aircraft that were not used to the their full potential. Dan-Air had negotiated other day trip flights to European cities. May would see the start of the main summer season for all airlines, usually commencing with flights to Majorca, Spain and Morocco under contract to major Tour Operators. Flights to other resorts started the following month. During the peak period in July and August, UK airlines like Dan-Air operated 24 hours a day, flying scheduled routes during the day and IT destinations at night. The increase in utilisation meant that aircraft spent as little as 40 minutes on the ground between flights. By September, the IT programme began winding down, with flights to Italy ending first due to the country's shorter holiday season. Flights to Majorca and certain Spanish mainland destinations continued right until the end of the summer season in late-October. Only a few sunshine destinations had a year round programme. Malta, Cyprus, Portugal, Tunisia, The Canaries and Spain.
To avoid having aircraft sit idly on the ground during the winter months, spare capacity was leased out. Ad Hoc charters and a small number of year-round scheduled services replaced the intensive summer IT programme. It was at this time that all heavy maintenance took place. With sixteen jet aircraft and six prop liners Dan-Air had one of the largest fleet of all the independents. Each type operated as a fleet in its own right. thus benefiting with maintainence schedules and costing.
Channel Airways held the dubious record for operating tightest seating capacity of all the UK charter airlines, their DC4 aircraft were configured to seat 88 passengers, 139 people were squeezed into their Trident 1Es, 99 passengers into their 1-11 400s and 83 & 56 into their Viscount 810s and HS 748s respectively. In comparison, Dan-Air had a relatively spacious 1-11 cabin with 89 seats and 48 single class seats on the HS748.
Channel Airways also became known for putting aircraft into service that they had acquired second-hand with minimal changes to the prior operators' liveries, often merely taping over the previous operators' names with their own. Channel's inability to raise funds to pay for their outstanding aircraft orders that had been placed direct from the manufacturers, left them with no spare capacity to take on additional charter contracts during the peak season of 1970. To meet the requirements of a two-year contract to operate IT flights. Channel were forced to acquire five ex-BEA De Havilland Comets for £2 million, resulting in a significant increase in its capacity. The aircraft retained the basic BEA livery with just the Channel name taped over the BEA title.
In September, a consortium of three West German tour operators awarded Channel Airways a contract to fly from West Berlin to the Mediterranean, worth £11 million per year. Both Channel and Dan-Air were flying roughly 50 weekly round-trips from Berlin during the peak season. Channel and Dan-Air were of a similar size in fleet terms and sought the same business. Dan-Air's decision not to put themselves in debt with brand new aircraft was, with the benefit of hindsight, a good decision. Both carriers encountered problems sourcing spare parts to support their growing jet fleets. In fact, the lack of spares for both Comets and Tridents caused major disruptions to the summer charter programme. Dan-Air was forced to sub charter other airlines' aircraft to meet contractual requirements of Tour Operators. In 1970 Channel Airways carried 541,000 passengers, roughly the same number as Dan-Air, one of our pilot contributors notes;
'God, I will never know how Channel got away with it. They had no money and they shoved as many people as they could on their aircraft. Their aircraft looked terrible, they barely had a lick of their own paint on them. Channel were known to go on the scrounge from other carriers for tyres, and strip lights silly things that any regular airline would always have a supply of. They would be on the cadge for toilet seats and even bloody coffee on occasion. We got a much worse press than Channel did, and yet they carried on like the keystone cops. Rumours went around about them cutting corners with all sorts of things. One time I was taking some supplies on an aircraft that they had scrounged from us. I boarded this Comet of theirs and was shocked at how shabby it was. Tape was holding the stewardess public address system together and the carpet had a big tear in it - they were patching it up whilst I stood chatting with the crew. I heard morale was low and several good people left them to work with rival airlines.'
To ensure adequate access to spare parts to continue flying their Comets, Channel Airways acquired further second-hand models. Channel's inability to pay for a sufficient spares inventory to keep all its aircraft flying during the peak summer season also resulted in one of its two Tridents having its engines removed to keep the other flying; the engine-less aircraft sat on the ground at Stanstead for much of that year's summer to enable its Berlin Tegel based sister aircraft to continue flying German holidaymakers until the end of the season.
British United asked BOAC to take them over in the Autumn. Freddie Laker who had founded British United was furious. He said he was going to put a bid in for the airline himself. Cash strapped Channel Airways also placed a bid. Dan-Air's ambitions were more low key, having set their sights on a more sedate the Manchester-Newcastle route. Newcastle were in favour as it would help them promote links to Transatlantic services from Manchester. Dan-Air's presence at Manchester hitherto was limited to charter flights. BOAC were also keen, as the flights would link them to their Manchester-Montreal-Chicago three times weekly service.
Replacing the Ambassador would prove to be a lot trickier than it was for the Dakota. The Ambassador could seat up to 65 passengers in its highest density layout. Usually it flew in a 55 seat configuration and had proved an ideal size for short haul international flights such as the Newcastle-Kristiansand service. The availability of suitable similar sized aircraft that were within budget was a headache. Ideal types included the Fokker F27, but second-hand F27 aircraft were scarce. Other types considered were the Vickers Viscount, Herald and Avro 748, no firm decision had been made and the Ambassador carried on - for now!
Despite the obvious appeal of the brand new Nord 262, the introduction of the type was hindered. Some passengers wrote to Dan-Air to request the DC3 be re-introduced. Perhaps it was because the DC3 was a bigger aircraft and passengers felt safer in its larger, draughty, rattling old cabin. Captain Alan Selby commented;
'Some of the Ambassador and Dakota pilots underwent training for the Nord, they had to as there wouldn't be anything for them to fly very soon. Only a few years prior to this, the Ambassador was the flag-ship airliner in our fleet. We had only had Comets in service for three years. So all the smaller charters were undertaken on the Ambassador. Those men couldn't all train for the Comet and so a lot of them lost out. They were now training for this dinky aeroplane that had little going for it as far as I could see. Other than it being nippy on turnaround. I never liked it, I will never fully understand why we were involved with these little services like the link-city thing. The flight times might have been shorter than the train, but then you had to get to the airport some time before departure, and airports are a distance from cities. I totally understood something like Inverness - Heathrow, and Manchester-Heathrow, but Bristol-Liverpool? My theory was that unless the scheduled service could become a blue ribbon route, then it should be left alone. British European weren't even interested in us feeding them passengers from cities that they didn't serve. They really were a nasty company. The oil charters that came later and put the 748s to use - now they were a God send.'
In June the ATLB heard an application from Dan-Air on behalf of Global Holidays who wished to operated charter flights from Belfast to Barcelona, Gerona, Alicante and Palma. The ATLB granted the licenses which would see a regular series of flights out of Belfast - a first for Dan-Air.
Sadly, on Saturday July 4th, one of the Comet fleet crashed into mountains at Arbucias, near Barcelona, Spain. The aircraft, was under the command of Captain Alec Neal from Oxted, he, as well as First Officer David Shorrock from Southport and Engineer David Sayer of Crawley all perished. The cabin crew, Ann Vickers of Chesterfield, Carol Maddock of Barwick in Elmet, Hazel Barber of Manchester and Sue Hind of Manchester also lost their lives.
Most of the passengers came from Lancashire towns. Scores of families of the 105 passengers, including a baby, waited at Manchester Airport for news of their families. The plane had taken off from Manchester at 5 pm and should have landed a little over two hours later. The passengers were bound for a 12 day holiday with the Clarksons Tour company on Spain's Costa Blanca. Spanish Authorities confirmed that they had found the location of the aircraft, about 50 miles north of Barcelona in the Montseny area. Officials said it might be hours before rescuers could reach the scene and report. They were hampered by rugged terrain, heavy rain and wind. The aircraft was due back in Manchester at 11 pm and leave again at 12:15 am with another load of holiday-makers bound for Barcelona. Dan-Air provided them with meals at the airport while waiting for another plane to be put into service.Spanish Naval Authorities wrongly said that they believed the airliner had crashed into the sea. Contact was lost when the aircraft was flying at 6,000 feet, only 12 miles from the airport and minutes away from touchdown. Police were sent to look in the mountains and Barcelona Airport launched an air search. Then a sea search got under way. It was also wrongly claimed that the Comet had been banking for a low level fly-in over the sea when it vanished. A Dan-Air spokesman said; 'We must take the view that the plane has come down, it does not look very hopeful.'
Spanish Authorities announced they had discovered the wreckage twelve hours later, 14 miles from the airport. Early speculation claimed that the aircraft had suffered a fuel leak, but this was dismissed by Dan-Air. A special telephone hotline was set up for anxious friends and families of those on board was opened and had been jammed from 4 am. Rafael Ramon and Jose Creus, the first to arrive at the scene near the village of San Celoni said: 'The aircraft had broken into three parts and that wreckage was scattered over a large pine grove on the summit of the range. There was no signs of life and a number badly mutilated bodies were seen, 'The scene was terrible' said Ramon 'We tried desperately to find survivors, but everyone was dead. The whole area was silent.' Ambulances and medical teams were sent to the area, but the removal of bodies was difficult officials said. Mules and donkeys would have to used.
Dan-Air's Chief Pilot Arthur Larkman flew out to the site with Captain Bob Atkins. They later recalled how grisly the scene was with body parts hanging from trees, and the terrible smell. They looked around the site, retrieving documentation and log books, which Larkman recalled were blood stained.
As Dan-Air officials worked non-stop to contact relatives of passengers, a relief airliner landed at Manchester at 7:15 am with holiday-makers from Barcelona who were due to fly on the crashed aircraft's return flight. Board of Trade investigators and Dan-Air Chief Pilot Bob Atkins flew to Barcelona to relay information. Dan-Air issued a statement saying; 'We regret that one of our Comet 4s Flight number DA1903 is overdue, and presumed lost. There were 104 adults, one infant and seven crew on board.
The victims were to be buried almost immediately in a mass grave in Spain. Spanish law insisted that bodies had to be buried within 48 hours, but because of the special circumstances of the crash, this was reduced to 30 hours. The statement was made after families of the victims expressed their shock at the burial. Several complained to the airline, who said; 'Approaches were made by Dan-Air and the British Consul in Barcelona enlisting their help to see if this ruling could be changed. By the time that Dan-Air were made aware that these approaches had been unsuccessful it was impossible for the company to individually notify all the next of kin. We sincerely apologise to all the next of kin that they had to hear the news through the national media'.
Dan-Air announced that they were to build a memorial at the crash site, saying that it would be something worthwhile, such as an English garden rather than a plaque. Relatives were then flown to the memorial at Dan-Air's expense.
Former pilot Norman Tebbit clashed with the Minister for the Board of Trade in the House Of Commons. The Minister, said that the airport was 'well equipped' for that part of the world. Tebbit responded, saying 'The airport might or might not be well equipped, but the aircraft was using, immediately before the accident, a highly unreliable navigational NF Beacon, a non-directional beacon. My former colleagues would like an assurance, as far as possible, particularly where it is under the control of the Minister, such beacons should be replaced as early as possible, by more satisfactory and modern equipment.'
Mr Corfield said that that was the responsibility of the Spanish Authorities. he went on to say that the aircraft had disintegrated on impact and a fierce fire fire followed. All on board were killed instantly. The following Tuesday, the flight deck recorder that had been found was reportedly flown back to the UK for transcribing by the manufacturer. This turned out to be false. With British investigators claiming that they were being frustrated by Spanish Authorities. A Dan-Air spokesman said he was under the impression that the impounded black box had been flown to the UK the day before, but now had 'no idea' when it would be surrendered by the Spanish. Four British crash teams had examined the site and wanted to compare their findings with the flight recorder. A few days later the airline were able to report that they had the black box and that the recordings and data were all of good quality and were a helpful addition to the investigation. By August, Spanish Authorities aided by British investigators were still looking into the most important clue contained in the flight recorder. the mistaken belief that the aircraft was on the correct course for the Sabadel navigation beacon.
Above: L-R Captain Neal, Cabin Crew Ann Vickers, Carol Ann Maddock, Suzanne Hinde who died in the Barcelona crash.
The newly named 'Link-City' finally got off to a flying start on 27th July. Dan-Air staff had dedicated itself to cutting down the boring periods of time that business men spend hanging around in airport lounges. Staff were working on the task of tightly organising ground staff to make sure that passengers are waiting at the departure gate the moment the aircraft touches down. Despite some teething troubles on the first day, the five minute turnaround was considered feasible. The only apparent drawback was the tardiness of airport staff who have to have the required paperwork for even the shortest of flights. The Nord 262 had an economical operating cost, in that the break even point came when the aircraft was 60% full. This was evident when Dan-Air themselves had struggled to make a profit using larger aircraft. Mr Archie Louden, Dan-Air scheduled services director said 'I am convinced that Channel Airways failed on a similar service because they were using the wrong type of equipment. Provided we can get the turn around times right we should be able to profitably operate twice a day, five times a week between all the points on the 'Link City' network. We are considering purchasing a second Nord 262, this would enable us to give even better services on the routes.'
August saw bad headlines for Dan-Air when a number of flights were delayed due to poor weather. Passengers in Ibiza and Palma faced delays of eighteen hours when aircraft failed to arrived to take them home. A combination of fog and technical issues were blamed for the delays. The first weekend in August was a particularly busy weekend for the company. Finding a replacement Comet aircraft was near impossible. French Air Traffic Controllers then began, what was to go on to be an annual round of industrial action. Comets had been chartered by Clarksons, who left passengers stranded in airport terminals. Passengers complained that they were left without information and would not be home in time to start work the next day. The delays were further hampered when the replacement aircraft was delayed with technical issues at Manchester. Fog would not hinder the operation of aircraft today,but the technical abilities of aircraft at the time, meant aircraft would often be diverted or delayed.
Liverpool Airport declared that Dan-Air's passenger numbers were down by 50% in late August. In a full month they carried 985 passengers from the airport. Dan-Air stated that as they had withdrawn from a few services there was an expected drop in passenger numbers. The new services would operate three times a week. Dan-Air said that once 'passenger appeal' of linking four great English cities, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol and Cardiff, had been established, they were confident the numbers would go up. At the same airport, Gordon Connor, a 39 year old clerk decided to pocket Dan-Air's £81 landing fees instead of handing it over to the airport. Connor was arrested and told magistrates that he would repay the money from his wages. He was fined an additional £20.
In September passenger numbers at Liverpool using Dan-Air's 'Link City' had fallen by 50% which the airline dismissed at a 'temporary drop'. There was a surprise press release that same month when a replacement for the Ambassador was announced, at least as far as the Liverpool-Amsterdam service was concerned. The service was to use a Comet 4 jet aircraft from November. Now flights would depart at 8:50 am and arrive in Amsterdam at 10 am (local time) a flying time of 70 minutes. The flights were aimed at business men who needed a day return service. A spokesman said 'We have consistently supported scheduled services from Liverpool Airport, and we are showing our faith in the future with the introduction of our first jet scheduled service out of Speke. The Liverpool link with Holland is currently operated with a twin engined Ambassador which is being phased out in October. The Comets will offer 106 seats compared to 66 on the Ambassador, at present the journey takes about two hours. September saw a company Comet crash landed at Newcaslte airport (Picture and press report HERE) The aircraft was on a training flight when the accident occurred. No-one was injured and the Comet was removed from the runway as quickly as possible. Upon being met by fire crews and emergency vehicles the crew claimed they had no idea that the aircraft had a problem. Public relations took another hit in September, when Newcastle United's football team boarded a Comet to take them, their delegation of trainers, managers and physiotherapists along with a press crew. A covering flap blew off during the flight to pick the VIPs up. After waiting an hour the anxious players and crew boarded only to find an engine would not start. Staff at Newcastle hurriedly got in touch with Gatwick headquarters and a replacement aircraft, this time a BAC 1-11 arrived. The team eventually took off four hours late.
In October gale force winds battered the north west and the Nord 262 was tipped over in Liverpool immediately after landing and taxiing to the stand, fortunately the aircraft sustained only minor scratches and was cleaned up for service the same day. A questionnaire was sent to businesses in Tees-Side to petition Dan-Air to re-introduce the city on its 'Link City' network. The flights had been cancelled due to time restraints and lack of support.
The same city would see a programme of charter flights on behalf of Clarkson's to The Costa Blanca, Costa Del sol, Costa Dorada, Costa Brava, Majorca, Ibiza, The Italian Adriatic and Venetian Riviera. All flights would be operated by Dan-Air Comet aircraft.
The new 'Link City' was deemed such a success that in November the airline applied to the ATLB for a similar service connecting Bournemouth-Birmingham-Manchester-Newcaslte Dan-Air claimed that the 'Link City' was the forerunner of domestic services and had predicted that most domestic services would move in a similar direction. Most domestic flights were unprofitable, but this quick turnaround, no frills service had proved to be a winner. To achieve the timetable Dan-Air had carried out an intensive study.
November saw a special Dan-Air BAC 1-11 charter to Bucharest. Fans of Liverpool chartered the aircraft and paid £32 10s for the round trip. Lunn's Travel announced in December that they would be chartering Dan-Air aircraft for their summer programme of flights from Luton to Rome with holidays priced £36 rising to £51 in peak season for a week and £51 to £70 for two weeks. Kenton Travel, a small Harrow based company chartered Dan-Air a BAC 1-11 every Friday until Summer for a weekend trip to Hamburg from Luton for £25 including accommodation. A further two Comets joined the fleet.
The increase in Passenger numbers wasn't restricted to Summer months, this winter saw a large uptake, as a result of a new type of package tour that didn't take long to become a permanent fixture: Skiing. In winter 1970 destinations in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Yugoslavia were evaluated by Tour companies who were eager to make profit during their normally quiet winter months. Airlines were also delighted as the flights would help with year round utilisation of aircraft. Inghams and Neilson became major charterers of Dan-Air aircraft for this market. Crystal Holidays were interested in using Dan-Air on their North Atlantic services. As the Edwards Committee Report had suggested the year before; a 'Second Force' UK airline would be given preference amongst other independents. Two airlines; Caledonian and British United were put forward. Caledonian had been flying for ten years and had a great reputation for in flight service. Caledonian were already major players on the Affinity Tour market, carrying the majority of the 1,000,000 passengers who flew the flights across the Atlantic. The number was larger than many flag carriers in Europe. Initially Caledonian flew old DC7 aircraft on the flights, but became jet wise in 1968 when they introduced Boeing 707s to their fleet. Caledonian had endeavoured to distance themselves from other charter airlines, claiming that their charter flights surpassed service levels of most scheduled flights. The cabin crew, dressed in tartan, would serve post take-off cocktails row by row. Menus were individually printed and meals served one course at a time, with hors d'eouvres to follow, a main course and then desert. After dinner brandies followed. Wines and spirits were complimentary, cigarettes were provided free of charge and passengers were even given an overnight bag. The introduction of their Boeing 707s was given a blaze of positive publicity.
British United (BUA) on the other hand, had been established a long time by way of a merger of several small and medium sized carriers. The airline was the first independent UK airline to purchase jets when the VC10 was obtained in 1964, they then leased five BAC 1-11s in 1968. BUA flew scheduled services to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay and several European destinations including London Gatwick to Paris. Regulations prevented airlines other than BEA from flying the route. BUA had circumnavigated them by providing a coach from London Victoria to Gatwick, meaning the flight was not direct. Flights were operated to North Africa too. The airline was, without a doubt, the largest independent airline in the UK. By 1970 however, BUA was not in a good financial position. British United sought to merge with another carrier,becomming British United Island Airways in 1969. The problems did not go away and the company was in trouble again. Several airlines expressed an interest in purchasing them, the eventual chosen airline was Caledonian. Now called the somewhat long-winded Caledonain/BUA the new airline had the intention of becoming British Caledonian Airways by 1973. The new airline would have seven Boeing 707, four Vickers VC10 as well as five BAC 1-11 jets for European services. Caledonian/BUA had applied for several scheduled services which had been largely rejected. They argued that the existing regulation meant that 90% of scheduled routes by a UK carrier were carried out by BEA or BOAC, this had to, and was about to change - forever.
November saw a special Dan-Air BAC 1-11 charter to Bucharest. Fans of Liverpool chartered the aircraft and paid £32 10s for the round trip. Lunn's Travel announced in December that they would be chartering Dan-Air aircraft for their summer programme of flights from Luton to Rome with holidays priced £36 rising to £51 in peak season for a week and £51 to £70 for two weeks. Kenton Travel, a small Harrow based company chartered Dan-Air a BAC 1-11 every Friday until Summer for a weekend trip to Hamburg from Luton for £25 including accommodation.
The Air Transport Licencing Board's (ATLB) stranglehold of UK scheduled air routes carried on with very few opportunities presenting themselves to independent airlines. If one considers the services that Dan-Air had tried to establish. Carlisle-Gloucester- Bournemouth does not spring to mind when one is thinking of mass air travel. Although the ATLB did grant a licence for the service from Newcastle to Bournemouth with optional stops at Birmingham and Manchester to commence without having a hearing. Simply put - independent airlines did not stand a chance of gaining licences for high density routes. Many of Dan-Air's competitors who were around at the start of the 1970s would not be operating at the end of the decade. One of our un-named contributors told us.
'The poor sods at route planning must have had nothing but headaches. Fact of the matter is, the ATLB didn't think the independents knew how to run an airline. I don't know what they thought a charter flight consisted of. We had a timetable to adhere to, all the safety was exactly the same. Everything to do with luggage, load-sheets, pilot hours, training, service - exactly the same. we had to work with ground crews, ATC. Literally the only difference is that we flew somewhere once a week for a season as part of a package holiday, instead of a flight only at a set-time . When you consider all the pieces of the jigsaw that a charter airline had to make happen. We flew our aircraft sometimes three return flights to three different destinations. Our charter flights served more than a hundred airports. We knew all right how to do the job. But we were never even considered worthy of Heathrow slots. None of us were. British Eagle had been allowed in there, and they went bust! There wasn't anything in British European Airways fleet that was better or newer than Britannia's 737s - but they would never have got a slot for a charter from Heathrow, let alone a schedule.'
Despite this terrible loss of life with of the Comet crash, Dan-Air had an incredible 1970 with passenger numbers almost double those of the previous year. It was the first year that Dan-Air carried more than a million passengers in a single year. A further two Comets joined the fleet.
NETWORK & PRESS 1970
1971
The integration of the Nord 262 which had been designed to replace the Dakota had gone smoothly. In January The Air Transport Licencing Board (ATLB) had approved of a second 'Link-City' service. This time Bournemouth-Manchester-Newcastle with optional stops at Birmingham and Liverpool. The flights would be operated by Nord 262 with permission to upgrade to BAC 1-11 or Comet jets. The licence was valid until 1978.
A similar hearing took place, that, when looked at today would shock the average reader. The Women's Institute (WI). a very British organisation that raised money for charity and fostered community projects focusing on their all female membership found themselves in a Board of Trade hearing. The WI had a reputation as a middle class organisation that made jams and cakes, one branch of the organisation, North Petherton in Somerset had organised a holiday for a group of WI members. Clarkson's the Tour Operator had offered the ladies one free holiday for the organiser of a group party booking of twenty people. The Air Transport Licencing Board (ATLB) were not impressed at all, and banned the free place, as it amounted to discounting, which was strictly prohibited. At the hearing Mrs. Garland, the organiser said that there was a great deal of work that went into organising a holiday and that people in Somerset lived long distances apart which meant keeping everyone up to date was time-consuming. The ATLB refused the licence.
1971 marked the start of a difficult period for aviation. Caledonian's purchase of British United Airways for almost £8 million had made headlines. Several airlines had, upon hearing that British United was being sold, placed bids of their own for the beleaguered carrier. British United had claimed they needed to spend £50 million on new aircraft to retain their status as the second force in UK aviation. Managing Director Freddie Laker had steered the company towards an all jet operation, before publicly rowing with the airline's board, then leaving to form his own airline in 1966.
BUA had been the government's choice for the second force in UK aviation. When Caledonian purchased them in November 1970 Laker was furious at the sale. Caledonian and Laker had ambitions for long haul scheduled services of their own. Dan-Air, remained silent about the changes taking place in the industry. Their own steady growth had continued and financially they were sound. Nonetheless, when a solid business opportunity presented itself, Dan-Air acted accordingly.
Plans to extend the runway at Gatwick by more than a thousand feet came under a great deal of scrutiny in late January. At a public meeting, residents complained that 'the levels of noise at Gatwick are simply intolerable.' and that long-haul flights using jumbo jets would make the noise even worse. Hundreds of protesters turned up, many with banners calling for a halt on all expansion at the airport. There had been additional plans to open a short take-off and landing (STOL) strip at the airport, but these were abandoned. One particular grievance couldn't be ignored, the fact that Gatwick had more night-time departures than any airport in the UK, with a summer that had 4,950 movements planned. The late night arrivals and departures were particularly irksome to residents, one of whom claimed 'the night flights start attacking you mentally first, then physically.'
Most affected were the people who lived in Charlwood and the Horley Gardens Estate. Dan-Air put forward the case that the runway at Gatwick was internationally speaking, one of the shortest, and even if a second runway was not given the go-ahead, then the existing one would need to be longer. There were already payload penalties that airlines incurred if the big jets were not fully laden.
By mid-February Dan-Air was the only carrier operating am international scheduled service from Liverpool. Every tool had been used to make the three times weekly flights successful, with the airport desperate to retain the link. Using small aircraft had proved ineffective when the flights first started. The first upgrade saw Ambassadors trying to make a success of the service after the airport management said large aircraft were needed to encourage take up. Despite never being hugely profitable, the flights continued. The Airport Authorities then suggested jet aircraft would be the solution and so Comets were placed on the route. The promise of speedy flights, reaching their destination in 70 minutes was hoped to drum up extra business. For scheduled services the 106 seat Comet had a low density configuration of 89 seats.
Skyways of London had been operation since 1955 before being purchased by Euravia in 1964. Senior Skyways of London management then went on to form International Skyways. This new airline immediately commenced the cross channel services using Dakota aircraft that were eventually supplemented with the introduction of the HS 748. This new airline traded as Skyways International. The airline was never really successful. Rumours began to circulate that the airline was ripe to a take-over. Dan-Air weighed up their options.
February saw Dan-Air recruiting stewardesses to be based in Newcastle and Manchester. The upper age range was between 20 and 28 Open interviews invited girls within the age range who had good eyesight, weight in proportion to height, and educated to GCE or equivalent. Those with foreign language or nursing skills would be at an advantage. Those who were male - well they were at a definite disadvantage as they would not be considered.
Airport Catering Ltd had been providing catering for Dan-Air and British Midland for many years. In view of the expansion of Dan-Air, Airport Catering wished to build a huge catering shed in Newcastle only to be told that there was a 'Gentleman's Agreement' with a local brewery not to allow other firms to offer catering. A situation that Dan-Air were not happy with.
Secret talks had been underway with several airlines with a view to introducing a larger aircraft into the fleet. Dan-Air did not wish to fly scheduled services on long haul services, but they did see an opening for 'affinity charter flights' across the Atlantic. The DC8 was considered. Dan-Air had extended talks with McDonnell Douglas about modifications to the type to suit Dan-Air's style of operation. This would involve a high density layout and changes to the galleys. The airline had also had talks with American carriers who wished to sell some of their DC8 aircraft. One pilot told us;
'Alan Snudden was very much involved with the discussions. He had flown over and had meetings with Delta, Pan Am and I believe, Braniff. Delta had the series 71 for sale and they carried 250 odd passengers. As I recall, the price was just outside our budget. Talks with Pan Am had gone very well and it looked like a deal was going to be struck. Back at home, further such talks had gone on with the banks and with Pan Am. It was all looking positive. We even went as far as to print promotional literature with the DC8 in Dan-Air's livery on the front. Pan Am had come up with the right price, so it was good to go. From our point of view it would be a major coup, we would be the first airline to introduce the beautiful DC 8 onto the UK register - that was when the headache started. It was something that was to prove quite costly with the 727 a couple of years down the line. We'd already had issues introducing a new aircraft to the UK register with the Nord - and this was a much bigger deal. The Air Transport Licencing Board and the Board of Trade always had to be involved when a type was introduced onto the register. The ATLB came up with a list of modifications that we would have to implement before the aircraft could fly. It would be very expensive to undertake such changes, especially when we were unsure if there would be sufficient business for the things once they arrived. Then the UK Government has its own rules. They naturally wanted UK airlines to buy British manufactured aircraft where possible. Purchasing American built aircraft would see tariffs of 14% slapped on the imported second-hand aircraft. The Government forced Caledonian to purchase the 1-11 and were trying to get Britannia to get them as well, but they refused. They were less likely to be heavy handed if the UK didn't produce an aircraft that met an airline's requirements. Pan Am were very helpful and pointed out that BOAC were already operating the Boeing 707 as were Caledonian. It might not be such a headache importing them. So, basically that is what happened. Those tariffs were 14%, which is outrageous. Still, it was cheaper to pay that than to try and get hold of a VC10. The tariff was especially unfair, as the British would not even producing a long haul jet airliner after 1971. Airlines simply had to buy American - or Soviet! and that is something we would never have done. Naturally, the aircraft that Pan Am were wanting to dispose of would be the ones that were the oldest in their fleet. In fact, they were some of the first 707s to have been produced. I considered converting to the type, but I had the Comet running through my veins. I also had a family. It was hard enough doing so many night flights that arrived back in the UK in the early hours. I didn't want to be away for days at a time'.
Dan-Air duly ordered two Boeing 707 jets from Pan Am, which would be modified to carry 189 passengers in a single class cabin. The 707 had previously carried 123 economy passengers and 18 first class. 189 was the maximum exit layout for the type. In March Dan-Air took delivery of their first Boeing 707, The twelve year old jet had been manufactured in 1959 and was one of the first 707s off the production line. A new colour scheme had recently been designed, and made its debut on the the new aircraft. The new look would be applied to all other aircraft as they underwent routine maintenance. The second 707 would arrive in 1972 and for reasons unknown, was fitted with 192 seats, three more than the maximum.
Altogether six crews, mainly from the Comet fleet, including Graham Sutten went to Newcaslte for training on the new aircraft. Each pilot would have ten hours flying on the machine and a further ten hours of supervision. The aircraft, minus seating was flown to Newcastle for the training.
Graham Sutten training on the Boeing 707
Captain Alan Bernstein from Massachusetts who flew for Pan Am was given the task. He told press that flying the 707 was easy. 'You only have to fly the cockpit.' he said 'The rest will just follow on behind.' Before commencing flights the aircraft would need to be refitted to meet Dan-Air's requirements. Pan Am's luxurious cabin was quickly replaced with new red slimline seating. In a stoke, Dan-Air now had capacity to match any of its rivals on long haul flights. Initially the aircraft would be chartered to fly to North American and Canadian cities on 'Affinity Charter flights', mainly from Gatwick. The fares would be £50. Stewart Carlisle from Dan-Air said that the aircraft would be operating to all points of the compass if they got the enquiries. If the Transatlantic charters were successful they would be able to take Caledonian/BUA on head to head. On reflection, was the purchase wise? One pilot told us;
"Absolutely not! How long have you got? Right, for a start, both British United and Caledonian were well established on the Affinity flights anyhow. In Particular, Caledonian were world class as far as long haul charter flying went. It was a pleasure to fly with them across the Atlantic, BUA were not as good, but as Caledonian had recently bought them out, it would be Caledonian's style that would prevail. Secondly, every carrier wanted to get in on the charters, as if it were some kind of 'license to print money' situation. Caledonian, Britannia, Lloyd International, Donaldson, Laker, British Midland - you name it - they were all at it. Some, and I am talking Caledonian specifically, were very cheeky with the rule bending of who was a member of these 'affinity groups'. Lots of airlines got their fingers burnt with hefty fines for doing that. It didn't do your reputation any good having passengers denied boarding because they couldn't prove their affinity to 'Friends of Albion'. Then there was the aircraft itself. The 707 was a marvellous machine, but the ones we obtained were, let's face it - clapped out. They had been working long haul for twelve years before we got hold of them. Cabin crew told me they were terrified as the beast lumbered up the runway. One of the jets G-AZTG - Tango Golf, was named 'Tree Grazer' because of its reluctance to gain altitude, another, G-AYSL was known as 'Sick Lil' because of the endless hours that she spent 'tech' - some of the delays were incredible. The stewardesses complained that the galley at the the rear of the cabin swayed from left to right in flight. Our aircraft had no in flight entertainment, unlike the newspaper adverts that said we did and Travel Agents claimed we did. As far as I am aware, there was no profitable reason to use these aircraft. When you have 189 passengers stuck in Chicago, Gander or Reykjavik because their ride home has developed another fault, you have to put them up in hotels and feed them. The 707 was a terrible drain on Dan-Air, what's more, I don't think this term had been originated then, but I think I would say that the 707 was nothing more than a vanity project.'
Horizon Midlands chartered Comet 4B aircraft for flights to Rhodes and Corfu from Birmingham, the first time that a direct flight between either island had operated. The flights would alternate so each destination would have a fortnightly flight from May until the end of October.
New airlines regularly emerged, many of them wishing to establish a presence as a scheduled carrier. One of them, British Island Airways, commenced operations on domestic services this year. They would fly passengers on a 50 seat Herald Aircraft. Air Anglia would began flying into Liverpool from Norwich the previous year and Loganair flew into Manchester from Scotland. As start up scheduled airlines, they would not trouble Dan-Air's business on charter services, but they would almost certainly want to get a foothold on the UK domestic market. Dan-Air, by now had their own ground handling facilities in many airports where they flew. Having Ground Handling facilities would be pointless if you had a small presence at an airport, and as a result Dan-Air was able to offer handling to other carriers. Bristol, Newcastle and Liverpool all used Dan-Air Handling, customers included Air Anglia and British Island Airways. British Midland Airways withdrew from their Cardiff-Bristol and Glasgow service. Dan-Air applied for the licence as did a joint application from Cambrian and North East.
The Bournemouth-Birmingham-Manchester-Liverpool-Newcaslte service was due to commence on June 1st and the airline still hadn't found an aircraft that was suitable for the flights. A spokesman said that it was unlikely that a second Nord 262 would join the fleet due to the spiralling cost of replacement spare parts for the French built aircraft. The Newcastle-Kristiansand service was upgraded from twice to three times a week in May of this year, at the same time.
A single HS 748, obtained from Maersk Air joined the fleet as a quick replacement for the Ambassador. It had been difficult to find a suitable replacement, whilst the Nord 262 was undoubtedly efficient, it could only carry 29 people. The Ambassador, for all of it's flaws, seated 55 in comfort. The HS 748 could seat roughly the same number. By modern standards, the HS 748 would be considered noisy and inefficient. In comparison to the Ambassador, it was perfect. The HS 748 was a turboprop aircraft, unlike the 'Amby' with her smoky Bristol Centaurus piston engines. The Ambassador had been in service since 1952, and had served Dan-Air well. The newer 748 had a greater range, and better performance. By 1971 the Ambassador looked very dated and simply had to go.
A vintage send off was given at Manchester Airport in May for the departure of the city's newest destination - Faro on the Portuguese Algarve. The 86 passengers on the first of the fortnightly flights were given a port wine reception at the side of the Dan-Air BAC 1-11.
An application to serve Glasgow from Leeds/Bradford was made in May, offering connections to Bristol and Cardiff. The flights would operate twice daily. North Eastern Airways and Cambrian Airways also made a joint application, but Dan-Air was given permission to operate the service from the Department of Trade and Industry, pending approval from the ATLB. British Midland had suspended their service and Dan-Air said it was important not to let people get out of the habit of using city air links. 'Most of the people who use air services between places like Leeds and Glasgow are businessmen who might use the service twice a week. It is essential not to allow people to get used to using other forms of transport.' It was understood that British Midland had suspended the flights because the airline used Viscounts and they were standing idle on the tarmac at Yeadon or Glasgow for most of the day. Dan-Air were banking everything on the use of small aircraft, it being more economical to have a small plane full rather than a large one half empty. 'we can always bring i n bigger planes if the demand is there.' The airline was committed to using the Nord 262 which was described as a comfortable 29 seater, which it is maintained, has no British equivalent. The other option was to introduce the newly acquired HS 748. on the Newcastle-Manchester-Bristol-Cardiff flights where numbers had increased. Cambrian accused Dan-Air of trying to divert passengers from their own services, while Dan-Air said had they not done things the way they had there would be no service between Leeds and Glasgow. The ATLB ruled that the southern extension on the Glasgow service would have to stop and only flights from Leeds to Glasgow could continue.
The HS 748 was selected to carry out Cardiff-Bristol-Liverpool/Manchester to Kristiansand for this year and had impressed the company who now felt strongly that they had a permanent replacement for the Ambassador which was finally phased out in September this year. t was the last turbine engine aircraft in the fleet and carried out its last flight, a charter to Jersey. The Dan-Air Social Club later chartered the aircraft for a goodbye flight to France.
A major promotional initiative was launched at Liverpool in an attempt to drum up business on the Liverpool-Amsterdam service. It was noted that the service averaged only 20 passengers per flight. Passengers complained at a lack of duty free shopping, and berated Liverpool Airport for not investing in development. Management at Liverpool Airport flew promotional trips to drum up business - Dan-Air revealed that the service was simply not profitable and unless it was subsidised would have to stop.
Traffic at Bristol however was booming with successes on all scheduled services. The airline gave a £30,000 vote of confidence in the airport when a Dan-Air subsidiary company, Inter-continental Air Caterers Ltd built new catering facilities including a kitchen and bonded stores at the airport. The facility would supply not only Dan-Air, but other carriers as well. Up to 250,000 meals for scheduled and charter passengers could be prepared each year at the kitchen.
State owned British European Airways, and BOAC were not happy with anything any of their rivals did. BEA hated the relaxing of any rules allowing charter carriers to have access to any airport they flew to. BOAC could not stand the idea that independent airlines might be flying long haul charters to the United States. In response to the competition in Europe, BEA had started a subsidiary charter airline - 'BEA Airtours'. This airline would fly Comets to sunspots on behalf of Tour Operators, most notably, Enterprise Holidays, BEA's own Tour Operator. BOAC had Sovereign Holidays as its in house tour operator. More about this will come up in 1973. BEA announced this year that it was going to replace its entire BEA Airtours fleet of Comet aircraft with Boeing 707s to enable it to compete on the North Atlantic 'Affinity Flights'. BEA Airtours was also be state funded, again, a disadvantage to the independents.
Licences were granted this year to operate scheduled services from London Gatwick to Montpellier and Clermont Ferrand in France. Other international services were operated to Ostend, Beauvais, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen and Amsterdam.
The Boeing 707 had been chartered by several companies to carry out Transatlantic flights and had quickly earned a reputation for technical issues. One such flight bound for Toronto was delayed at Manchester for ten hours, first by fog and then a technical problem which forced the aircraft back to its stand less than three minutes into its taxi to the runway. Passengers formed a 'protest committee' after being told that the delayed flight would be re-routed to Niagara Falls because Toronto Airport was closed for the night. Sheila Wright who was 27 at the time recalls;
'It was terrible, I hadn't been able to get nappies for my three month old son, and I couldn't get my hands on any baby food. They fed us sandwiches at the airport, and gave us cups of tea. No-one came to see us from Dan-Air, we found out that British Midland were the handling agents, and they were noticeable by their absence. When I eventually found their office, they didn't want to know about the baby and just said that they couldn't get me any baby food. The shops in the airport didn't have them either.' At the time of the event, British Midland said they 'were sorry about the delay' and explained that all passengers had been fed and given refreshments. The pharmacy at the airport said 'The lady could have bought disposable nappies here and we have a stock of baby food.'
Dan-Air, for their part said they would look into complaints made about British Midland and that they had tried to sub contract another aircraft but were unable to do so. They said they had taken all passengers to a hotel for meals and were doing all they could to make passengers comfortable.
Dan-Air's parent company Davies and Newman saw a flotation the stock market for the first time on 13th October. The event saw a smooth maiden flight on the London Stock Exchange for Davies and Newman. The idea of making Davies and Newman - Dan-Air's parent company - a public limited company was to enable a cash injection to purchase new aircraft and thus expand further. Hambros Bank offered 1,113,000 ordinary 25p shares in D&N at 130p each. Early dealings saw a premium on the initial share-price. Valuing the company at a little over £5 1/2 million, and Fred Newman worth more than £2,000,000 said the Scotsman newspaper.
Several newspapers wrongly claimed in October that Dan-Air had suffered heavy financial losses for years, and was finally in the black with profits of profits of £497,000 in 1970. in fact, as the syndicated article went on to point out - During the during the 1960s, Dan-Air's profits had fluctuated between £138,000 and £213,000 throughout the 1960s and the prediction was that 1971 was set to be even more profitable. How that is to be perceived as loss-making is very much up for debate!
Great Universal Stores had recently gained a major shareholding in Caledonian/BUA which gave the recently merged airline increased financial flexibility, Britannia Airways was wholly owned by the Thomson Organisation and Monarch Airlines had backing from the mega wealthy Mantegazza Family (who also owned Cosmos Holidays) The left Dan-Air among a very small group of carriers who were truly independent.
For the Winter months of 1971 Dan-Air Comets would be flying from Glasgow to Tenerife and Majorca on behalf of Horizon Holidays. Following a very small programme from East Midlands in 1971, which had been a success, Global Holidays announced they would be offering holidays to the Costa Brava, Costa Blanca and Majorca from April to October 1971 from East Midlands, using Dan-Air Comets and BAC 1-11s. Lunn Poly announced that they would be using Dan-Air Comets and BAC 1-11s for their 1972 charter programme and reducing the number of BEA flights.
October 26th saw another change to the Liverpool-Amsterdam service. The Comet was withdrawn from the schedule and replaced with the HS 748 turbo--prop. This would see the flying time increased from 70 minutes to one hour 45 minutes. The Comet had proved uneconomical on the service, and even reducing the seating capacity from 105 to 89 had not improved the route's performance. Flights would now operate Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays instead of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. They will connect with 'Link City' flights to Newcastle-Bristol-Cardiff. Departures would leave Liverpool at 12 noon and return at 3:15 pm instead of 0850 and and 1700. The changes, Dan-Air said, were due to the demands of Tour Operators, Travel Agents and businessmen. The changes would allow travellers a long weekend in the Netherlands. Captain Pat Skinner flew the inaugural flight on November 1st.
The initial report by Spanish Air Ministry into the Comet crash of June 1970 said that several errors had led to the downing of the aircraft. The aircraft, taking holiday-makers to Barcelona on behalf of Clarksons crashed into a mountain-side at Sierra Del Montseny on June 3rd 1970. A flight path reconstruction developed from the aircraft's 'black box' flight recorder showed that the aircraft had overshot its turning point after Toulouse and travelled well to the east of its correct routing. It was reasonable to assume that it would converge on the radio beacon at Sabadell, situated on the route that it should really have followed, and pass over it. The inquiry concluded that the fixes (position reports) given to the aircraft were erroneous and a series of position reports from the aircraft led the Air Traffic Control at Barcelona to believe that the aircraft was nearer to Sabadell than it actually was. A request from ground control to the aircraft to know whether it had reached Sabadell, led the plane, which was uncertain of its progress along the route came to the same conclusion. This resulted in a wrong identification being made when a radio echo of characteristics similar to those expected from the Comet appeared. This radio echo was travelling in the same direction at the appropriate speed and wasn't questioned by the aircraft, nor by the controllers. The led the controllers to give permission for the aircraft to descend and approach the service runway at Barcelona Airport. From this moment onwards the catastrophe became inevitable because the aircraft had not completed its crossing of the mountainous region.
The following day the British airline Pilots Association (BALPA) called for urgent action to improve Spanish radar procedures. The apparent 'ghost image' on the radar screen the controllers did not seek to confirm that the aircraft had cleared mountains and the aircraft's identity. The characteristics appeared the same'blip' at the Comet said the Spanish. BALPA said this was not satisfactory and that controllers should use more than one method of identifying an aircraft than solely by Radar echo. Dan-Air said that the Comet had made 'two turns' so the radar controller could confirm that the blip on the screen was in fact the Comet. He added 'We cannot see why the controller gave him instructions to descend.'
In November a company Boeing 707 was stranded in Greenland when it made a scheduled refuelling stop. In sub zero temperatures some of the aircraft parts froze. Passengers were taken to a nearby hotel while the aircraft underwent a thawing out process and anti freezing. Affinity Tour flights to Canada had been halted in October by the Canadian Transport Commission following two incidents in the Summer. One Manchester-Toronto flight had been delayed by 54 hours. Another cancelled flight had led to a sub charter being given to Trans-European Airways, contrary to the Commission Order to give the sub charter to Air Canada. The ban was lifted in December after the commission accepted Dan-Air's explanation.
The new service linking Liverpool and Bournemouth commenced in December. The daily service was priced at £16:20 one way. Dan-Air said that they had always chosen routes to cities that had poor road and rail connections. They hoped the service would appeal to holiday makers and businessmen. They had timed the service to link with other flights from Liverpool. Dan-Air said that they were confident that the following year would be even more profitable as the entire charter fleet had already been fully utilised. The programme for 1972 would see a full programme of flights from East Midlands Airport using BAC 1-11 and Comet aircraft on behalf of Global Tours.
Passenger numbers increased to 1,129,000, the largest number of passengers carried in a single year so far. Two more Comets were added to the fleet, bringing the total to 14. The BAC 1-11 fleet was also increased to 5. The Hawker Siddeley 748 fleet doubled to two aircraft. The robust 748 aircraft could handle the short turn-around times that the company required on the 'Link-City' flights. The versatile aircraft could also comfortably fly to Norway and to Amsterdam. This made the aircraft an ideal type for Dan-Air. The Nord may well have been suited to hopping from city to city with small numbers of passengers. The Nord however, could not fly to longer flights and the decision was made to sell the aircraft.
NETWORK & PRESS 1971
1972
The year commenced with Dan-Air looking for more cabin crew for Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Tees Side. This was in no small part due to the huge charter programme that the airline would be operating the year ahead. The HS 748, introduced the previous year had proven to be a successful addition to the fleet. In a statement to the press, the company said it would be standardising the 748 on domestic services. The HS-748 was in full production, obtaining new models would be costly and there was a waiting list. The solution to finding extra HS-748s came in January 1971, when Skyways Coach Air went bust. The Conservative government refused to step in and save it. Although it did intervene in helping to find a buyer - Dan-Air, who paid just £650,000 (Approx £1.5 million, 2024) for the company. Skyways had a fleet of four HS 748 and three Dakotas. Dan-Air had no use for the Dakota aircraft and they were disposed of. Skyways existing scheduled services would also come with the acquisition. This was not as lucrative as was hoped. Skyways had recently dropped most of their schedules that had been considered under-performing. The Ethos of Skyways' most successful operation was to operate the cheapest possible way travelling from London to Paris. This involved boarding a coach or train in central London and travelling to a small regional airport at Lympne in Kent. Passengers would then take the short flight to Beauvais in France where they would then travel by coach to Paris. Fares would range from £9 8s to £12-17s depending on the time of year, which was 45% cheaper than the standard air fare. The total travel time was 5 1/2 hours. In late January Dan-Air formed a new subsidiary Dan-Air Skyways. The flight deck crews transferred to the new airline, including two new female first officers, Jill Cazalet and Delphine Fisk Gray.
A second Boeing 707 was to join the fleet. This would require six additional crews who would need to fly training flights out of Newcaslte. Residents had got a lot more used to jet aircraft at Newcastle but the constant take off and landings, still enraged locals. Captain Alan Selby recalls;
'Several pilots had desires to fly the 707. It would mean longer flights, but they came with the opportunity to spend several nights in hotels resting, crews would then return home working when a new crew relieved them. This was more appealing to younger pilots. I was asked recently why we didn't just recruit pilots who were already qualified on the type. Well we would obviously do that if the opportunity presented itself, such as when British Eagle collapsed with BAC 1-11 pilots. But there is a system in place in airlines where one acquires seniority. That doesn't mean you are a higher rank, it is because of the years of service you have with an airline. If you had ten years with BOAC and then came to Dan-Air, you would likely lose that. If you were to match it, it would ruffle feathers and be expensive for the airline. It was thought to be a better practice to train existing crew on the new type. That was cost effective and the airline already knew the crew member and his or her standards. We had some of the finest flight crews anywhere in the world I believe.'
The introduction of Bournemouth into the 'Link City' network was delayed due to the purchase of Skyways. The original plan was to use the Nord 262, but Skyways four HS 748 prop-liners had shown they were capable of performing the five minute turn-around that Dan-Air needed. Naturally the fuel consumption of the 748 was greater than the Nord 262, but some of the 'Link City' destinations had proven to be successful and therefore it was a natural progression to upgrade the aircraft. In terms of the look of the new aircraft, a subsidiary airline - Dan-Air Skyways was born. The new airline would carry the original green cheat line stripe of Skyways' own livery, with an additional red stripe underneath. The tail would be painted white, with Dan-Air's compass and flag logo in its place. Some press reports were critical of the new look, with one accusing the airline of 'doing things on the cheap'. This was not strictly true. The idea was to create a brand within a brand. The scheduled services would carry this new look, whilst charter flights would wear the red and black stripe, and the title 'Dan-Air London'. As aircraft underwent maintainence the new bold red tail paint was added, giving a sharp new look. The silver underside of the Comet was replaced with an off-white livery.
The acquisition of Skyways came not only with aircraft and spares, but the lease of Lympne Airport until 1975. Skyways had owned the airport and the liquidators viewed it as a valuable asset. under the deal, staff would be retained with comparable employment deals at Dan-Air. The liquidators; Sterling Industrial Securities said; 'Although Skyways has been making a good recovery under its new management, future growth is inevitably limited. The Dan-Air deal offers the most attractive opportunity.'
Dan-Air said that 'Skyways International is a promising concern with some first-class people. we are delighted to link this operation with our wider aviation interests. In terms of low-cost air travel to the continent, Skyways in unrivalled, we hope to develop this market.'
At the time of the take-over Dan-Air's scheduled services amounted to just 5% of its total business, this would now be raised to 15% in a single stroke.
Dan-Air had been handling their own flights at Gatwick for a number of years following the demise of Gatwick Handling. Dan-Air had agreed to use the original trading name of Gatwick Handling to avoid confusion from passengers. The handling service was able keep pace with the growth of Dan-Air's Gatwick operation as well as to win more third-party business at the airport. Dan-Air's parent company Davies & Newman agreed with British Airports Authority (BAA) and the failed company's other creditors to continue trading under the same name in return for settling outstanding debts. Dan-Air's requirement for additional check-in desks at Gatwick resulted in discussions about the formation of a new joint handling company with a fellow independent airline. Talks had broken down with BUA in 1970 as they already had their own handling facilities. The status quo carried on until February this year when Davies and Newman had made the decision to formally take on Gatwick Handling. The BAA would only permit this if there was a 50%tie-in with another airline. The new partner would have to be willing to co-own the yet to be formed joint handling company. An expression of interest from Laker Airways founder and majority owner Freddie Laker, who wanted his airline to attain a greater degree of autonomy at its home airport, ended Davies & Newman's search for a partner to share control of the joint handling company. The BAA agreed to award the new company a concession to become one of the airport's appointed ground handlers. This was followed by the official signing of the contract in late February 1972. Signatories included Dan-Air managing director Alan Snudden, airport director David Livingstone and Freddie Laker. The contractual period for the licence covering Gatwick Handling's appointment as an airport concessionaire was ten years. That arrangement afforded Gatwick Handling security of tenure to invest in new ground handling equipment to enable Gatwick's airlines to serve the airport with the then latest-generation wide-bodied aircraft.
Sunwing Holidays chartered Dan-Air aircraft for the entire 1972 season at Manchester with a programme to Ibiza, Majorca, Menorca, Costa Brava, Costa Blanca, Costa Del Sol, The Canary Islands, Tunisia, Portugal, Yugoslavia and Tunisia. Newcaslte had a full programme of flights this Summer on behalf of Clarkson's, Lunns, Cosmos and Horizon with Rimini being a new destination for the North East airport.
The Comet had ultimately proven to be unsuitable on the Liverpool-Amsterdam service. The flights had carried on until the New Year. Passenger numbers never came close to filling the jet aircraft with a capacity of more than a hundred passengers. Dan-Air had reduced seating to 89. Which was believed to offer luxurious comfort. The poor load factors did not warrant such expensive equipment. The decision to replace the Comet with the HS 748 was a perfect solution. The 748 had a similar capacity to the Ambassador, carrying 48 passengers in comfort on the one hour forty five minute flight to Amsterdam. Passengers would enjoy a meal and a complimentary bar service. One Tour Operator offered a four night breaks in the Dutch city were available for £26:50 including flights and accommodation. The international service reached a ten year milestone in 1972, it was believed that a service linking two famous port cities with a combined population more than a million people should have been easy. That was not to be the case on this flight, which was Liverpool's only scheduled link with continental Europe. A Dan-Air spokesman said;
'The was not the case, because the pundits told us that were not spending enough money on advertising the service. Thus, two years ago we launched a bus and poster campaign plus local Press advertising, which only resulted in a slight increase in passengers which, in any case, could have been accounted for because of other factors. The trouble is...say the pundits, that the service will never be a success until you introduce jets. Accordingly, last year, we introduced a Comet on the Liverpool-Amsterdam service. The result was that passenger payloads remained much the same as when the piston engined Ambassador operated this route. The main conclusion therefore, is that there is a limited amount of potential passengers for this service, and that is why we have introduced the HS-748. Which is operating with passenger loads which are economical in proportion to its size. This is symptomatic with the problems that all airlines face. Whilst many airlines thought that introducing relatively large jets onto service on domestic and trunk routes is the answer to their problems. We decided that introducing smaller, more modern aircraft onto routes between cities that are not served well be road and rail. At the same time it was decided that passengers wanted to spend as little time as possible on the ground with intermediate stops. As a result we bought the Nord 262 because it started with an internal battery and had built in air stairs which allowed us to operate with a five minute turn around. This proved to be acceptable to passengers on the Link-city services. This policy was tailored to meet the specific needs of the business traveller, it proved to be very popular, so much so that we decided to introduce a slightly larger aircraft, namely the HS-748. secondly we extended the network to include Birmingham and Bournemouth from April 1st.'
Clarksons Tours had chartered Dan-Air Comets to fly three day short breaks to a variety of destinations. David Tennant took one such trip and recalls;
'I remember that as we took off from a sunny, but windy Tunis Airport after the break, the man seated behind us said to his wife: 'Well our weekend has certainly been damned good value, I just don't know how it's done.' I am sure if you asked everybody on that plane they would have all said the same. The cost in this case was £24. For that money Clarksons had taken us by air from Gatwick, given us a hot meal on the plane, driven us by coach the 80 odd miles to Sousse and given us three nights there with full board. The large hotel was very modern and had a swimming pool, night club and acres of gardens. The even took us to Kairouan by coach, it was a really fascinating town. On the way back they gave us a little time to look around Tunis before we boarded the plane home. We got some duty free stuff and another hot meal. When I got home I calculated how much that would have cost if we had gone by scheduled services and I have always kept the details. A flight with British European Airways (BEA) hotel with full board, taxis, buses, and excursions, it would have cost - wait for it - £100! The standard air fare was £83 and if you booked the special monthly advance - where you would have to spend six nights at the hotel - the fare was still £68, an you'd have all the trouble of transferring your baggage as well. Of course, some people did moan, one old biddy said she had had to wait an hour for her room-service breakfast. I thought, at this price it was crazy to expect any room service at all unless you were ill. Another said the hotel was too far out of town., well, with all due respect, that was her own fault, the brochure said it quite clearly, and several of us walked the mile and a half into town each day. Very reasonably priced taxis were always available. We heard that Clarksons would be operating them again the following year and we went to the travel agent and got put on a list to call us the moment they went on sale. The price was roughly the same! We flew on Dan-Air on both occasions and they were superb. The aircraft was a little cramped, but for goodness sake, it was under twenty five quid. We have very fond memories of Dan-Air.'
Scheduled flights to the Isle of Man from Carlisle would take off this year, using the Hawker Siddeley 748. Several cities would operate similar flights with almost double the capacity of the Nord 262. Marshall Sutten, a travel agent in Beverley North Yorkshire won a fight with the Air Transport Licencing Board (ATLB) that had rumbled on for months. The company wanted to operate charter flights to Cyprus, selling seats solely to families of Britain's armed forces stationed on the island. Despite objections from BEA, Cyprus Airways, and Cypriot charter companies, the flights would be allowed. With backing from the Department of Trade, eleven flights would be permitted. The company would fly Dan-Air Comets from Gatwick and hoped to carry more than a thousand passengers. Mr. Sutten said the deal was a major breakthrough as it was getting harder and harder to operate flights into Cyprus. The deal was said to be worth £36,000.
In early 1972, former Channel Airways director Captain Peter Lockwood acquired a pair of ex-American Airlines BAC One-Eleven 400 series for his new charter company, Orientair, to take over Channel's lucrative German charter contracts. When Orientair's plan to assume Channel Airways' position in Berlin ran into difficulties, Dan-Air took over these contracts, resulting in an expansion of Dan-Air's Berlin operation.
Channel Airways Lack of fleet standardisation and low, all-year round aircraft utilisation, due to seasonal peaks and troughs in its charter and scheduled markets, drove up Channel's unit costs. While low charter rates and poor yields on short-haul scheduled routes served in competition with British Air Ferries from Southend depressed revenues. To bring costs in line with revenues, Channel Airways announced the closure of its Stanstead engineering base and the return of its headquarters to Southend at the end of January 1972. A week later, Channel Airways' main lender, Barclays Bank, appointed a receiver and put the airline up for sale while operations continued. Potential buyers' lack of interest in Channel Airways as a going concern forced the break-up of the company. By winter 1971/2 work for the remaining jet fleet had all but dried up, jet services ceased on 15 February 1972. Operations ceased completely on 29 February when a DH Dove completed the last Channel Airways flight from Ostend to Southend. Permanent cessation of operations was followed by withdrawal of Channel Airways's air operator's certificate at the end of March 1972.
Receivers were called in on Channel Airways on February 1st. The statement issued said that many airlines were interested in taking over Channel Airways, 'We have some very valuable routes and some very valuable business. We hope that the airline could be sold as a going concern. We have only been in there a few hours and have already been approached by many people.' Channel Airways had a fleet of four BAC 1-11, five Comets, one DH Dove, One DH Heron and four Vickers Viscounts. Channel Airways carried on operating and issued their own statements saying: 'There is no question of Channel stopping, we have been in talks with British Air Ferries with a view to a merger. We have not worked so hard for nothing - We fought for the right to operate between Glasgow and London only to have it taken away from us by British European objecting.'
British Air Ferries (BAF) did ask the Air Transport Licencing Board (ATLB) to suspend all Channel's licences and to transfer them to BAF. Meanwhile the receivers said that any attempt to seize the aircraft would result in the closure of the airline. On 20th February, 250 staff were sacked without notice, the following day a Comet was impounded at Manchester until landing and take off fees the carrier owed to Manchester Corporation were paid. The Comets in the fleet were valued at £60,000. One of our pilot contributors said:
'To say that the airline industry is cut-throat is an understatement. Hundreds of people lost their jobs. The other airlines were sniffing around as the wounded airline was in its death throes. I don't think British Air Ferries had the financial muscle to take over the entire company, even though they said they were interested. I think it was more a case of getting a chance to see what was worth anything and if they could get it on the cheap. British Midland took over some of the scheduled services to the Channel Islands from the Midlands, as you might expect, but they didn't want their aircraft. We grabbed Bournemouth to Jersey and Guernsey and Scotland's new airline, Alidair snatched up the Viscounts - We swooped in and took on the Comets. It's inconceivable that you could pick up a 119 seat jet aircraft for less that sixty grand. You say that is about £1.5 million in today's money? But a new 737 would cost more than five million quid in 1970. So its pretty obvious why we used them. They were inefficient from a fuel point of view in the seventies. But when you can pick one up for that price it was worth it. Especially as they had low hours. Staff scuttled around trying to pick up work. Those of us still at work then started to wonder who might be next. My money was on Lloyd International and that came to be correct.'
Following Channel Airways's demise, Dan-Air acquired the failed carrier's remaining four airworthy Comet 4Bs and their licence to operate year-round scheduled services from Bournemouth to Guernsey and Jersey.The failed carrier's charter division was largely transferred to Dan-Air, who were in an ideal position, having acquired the very aircraft that were due to operate the charter flights anyhow. 1972 was going to be a big year for Dan-Air. The HS-748 Scheduled Services to Montpelier, Beauvais and Clermont Ferrand were awarded licenses and started operating. Skyways had previously flown to Clermont Ferrand from Ashford in Kent - the route was transferred to now originate from Gatwick. This wasn't without problems from the Ministry Of Aviation, who were reluctant to allow Dan-Air to carry out the transfer. Dan-Air called the MoA's bluff and an agreement was made. Meanwhile, BEA Airtours continued to operate at a loss.
23rd February saw drama on a company Comet with 94 passengers aboard had taken off from Manchester bound for Alicante. Thirty minutes after departure a buzzer went off in the flight deck indicating a problem with an engine. The Captain closed down the engine and returned safely to Manchester where fire engines had lined the runway. The Comet did not have a flight deck door and passengers had hear the noise. Mrs. Jane O'Brien travelling from Chester with her husband said; 'It was the first time I had flown and I was terrified. We had just taken off when smoke started entering the plane.' Mr. William Marshall of Luton said 'A buzzer came on in the Captain's cabin, I heard it quite clearly. Suddenly I smelt smoke coming from very near, and some of us started to get a bit frightened.' After three hours, three passengers were flown out with British Midland and the rest an hour later on a relief BAC 1-11 flown up from Luton. The fault was electrical, but Dan-Air were not sure of the cause, an investigation was launched.
Crew training for the HS 748 was carried out at Newcastle this year. Several crew had joined Dan-Air following the Skyways take-over and former Nord 262 pilots were given the opportunity to train in the type. Cabin crew training on the type was given simultaneously. New girls completed their four week training at Gatwick before heading north to Newcastle where they would undergo training on the HS 748. This would see training carried on the real aircraft including emergency slides and chutes. Jean Hepple the HS 748 fleet stewardess told us;
'The girls were 'checked out' on two types of aircraft before they take their Board of Trade examinations. At first they will go on trips as spare crew, flying with an experienced girl. After two weeks they will then go out and do the job all on their own. Once they have reached our high standards they can go anywhere in the world.'
Former Prime Minister and current Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas Home was a distinguished Dan-Air passenger this year when the Foreign Office chartered a Comet for 17 days for the politician's Middle East tour. Fortunately it was not the same Comet that was carrying out a charter fight to Alicante on February 25th. Douglas Home's tour was not without hitches. Mishap number one was when the RAF 'Ran out of aircraft' to accompany him. Mishap two saw the Foreign Secretary driven to the wrong airport 'Out of habit' and mishap three was when the Dan-Air Comet was delayed for fifteen minutes with a technical problem. The aircraft flew Douglas Home to Istanbul, Dubai, Delhi Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Delhi, Rawalpindi, Ankara and Heathrow. The special charter was a feather in the cap for Dan-Air, as all previous government charters were flown by the RAF or one of the state airlines, Before the flights, Dan-Air Engineering had converted the Comet to have two wardrobes, a typing room, a cabin for Sir Alec and his wife, with eight seats. The aircraft was fitted with large reclining seats and tables. The total journey was carried out by five separate crews. The aircraft was under 24 hour security guard supervision. Food and drink was handled by the RAF and the appropriate British Embassy. Sir Alec later went on to praise Dan-Air for all their effort and skill. The flight back to Heathrow was early - deliberately so, because a crucial vote was underway in the House Of Commons concerning the Government's very survival. Captain King managed to get the aircraft on the ground in good time, and Sir Alec made it in time to vote.
The Conservative Government decided that the two loss making airlines BEA and BOAC, would merge the following year. The news caused consternation within the airline industry. Two giant carriers merged would create one mega carrier. For reasons best only known to them the Government and the Air Transport Licencing Board had decided to give British Caledonian the title 'The Government's chosen instrument of the private sector' which meant that along with the state owned carriers, British Caledonian would not have to face the same scrutiny as other carriers when applying for scheduled services. This gave the carrier an advantage over all other independents. British Caledonian would now concentrate on scheduled services.
On 27th March this year, Yvonne Sintes was given Captain status. She became the first female Captain in Britain. Ms. Sintes was working as a First Officer on the Comet fleet when she was asked if she would like to transfer to the Boeing 707 fleet. Instead, she expressed an interest in gaining her command. Ms. Pope was then sent on a training course on the HS-748. which entailed not only learning how to fly it but how and why it flies. She said 'I now know more about an turbo-prop engine than I do about my own car.' Captain Sintes had already earned the achievement of being the first female to pilot aircraft on scheduled services.
April 4th saw the debut of the new Dan-Air uniform. Fashion House Mansfield were given the task of designing the uniform for hundreds of ground and air stewardesses. Newcastle cabin crew were the first seen wearing the new French Navy blue ensemble. The new look came complete with a sleeveless pinafore dress, single breasted coats and jackets and white crepe blouses with neck ties. A matching pill-box hat completes the look. Jean Hepple, Dan-Air fleet stewardess said: 'The were great, the simple lines of the uniform suited so many more of the girls.'
Newcastle Airport had seen further development as a base for Dan-Air with the addition of Bergen and Stavanger to the list of destinations from the North East city. The services had all proved popular, especially with seamen and oil workers, Dan-Air offered discounts to these passengers. The Amsterdam service was bolstered with flights from Tees Side, a city that had not seen any Dan-Air aircraft for several years. that was to change this summer with Dan-Air becomming the largest carrier at the airport. BAC 1-11 jets would fly for Clarksons to Palma, Gerona, Alicante, Ibiza, Venice, Rimini and Munich and the BAC 1-11 would fly to Ostend on behalf of Lumbs Tours.
The Bournemouth 'City Link' opened a week late on April 6th. There would be ten flights a week linking Bournemouth-Birmingham-Manchester-Newcaslte using the HS 748. Just a day later the Luton - Leeds - Glasgow service started. The Newcastle-Kristiansand service had been operating as a summer only service and in May was given year round status. Norway would be further served from Tees-Side and Newcastle to Stavanger. These flights would be linked from Norwich with flights operated by Air Anglia. In May Swansea-Jersey and Newcastle - Carlisle - Jersey services started with an international route linking Gatwick to Berne commenced in June.
Also in April, the BAC 1-11 was trialled for flights from Berlin Tegal and Gatwick for flights to the Canary Islands. The aircraft could reach its destination provided weight-saving measures were carried out. Dan-Air found it could make its aircraft fly further without refuelling, provided the baggage allowance was reduced from the usual 44lb to 40lb. The aircraft would also carry a few less passengers. If 80 passengers were carried instead of 89, the 1-11 could fly with normal fuel reserves between the two destinations without a refuelling stop, certainly outbound and possibly inbound if the winds were favourable. This made the BAC 1-11 an ideal choice as opposed to the Boeing 737. Particularly for tour operators struggling to fill the larger 737 aircraft profitably. If the passenger load was greater than 80, the charterer paid for any refuelling stops, encouraging Tour Operators to keep to a maximum of 80 passengers.
British Air Services absorbed Cambrian Airways into its company this year. The company was 70% owned by the state and was pose a rival to Dan-Air.
The Air Transport Licensing Board was replaced by a new authority; The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) - their Chairman Lord Boyd Carpenter presided over the first hearing which was British Midland's application to serve Paris from East Midlands. Dan-Air objected stating that it was likely to affect their coach air service from East Midlands to Beauvais. They claimed there was 'simply not enough room for a route that carries 20,000 passengers for two carriers. British European Airways objected on the grounds that they flew a loss making service from Birmingham and that British Midland's application would affect that and potentially that of their loss making service to Paris from Manchester.
Affinity charters across the Atlantic had been aimed at groups and organisations - specifically the membership of the 'group'. The group's membership was capped at 20,000. Travel agents selling these holidays would have their commission set at a maximum of 5%. Groups suddenly sprang up on both sides of the Atlantic - 'Friends of Clan Albion', 'Anglo-Scottish-American Group', 'Anglo-American Families Association', 'Rose and Maple Amity Club', 'Paisley Buddies', 'British American Club', 'Canadian US Pacific Association' were just a few. Passengers were supposed to have been a member of the 'Group' for a least six months, making a supposedly legitimate booking at a discounted price. However, and it is a big 'however' - the scheme was wide open to fraud. Groups claiming to be 'Bird Watching clubs', 'Ballroom Dancing Associations' and 'Car Appreciation Groups' were not uncommon. Travel Agents were known to tell people to 'Form a club' before making their booking. Many UK airlines took part in the Affinity charters. Some carriers were more strict than others at adhering to the rules. What travel agents didn't always say was that staff patrolled airport check-in queues to seek out members of bogus clubs. Some were ultimately denied boarding. In addition, the airline would be fined if a passenger was deemed to not qualify to travel. Dan-Air had to pay $100,000 to the American Authorities for such violations. Most airlines faced similar charges. As the charterer was responsible for paying for the entire capacity of an aircraft, regardless of whether all seats were filled. There was a great temptation to let people not eligible to travel under the Affinity Group rules, then take the seats of other, eligible travellers who had cancelled their bookings. As a result, there were numerous occasions on which the airlines got into trouble with the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. This made the system increasingly unworkable. The Air Transport Licencing Board having been finally dismantled to make way for its successor - The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) made new regulations concerning Affinity Group Charters which came into force this year. The new flights ABC - Advance Booking Charters would be carried out by fewer operators. From now only allow six airlines to operate the ABC charters. Dan-Air, British Caledonian, BOAC, BEA, Lloyd International and British Midland. The others carriers involved, Britannia, Monarch, Laker and Donaldson would lose their right to fly the services. Britannia were furious at losing the right to operate, making their displeasure heard in the press. Their plea fell on deaf ears, and the ruling stood. In June Dan-Air and Lloyd International were prevented from operating any additional Affinity Group Charters without prior approval.
Fred Newman, the company Chairman declared that the new guidelines for long-haul charter flights would give enterprising airlines to develop after the uncertainties about licenses and cost-cutting in the past few months. Dan-Air had found the going tough on Transatlantic flights due to the intense competition but he said he saw great hopes for the future under the new guidelines. He also foresaw further growth in holiday air traffic. 1971's huge expansion in short holidays meant that aircraft are employed in what is usually seen as off-peak. The carrier flew more than a million inclusive tour passengers, the majority of whom, he said had a wonderful experience and value for money. However the future was not looking so bright for the company's main money-spinner - the ship-broking side. Despite very low freight rates and poor demands Davies and Newman were able to exceed profit expectations in 1971 because of commission earned on previous contracts for tanker charters already concluded. But with rates still depressed and no sign of an upturn in demand, ship-broking will earn less of a profit this year. Nevertheless, he says there was good prospects a good profit, no less favourable than last year when pre-tax profits rose from £744,000 to £867,000.
Dan-Air Engineering had been based at Lasham for seventeen years and had a largely good relationship with local residents. The relationship went awry in March when the company applied for planning permission for a maintenance block with offices to be constructed. Twenty five residents complained. They had allowed themselves to get to such a state that they believed Dan-Air were planning to start charter flights from the airfield. Their director Edwards Evans told them that the airline had reached its peak and would not be bringing in more aircraft - That of course turned out to be misleading. He was right when he said the idea of charter flights was 'Nonsense'. Going on to say that as they had been there seventeen years if they wanted to carry out charter flights they would have done so years ago.
Whilst Dan-Air boasted about their female flight-deck crew, the airline ended up in hot water when two claimed they were being discriminated when they were turned down for promotion to Captain. Their claim was backed by men pilots in their company. Pilots Delphine Fisk-Gray and Jill Cazalet said promotion was given to men with much less experience than them. The girls were First Officers with subsidiary company Skyways. More than 30 pilots with the company say that the girls were top of the list for promotion to full command with their company. They had informed the airline pilot's association. A Dan-Air spokesman said'There was a vacancy for a captaincy on the HS-748 fleet. Senior First Officer Pilots were invited to apply and the two women were among those who did so. The normal selection process took place and a man was chosen. There was no discrimination. We are one of only a few airlines who employ female First Officers and a female Captain.'
Delphine Fisk-Gray's mother spoke out saying;
'The reasons given for her non-promotion just don't stand up. She has more than 4,500 hours, but has been passed over for someone who has much less experience. She was told that she is very small, but she is taller than the man who was in charge of training for the company. She was told that the airlines thought she might not have sufficient control in an emergency situation. But Delphine has been involved in such a situation. She brought an aircraft into land with two engines out and passengers aboard, and she is already sitting in a seat where she might have to take over if something went wrong.'
One of Skyways' pilots said; 'We are hoping to get BALPA to apply for an injunction against the airline until the problem is sorted out.'
The scheduled services from Lympne in Kent to Paris had been a runaway success. The operating model which had been carried out for several year by Skyways had continued, but with a more aggressive advertising campaign. This had resulted in a 27% increase in passengers this year as of June. More than 6,000 people had been carried on the service. A new scheduled service from Gatwick to Berne would start this summer using HS 748 aircraft it was the first direct air link between the UK and the Swiss capital. whilst flights arriving into Bournemouth would be permitted to carry on to Jersey and Guernsey. This would mean that passengers from Newcastle, Manchester Liverpool and Birmingham would be able to fly on the same aircraft to the Channel Islands. Air Anglia co-operated with Dan-Air with flights from Aberdeen and Cambridge to Newcastle timed to arrive early enough so passengers could join the Dan-Air services to Norway The new Liverpool - Bournemouth service had the start up date pushed back following the take over of Skyways. When the flights began the return airfare was just £16:20. The Transatlantic charter flights had been tough going for Dan-Air. They had entered the market the year before and found intense competition from several airlines. Dan-Air were successful with their application to extend their Birmingham - Bournemouth route to Jersey.
One of Dan-Air's rivals, Lloyd International, had obtained its first jet aircraft, an ex-Pan Am Boeing 707-321. Lloyd's new long-haul jet commenced Affinity group flights across the North Atlantic to the United States and Canada, as well as passenger and freight charters to the Far East. Lloyd International's rapidly deteriorating financial performance came about as a result of cancellations and over capacity in the low-yield Transatlantic Affinity Flights market. Also, the Government's refusal to direct the BAA to reduce airport user charges at Stansted and its preferential treatment of British Caledonian, compelled it to cease all operations on 16 June 1972 and to go into liquidation.
In June pilots staged a one day strike in protest over recent hijackings. Air Canada chartered two Dan-Air Boeing 707s to carry out flights into Montreal and Vancouver.
Tragedy was avoided this year when an airport cleaner opened a hold door on a company 748. After opening the door he stepped back into the aircraft's propellor. This then dragged him under the aircraft into the other propellor. Although badly injured the man survived and later went back to work.
In June it was reported compensation of up to £23,000 would be paid to victims' families following a BEA crash. This led to complaints from family members of those who lost their lives in the Dan-Air Barcelona crash in 1970. Some of those had only been offered £500. Anthony Smith who lost his daughter Norma who was 17 said;
'I feel very upset about it, we were offered £500 and so far I have refused to accept it. It cost me £400 last year to fly my wife and three children out there to see the grave where all the victims were buried.' Dan-Air offered to fly families out free of charge, but Mr.Smith said they had to travel by road as they will never fly again. He went on 'The only was I could justify the cost was to combine the trip with a holiday and it cost nearly as much as we have been offered by the airline company. Yet I feel we should go and visit the grave one a year if we can.' Norma had been going on holiday with her boyfriend George. 'I know George's family have accepted the £500 he was offered just so he could go over there. I have always thought that it just wasn't enough compensation for the loss of my daughter's life. But when the victims of the Trident crash are being paid up to £23,000 it just seems unfair.' A spokesman for Dan-Air said 'I am afraid that the £500 is the amount that Dan-Air is required to pay by law under the Carriage by Air act of 1961 - Payments were different, depending on whether the victims had dependent or not, and the maximum under the act was £6,909.90.' British European Airways said that they were legally obliged to pay the maximum of £9,000 under International Air Transport Association (IATA) Dan-Air were not members of IATA at the time.
The CAA granted Dan-Air a licence to add Liverpool - East Midlands to its Link City network, and finally the Bournemouth- Guernsey service opened in July. There was also an application to operated scheduled services from Tees-Side to Rotterdam using HS 748, BAC 1-11 and Comet aircraft. This was followed in August with a successful application to operate from Lympne to the Channel Islands. The airline was also successful with an application to serve East Midlands-Liverpool
The price of fuel was beginning to hit airlines hard by September most UK carriers applied to the CAA for an increase in fares of up to 20%. With the uncertainty of the economy it was a surprise in September when Dan-Air finally announced to the press that they had purchased the three Boeing 727 aircraft. Meanwhile Court Line took delivery of the first of its Tristar jets. These 400 seat aircraft were new to the UK register and cost £9,000,000 each. Dan-Air and other UK airline executives were treated to a flight on the aircraft when Lockheed delivered it to Gatwick. Lockheed had orders in mind - Dan-Air did not see the potential of a 400 seat aircraft plying European sunspot routes. Despite the obvious fuel saving advantages. Clarksons was, by now, the second largest UK Tour Operator, and owner of Court Line. Clarksons programme was to expand next year, adding East Midlands to its list of airports. Dan-Air would fly Comet aircraft to eight airports in three countries on behalf of them.
Davies and Newman's public flotation on the UK stock exchange in 1972 had raised £5 million which the airline said would be used to fund the purchase of more aircraft. Fred Newman said that behind the scenes senior board members had been analysing suitable aircraft to be added to the fleet. Several members of the board opted for the Boeing 737, with a 140 seat configuration. This would be ten seats more than the only operator of the type in the UK, Britannia Airways. One of our contributors said;
"This first came to my attention at a fairly informal meeting among flight deck crew. It had come to light that a few of the type had become available on the market, second hand. I was well aware that despite being an absolutely wonderful aircraft, it did have one or two drawbacks. Its range wasn't as good as the Comet and it needed a longer runway than the BAC 1-11. As it happened, it turned out that the Boeing 727 had a much greater range and could be adapted, in the way that only Dan-Air could do, to accommodate a lot more people. Some of them had come on the market at agreeable prices, which was handy, when you consider that, the alternative, a new Boeing 737 cost about £5.5 million, then there would be tariffs to pay. I soon learned that senior colleagues would be flying out to Seattle and to Japan to discuss the finer details. It was pretty hushed up at the time.'
Captain Alan Selby recalls;
'I think Court Line/Clarksons ordering the Tristar must have had a bearing on us obtaining the 727. The more that Court Line expanded the less they would require our aircraft and you can't always be reliant upon other Tour Operators, especially if all you could offer them were Comets coming to the end of their service life. I most definitely did not see the attraction in the Tristar. It may well have enabled Court Line and Clarksons to offer holidays to very far away places, but it was such a small market. The British had barely got used to flying to Spain for a fortnight. In my opinion it was too soon for these kinds of package tours, to fill a Tristar took a lot of bookings. So in that regard, we needed a newer jet to satisfy Clarksons. The 727 was ideal for their operation. Before long we saw that their Tristars were being used on flights to Spain. That was where the real demand was, and that kind of short hop was not really suited to a Tristar - but it's just my opinion.'
In September the announcement was made that Dan-Air had purchased three Boeing 727 100 series jet. They would enter service in the spring of 1973. They would operate mainly from the North West that year.
Another reason for not choosing the 737 was in keeping with the airline's 'flexibility' but this came at a heavy price. Charter carriers who were part of a vertical integration with their own Tour Operator could selectively pick their flights with times to suit them. Most notably, Thomson utilised all of Britannia's fleet for the most popular destinations and flight times of their programme. Only when Britannia had no availability would they select other airlines. Dan-Air had no such Tour Operator that would charter their fleet in the same way. The Tour Operators without an in-house airline would select carriers like Dan-Air for their flights. These would often be smaller carriers. The two biggest rivals to Thomsons were Clarksons and Global. These would charter substantial numbers of Dan-Air aircraft. In order to keep costs at an absolute minimum, those two firms would arrange night flights and mid-week flights that carried cheaper landing fees. Clarksons own preferred airline had a small fleet, but a large programme of holidays. Global had no airline at all. This would assist Dan-Air greatly. The rules at the time had a disadvantage for most charter airlines. A would-be charter flight would have to be chartered in its entirety. Dan-Air with a mixed fleet with aircraft that could seat from 45 passengers, through 89,105,119 and 189 passengers, made them an obvious choice for low density destinations or from regional UK airports with a smaller catchment area,
It was hoped that the Boeing 727, with its extra capacity would make Dan-Air the number one choice for high density charters as it would carry more passengers than the 737. The announcement that three 727 tri-jets would be joining the fleet did exactly that - Global Holidays, Clarksons and Lunn Poly had fully utilised the new jets before they entered service.
The first 727s were purchased from Japan Airlines who flew them to Seattle where they would undergo major modifications. It is worth mentioning, that as a new type on the UK register, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would have to approve the type. The 727 had been flying for years with most of the world's leading airlines and had an excellent safety record. At the time, it was the world's biggest selling commercial jet aircraft.
It came as a big surprise that the CAA insisted that a full stall protection system be added to any UK registered 727s. This had been a requirement of the Trident before it entered service with BEA. The design of both aircraft featured three rear mounted engines and 'T Tail' In the CAA's eyes, this posed a threat of stalling. This would entail a costly system comprising a stick pusher, stick shaker and stick nudger. In lay-man's terms, these three instruments would result in the pilot's steering column vibrating should the aircraft be at an angle likely to induce a stall. It would also push the column to correct the angle - (apologies to any pilots!) This system would cost an estimated £1 million per aircraft. Of all the hundreds of 727s flying worldwide, only the British registered models had this modification. Many Dan- Air pilots did not agree with an instrument that would over rule their skill. In addition to this, the aircraft would need to be 'Anglicised' as all gauge readings were in metric, rather than imperial measures. Extra emergency exits would need to be fitted to enable the additional passengers carried to evacuate the aircraft in the allotted 90 seconds.
In Lancashire, travel agents Albert and Ivy Roberts used their initials to form a new Tour Operator "A.I.R" Tours. The couple already owned several Travel Agencies in Lancashire and wanted to expand into Tour Operating. They chartered Dan-Air aircraft for all their new flights. The company was to grow into a major organisation. Airtours would market holidays for holidaymakers who had had a limited budget. This growth resulted in a record 1,741,000 passengers being carried this year.
Horizon Holidays began a new concept in Package Tours. when it launched the new brand, "Club 18-30". Horizon had been having difficulties integrating younger passengers with families and older travellers. The concept was to secure exclusive usage of hotels and flights for these travellers to destinations that would have particular appeal to the younger holiday maker. Benidorm, Magaluf and Tenerife became popular destinations. Dan-Air became the leading carrier on these holiday flights. The company was a headache for Horizon who had always preferred to promote itself as an upmarket brand. Rowdy travellers disrupting the slow pace of many resorts saw an increase in fighting, accidents, missing passengers and bad behaviour on aircraft meant the brand did not sit comfortably with Horizon. It was put up for sale and snapped up by ILG Intasun - more about that in later years.
In October it was announced that Dan-Air would close operations at Lympne airport and move them to another airport in Kent, Lydd. Shortly after the announcement, following negotiations it was announced that Dan-Air would continue to use Lympne for the next three years.
Tragedy was narrowly avoided in December at Birmingham airport when a cleaner opened a hold door. He then stood back and was struck by a rotating propeller which threw him under the aircraft and into the other propeller of the HS-748.
As the year drew to a close the fleet stood at thirty aircraft. The largest, the Boeing 707 numbered two and carried 189 people. Five BAC 1-11s the two series operated carried between 89 and 119 passengers. An impressive nineteen Comets with between 96 and 119 passengers were flown. Finally, six Hawker Siddeley 748 were flying with the carrier.
New services were:
- Bournemouth - Birmingham - Liverpool / Manchester - Newcastle - 10th April
- Luton - Leeds - Glasgow - 11th April
- Swansea - Jersey & Newcastle Carlisle - Jersey - 26th May
- Gatwick - Beme service started. 5th June
- Bournemouth - Guernsey / Jersey 1st July
NETWORK & PRESS 1972
1973
In January this year Dan-Air was successful with their licence application to fly the Newcastle-Isle of Man scheduled service. The airline was also permitted to increase the number of London to Jersey flights from six to seven flights per week and increase the Bournemouth to Jersey and Guernsey service from 20 to 30 flights per week.
In late January it the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that from May that the new style of charter flights announced last year would become available to the travelling public this year. Advance Booking Charter flights (ABC) would enable passengers to cross the Atlantic on charter flights without being affiliated to any affinity group. The rules would mean that passengers would simply have to book in advance to travel. Flights would be permitted for seven, ten and fourteen nights, restrictions would be in place that did not allow for any odd durations. There could not be any changes once the ticket had been purchased. The legacy carriers such as British Airways had formally opposed the new ABC flights to the USA. Despite this, British Caledonian succeeded in a US court case which would allow them to carry out the flights.
The CAA had rejected an application from Air Anglia and Dan-Air who wished to operate scheduled services from Tees Side to Amsterdam. The airport promptly started a petition which by January had 10,000 signatures. An appeal was put forward and the decision was overturned with Dan-Air given the license to carry out up to three flights a week for the first year and four a week thereafter. The CAA were unimpressed with the airport or their petition saying: 'We think it's scarcely the kind of evidence on which the authority should judge applications. The greater part seemed to have little value'. Air Anglia were awarded the license to operate indirectly from Tees-Side to Amsterdam via Norwich. The CAA said they wished to make it clear that should Dan-Air wish to increase the number of flights, they were welcome do apply to them to vary the application.
In January, a Comet took of from Manchester with 103 passengers on board, bound for Tunis. Thirty minutes into the flight the flight deck crew were alerted to a major fault with one engine. The aircraft was diverted to Gatwick where a replacement Comet was available. Three passengers changed their mind and decided not to board the second aircraft. The replacement Comet took off and within minutes into the flight the pilot noticed a warning light in the cockpit indicating a fire in an engine. This aircraft also returned to Gatwick where emergency services, including fire engines, were on standby. After routine maintainence was carried out, the aircraft was given the all clear to fly to Tunis. Twelve further passengers opted out of continuing their holiday and the aircraft flew to Tunis without a hitch.
It was decided that from next year, the whole 'Dan-Air Skyways' operation would be fully integrated into the regular Dan-Air operation with a spokesman going on to say;
'We purchased Skyways a little over a year ago and the airline had many loyal passengers who did not wish to see the brand disappear. Many of these passengers did not have any idea what levels of service Dan-Air had. At the time it was wise to maintain that identity and indeed carry it further on our own domestic services. We found out very quickly that passenger approval of Dan-Air was widespread very quickly. We knew then that our own brand spoke for itself and we did in fact increase our own passenger numbers, by far surpassing those that had flown with Skyways in previous years. Perhaps we should have had supported our own brand as a stand-alone company from day one. It seems passengers have voted with their feet to support Dan-Air.'
February saw the announcement that Dan-Air would be cutting operations at Bristol to two days a week, down from their present five days. The airport said that it was a 'bitter blow'. The decision was also in line with a warning continuously voiced by the airport's director Edward Cane, who had said that without investment there would be a decline. Cardiff airport, with better weather, a longer runway and increased investment would see an increase from ten to sixteen flights a week on the 'Link-City' network. Passengers were reportedly fed up with constant delays due to bad weather. An airport spokesman said that if the airport had an instrument landing system (ILS) then the problem would be avoided. Cardiff did have an ILS and airport movements had increased by 100%. The local authority who owned the airport had been pressed by the local Chamber of Commerce and other businesses and it was claimed that they had received only little interest. There was a self imposed deadline of April 1974 that announcements would be made regarding the airport's investment programme.
The summer would see the launch of a 'Coach-Air' service from London to Jersey. Prices were just £14.10 return which was £3 less than the regular London-Jersey direct fare. The 'Coach Air' flights would operate in conjunction with National Express Coaches. Passengers would board a coach at London's Victoria Coach Station and be transferred to Ashford (Lympne) airport in Kent. They would then fly with Dan-Air on a comfortable HS 748 for the short flight to Jersey. As well as having a much lower fare, passengers would not have to worry about parking at Gatwick and not have to deal with the hustle and bustle of a busy airport.
The lease at Ashford Airport came with much greater responsibility for Dan-Air than other airports. A recruitment campaign for the summer saw them looking for cleaning staff, engineers, aircraft cleaners, drivers and even air traffic control assistants. Drivers would have responsibility for assisting fire vehicles and loading aircraft. The ATC assistants would have have responsibility for recording meteorological information, recording and distribution of aeronautical information and general clerical work. As the only airline operating regular flights from Ashford the airline became adept at running the whole operation, from check-in to airport parking.
The network at Birmingham would also see a reduction of three days to just two days a week The flights affected linked Birmingham with Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Bournemouth. Dan-Air said that the change was to make Birmingham more viable; 'Birmingham has always been a slightly difficult place to build up an air service. It was a new route for us, whereas the others have been operating to ten years.'
A Dan-Air Boeing 707 en-route for Mauritius was forced to land at Mogadishu on April 24th. the airliner had strayed into Somali air-space and was forced to land when MIG fighter jets flew alongside it and demanded that it land. The pilot, Captain Anthony Kirk was taken to court and fined £600 for violating the North East African country's air-space. After he paid the fine, the crew and 83 passengers were allowed to resume their flight. Captain Kirk informed operations that they had been treated well and had been put up in a hotel. The crew would normally have flown over Kenya, and assumed that they were given permission to fly over Somalia. An administrative error had seen no permission granted.
The first ABC flights took off off in April, Affinity Charters would be phased out by the end of the year. The CAA had permitted just six UK carriers to perform the flights, Dan-Air being one of them. The CAA said that the old practice of having empty empty seats on aircraft would be a thing of the past, with aircraft flying full, it would be possible to have much lover fares. Travel Agent Michael Croft told us:
'The jungle of Affinity Groups only came about because of the exorbitant price of scheduled tickets. These exotic clubs and associations became legendary. To get a ticket you had to be a member of this club for at least six months and the club had to be a club that had been formed for something other than air travel. Some sharp operators were quick to get in on it. They were actually issuing phoney tiddlywinks club membership cards with tickets. It was a ridiculous situation, sometimes everything went wrong, spot-checks by government officials at airports would uncover the fact that hardly anyone on the flight played tiddlywinks. Then the plane and all the passengers were stranded at the airport. The black market was flooded with these unscrupulous individuals who packed their bags at the first sign of any trouble, leaving passengers without a flights. But most of them got through. More than a million passengers went on one in 1971 and the agents worked out that the chances of being caught were a hundred to one against.'
The ABC flights would only be sold by approved agents. Genuine affinity groups such as the Anglo-Scottish American had taken 6,000 each year on Affinity Charters. They had applied for a licence to sell ABC tickets, but the group would have to wait until September to find if they were successful. One of the rules meant that tickets would have to booked 90 days before travel. This might be a problem for those members who wished to spend Christmas with family in the USA.
An application to have the Boeing 727 added to the UK register was made in March after final arrangements had been made with Japan Airlines and Boeing. Dan-Air's decision to order the Boeing 727 made news headlines. It was the first time any UK carrier had purchased the aircraft. At the time it was the world's best selling jet liner with more than a thousand flying for almost all the leading airlines in the world. Dan-Air had expressed an interest in the Boeing 737 with a 140 seat configuration, ultimately Dan-Air chose the Boeing 727 and sourced three available models from Japan Airlines. The 727's looked resplendent in their distinctive livery. One would go on to be based in Berlin, operating for German The Tour Operator Neckermann & Reiss. the 727 could seat between 131 and 142 passengers, The Germans did not wish the cabin to be densely configured for their flights, opting for a 131 seat configuration. The aircraft would need to have extra fuel tanks installed to allow it to fly non-stop to the Canary Islands, a flying time of more than five hours and a distance similar to the shortest Atlantic crossing, from west coast of Ireland to the USA. The Germans expected high standards of in flight service which Dan-Air provided as standard. The company employed locally recruited stewardesses and UK flight deck crews who would be based in Germany for short periods. The stewardesses would be trained in the UK to Dan-air exacting standards. The 727 was popular with Neckermann & Reiss as well as a hit with UK Tour Operators.
When the aircraft arrived at Lasham they had undergone a great deal of modification. Captain Alan Selby recalls;
'There was a great deal of discussion between the CAA and ourselves. As the type had never had a UK certification they insisted that we install a stick pusher, a stick nudger and stick shaker. In very simple terms this is a series of devices to alert a pilot if the angle the aircraft is flying as might result in a stall. This was considered essential to them as the aircraft had rear mounted engines and a T shaped tail. The CAA wanted this as a result of a BEA Trident going into a stall some years before. They had insisted that all Trident jets be fitted with this system. The Trident had a similar appearance, although that type was British designed. It had very few orders and was pretty much a commercial disaster. British European were by far the biggest user of it. It was under-powered and in later models a fourth engine was added inside the tail as a booster. The Boeing 727 was, as far as I am concerned, vastly superior to the Trident in every way. Most major airlines around the world operated the 727. None of them fitted with this system. Pilots were well aware about stalls and I very strongly felt that I didn't wish to have a system in place that would tell me to change how I flew, and then over-rule me if I chose to carry on flying the way that I was. Apart from that, it was expensive. We also had a problem in that the the Japan Airlines aircraft had all their instruments in metric readings. We needed ours to be in Imperial. The 727 also lacked High Frequency radio. Dan-Air had decided that their 727's would carry up 150 passengers, which was something that the type had never under-taken. Boeing had given us assurances that this was perfectly do-able, provided modifications were made. This principally involved adding an additional emergency exit on either side. There are very strict rules about this matter, an aircraft has to be able to evacuated in a very short time and to have such a high density meant extra exits made sense. Other modifications could be carried out at Lasham by ourselves. This included new galleys, which were smaller, and the removal of bulkhead walls that separate the passengers in a two-class cabin and at the front. We had seating that was much lighter than those used by JAL. I don't think that this greatly affected our passengers, who largely were on the aircraft for no more than four hours or so. The aircraft itself was very elegant to look at with impressive lines. The new livery was also striking on the 727. I think the aircraft was a very welcome addition to the fleet. It had been decided that it would be the replacement type for the Comet if it was successful with our operation. Which undoubtedly it was.'
A cabin crew member has another take on the aircraft.
'Oh yes, the good old 727, when I joined in the mid eighties it was with the emphasis on the 'old'. The aircraft looked good, but I have to confess that I hated the 100 series. We were replacing them with the 200 which was divine to work on. The 100 had a galley on the right that was just in front of the wing. We all hated it, as it made serving meals a pain. It made everything a pain. We also had this terrible seating arrangement at the emergency exits. Passengers faced each other, like on old trains. The company was not generous with leg room, and it was awful to see the exit seats with passengers who's knees were practically touching the knees of the stranger sat opposite. Passengers didn't like flying backwards either! The worst thing about those, and those on the front row, or any other exit row, was that we had these tray tables, and they were hysterical. They were made of this white, well off-white plastic. They had some metal pole things in the side that extended the tray. We had to open them and put the pole into a hole in each seat armrest. Well, you can imagine, not all armrests were at the same level so as soon as they went into the holes they looked odd. They were wobbly and not at all sturdy. They annoyed everyone who used them. It was not uncommon for a pole to come out if we hit a bit of turbulence, or if someone got up from a seat behind at used the headrest of the seat in front to gain traction. That could result in the tray contents on the floor - or the passenger's lap. It was our job to take about twenty of these sodding things out before the service began and assist passengers with them. I wanted to chuck them in the bin. The ones that went to Germany had a much more generous pitch, and were slightly better to work on. I was going out on one flight and was giving the safety demonstration through the public address system. We had a phone at the front which was made of Bakelite! one of the passengers said 'We had a phone like that in the 1960s!!!'
The Boeing 727 made an impressive debut on April 13th with the first revenue flight for the company being Manchester to Alicante. The aircraft would be chartered by Global Holidays, Horizon, Thomas Cook, and Ellerman Sunflight amongst others. Over the next nineteen years the airline would operate twenty Boeing 727s.
In May, the Civil Aviation Authority introduced sweeping new rules in an attempt to clean up the industry, banishing back street traders and re-organising the air licensing system. Tour Operators would now have to be fully licensed. This would mean that all Tour Operators would have to have been investigated for their financial status. They were all asked to declare how many passengers they anticipated for 1973 and were given licences for that figure alone. It wouldn't matter what size of Tour Operator it was - the rules applied to all. This would only afford protection for the transport section of a customer's holiday, but there would now be a link up with the British Association of Travel Agents (ABTA) and between them, they hoped that they would be able to safeguard more of a customer's money. One of the less popular fees was airport taxes that would be payable at airports. Tour Operators began adding this message in their brochures describing it 'Supplementary Extras' and included the figure in the final travel account. Ashford had one of the highest rates in the country, which was increased from 25 pence to 50 pence.
Flight to the Channel Islands comments on May 18th when local councillors and their wives saw off the first departure. Return fares were £17:50 and in September that would rise to £20:30. A local Travel Agent were offering package deals with accommodation for £41:50 for a week and £62:50 for two. Passengers on the inaugural flight were treated to lunch at the airport, courtesy of Dan-Air. The maiden flight left at 1:30 pm. Future flights would leave at 11:30 am and return to Ashford at 7:30 pm. This would enable the HS 748 to fly a schedule to Bournemouth, which would then fly to Guernsey, back to Bournemouth, to Guernsey onto Jersey and back to Ashford!
The renaming of Lympne to Ashford Airport was an attempt to raise awareness of there actually being a local airport in the area. It was estimated that up to 25% of Kent residents didn't know of its existence. The local council, Shepway District Council wanted the airport to be re-names Shepway Airport. Dan-Air said they would consider the name change when the airport committee met at a later date (This didn't happen) The airport itself saw much expansion with Dan-Air traffic now being joined by UK airlines who were operating charter flights to Europe. The sole handling agents at the airport were Dan-Air. On busy days close to 30 flights would depart and return in a 24 hour period. By far the most successful was the Paris service and it was Dan-Air's intention to increase the flights as much as possible. The Paris flights actually landed at Beauvais. Up to five return flights would be carried out. Passengers were free to fly direct from Ashford to Beauvais, but many more took the 'Coach Air' service. In this instance we look at flight DA 409. Passengers would board a coach, at London Victoria Coach Station at 8:30 am for a 9:00 am departure, arriving at Ashford at 10:30. After clearing customs, the flight took off at 11:30 - arriving in Beauvais at 12:15 pm (Flying time one hour 45 minutes - France one hour ahead of GMT) After clearing French customs, passengers would board a coach at Beauvais for the journey to Paris' Belvedere terminal, arriving at 2:00 pm. It is up to the individual whether this was much of a preferred option. Saving £3 off the standard London - Paris air fare. There were considerable benefits to getting a coach directly into Paris from Beauvais, taxi fares would be high into the city from Paris' main airports. That can be said of London too. Today's real challenge would be to operate these flights with competition to the Eurostar rail service from London to Paris - both points being in the city centre.
19th May saw high drama at Manston when a company Comet with 113 passengers and crew performed a crash landing at the RAF base. The flight, returning from Alicante was due to land at Gatwick when the front undercarriage failed to lower. Passengers were informed that their was a 'slight technical hitch' and that the flight was diverted. Passengers suspected that there was something more serious afoot. Jack Seddon from Bolton said;
'I thought we were in serious trouble when a member of the crew went down a trap door to look at the landing gear. We circled Gatwick about ten times and then headed for Manston. I think that by that time, everyone was scared.
Dorothy Bell from Chester said 'There was no panic, but everyone was scared out of our wits. The men had to take off their ties and we had to curl up with our arms over our heads.'
After forty agonising minutes while the aircraft burned off fuel, the aircraft approached the runway. As the aircraft touched down, the nose wheel collapsed and the aircraft skidded for 600 yards down the runway before coming to a stop. Emergency shoots we deployed and shaken passengers began deplaning. Some were treated for shock and for others a cup of tea was enough. Coaches were laid on to take the passengers onwards to Manchester.
29th May saw the maiden flight of the Newcastle - Kristiansand service which would now directly be linked from Liverpool. The daily service would be supplemented with flights to Stavanger on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Bergen on Wednesdays. In June an application was made to the CAA to add Brussels to the Bristol-Glamorgan-Liverpool service.
In June this year, Laker Airways was given permission to commence Affinity Group Charters and ABC flights, the seventh airline to be given a license. This meant there would ne more competition on an already overcrowded market. One of the Dan-Air Boeing 707s was leased to Bangladesh Biman who were short of aircraft. Any spare capacity on the 707 fleet would see them operating from Gatwick and Manchester on the (Inclusive Tour) IT network, and a series of flights were also undertaken to Hong Kong.
An explosion at a communications plant in Barcelona on 9th June resulted in radio communications at Barcelona and Gerona airport being affected. This resulted in more than 20 Dan-Air flights being delayed. Most were only one or two hours late, but one was six hours behind schedule. The problems continued for flights heading back to the UK. Operations staff in the UK worked day and night to catch up with the delays. Flights across Spain were flying at considerable distances to ensure safety.
An application was made to the CAA in June to operate scheduled flights into Brussels on the Tees-Side - Rotterdam and/or Rotterdam service due to start in November this year. (The licence was granted in September) They also applied to be able to add the Boeing 727 and 707 to the list of permitted aircraft on existing international flights. Liverpool had seen huge increases of 137% of Dan-Air traffic. The 'Link City' Network was gaining results after several poorly performing years. The CAA also heard Dan-Air appeal to allow the Carlisle to Isle of Man service to have an optional stop at Newcastle.
Court Line Aviation took delivery of the first of their Tristar jetliners. These massive, 400 seat airliners would be used by Clarkson's Holidays for long-haul charters as well as high density routes to Spain. The aircraft were impressive. Purchased new from Lockheed, who were keen to see more UK orders for the type. Upon delivery Lockheed invited senior staff from most UK airlines to enjoy a flight before it was handed over to Court Line fully. Fred Newman the Chairman of Dan-Air was impressed, but said he could not envisage a time when Dan-Air would need an aircraft of that size.
On 7th July a company Comet took off from Glasgow bound for Barcelona when the undercarriage doors failed to close. Te Captain declared the problem on the radio was was instructed to bring the 119 passengers back to Glasgow. An alternative Comet took them to Gatwick where they were able to fly to Barcelona, arriving five hours late.
Plans submitted by Dan-Air to operate scheduled flights between Newcastle and London Gatwick were opposed by Northeast Airways and British Rail. Dan-Air wished to link the flights with their own services out of both airports and those of other international airlines. The airline wished to operate four return flights a day using BAC 1-11 jets. The 60 minute flights would be aimed at business-men. Northeast who flew schedules to Newcastle from Heathrow said; 'The flights we operate are parallel to those proposed by Dan-Air and they are adequate for the demand. If the license was granted to Dan-Air we believe it would divert traffic away from us. British Rail objected for the same reasons. If the application was granted, flights would commence in April 1974. (Spoiler Alert - The licence was granted!)
Charter flights on behalf of Pearl Island Tours would fly weekly from East Midlands to Palma in 1974. The flights were permitted not more than once weekly, using BAC 1-11 aircraft. Dan-Air requested an amendment, asking that Boeing 727, Boeing 707 and Comet aircraft be used as replacement aircraft should operations require. The amendment was successful.
A row erupted at the Civil Aviation Authority hearing after Cambrian Airways submitted an application to serve Cardiff and Brussels with an optional stop at Bristol. Dan-Air accused Cambrian of submitting 'a panic application'. Mr. Harvey Crush of Dan-Air told the CAA licensing panel that Cambrian, the British Airways Group subsidiary was 'trying to get in there first, with all the large resources it has at its disposal - at whatever cost.' Dan-Air were opposing the licence to operate the route from next April. Earlier Dan-Air had applied to add Brussels to their services from Bristol, Glamorgan and Liverpool to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Mr. Crush said that their new route had been discussed with many businesses in key cities such as Liverpool. Figures had been put forward based on costings and load factors based on their response. Mr. Arnold Heard of British European Airways said they had been trying to develop a strong UK connection from regional airports to Brussels. At present 17% of BEA's Manchester-Brussels passengers were coming from Liverpool.
Dan-Air had been operating scheduled flights between Leeds/Bradford airport and Glasgow and now wished to add Edinburgh and Aberdeen to the network. Flights would commence in December and could be year round. The CAA refused Dan-Air application in October saying that Air Anglia who had made a similar application would be permitted to operate the service as they wanted to fly six days a week and Dan-Air three. This would mean that the Dan-Air HS 748 would sit idle at Leeds airport for six hours.
In August Dan-Air signed a £1,700,000 deal with Jetsave for ABC charters to Canada using their Boeing 707. Thomas Cook launched Cook's 'Thriftways' in August - using the Dan-Air Boeing 707s for flights to the USA. Britannia Airways had been furious that they were dropped from the list of approved carriers on the ABC flights. Their Boeing 707 fleet was now surplus to requirements and subsequently they were leased to British Caledonian. Britannia had hundreds of passengers booked on planned ABC and would have to re-assign them to other airlines that had been permitted to carry out the flights. Dan-Air and British Midland went as far as to issue a statement saying that they had available capacity to carry out the flights on their 707. Britannia handed the bookings to British Caledonian. The Thomson organisation rarely gave Dan-Air anything! 'Thriftways' offered return flights to New York from £58 and flights to Canada from £70. Thomas Cook also chartered Dan-Air Boeing 707s for a series of ABC flights to Toronto in December.
The ongoing troubles in Northern Ireland affected Dan-Air. The airline's Engineering division at Lasham received a call to say that a bomb had been placed on a Dan-Air aircraft which was timed to explode in three hours. Frantic staff and police searched aircraft at Lasham, Manchester, Gatwick and Kent but nothing was found.
The year was also the year of the Arab Israeli war. The Saudi Government imposed restrictions on oil and there was a Worldwide fuel crisis. Dan-Air, along with most other airlines saw a huge drop in passenger numbers as people could not afford the cost of a holiday. The UK economy had suffered as a result and strikes saw the economy hit even harder. Power cuts became commonplace. Finally, UK public sector workers were reduced to a three day week. Holiday bookings suffered but despite this Dan-Air's production of revenue passenger-miles in 1973 was 2,200,000 and was up 26-8% on the 1972 total. It was 78% over that of British Caledonian and 110% of that of Britannia Airways. In terms of passengers Dan-Air was Britain's second-largest carrier, with a total of 2.22 million sector passengers carried compared with the BCal total of 2.1 million and the Britannia total of 1.95 million. With bookings so heavily affected several UK airlines had to pay large costs to have their empty aircraft parked at airports. Dan-Air were fortunate to have adequate space at Lasham where aircraft could be moth-balled and have maintainence work undertaken.
Tees-Side Airport saw a lot of Boeing 727 activity throughout September as pilots underwent conversion training for the type. Up to twelve flights a day took off and landed ensuring that pilots would be qualified to fly the five 727s that would be used for the 1974 season. The three already in service had proven to be a roaring success and two more were on order.
Scottish and Newcastle Brewery had long been associated with catering at Newcastle Airport and had provided Dan-Air with catering on their flights. Airways Catering and International Catering Services were associated companies of Dan-Air and now planned to spend £12,000 on new kitchens at Newcastle to provide their own catering, and potentially other carriers. S & N were not happy with the situation and demanded a meeting with Dan-Air to discuss the matter.
Whilst the 727 had been a welcome addition to the fleet, the 22 Comets that still remained with the airline were still at a disadvantage because of their fuel consumption. There was no way that the airline could acquire 22 replacement Boeing 727 in the near future. Besides which, the aircraft were structurally sound, and had relatively low flying hours. In an effort to resolve the problem a new department was created within the company. With spiralling fuel costs taking their toll on all airlines, something had to be done. The aviation industry, even today, runs on the smallest of margins. The Comet was well known to be fuel thirsty, but what about other aircraft in the fleet? The Fuel Control Unit was set up in 1973. A pilot from each type in the fleet was recruited to analyse their type's performance, along with staff from Engineering, Accounts, Commercial Department, Training and Route Planning. They would look into every aspect of fuel consumption. It soon emerged that some flight deck crew were using the aircraft Auxilliary Power Units when the aircraft was on the ground, when ground power units were available. When individual Captains were noted to be over using fuel, a training Captain would fly with them to point out where the use was excessive and correct it. Over time the FCU became a useful department that saved the airline a lot of money. Word spread about the work and other airlines contacted Dan-Air for assistance in their own operation. Most notably Delta Airlines in the USA.
Dan-Air's Comet fleet had now grown to a total of 22 aircraft. All of them were used on charter and IT market. The HS 748 fleet grew to seven aircraft. These were used on the scheduled service network, including the 'Link City' UK domestic routes. The BAC 1-11 fleet was unchanged with five in service, two of which were based in Berlin. The two Boeing 707 aircraft were used on ABC flights across the Atlantic and occasionally IT services. The three Boeing 727 would from next year be supplemented with two new models.
NETWORK & PRESS 1973
1974
This year would go on to be one of the most tumultuous years in aviation history. The previous year had been difficult for all airlines as a result of the world oil crisis. The cost of fuel had rocketed forcing several airlines to fold. Some as a direct result of the crisis. The number of Package Tours was dramatically reduced, and charter flights were badly affected. Dan-Air's ownership of the engineering base at Lasham, complete with its own runway and ample aircraft parking space was a huge advantage. The major routine maintenance that was usually carried out in Winter saw several aircraft mothballed for extended periods. Other airlines were forced to pay airports to have their idle aircraft parked for long periods. Despite the on-going situation, the Advance Booking Charter (ABC) flights continued apace with additional flights chartered for a series of flights to Hong Kong. Comets were also chartered this year for a series of 'Pilgrimage' flights to Mecca. Jetsave became the largest charterer of Dan-Air aircraft on Transatlantic and Worldwide ABC flights.
In January an aptly named Comet of Dan-Air was chartered by a group of Merseyside stargazers for a special flight from Manchester. The group would depart at 5pm and fly towards the Isle of Man where they hoped to spot Comet Kohoutek from the Port Side of the Comet. Two other flights would leave Gatwick later in the week. Passengers would be asked to change seats in mid-air to enable everyone to have a better view.
Full year profits went above the £1 million mark in April. Turnover was up by 35%. Fred Newman, Chairman of Davies And Newman, parent company of Dan-Air said 'We are well placed to maintain our share of the market.'
The Italian Authorities placed a ban on charter flights on January 18th which left hundreds of passengers stranded at UK airports. Not only had they banned charter flights from landing, but told them that they couldn't take-off with
passengers already stranded there. Passengers at Gatwick were told that the delay on their flights was indefinite, while those overseas were told that their tour companies would have to arrange alternative transport home. The Department of Trade and Industry said that they were unaware of the reason for the ban, and were investigating as a matter of urgency. It turned out to be the result of a row over the allocation of fuel to Italian charter aircraft landing at UK airports. the Italians said that the ban would remain until midnight on January 31st. Court Line told passengers to turn up at the normal check-in time, vowing to get passengers to Italy 'somehow'. The Government in the UK would discuss the matter in the House Of Commons the next day. In the meantime, they were seeking 'urgent discussions' with Italian Authorities.
Clarksons Tours had grown into the UK's second largest Tour Operator, second only to Thomson. Court Line itself had been operating as a shipping company since 1905, before entering the Tour Operator business, which was managed by maverick executive Tom Gullick. Dan-Air, and hitherto, Autair were used extensively by Gullick for the Clarkson's holiday programme. Autair itself was much too small an operation to carry all of the ever growing number of Clarksons holiday makers. In just four years Autair's passenger numbers had gone up from 4000 to 175,000, just 12% of these were carried on Autair scheduled services. The newly acquired airline decided to sell their turboprop aircraft, stop scheduled services and order seven BAC 1-11 500 series. These larger models could carry 119 passengers. In January 1970 Autair was re-branded as Court Line Aviation. By 1973 Clarkson's sold 1.1 million holidays. Which was roughly the same number for the entire industry just five years prior. Court Line ordered brand new Lockheed Tristar aircraft capable of carrying 400 passengers on long haul flights. This saw the introduction of Package Tours to the Caribbean and St. Lucia, the first charter flights of this kind in Europe.
By 1972 Clarksons was in the red to the tune of $4.8 million. The trickle of 1-11's joining the Court Line fleet could in no way provide all the flights in the Clarkson's summer programme, and despite having their own in house airline, Dan-Air flew by far the largest number of passengers for Clarksons, amounting to 11% of Dan-Air's total charter passenger number. From the very start, Clarksons had been determined to dominate the Package Tour industry. They had high hopes of knocking Thomson off their self proclaimed throne. Clarksons strategy was to aggressively slash prices to a level that no one could compete. This would, they foresaw, see travellers abandon all other Tour Operators in search of a Clarksons holiday. When other companies fell, Clarksons could then raise prices to a level that was profitable for them. In many respects the strategy worked, many rival Tour Operators did go out of business.
Clarksons model worked along the lines of 'Pile them high and sell them cheap'. Something never attempted on such a grand scale. Gullick had built hotels in Spain, imported donkeys for holidaymakers to ride on and even obtained an egg farm when local firms began charging Clarksons too much for eggs. The industry, whilst heavily regulated, did not foresee what was about to unfold. Clarksons had undergone financial difficulties in 1972 and had been taken over by the Court Line Group.
In January of 1974 the Court Line Group saw a fall in their share price that continued for much of the month and industry analysts had said that the results were 'grim'. January was traditionally the travel industry's biggest month for bookings, with all Tour Operators launching a push for the Summer programme. Usually the TV advertising blitz came the day after Christmas Day. Clarksons were no exception, launching a massive TV and press campaign.
Clarksons had recently installed a state-of-the-art computerised booking system that provided real-time ticketing for the booking of hotels and flights. The system boasted that it could handle three tickets per second. The computer needed to be kept in temperature controlled rooms and had a full time staff working on it, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The machine, that had cost a small fortune, was beset with technical issues from the very start. It was not unusual for passengers to have returned home from their holiday without having paid the final invoice before their trip. The Court Line shipping division and engine manufacturing division in Sunderland had been losing money and had handed out redundancy notices to 200 of its workers at the end of the month.
Despite this, bookings came in thick and fast for Clarksons Holidays who for the first time, became the largest Tour Operator in the UK. The Association of Tour Operators (ATOL) had overseen the introduction of a bonded scheme that forced all Tour Operators to pay 5% of the cost of the holidays they were expected to sell that year. This fund would be used to protect holiday-makers should their Tour Operator fail. Clarksons carried on 'business as usual' meanwhile, Horizon Midlands, the Birmingham based Tour Operator, had their shares suspended on the Stock Exchange. The parent company, Horizon Holidays were both under the Chairmanship of founder Vladimir Raitz who was now in talks with Court Line about a take-over. Raitz for his part, stressed that Horizon Holidays was in a good financial position. Horizon Midlands was between 25% and 30% down on the previous years trading figure. Clarksons with a turnover of £36.5 million had lost £4.8 million. Thomson had lost £1.6 with a £25.6 million turn-over.
Despite such hostile trading conditions, Court Line went ahead and purchased outright Horizon Midlands and a smaller Tour Operator; Four S, with a deferred payment of £600,000. Clarksons would also buy the 58% holding of Horizon Midlands from the parent company for £400,000. Horizon Midlands would operate as an autonomous company.Other companies in the deal included Horizon Ireland, Horizon Scotland and the offices of Horizon Travel. None of their Summer and Winter programmes would be affected. This meant, for the time being at least, that Britannia Airways and British Caledonian, who carried most of Horizon Midland's passengers would not be affected. Although it was ruled by a take-over panel that Court Line were free to use whichever airline they wanted to use. Britannia and British Caledonian had substantial programmes with Horizon Midland's and were aware that Court Line would want to use their own fleet the following year.
In February, the Government hiked fuel surcharges which would adversely effect charter flights. This forced 18 UK airlines to apply to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to increase fares by 20%. The CAA had the right to increase fares without permission from the Prices Commission. The Tour Operators Council were seeking to obtain a fair rate for all destinations. Court Line's Tristar fleet and Laker's DC10's stood out for lower charges, but the majority of holiday flights were carried out using Boeing 727, 737, 720 and BAC 1-11 aircraft which used a higher ratio of fuel. Winter sports destinations would see prices hiked from £3 to £5. the biggest rises would be to the Canary Islands where surcharges would increase from the £8 at the 1973 level to £11:75. Those prices only applied on flights from Heathrow and Gatwick, all other UK airports would have an additional £1 added. Adam Thomson, the Chairman of British Caledonian said that the money given to state owned airlines should be more carefully controlled to decrease reckless practices. Going on to say that it was nigh on impossible for independents to compete against Nationalised airlines. British Caledonian also said they would contest the take-over of Horizon Midlands by Court Line at a hearing in February British Caledonian walked away happy that Court Line had expressed a desire to continue with all the airlines used previously the following year as well.
It was at this time that Greek and Spanish Tourism chiefs demanded the money owed to them by Horizon Midlands. The Spanish debt alone was £1.5 million, and Court Line had taken on the 'goodwill but not the debts' of Horizon Midlands. The Spanish said that if the money wasn't paid, they would not accept any bookings from Horizon Midlands, or more worryingly, Court Line and Clarksons. Horizon were responsible for 15% of UK travellers to Greece, and their debt was £500,000. The Greek Tourism Board made the same threats to Court Line. Horizon did not feature Greece in the 1974 programme.
Auditors delving into the accounts of Court Line found discrepancies in the Ship-Broker business and by April £1.75 million had been wiped off the company's value. The share price plunged 12p to just 28p. A week later they fell a further 4p.
In February Dan-Air were given permission to carry 'fly-drive' passengers to Spain. This revolutionary idea would allow people to book a flight and car hire, but no accommodation. The fares would be aimed at those wishing to enjoy camping holidays and the few passengers who owned a second property overseas. Whilst a new airline; Air Severn applied to operate shceduled services from Bristol to Leeds/Bradford with optional stops at Swansea and Glamorgan. They also applied to fly from Bristol to Cork and Bristol to Dinard with a stop at Exeter. There were plans to operate Cardiff-Newquay and the Scilly Isles. The airline planned to use 17 seat Trislander aircraft, but had not ordered them yet. Dan-Air objected to the application, with company spokesman Harvey Crush saying that his airline and Cambrian had been refused the rights to operate between Bristol and Leeds in 1971. They said they were still interested in the route, but that the time was not right just yet. He said Dan-Air was the only airline that had a base at Bristol and felt that not many airports could act as a base for more than one carrier. Objections also came from Brymon Airways and British Airways. Dan-Air also submitted an application to carry out scheduled flights l to Ostend from Bristol, Exeter, Cardiff, Swansea and Bournemouth using HS 748 aircraft. The also applied to use Boeing 727, 707, comet and BAC 1-11 on the unrestricted route that would carry passengers and cargo.
The Tees-Side-Amsterdam service was declared a success. Air Anglia had opposed the application on the grounds they served Newcastle-Amsterdam and the two airports were just 35 miles apart. and figures released in January stated that there had been no reduction in Air Anglia's passenger numbers on the route, and that Dan-Air's service had attracted passengers on its own merit. This year the Comet replaced the HS 748 on scheduled Gatwick, Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier services, as well as on its year-round Luton–Leeds–Glasgow schedule, the first time the airline had used jets on scheduled services. The turboprop capacity released enabled re-introduction of scheduled services between Bristol, Cardiff and Amsterdam, as well as the launch of direct scheduled services between Newcastle and the Isle of Man.
A company Boeing 727 made an emergency landing at Gatwick on May 31st. The aircraft had taken off from Manchester on a charter flight to Malaga when two pieces of engine cowling fell off the aircraft and landed on a golf course in Cheshire. A spokesman said that none of the 115 passengers were in any danger at any time. Flight DA2085 was flying on behalf of Clarksons had hit trouble over the Astbury Golf Club at Congleton Civil Aviation Authority inspectors were called in to investigate. Peter Lester who was 16 at the time said he was practising at the time when he looked up. He saw a piece of metal come hurtling toward the ground. 'I heard it land in a field across the road from the practice field. It frightened me a bit. I went to look at it and it was about six feet long and by four feet and was jagged, it had the letters G 727 on it. Myself and another club member took it to the club house and called the police.' Subsequently other, larger pieces fell from the plane and landed in farmland. Farmer Alan Darling of Astbury said he was walking out of the milking shed when the pieces landed. About eight pieces came down in his farm. After inspecting the pieces, one of which was 15 feet long, he said 'I would not like to fly in a plane. I saw one of the pieces fall, it looked like a piece of tin foil. I never heard a thing, it just floated to the ground like tissue paper. ' Dan-Air confirmed that the pieces had fallen from the starboard engine, and that staff had gone to Astbury to retrieve the pieces. A spokesman said 'We ordered the aircraft to make an emergency landing at Gatwick. Fire crews were on standby but passengers were not in any danger. Upon inspecting the aircraft we saw that the cowling had come away from the aircraft and part of the fuselage had sustained some damage, but this will be repaired.' The passengers had an 90 minute long wait at Gatwick before transferring to a Comet. The aircraft had been in service with Dan-Air since March 1973.
June saw industrial action at Ashford Airport. Maintenance workers, firemen, and airport workers walked out in a dispute with Dan-Air over a threshold agreement. Flights and cargo were diverted to Lydd Airport and the action was resolved the same day. The following day approval was given by the CAA to operate scheduled services to Ostend from Bristol, Exeter, Cardiff, Swansea and Bournemouth.
Horizon Midlands were now in deficit to the tune of £3.3 million in their annual accounts. But the firm told shareholders at the annual general meeting that there was no problem with liquidity. Share prices went up in April when Court Line were awarded a £27 million contract to build three new ships at Sunderland for Yugoslavia, the biggest contract for the company. One of Court Line's ships, Halcyon Wave was sold and a second, Halcyon Loch was believed to be on the market in June. The cash injection did not help share-prices which collapsed to 5p from 26p on June 20th. John Young of Court Line said 'we are now in the process of completing an in-depth analysis of the company.'
The following day, June 21st trading in Court Line was halted. Consultants were called in to evaluate the company. Talks were hastily arranged between Court Line and the Government, where rumours of a £9 million rescue deal were floated. This was because of a loan the Minister Tony Benn had promised the Government would give the company on generous terms to modernise its ship building division. Flights were leaving as normal from Luton and Manchester, as the National Westminster Bank had agreed to loan £4 million to the company. On June 29th the Government rescued the shipping firm with a £16 million buy out, after which the Shipping firm would be Nationalised. With the money, Court Line would pay back £4 million debts and arrange to pay the other half off in instalments. The remaining business within the group would return to stock market trading the following Monday.
In July, a company Boeing 707 on its return flight to England took off from Toronto. When the jet reached 16,000 feet, one of the engines caught fire. After extinguishing the fire, the airliner had to circle for three hours, dumping fuel into Lake Ontario. Subsequently, the aircraft's cooling equipment and lights were not working. Cabin crew brought wet towels to children to wrap around them in an effort to keep them cool. Several women fainted and one woman collapsed in the heat. Local radio reported the aircraft circling at night, which was uncommon as the airport was closed at night. Several pieces of wreckage were also found the next day. Captain Keith Moody brought the aircraft down safely, where it was met by fifteen emergency vehicles. The passengers rested overnight and were brought back to the UK the next day on an alternative Boeing 707.
The industry was jittery for obvious reasons, but attention was diverted away from Clarksons and Court Line on August 9th when Donaldson International Airways went bust. The CAA immediately revoked all of their operating licenses. The airline's four Boeing 707 aircraft were re-possessed by Continental Illinois, an American finance company. The majority of the airline's 100 staff were employed at Gatwick and were given redundancy notices. At the court of session it was revealed that Donaldson had a deficit of £250,000 in its accounts. A firm of aircraft fitters had an outstanding bill and took Donaldson to court. Donaldson counter claimed that the work was not done satisfactory and were counter-claiming for losses while their aircraft were out of service. Mr. Tom Geekie who was Chairman of Donaldson Airways was also the Chairman of Mercury Air Holidays and it was stressed that there was 'no connection whatsoever' between the two companies. Mercury had not used Donaldson since the previous October and they wished to point out that there was no way Mercury was going out of business. Donaldson had been rebuked by the CAA in 1973 for 'Reckless treatment of passengers'. They had continued to accept bookings from passengers and failed to give warning to those already booked, after their first application for a class 2 licence had been rejected. The airline had suffered as a result of the fuel crisis and a general slump in air travel.
The biggest shock was still to come just a week later - The collapse of Clarkson's and Court Line on August 15th. Clarkson's Tours had been formed in 1964 as a Tour Operator providing low cost holidays. The brand had been successful, albeit downmarket. The take-over of Horizon had not saved the company. Clarksons, as well as Court Line Aviation would stop trading with immediate effect.
Clarksons and Horizon could not have been more different companies. Horizon, had a first class reputation and Clarksons operated with a terrible brand image. The new real time computer system that had been installed with great fanfare, turned out to be hopeless at just about everything it was designed to do. Invoices were late and passengers were actually returning from holiday without having paid any money for the trip. It was estimated that almost £2m was outstanding from Travel Agents and individual passengers. The computer system itself was costing Clarkson's £100,000 a year to hire. As it was,
Clarksons failure would see 11% of Dan-Air's charter business wiped out in a single stroke. The figure was significant, and it was reported that a less robust carrier would not had fared so well. Fred Newman announced in the company reports that they had made a claim to the liquidators for outstanding money owed. A spokesman said;
'We stand to lose a great deal of money, the liquidators can only pay all of what is owed or nothing of the total owed to all of the creditors. It is doubtful that there will be sufficient assets in Court Line's business. It is very regrettable that passengers are booked in advance and we will not be carrying them. We certainly will not be returning to the UK with empty aircraft, but we cannot even consider taking clients out of the UK.'
Even with considerable losses, Clarksons carried on. Undercutting all competitors. Airlines were so desperate to have Clarksons business they bought new aircraft solely on the provision that they would be chartered by Clarksons. There had been several attempts to buy the firm, and all had been resisted. When Court Line bought the firm in August 1973, it did so for a nominal £1. With this they obtained an in-house Tour Operator, all the hotels and shares that Clarksons had and all its companies. It also inherited its liabilities - Of which, there were many. In the midst of all of this, the group acquired brand new, state-of-the-art, 400 seat Lockheed Tristars and began flying them to European destinations. Something never attempted before. The group then purchased ATLAS which was a consolidating company that allowed customers to be able to purchase charter flights in many combinations, by-passing many of the UK regulations. It all came crashing down in the middle of the Summer Season. Court Line itself was a relatively small airline with just eleven BAC 1-11 and two Tristar aircraft. Therefore the majority of Clarksons Holiday flights were carried out by other operators. Dan-Air operating, by far, the largest majority of flights. As soon as the bankruptcy became public Dan-Air cancelled all Clarkson's flights. They were well aware that they wouldn't be paid. Those due to fly were told not to go to the airport. Even radio stations alerted passengers not to travel to airports. One former stewardess told us;
'I was based at Luton, we had heard gossip about them not being in a good financial shape, my then boyfriend, worked in Luton Airport accounts, he told me that Court Line had paid their landing fees and bills right up to the end of the month. So I thought it was just gossip. So the day that it happened, which I remember was a Friday, I heard something on the radio as I drove into work. Luton Authority had impounded two BAC 1-11s. As I got ready for my flight I called my boyfriend at work and he told me that the debts Court Line owed did not come anywhere close to the value of two jet aircraft! In the terminal I saw people arriving for their holidays only to be told that they should go home. I saw coaches pulling up and then leaving. It was so upsetting. At that time, I had no idea of how much worse it would become. My own flight went out with a full load of passengers on board. I think they were Pontinental clients. The flight was full on the return. The Agents at Palma were desperately trying to fill any available seats to anywhere in the UK with Court Line passengers. Our return flight had Pontinetal passengers on and we had no spare seats. Back at Luton it was still pandemonium. With passengers refusing to go home. Even though there would not be any flights to take them on holiday.'
On the day of the collapse Dan-Air carried out the scheduled return flights, saying they would continue to bring people home - if the flight balance had been paid. Several smaller Tour Operators like Pontinental and OSL had chartered seats on Court Line aircraft and, where possible, these were transferred to Dan-Air. The repatriation of 40,000 holiday-makers was estimated to have cost more than £4.5 million. Tour Operators were able to offer spare capacity for holidays, but that would mean holiday-makers having to pay twice. They would have no way of knowing if they would get their money back. People told not to go to the airport did the very opposite and there were angry scenes when no Clarksons or Court Line agents were on hand to help. Clarksons head office was stormed by angry people who were incensed at having paid for their holiday only days before. They believed that Clarksons knew what was coming. Court Line had been forced previously to deposit £3 million in a bond which would help pay for repatriation flights should this very thing happen. Peter Shore, the Government Minister, blasted Court Line saying;
'Foreign holidays have become one of the cheapest items on a family budget. How can it be that things like clothes and food have quadrupled in price over the last twenty years and holidays have only doubled?' He went on to say 'Court Line used the fact that Spain, Greece and North Africa are poor countries where food and cost of building is much cheaper than the UK. Court Line have been flying people in huge, fast aircraft and only been making £1 or £2 per person in profit. That is ok if the aircraft is full all the time. But with the fuel crisis and the economy as it is then they went into a state where they were losing £4 per person. They were taking risks with security and that will mean an end to the cheap holiday as we know it.'
Dan-Air and other companies flew the stranded passengers home. The association of British Travel Agents accepted responsibility for bringing passengers home and chartered Dan-Air and Britannia Airways' aircraft to bring them back.
Many thousands more, who were yet to travel, would lose out. The Secretary of state Peter Shore was criticised for "Hiding behind the CAA" and Tony Benn was mauled for misleading people with a statement to the House of Commons, saying that Nationalisation of the parent companies' ship broker business would secure business. Dan-Air was also hit because it carried many passengers on Clarkson's Holidays charters.
Cosmos' charters using Court Line were transferred to Dan-Air. Other airlines and Tour Operators were offering discounted flights and holidays. This was limited as discounts had to be pre-approved. In a cruel twist, several Dan-Air flights that had been re-chartered flew, as planned, but empty, to their destinations to pick up holidaymakers stranded in resort. The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) quickly hammered out a deal with Dan-Air to charter repatriation flights. It was a boost to the company after a difficult trading year. Not only were 40,000 people stranded overseas, 100,000 others had their future holidays booked with Clarksons. Those people were unlikely to get any money back. The bonds paid to ABTA for this very thing would be used up trying to get passengers home. Lunn Poly said at the time; 'Those who have only paid a deposit may be lucky, the rest will probably have to write it off.'
Court Line issued a statement saying 'The root cause is the oil crisis and the economic picture in the country right now.' Rupert Nicholson was appointed Receiver and the fleet was grounded at Luton.
In the mid 1960s Harry Goodman, a London based businessman opened a small tour operator company 'Sunair' which chartered aircraft and provided cut price holidays. The small company did well in the London area before being re-branded 'Intasun' in 1973. Intasun aimed its business at the lower end of the market and concentrated on the Gatwick catchment area. In 1974 Goodman's company aimed his sights at other areas. The first region he expanded to was Manchester in 1974. Having had a successful year, Intasun would now be offering flights from East Midlands Airport. A press release in late 1974 stated that Intasun would be flying to Alicante, Majorca and the Costa Brava using Dan-Air aircraft from East Midlands. Three flights a week would be departing on Saturdays and Sundays. Intasun hoped to carry 7,200 passengers from East Midlands alone. It is worth noting that, the very market Intasun was aiming for was that of Clarksons. With such a gap in the market, Goodman was able to clean up.
The oil industry charters began to be established for Dan-Air, they would go on to become a large part of Dan-Air's operations. Therefore a HS-748 was based permanently in Aberdeen to serve the Shetland and Orkney Islands after Dan-Air landed a two year contract with Conoco . The Newcastle - Isle of Man was restarted after an absence of several years and a Cesna C-150 was purchased to ferry crew to join flights that had been re positioned.
The chaotic collapse of Court Line and Clarkson's was resolved by the end of August. The total cost of returning stranded holidaymakers was in excess of £2 million. All airlines paid into a bond scheme and the £3 million that Court Line had paid was used on repatriation flights. The CAA said that any money left over would be used to help those who had had their holidays cancelled.
The Ashford 'Fly Drive' service was moved in September to Lydd Airport in Kent. The Tees-Side -Amsterdam service had carried 784 passengers in a single month, a hundred more than the previous year. Liverpool's passenger and cargo numbers were also moderately up on the previous year. The winter schedules from Tees Side would see Bournemouth - Bristol - Cardiff - Manchester - Tees-Side - Amsterdam all connected with 'Link City' flights. Birmingham was dropped in favour of Cardiff. There would be new flight times with a Tees-Side departure for Amsterdam at 7:50 am.
Local newspaper advertisements at the time claimed their stewardesses clearly loved their job and that flying on the link city network would be smooth and comfortable. They even boasted that they would offer things that no other company would - such as Pilots radioing ahead to arrange car hire for passengers! 1974 saw jet services being introduced on the Newcastle-Gatwick service, which had not proved to be an instant success when it was introduced. From October this year route would be served with BAC 1-11 aircraft. Load factors were disappointing with Dan-Air saying 'The flights are underpopulated' Blaming the timing of the introduction of a British Airways service into Heathrow which had also seen limited success. North East Airways already flew from Newcastle into Heathrow, none of the carriers were willing to reduce the numbers of flights that they operated.
In spite of losing business following the Clarksons failure, Dan-Air were able to report that 'Trading is buoyant and our financial position is strong' trading profit in the first six months of the year rose 52% to £385,000, but after interest and depreciation charges, both higher at £693,000 and £177,000 respectively the seasonal pre tax loss comes in at £392,000 compared to £481,000 last year. Fred Newman went on to say that he expected to end the year in a satisfactory position.
With a loss of such a large amount of Clarksons charter business, Dan-Air had every reason to be worried. Their anxiety was short lived when charters for the following years increased. Many other Tour Operators saw an increase in their own bookings following Clarksons' failure. Not all of those operators had their own airline and Dan-Air would be their first port of call. Court Line had operated eight BAC 1-11 that were now up for disposal. The aircraft were relatively young and the receivers were keen to see them sold. Dan-Air purchased four of them, and Monarch the other four. Monarch needed to increase their capacity as their own in-house Tour Operator; Cosmos, had seen a significant increase in bookings.
It was hoped that Clarksons departure might also see the end of the dreaded 'seat back catering'. This budget friendly form of catering came at the request of Clarksons, who had introduced it on their own aircraft. By having galley space freed up, the result being an extra three seats. The savings that Clarksons made did not go unnoticed by rival firms. Global holidays soon followed in demanding that aircraft they chartered do the same. Global stated that they wanted costs brought down to 'the bare minimum' indicating that it was simply aiming to give passenger 'a slice of pie' - something that was derided by industry insiders as 'Global Pie'. As a result, the cost advantage gained by Global and Clarksons forced every major UK charter airline to adopt seat back catering on most short and medium haul flights.
As the name implies, each seat would have a compartment installed in the back of it. These two tier compartments would have the catering for the outbound flight in the top compartment, and the inbound meal would be in a locked compartment on the bottom. Outbound catering was usually a 'Spam' salad, and the return meal, more often than not, a sandwich. This would sit on top of a dry ice pellet to prevent it from perishing. The bottom compartment could be unlocked with a special key that crew could unlock during turnaround. The lock didn't deter determined passengers from accessing the compartment and stealing the food for the return flight.
One stewardess told us:
'Oh the bloody seat back catering saga - what a nightmare. The times I caught passengers getting into the return compartment....All they needed was a nail file or a coin and they were in. The concept was awful - we were told that it would mean we would have less work to do, because catering staff would load in the meals - If you can call them meals. We also got told how great it was that the passengers could eat their meals whenever they wanted - not at a time we decided to feed them. We announced to passengers that when they finished, to put the packaging back in the compartment. They did so, and often, if there was a bit of turbulence, the thing would come open and all the contents fell out. Passengers complained about them to me, saying that it wasn't like this when they went with Britannia last year, which was hilarious really. They didn't get fortnight's holiday for forty quid with Thomsons! The seats were also quite big and unattractive. I can't say that there was anything nice about it. Sometimes the ice would thaw, especially if we had been delayed. So a two hour delay in Tenerife would mean that the sandwich had been in that poky compartment for seven hours. They were revolting. I think it went out of fashion quickly afterwards when tour firms wanted to try and look a bit more upmarket.'We were in a position to get our own back....As seats were pre allocated, it didn't take the crew much hard work to find out the names of the guilty passengers who had devoured two meals. When these passengers returned home and looked for their meals they found a note from the crew saying as they had already eaten their meals on the outbound leg, there was no food available for them.'
The move from Ashford to Lydd was met with resistance Trades Unions claimed that 75% of the 87 staff based at Lympne would lose their jobs and were fighting the decision, which had now been brought to the attention of the Secretary of State for Transport, Peter Shore. Negotiations between Dan-Air and the Unions were aiming to save 50 of the jobs. The main reason for leaving Lympne was that Lydd had better facilities and would be able to handle larger aircraft.
The loss of Clarksons business had resulted in a financial hit, but Fred Newman, Chairman of Davies and Newman said;
'Despite the loss of Clarkson's our air and shipping businesses are buoyant and our financial position remains strong. Both divisions are well maintained and barring the usual unexpected occurrences, the group will finish the year in a satisfactory position. Next year our charter fleet is almost all fully utilised
The fifth Boeing 727 to join the fleet had been purchased outright, four additional BAC 1-11 500 series were acquired to supplement those already in the fleet. Two BAC 1-11 200 series jets were leased. Newman was pleased that the engines on the 200 were interchangeable with those on the 400 series.
Air Anglia Dakotas would be seen a lot less in Sumburgh from November 30th this year after their contract with Shell expired. Dan-Air won the contract to fly oil support workers to the Shetlands using more modern HS 748 aircraft. Air Anglia would keep their office at Sumburgh open, hopeful of securing another contract. It was a bitter blow to Air Anglia who had been carrying out oil supply flights since the start of oil exploration in the North Sea.
In December a company HS 748 on final approach to Liverpool was involved in a near-miss when a single engine private plane had to drop a hundred feet after it strayed into the flight path of the Dan-Air airliner. The HS 748 was only 300 feet above the ground when the incident occurred.
The Comet fleet was reduced in number for the first time, partly as a result of the fuel crisis. The Comets were fuel thirsty and even in the early 1970s they were inefficient when compared to jet liners other carriers used. By 1973 it was noted that a Comet carrying 119 passengers burned as much fuel as a DC10 carrying 345.
The Leeds - Luton service was dropped following poor passenger numbers. In its place, a Leeds/Bradford - Bournemouth service was introduced. In total 2,193,000 passengers were carried. The carrier's largest number to date.
NEW ROUTES
- Newcastle-lsle of Man weekend service started - 14th April
- Cardiff - Bristol - Amsterdam - 14th April
- Twice daily Gatwick - Newcastle - 29th April
- All cross channel flights were transferred from Lympne to Lydd 31st April
NETWORK & PRESS 1974
1975
With a fleet of forty nine aircraft, and more than 2.5 million passengers, there can be no doubt that Dan-Air was the second largest UK airline. British Caledonian's claim to that mantle was based upon the mileage of the route network and scheduled passengers. Dan-Air was not one to shout about their achievements from the rooftops. Britannia Airways claimed to be the largest charter airline in the world, and yet, carried less charter passengers than Dan-Air. This year saw more than half a million passengers flown than Caledonian. More people flew with the airline than on Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Sabena and the next British airline was British Midland who carried 560,000.
With two major oil contracts secured, aircraft would have to be based permanently at Aberdeen. It would also mean that a small engineering base be established. A recruitment drive was underway in January. Madeira Sun Tours chartered Dan-Air Boeing 727 to fly to the island every week for the winter months. The island was a new regular destination for the company.
Flights to the Norwegian cities of Kristiansand and Oslo would be boosted if approval was given. The planned 'Link-City' service would originate from Gatwick then head for Leeds - Tees-Side and Newcastle before flying to Norway. Dan-Air's application was for a ten year licence operating no more than 14 flights a week in each direction. The application stated that passengers would not be taken up at London for carriage to Stavanger and / or Oslo or vice versa if they did not travel via Newcastle.
It was announced in January that four BAC 1-11 500s were to be leased on a 'long term' basis from the British Aircraft Corporation. The aircraft were acquired to replace some of the older Comet fleet. The 500 series had a seating capacity of 119 and would be used to spearhead an extensive European inclusive tour programme. They would supplement the five 300 and 400 series already in the fleet. The smaller 200 model had 79 seats and the 300 and 400 could seat 89 passengers. The largest 500 series aircraft would be configured to carry 119 passengers. In some cases they would fly to the Canary Islands with a refuelling stop.
Some of the aircraft were given a new look cabin. Along with the aircraft purchased from Court Line, a very large selection of seat covers was also acquired. The previous seat covers had seen different colours from green to orange. The new covers, designed to reflect Court Line's bright and cheery holiday image, soon appeared on all types of aircraft. Paul Tomlin's bottom right picture taken in 1977 shows that not all aircraft were given the new look.
THE COURT LINE SEAT COVERS - IMAGES CAN BE ENLARGED
The success of the oil related charters meant more aircraft needed to be based in Aberdeen. This resulted in a shortage of HS-748 aircraft required for scheduled services. This was the given reason for the decision to prune the daily Newcastle-Manchester service to just Tuesdays and Thursdays. John Clementson, Dan-Air's station manager at Newcastle said that it was also part of a rationalisation programme. It was, he said, 'a reflection of the difficult time the aviation world was having, particularly on domestic services.'
British Airways announced that they were axing 1,800 jobs, many of them pilots. It is a good time to mention that Dan-Air already employed several women pilots. Dan-Air always mentioned female pilots in the in-flight magazine. The airline's position was that they were pilots who happened to be women, and were a valued part of the team. It was good publicity to show them off as Dan-Air was the only airline in the UK to employ women pilots. It would be many years before rivals began to employ them. Britain's first female Captain. Princess Anne presented Yvonne Sintes with a bronze statue from the Whitney Straight Awards to mark her achievements. Later she awarded a set of cupped hands, also in bronze by the International Airline Pilots Association.
The Norwegian licence was granted and Dan-Air promised the flights would be cheaper than the boat crossing. It was announced that BAC 1-11 200 series jets would operate the flights. The problem was; Dan-Air did not have any BAC 1-11 200s in their fleet. Two were quickly found and purchased from Zambia Airways. This would mean that the fleet now consisted of 200/300/400 and 500 series 1-11s.
On 22nd January an application was made to operate Advance Booking Charters (ABC) to Africa. The return fare to Nairobi would be £180 as opposed to £320 on a scheduled service. Flights would be undertaken with Boeing 707 aircraft. British Airways called for a revocation of Laker Airways' licence on the Stansted-New York service which was backed by Dan-Air. Laker stated that he had 'backed his own shirt on the flights' and that the three DC10 aircraft were not leased or hire purchased, but were a straight-forward purchase with bank loans. His lawyers said at a Civil Aviation Authority hearing that there would not be sufficient work for the aircraft on the regular charter market if the licence was revoked. He said that they would have to be sold.
A Dan-Air BAC 1-11 carrying 23 seamen to Gatwick on a charter flight from Cagliari in Sardinia were arrested on arrival. Police boarded the aircraft to arrest the men after the ship's Captain had reported that the men had thrown items overboard. The aircraft was taken to a remote part of the airport and ten Scotland Yard detectives arrested the men.
Although much charter work had been lost by the Clarkson's failure. Lunn Poly had seized the initiative and expanded their programme, chartering more Dan-Air aircraft. More major charters were to come from Thomas Cook, Cosmos, Blue Sky, Airtours and Arrowsmith and Blue Sky.
The new bonded scheme would come into force this year. To protect holiday-makers. The ATOL Licence would see all Tour Operators pay into the scheme, the funds would then be available if any airline or Tour Operator collapsed. Initially it was suggested all companies pay the same amount, but in a later, amended agreement, smaller Tour Operators were enabled to pay less. This would mean that Tour Operators would have to give the CAA access to their accounts. If a company did not have a sufficiently good set of trading figures, licences would not be given until the company had an injection of funds. That system is still in place today. The government also set up the Air Travel reserve fund. That fund was to be repaid by Tour Operators with a 1% levy on all package holidays. The scheme was also extended to all ABTA travel agents.
In March Dan-Air withdrew their Liverpool-Amsterdam service. It marked the end of Liverpool's scheduled link with the continent was ended. Liverpool Airport blamed Dan-Air for not scheduling times that were convenient to passengers. Dan-Air said that they had operated the service since the early sixties and had thrown everything at it it make it a success;
'We started flying to Rotterdam with a Dakota aircraft and we updated that to an Ambassador into Amsterdam, then the airport said the service would only be a success if we flew jets on the route, which we did. They then said we needed to advertise it more, which we did. We then tried with a HS-748 turboprop aircraft. Each time the load factors never changed. We have tried a variety of days and schedules, linking Liverpool with a whole host of British cities, so they can travel onwards to Amsterdam. I don't think anyone could accuse us of not trying. We operated the service for six years without it even breaking even. The last few years have more or less broke even, but we are, after all, a business who needs to operate at a profit. We don't receive any Government subsidies, unlike British Airways, if we don't make a profit we go out of business.'
Dan-Air were the chosen airline for another series of charter flights carrying oil workers on behalf of Forrest Oil. The lack of available HS 748 aircraft did not stop Forrest who were keen for Dan-Air to operate flights. Alan Bloom who worked for Forrest Oil told us;
'We had used Air Anglia for a couple of years and they had this old Dakota that carried out the flights. When the contract was up for renewal we asked Air Anglia about a replacement aircraft, because the Dakota was freezing! It was also slow. My own department looked at Air Anglia's fleet which now included F27 prop-liners. They would have been ideal. So, when we approached them and asked about putting the F27 on the run, we were told that they were only used on Scheduled Services. To be honest, I thought they behaved a little amateurish. My company had looked at lots of possibilities, including leasing an aircraft of our own. There was a lot of red tape to get through to do that though. There were wet leases and dry leases and tons of paperwork. I asked Air Anglia if they could dry-lease the F27 we had looked at. I don't know if you know, but a dry lease would give Air Anglia control of the aircraft with their own crews. They could operate it as we wanted. A wet-lease would come with crews and was not as attractive. Air Anglia said they didn't want the commitment of a long term lease, which was insane, because we would be using the aircraft solely for us and it would have a guaranteed number of flights. They basically said - use the Dakota or go elsewhere. So we approached Dan-Air who were really on the ball. They were up-front and said their entire fleet was booked out for the year, but to give them 48 hours. They came back to us the very next day with good news and bad news. The good news was that they could obtain a HS 748. The bad news was that it would not be ready for service for two months. The rates they offered were actually better than Air Anglia and Dan-Air were very flexible about what we could expect from them. We agreed on terms and then went back to Air Anglia who I felt were quite smug that we had to crawl back to them. They weren't so smug when we said we only wanted their Dakota for two months. They tried to get us to tie in with a minimum of a year. But we weren't having it. In the end they had to agree. I was told privately that they were really miffed with us and Dan-Air that they had to settle for two months after losing what was a three year deal.'
in March a company HS 748 was making what appeared to be a smooth landing at Sumburgh. Weather conditions were perfect on the cool Monday morning. Onlookers were shocked when the aircraft only seconds away from touch-down overshot the runway an climbed steeply away. A panicky passenger had noticed that the landing wheels were not down. he rushed forward to inform the Captain. The worried observers had also noticed the undercarriage hadn't been lowered. Dan-Air said that they were aware of the mishap and would be interviewing the crew and acting accordingly - (Editor's note) We've often heard of back-seat drivers, but back-seat pilots!
As mentioned previously, Harry Goodman had set up a company called Sunair in 1966. Eventually Goodman sold Sunair to Cunard. He then went on to open Intasun In its first year, 1973, Intasun sold just 4,000 holidays. Goodman was also eager to capitalise on the crash of Clarksons/Court Line. He had arranged to have two chartered jets on standby, and had used them to pick up the pieces of Clarksons' failure. By 1975 his company had sold 50,000 holidays and made a profit of £300,000. Intasun's operation was similar to Clarksons, in as far as they wanted to sell holidays cheap. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) relaxed the rules on charter flights this year. Until now, a would be Tour Operator would have to charter an entire aircraft for any flight it wished to carry out. This meant that Tour Operators were risking a great deal should the holiday not sell. It had led to flights being 'consolidated' which could mean passengers told that their flights would not depart from the airport they had booked to travel from, or that if a Tour Operator had two or more flights to a destination on the same day (sometimes on different days) then passengers would have to change their departure times.
From now onwards Tour Operators would be able to charter a limited number of seats on a chartered aircraft. This would then leave other, smaller Tour Operators to contact an airline to find out about excess capacity and grab it - often at a reduced rate. Goodman was one of the first to make use of this change of rules. His company, Intasun was to be a major proponent of this method. Goodman and his team, waited until all the aircraft had been chartered for the Summer, before sweeping in and booking up all the available spare seats at these reduced rates. Where Intasun did charter whole aircraft, it did so on late night flights that were cheaper to operate as landing fees and aircraft parking charges were considerably lower. This arrangement suited Dan-Air too, who could utilise their fleet to the maximum.
Dan-Air's regular clients included most of the leading Tour Operators. For many years one of the biggest clients was Lunn Poly, who had enjoyed a fantastic working relationship. In 1975 Lunn Poly was taken over by Thomson Holidays. With the take-over; a chain of Travel Agents was included in the deal.. Almost immediately Lunn Poly reduced their charters with Dan-Air. The acquisition by Thomson meant that where possible Lunn Poly would Britannia Airways aircraft. Britannia was still a relatively small airline with just thirteen Boeing 737 aircraft, which meant that they couldn't supply all of Lunn Poly's flights, which provided a lifeline to Dan-Air. British Caledonian's in-house Tour Operator, Blue Sky, chartered Dan-Air BAC 1-11 aircraft for the 1975 season to fly holidaymakers from Aberdeen to Majorca.
The move from Lympne to Lydd in late 1974 had been a tremendous success. Three HS-748 would fly none stop from nine in the morning until three the following morning carrying upwards of 3,000 passengers across the channel on the 'Coach-Air' service which included transport from London city by coach, a flight to Beauvais, and a coach to Paris. A new service from Lydd to Jersey would open in May. Meanwhile, the Newcastle - Norway flights would begin operating with BAC 1-11 jets, with fares that were cheaper than travelling by sea. Flight times were cut to just 70 minutes with a meal served in-flight. Norway's Braathens Airways joined forces with Dan-Air to connect passengers to Stavanger.
Approval was given by the CAA for a scheduled service from Aberdeen to the Isle of Man with flights commencing in May. There would be changes to scheduled services with Tees-Side being dropped from the Tees-Side and/or Coventry and/or East Midlands and/or Birmingham to the Isle of Man. Tees-Side would now feature on Tees-Side - Carlisle - Isle of Man instead.
Pre-tax profits announced in April were up 10% from £684,000 to £853,000. The high levels of corporation tax in the seventies saw £625,000 taken from the total. Giving the group a profit of just £312,000. Shares remained unchanged at 68p. The UK has corporation tax rates of 19% in 2021. In 1975 these tax rates were almost 80%! This year saw Dan-Air Skyways, the subsidiary company being fully absorbed into Dan-Air. The livery of the HS-748 aircraft were repainted in standard Dan-Air colours and the titles now displayed 'Dan-Air London', marking the end of the Dan Air Skyways brand.
Newcastle residents complained to Dan-Air about the pilot training being carried out at the North East airport. The training was now an annual event at Newcastle, this year the training would be carried out until 11pm. Residents wrote saying 'it was bad enough last year, but this year it has become completely unacceptable.' Dan-Air acknowledged that there had been complaints, but said that they only carried out training flights regular when aircraft were operating at the airport. The later nights had also meant that training could be finished earlier than in previous years.
In May an application was submitted to the CAA for a licences to operate scheduled services between Leeds/Bradford and the Isle of Man as well as from London to Stavanger with the possible stop at Sumburgh. The CAA rejected the Sumburgh application, along with one from British Airways who wished to serve Sumburgh and Norway. A former manager told us;
'Once again the CAA were being unreasonable. They published that the both ventures had any little or no real hope of success. We disagreed, we believed that it was the right time for our North Sea oil rig charter work to be replaced by scheduled services. At the time we were carrying between 30 and 40 passengers a week between Sumburgh and Norway. The passengers were nearly all Norwegians who worked on oil supply ships and oil rigs. We expected to attract new passengers who were oil rig crews who had been flying on charters. Not only that, for the oil companies, it was more expensive to charter flights if the Norwegians weren't all flying at the same time. We envisaged picking up those working in fishing, distilling and even tourists. Air Anglia had objected, saying that there wasn't enough traffic and that it would affect their Aberdeen-Sumburgh-Stavanger service. The CAA sat there nodding their heads at Air Anglia, saying neither us nor BA could predict how long the oil supply work would last. They even said that BA's predictions were 'unacceptable' At the end of his summing up he said that any passengers we picked up would be at the expense of Air Anglia. We got told that the charter flights were more convenient for oil workers as their company's were able to choose times and frequencies. He finished by telling us - unbelievable - that both our applications would not help the oil industry nor British aviation - can you believe it?' The quickest way to fly to Norway at the time was to charter a plane yourself. The fare on the Aberdeen-Stavanger leg was the same price as London-Stavanger. Air Anglia were aiming to reduce the fare a little, but the whole shebang was a farce.'
Basil Wishart said;
'The airlines were used to playing bugger your neighbour, British Airways systematically objected to any airline going anywhere near any of their routes. So Air Anglia bugged British Airways and Dan-Air. and objected to them flying out of Sumburgh. But who really gets hurt? The passenger of course. Why should a passenger have to travel a circuitous route and pay an exorbitant fare when an airline was willing to test the market. It was time that this closed shop was burst open. Attempts like this to protest the consumer from competition did not protect anyone. If all the cock eyed little services had been exposed to the chill blast of competition, the efficient would have survived and expanded. Left like it was, the Shetland air service was left to wither and die for years.'
A major coup was achieved by Dan-Air in September. A Newcastle based Tour Operator, Airways Ltd dropped British Airways as its preferred airline. The company had used BA (Or its predecessors') aircraft for the last 27 years, carrying a record 41,000 holidaymakers in 1975. Airways planned to sell 54,000 holidays in the next twelve months, with holidays on sale from November onwards. Airways Ltd would be offering holidays to Rome, Venice and Rimini in Italy and Pula and Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia. Airways said that British Airways (Whom Airways founder, Harry Sedman's equity was 25% owned by BA) could 'not offer the right price at the right time'. Airways would charter Dan-Air's 89 seat BAC 1-11 series and 119 seat Comet aircraft. Further good news came when in October the American company International Weekends Inc. signed a £5 million deal with Dan-Air to charter flights from Gatwick to Boston and other US coastal cities. It came when the half year losses were reported in November at being £899,000.
The delivery of a further Boeing 727 and four more BAC 1-11 that had been fully employed all Summer would make up the short fall when the second half figures would be published the following April. Jetsave, who were Dan-Air's largest customer on Transatlantic charter flights announced it would be flying six flights out of Birmingham and six from Newcastle to the USA using Dan-Air Boeing 707 aircraft. The 189 seat jets would have a fare between £115 and £147. The flights would have a refuelling stop at Prestwick. The licence for Gatwick-Montpellier was approved and flights would commence in 1976.
In October a contract worth £5 million was signed with International Weekends, one of the largest charter operators in the USA for flights to America over the winter months and into 1976 and a charter programme to Jersey would operate in 1976 from Carlisle.
British Airways had cancelled the Cambrian service from Bristol to Glasgow and Dan-Air applied to restore the service as an addition to their Leeds/Bradford-Glasgow flights. They hoped to add Cardiff - Swansea and Bournemouth as optional stops if they were granted permission.
It wasn't always bad news for independent airlines when it came to licence applications. Permission was granted by the CAA for Dan-Air to fly direct from Newcastle to Oslo. The first time the carrier had gained entry into a European capital city to operate scheduled flights.
A combination of three errors combined to make a packed holiday jet into a series of collisions as it took off from Luton Airport a report concluded in October. Each mistake on its own would have been acceptable said the Department of Trade. But together they combined to keep a Dan-Air Boeing 727 so low that it hit a ground installation a thousand yards beyond the end of the runway. The incident had occurred on 21st June this year,, an the report stated: Mistake one - the take-off run was shorter and slower than it should have been. Mistake two, the jet took off three seconds later than it should have done. Mistake three, once it started leaving the ground it did so too slowly. On board the aircraft the crew thought that the take-off had been satisfactory, but in fact, the aircraft had collided with an approach light, part of a wooden fence, a monitor aerial, a localiser aerial and three more approach lights. The furthest, a thousand yards from the end of the runway. When the underside of the jet hit the lights, the flaps did not retract, increasing drag, so the report told. And it adds that the aircraft actually flew downwards when it left the runway. An eye-witness who saw the take-off said: 'The aircraft remained level while the runways dropped away from it.' the reason why the aircraft took a shorter take-off run than it should have done were, according to the report, that the pilot made the wrong calculation of the wind, did not rev up the engines enough before starting to move and did not start the take-off at the end of the runway because Luton Airport does not have a taxi-way. Instead aircraft had to taxi down the runway and do an about turn. The aircraft was diverted to Gatwick when the Luton control tower alerted the crew.
The report had found that the aircraft was within the safe maximum take-off weight. For the selected runway however, the aircraft was 165 pounds overweight for a zero wind take-off. Control had given the Captain a choice of two runways. At the end of his taxi the aircraft should have completed a 180 degree turn on the dumb-bell at the end of the runway. The First Officer estimated that the aircraft was approximately 60 meters from the end of the runway. On first glance to observers, the take-off roll was normal, although it was noted that the nose had nose risen at the usual place. Both Air Traffic Controllers and Fire crew were convinced that the aircraft had struck an aerial. Afterwards both pilots had said that the take-off had seemed perfectly normal, with the aircraft leaving the ground as expected. There was no indication that at take-off that the aircraft was low. Although the First Officer did comment that at V1 Rotate, it did cross his mind that they were getting close to the end of the runway. The Flight Engineer commented that he thought the take-off was sluggish. The Captain was busy monitoring speed and power after take-off. none of the flight deck crew were aware that they had struck an object on the ground, but Cabin crew had heard a loud bang or unusual noise which they assumed was the landing gear retracting. The first indication that something was wrong was when a tail skid warming light was on, indicating that the tail skid was not in the position agreed by the landing gear lever. The second problem occurred when the Flight Engineer tried to pressurise the aircraft and could not do so in the normal manner. He attempted to bring the pressurisation under control and was eventually successful. The aircraft rose to 1500 feet and noise abatement procedures were followed by reducing the power. The aircraft continued to ascend and the First Officer noted that excessive aileron was required to correct a heavy left-wing condition. It was at that time that Luton Airport messaged the aircraft to confirm that there had been a collision.
After a successful landing at Gatwick the aircraft was examined and it was discovered that both landing-gear doors were extensively damaged, the tail skid was broken and a three to four feet gash had been made along the centre keel of the fuselage. The landing-gear doors were attached to the main landing-gear legs and when they were retracted would fit flush to the underside of the aircraft. Upon striking the objects on the ground the doors had been wrenched off their hinges and would have been hanging down when the landing-gear was retracted. The damaged doors were removed and the aircraft de-pressurised. It then flew to Lasham for repairs. There had been minor damage to the aircraft caused be a bolt from the ILS aerial the aircraft had struck. The 51 years old Captain had almost 16,000 flying hours behind him, of which more than 600 had been on the Boeing 727. The 33 years old First Officer had almost 3,000 hours flying time and 600 on the 727. The Flight Engineer had 3,000 hours credit with 600 on the type.
It was announced in November that there had been a 500% increase in the number of passengers using the Newcaslte-Bergen service. The twice weekly flights operated with BAC 1-11 had carried more than 3,000 people from May to September. It was planned that the route would continue on Mondays and Fridays before switching to a seven days a week service in April 1976. The service had begun in 1973 with a weekly flight with a HS 748. Dan-Air were so confident that the daily flight would be a success that the 500 series of the BAC 1-11 would carry out the flights with 119 seats. The Newcastle - Kristiansand - Service had carried more than 9,000 passengers from January to October, an increase of 123%. That service had started in 1963 with a three flights weekly operation using Dakotas which were upgraded to five days a week with Ambassadors. From 1976 there would be a daily service using either HS 748 or BAC 1-11 aircraft. The flights would be timed to meet connections from London Gatwick, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and Bournemouth. Scheduled flights from Gatwick to Montpellier would start in May 1976 as would two flights a week from Aberdeen to the Isle of Man. British Airways abandoned the Bristol-Cardiff-Glasgow route this year and it was immediately snapped up by Dan-Air who would initially fly twice weekly on the route using HS 748 aircraft. Permission was then granted to allow the aircraft to offer an optional stop at Leeds/Bradford.
Cabin crew recruitment was underway in December for those interested in a flying career in 1976. For some reason this year cabin crew who had knowledge of the Turkish language would be an advantage. Courses for the successful applicants would be in February and March of next year.
Three Viscounts were leased or purchased and the HS 748 fleet increased in size to nine examples. In total 2,582,000 passengers were carried in 1975, a further year on increase. Following the increase in passenger numbers Dan-Air could offer pure jet services on many of their scheduled services.
A second engineering based had been planned and worked on throughout much of late 1975. The new base which consisted of a large hanger would be at Manchester Airport. The new facility would maintain the BAC 1-11 and HS 748 fleets. The airline was actively recruiting crew chiefs (£4,000 plus licence payments), quality control engineers (£3,600 plus licence payments) , licensed technicians (£3,100 plus) who must be A, C or X Licence holders on company aircraft type - and aircraft mechanics - all trades (from £2,700) They must have appropriate line base or forces aircraft maintainence experience. The support staff needed included a supplies controller who would be in charge of 30 staff and was considered the top job in the supplies department, and must have high quality supplies industry credentials. Materials controllers (£3,700), buyers (£3,200), and progress engineers with aircraft experience (£3,100). Upholstery fitters and trimmers (£2,700) and clerical staff with specialised accounts, wages and aircraft technical records experience (£1,700 to £2,300). Line maintenance aircraft engineers were also sought after to look after the technical requirements of other visiting aircraft in the fleet. The salary for which was £3,325 with an addition £325 per aircraft type for licence and approval.
The Comet fleet remained sizeable and was used entirely for charter flights. The number standing at 19 models. The Comet variants operated were - The 4, 4B and 4C. Across the three variants, the Comet could accommodate 99, 109 or 119 passengers respectively. Despite their relatively low flying hours, and airworthiness, replacements would be needed - sooner rather than later. One former pilot noted;
'The Comet was a gorgeous aircraft to fly, but it used so much fuel. To put it into context, our Comet 4B aircraft burned 5,200kg of fuel per hour with 119 passengers. The 4C about 4,000kg. Our BAC 1-11 500s used a fraction of this at 2,800kg and they both had the same seating capacity. Granted, our Boeing 707 used over 6,000kg per hour - but they did have 189 seats. The 727 was quite thirsty too burning 4,100kg per hour. Britannia's 737 used just 2,800kg per hour. So the obvious choice would be to use the 1-11 where possible. They used the same amount as a 737 but some of them didn't have same range as a 737. Dan-Air's logic was that if you bought a jet outright, or on a hire purchase over a year, then it was earning money immediately and we weren't paying for it over years and years. Let's face it, some of the Comets we bought from such as Egyptair and Sudan Airways were in a terrible state. Not really airworthy at all. They arrived at Lasham and were only for spare parts. Even those that did see service were, frankly, awful from a passenger's point of view. The flight deck didn't even have a door - just a curtain! The windows had fabric curtains and not blinds. The seat pitch was a nightmare for anyone who was above average height. We couldn't use the new style air bridges as our main door was on the wrong side of the aircraft. The aircraft was unbelievably robust and massively overpowered. Because of the Comet 1's history De Havilland did everything they could to make it safe. I think all flight deck crews loved the aircraft. It handled beautifully, a real joy to fly. I doubt the ground staff thought so highly of it. It was noisy and leaked a lot. I suspect the Dan Dare moniker came about at this time, because of how the aircraft looked inside and out. If I'm honest, those aircraft looked exactly what they were, old jets from the early sixties. Dan-Air never thought to give them a complete refit. I'm pretty sure that management knew they would be phased out over the next few years, so what was the point of such an investment? Of course, the period you are talking about, we had nineteen or twenty of them, so there was absolutely no question of Fred Newman ordering twenty Boeing 727s!! It was always a case of one out one in. Alan Snudden, I believe, had already started urging him to get the 737 as the figures spoke for themselves. But it was just not in Newman's nature to be so flash with cash.'
Another of our contributor pilots notes;
"I always adored the Comet, but, and I say this carefully.....They were.....starting to show their age a bit. It wasn't just their inefficiency, it was that passengers were now far more used to flying than they were a decade earlier. Some of our Comets were perhaps fifteen years old. Whilst that is relatively normal, say in 2020 to fly in a jet that was made in 2004. The advances from 1958 to 1974 were colossal. Our Comets had hat racks and not overhead lockers. I don't think passengers wore hats that much by then! The aircraft were also very noisy, they were practically obsolete in every way apart from the fact that they were well maintained. I wasn't privy to meetings with Tour Operators of course, but I am sure they must have noted it from passenger feedback that there was an issue. I'm pretty sure that Tour Operators were actively refusing to use them. I gained my licences on the Boeing 727 pretty soon after it came into the fleet and it was a marvellous machine. If Dan-Air had made any mistakes, it was that we didn't get rid of the Comet sooner. We had lost quite a lot of business when Lunns were taken over by Thomson because they would barely touch us. When they did, I believe that it was under the stipulation that they wouldn't use the Comet. I also think if we had more modern aircraft to offer Thomson's might have been more inclined to charter our aircraft. The problem, as far as I can see it, is that good quality second hand aircraft were difficult to source. Fred Newman was not one for extravagant gestures like announcing an order for ten brand new Boeing 737s direct from the manufacturer. I think we would all have been pole axed had he done that. Perhaps the Gods were on our side, some airlines had disappeared and some didn't have the capacity we had, and so we were able to utilise the fleet fully every year, even with our short comings."
One of the Comet fleet was retired an sent to Duxford to be on permanent display in Dan-Air colours, as part of the British civil airliner collection. The model donated was G-APDB, the second Comet 4 production model. The very aircraft that made the first jet service from London to New York. The museum was taken over by the Imperial War Museum and the Comet repainted in BOAC's colours.
New Routes.
- Tees Side - Isle Of Man - 24th May
- Aberdeen - Isle Of Man - 24th May
- Gatwick - Isle Of Man - 24th May
- Gatwick - Perpignan - 1st June
- Gatwick - Belfast (Cargo) 1st June
NETWORK & PRESS 1975
1976
Dan Air entered 1976 with a fresh application to re-start a route relinquished by British Caledonian the previous year. If successful flights would operate BAC 1-11 jets from Newcastle to Hamburg and then onto Copenhagen. British Caledonian, who still held the license said they had no objections to Dan-Air operating the service. Route proving a new service cost £200,000 according to Dan-Air, who were confident that they could make the service a success. The new engineering base at Manchester Airport opened on January 5th. The complex on the airport's east side was the largest privately owned at the airport. Manchester had become an important base for the company with five Comet, two BAC 1-11 and a Boeing 727 being based there full-time. There were teething problems with the base! Several staff had been willing to re-locate from Lasham to Manchester. The cost of housing and day to day living was much more affordable. The main obstacle they faced was a desperate shortage of temporary accommodation. Dan-Air had offered a package that included rented accommodation until staff found themselves permanent addresses. It took an advertising campaign to find suitable houses with spare rooms to rent. Newcastle Airport also now had extensive maintenance facilities for any technical issues that aircraft often had down route. DAE had built up a significant reputation and many other airlines used them to maintain their aircraft. Even the Royal Flight of foreign nations and private jet owners came to DAE. They were CAA approved and their American counterpart the FAA had also approved them.
MyVillas chartered Dan-Air Boeing 727s from Manchester to perform weekly flights to Malta for the summer, MyVillas public relations officer said that their programme from Heathrow and Gatwick was to be carried out by Air Malta and British Airways. He said that there was no charter airline who had could do the job better than Dan-Air. Within a month Ellerman Sunflight, a major Tour Operator pulled the plug on its flights to Malta from Birmingham and said they would not be offering the island as a resort for the winter or next year either. Cosmos, at the time the second largest Tour Operator also pulled out of the island. The problem had come from the Maltese Authorities who placed restrictions on UK charter airlines. Cosmos said that the restrictions amounted to 'Commercial blackmail'. The problem became more acute when British Airways and Air Malta announced that they were dropping their scheduled services to the island from Birmingham in March. Up to now, Ellerman had booked package holiday-makers on these flights at 'advantageous rates'. Ellerman instead applied for permission to run 12 Dan-Air charter flights from Birmingham to Malta. Permission was refused by Malta's director of civil aviation. Richard Wiersum then said; 'It is somewhat ironic, that within hours of the decision being relayed to us, Air Malta came and offered us charter flights for next winter. We declined.' the Maltese were insisting that every charter seat flown by a carrier must be matched with a seat on an Air Malta shceduled service. 'We refused to comply with such conditions' said Mr. Bernard March, Manager of Horizon Midlands; 'Our holidays would have become much more expensive. So, we are not going to Malta from any airports.' Malta specialists Exchange Travel and Concorde Holidays would continue to operate as normal to the island. Concorde said that they used scheduled services anyway and Exchange said they were the first to accept the charter arrangements offered by Air Malta.
The charter programme was very successful this year, Page and Moy chartered Dan-Air Comet aircraft for a series of holiday flights to Austria for the Summer months. The upmarket brand was a feather in the airline's cap. Following the retiring of a further Comet, a total of 18 models would fly in Dan Air colours for the 1976 season, they were complimented by 14 BAC 1-11, 6 Boeing 727 (an increase of one) Four Boeing 707 and eleven HS 748 prop-liners. In total, they carried a record 2,846,000 passengers. British Airways, which had been formed in 1973, following the merger with BOAC and BEA continued to protest at any new route applications the independents applied for. Dan-Air and others fought for any of the available market share. Independents even objected to other independents increasing their own network. By 1976 Dan-Air were flying scheduled services from more UK airports than British Airways or any other UK carrier. Air Anglia, who had successfully objected to Dan-Air carrying out scheduled services to and from Sumburgh later in 1975 as they feared might see their passengers divert from them, close their office at the airport in December 1975. A new contract was signed with Loganair, who would handle Dan-Air's ever increasing charters from the Shetland Islands. Air Anglia would then object to Dan-Air's application to fly scheduled flights direct from Edinburgh to Stavanger and other Norwegian cities. Air Anglia operated flights from Edinburgh to Aberdeen where passengers could connect for flights with the airline to Stavanger. A new route from Aberdeen-Isle of Man was launched.
Aberdeen Airport saw a significant boost in traffic from March onwards when Dan-Air were successful in obtaining a two-year contract from Shell UK which would double the oil giant's charters to two aircraft flying full time. Two Ad Hoc charters would fly for Ranger Oil to Stavanger. There would also be two visits by the Boeing 727, the largest passenger aircraft to date to visit the airport, operating charters for Total Oil to Morocco. In addition the airline would be operating two or three rig-crew charter flights a week on behalf of Amoco from Aberdeen to Haverford West via Norwich and Swansea. David Telfer told us;
'My dealings with Dan-Air were very swift and business like. Alidair had been keen to get some of the action, and they formed an airline called Alidair Scotland. They were not so straightforward as Dan-Air, who understood that we didn't want fancy meals, or fine china cups. We wanted an aircraft that could handle the weather up there, from an airline who would just get on with it. Of course we wanted safety to be paramount. But these lads who worked on the rigs were tough, hardy men who wanted to get home. A nice cup of tea and perhaps a sandwich was all they wanted. The stewardess, or some chaps who did it - I think they were called load masters, they had to be pleasant and that was about it. I think Alidair wanted to present the flights like they were business passengers, which they most certainly were not. Dan-Air had Scots ladies who had a bit of a laugh with the lads and were firm enough to tell them to hush up when they did the safety chat. I always, always got the impression from Dan-Air that there was a 'can do' attitude to them'
Transatlantic Tour Operator Jetsave were delighted with the results of their 1975/6 programme of Advance Booking Charters (ABC) flights, and in 1977 they wanted to repeat the flights. Six flights were initially planned for the season. Due to high demand, the number was increased to ten, with many flight sold out entirely to North East locals. The ten flights would see five depart for New York and five to Ontario. There was even the promise that more would be added if demand warranted. Within a few days Jetsave announced that there would be a further six flights to New York and six flights to Ontario from Birmingham. Bookings were said to be strong, with fares ranging from £117-£147 return.
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Oberland Travel who specialised in Northern European Holidays would exclusively charter Dan-Air aircraft for their 1976 programme, offering flights from Cardiff, Manchester and Gatwick for holidays to Ireland, Germany, Holland, Austria and Switzerland. This would involve the use of a Dan-Air BAC 1-11 jets operating up to twenty flights a week. A new scheduled service from Bournemouth to Dinard service started in April, and April 18th saw the start of the Carlisle-Jersey schedule. Just one month later, on May 28th the Newcastle - Stavanger flights commenced, using a HS 748, followed by the Gatwick-Perpignan and Gatwick-Kristiansand direct service joining the network in June. Dan-Air's scheduled service network grew slowly, the charter division however, saw substantial growth, with Israel added as a Summer '76 destination with holidays from £179.
In March, a newspaper team followed a Dan-Air Boeing 727 for the day from Manchester. The airport saw the airline in action. Dan-air carried 395,000 passengers from Manchester the previous year, including 10,000 Transatlantic passengers who flew on Boeing 707. Eight aircraft were based at Manchester and 46 flight deck crew and 55 stewardesses worked at the base. The Newcastle engineering base was on the look out for technicians with salaries from £3,350 per year.
April continued to see growth at Aberdeen, by the end of the month 20 flights a week were being flown for oil companies alone. Contracts that were being negotiated would see a further 10 flights a week flown. The 3rd of May saw a company HS 748 lose power in one engine on a Glasgow flight heading for Bristol. The aircraft, carrying 20 passengers, was forced to make an emergency landing at Leeds/Bradford where fire crews were on standby. The aircraft landed safely and passengers were taken to their final destination on another aircraft.
In July, British Petroleum awarded Dan-Air a contract for two years to fly oil workers between Glasgow, Sumburgh and elsewhere. The contract would require the full-time use of three Hawker Siddeley 748 aircraft and was said to be worth £1 1/2 million. A Dan-Air spokesman said; 'This is a fantastic contract for us. It will now be necessary to base one of our aircraft at Sumburgh instead of Aberdeen. The aircraft has been acquired and should be in service by August.Ideally we want to recruit stewardesses from the Shetlands and are encouraging local girls to apply. We have employed two so far and they complete their training next week.' The contract required early morning flights from Sumburgh and it was expected that the flights would initially be constantly working for at least four days a week. The additional HS 748 was purchased from Fiji Airways.
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The Lydd-Beauvais 'Coach Air' service continued to grow, in August 5,000 passengers were carried. the success of the service had necessitated the acquisition of three Viscount prop-liners. The first arrived from Air Bridge in March 1975. The following two arrived in October and December of 1975 from Alidair in Scotland. The aircraft carried more passengers than the HS-748 but were quite fuel thirsty. The type never fully integrated itself to the fleet, although over the years ten of them came and went on lease and occasionally a purchase. One stewardess told us;
'I was used to working on the 748 and did a short course on the Viscount. There were about 12 of us who did it. It wasn't that intense more of a way of learning how to open and close emergency doors, main doors and the location of equipment really. And they gave us this printed booklet about the galley. We had a day learning about that as well. I know the 748 wasn't the most modern of aircraft, but I was shocked at how basic the Viscount was. The toilets had this wooden ledge thing with a toilet seat on it. Sort of covering one corner of the room. I have to say I didn't like it much, but we had to have a bigger aircraft. The runways at Lydd back then I don't think could handle jets. Passengers seemed to like the windows! Catering was a cup of tea or coffee and a pack of biscuits. So the galley wasn't necessary. When we started using them on the Jersey and Guernsey flights I think people got a sarnie and a bar service. One of them had a bit of prang as well, so that was splashed across the press which wasn't ideal. The flight deck crew weren't ours, they came with the aircraft. They were very nice people but you are always a little bit wary of someone coming in from another airline. I believe some did do training to fly them. Eventually I got a bit of a promotion and I went to work at Gatwick, which was a lot more exciting.'
The UK authorities had been very slow to change rules that regulated UK air traffic. The protectionist stance that they took, exasperated most airlines. British Airways were in such a dominant position both in terms of their network and their financial muscle. Independent carriers, Tour Operators and MP's had lobbied the Secretary of State for Aviation and the CAA themselves to try to make things more fair. Finally, in 1976, under pressure from Tour Operators and Airlines, the Government abolished minimum fares on charter flights. Trials that had been carried out over the Winter months of 1975 had been a success. From Summer of this year there would be no minimum fares, all year round, on any route. Tour Operators would be obligated to be bonded with ATOL and ABTA, and all airlines fully licensed with the CAA.
No-one could foresee any problems arising. The new rules still forbade discounting of holidays, which basically meant if a holiday was advertised in a brochure at, say, £70; that price could not be reduced at any time for the whole season. Two new initiatives emerged from the new rules; Whilst Tour Operators were not allowed to discount on brochure price - they would be able to sell holidays with a new format; "Accommodation Allocated On Arrival". These holidays, as the title suggests, meant that holiday makers could choose a destination and upon arrival would be told where they were staying. This had advantages as well as pitfalls. In a large country like Spain there are many resorts served from a single airport. A smaller place like Malta would have just a few. The main advantage to holiday makers would be the much lower price. It could also mean that a party wishing to have a very quiet holiday could find themselves in a bustling resort with rowdy night-clubs. Tour Operators would benefit from having their spare capacity filled. Guests could find themselves in the best hotels the Tour Operator used, and just as equally in the one with the lowest rating. the main advantage was that if a client did not know what hotel or resort they were staying in in, how could they know if they had been given a discount or not? This new ruling brought a welcome increase of Dan-Air's business These holidays were often chosen by young people, who very often were not as particular about their overseas accommodation as older guests, or those on a tight budget, who could not afford to be choosy.
As the 1970s progressed, people were becoming more accustomed to air travel and were more robust with their expectations. Some of the more affluent had even began purchasing a second home overseas. The time share business was just starting to emerge, giving aspirational Brits an apartment or villa of their own for a week or two every year. Those fortunate enough to own a second home could earn substantial income from letting their property when it was not in use. These properties began to appear in classified newspapers adverts. These travellers would not require accommodation, but they soon found out that scheduled flights could cost more than the total price of a package holiday, neither were they permitted to purchase a flight only on a charter flight. Travel agent Michael Croft takes up the story;
'It was far from ideal. As you said, we couldn't sell them charter flight seats, so we had to arrange scheduled tickets. The main problem was that the main airlines didn't fly to those airports from all the regional airports. I had to get tickets from a family who had a flat in Benidorm. There were no flights at all from Leeds where I was based. So it was either Leeds - Heathrow and then Barcelona or Madrid-Alicante. From Manchester it was to Barcelona or Palma and then a domestic flight to Alicante - the prices were astronomical, and for the dates they wanted to travel there were loads of direct charter flights to Alicante from both airports. So this 'allocation on arrival' thing was the next best thing. The rule change was sort of kept quiet, I'm not even sure that Tour Operators wanted it. But in any case, all these cheap looking brochures came out. I worked for a big company and was told that these brochures were to be kept behind the counter, on display, but not 'on display'. So the thinking was that people would have to actually ask for them, rather than pick them up. For some reason, Cyprus was excluded from the deal, and all the Eastern Bloc countries of course. The notes about accommodation were always tucked away in the small print. We would book the 'holiday' and point out casually about the accommodation. It was clear that the vast majority of people wanting these flights already had accommodation sorted out, so most people barely listened to that part. More than once though, people came into the shop upon return, angry that their 'accommodation' was a shed in a field, a hostel or someone's house that didn't know who they were. I have no idea who worked out these addresses. The thing was, these brochures had FLIGHT ONLY printed on the front of them! The prices were really fair and because only limited numbers could be sold, they often were not easy to obtain. The whole thing changed in the eighties, it had become ridiculous. Soon after the charter carriers started their own schedules to these places anyway. BA knew most people couldn't afford their fares, so they didn't operate the routes, they just didn't want anyone else to operate them either.'
British Airways reacted furiously to the rule changes, seeing them as a further erosion of their territory. British Caledonian had returned to the charter market following the substantial downturn in their own scheduled network in recent years. BCal had spent the last few years boasting about their own service and rubbishing charter carriers at every opportunity. In recent times, many of BCal's routes had become unworkable, in particular their Tripoli service in light of the recent political situation there. Now BCal wanted to return to the charter market.
In July Dan-Air was awarded a Ministry of Defence contract for Gatwick to Gibraltar flights, at the same time they applied to commence services from Newcastle to Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Copenhagen. None of which were granted, British Airways had objected, as did British Caledonian who said they would not earlier in the year!
Customs and Excise managers at Bristol Lulsgate were to face charges over a duty-free goods swindle, Bristol Crown Court heard in August. Dan-Air's bonded stores manager Brian Lodge was jailed for two years by the court for helping to fiddle duty-free cigarettes, spirits and other goods worth £3,350 at the airport. Customs Investigating Officers said that seven officers had been involved in the investigation which had started the previous October. Lodge, of Bristol, admitted seven counts of theft and six of defrauding the customs of duty payable on them. One charge related to the theft of five cartons of ham belonging to Dan-Air subsidiary company Air Catering. the other relating to half bottles of spirits, cans of beer, cigarettes and watches to the value of £323. He asked for 99 similar offences involving goods to the value of £3,026 to to taken into consideration. the court heard how Lodge operated the racket by altering Customs documents. An aircraft would be shown as leaving with more items taken from bond than it actually was carrying. Miss. Susan Russell, prosecuting, gave the example of an aircraft leaving with 1 bottle of whisky listed which was altered to 11. Lodge would dispose of the other ten. Miss. Russell agreed when the Judge said: 'The transactions must have been connived at by Customs Officers, he could not have done it without them.'
John Duncan, defending, said 'the racket at the airport was an going concern when Lodge became manager of the bonded warehouse.' Lodge claimed life would have been difficult for him had he tried to stop.
Bad publicity came in August when a quartet of stewardesses went to the national press to complain about being dumped by Dan-Air. Judy Dove, Mandi Baker, Catriona Mann and Anne Power were taken on with a six months contract after training as stewardesses. At the end of the six months the girls were let go, as was standard with charter airlines at the end of the summer period. The girls then found out that the airline had taken of 60 new girls. Les Shorter, the aviation secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union said 'I will certainly be looking into this, it is a most disturbing situation.'
The stewardesses were under the impression that they would be taken on a permanent cabin crew if their work had been good.
'I know I haven't been terminated because I am unsuitable' said Judy Dove. 'We asked to see our check reports and they were all good. It's not as if there is not enough work for us because I know they have taken on more girls.'
Anne Power said 'I always wanted to be a hostess, I have worked hard to get good reports, now I'm left with nothing - I feel as though I've just been dumped.'
Mandi Baker who came over to the UK from Canada to train with Dan-Air said 'I never dreamed I'd be out of a job within six months, I call them Dan Unfair'
The Union official who represents the UK's 8,000 cabin crew went on to say 'Dan Air always take on too many temporary staff, and they are the only airline that pay them less than they pay their permanent staff.' Dan-Air's public relations officer Ted Sessions said 'It is true, not all the girls who are taken on were kept on, but they know from the start that their contract is only for six months, if they are needed at the end of that period then they are given a permanent contract.'
A unique charter in October saw 151 pilgrims board a Dan-Air Boeing 727 from Aberdeen. The aircraft was chartered to fly to Lourdes, and included the eldest passenger who was flying for the first time, aged 84. One of the pilgrims (The 84 year old's Granddaughter said;
"We had been awake since 4am to get to Aberdeen from Manchester to be with the rest of the party. The weather was atrocious. Dan-Air were very kind with us, the flight was delayed a while because of thunderstorms, but we eventually got in the air. The flight was really bumpy, my Grandmother and I were terrified, but the crew soldiered on, smiling and reassuring those who were nervous. I was always well disposed towards Dan-Air after that. In fact my travel agent used to say 'Are you sure?' when I chose a slightly more expensive holiday with Dan-Air flights than a cheaper one with another airline."
Aberdeen Airport declared that Dan-Air were their largest operator with three round trips a day to Sumburgh for Shell Oil being just one contract. A major new contract had started flying construction workers between Sullem Voe and Glasgow and Belfast. The Sumburgh operation was now flying 6,000 a month - mainly oil workers who had flown by helicopter from the rig to Sumburgh for connecting flights to Aberdeen. A charter in August saw British Cabinet Ministers and MP's from British, French and American Governments together with senior board members of major oil companies and British, French, Swedish and American engineering enterprises fly on a company BAC 1-11. they attended the Ninian Central platform first-stage ceremony at Loch Kishorn, Wester Ross, where the Prince of Wales floated the platform for the first time. The Aberdeen operation was backed their own ground handling managed by manager Noel Cannon. Also at the airport was an engineering personnel and air-crew based in the city.
Flights from Bristol would be increased this year with the Glasgow link being given an extra return flight a week. There would be connections to Bournemouth for onwards flights to Jersey and Guernsey.
Pre tax profits for the first six months of trade showed that turnover was up from £19.4 million to £30.3 million an increase of 30%. Dan-Air made a pre tax loss of £1.4 million against last years £763,000. The fleet had grown from 36 to 45 aircraft and leasing charges had cost £1.3 million. As the six months trade only included one of the peak months (June) Dan-Air management were confident that the airline would return to profitability when the full year figure would be shown the following April. This was the usual routine with airlines and one explanation was that as the airline had grown so much over the last few years the figures would also be far greater. The extra aircraft would all be operated at their full utilisation.
When the financial year closed in April the airline had made a pre tax profit of £1.35 million up 20% on last year. the airline had a turnover of more than £52 million. There was further good news when in April Dan-Air was able to state that the enlarged charter fleet was fully booked for the whole Summer. During the last twelve months 2.5 million passengers had been carried. More than any other UK airline with the exception of the state owned giant British Airways. As the year drew to a close the fleet had reached fifty aircraft, which was impressive by any standards. The airline could boast that they carried more passengers and had a larger fleet than several national airlines, Aer Lingus, TAP and Sabena included.
The year was rounded off with Fist Officer Yvonne Sintes (Pope) being given her Captaincy of the BAC 1-11. She became the first woman to be in command of a large jet airliner. Captain Sintes had a number of firsts to her credit. The first woman air traffic controller for the Ministry of Aviation, the first woman co-pilot of a scheduled passenger aircraft and now her latest achievement. Captain Sintes had first gained her pilot's licence aged 23.
A company BAC 1-11 on a return flight to Bristol loss the power in one engine and had to carry out an emergency landing in France. Passengers had claimed there was a huge 'explosion' followed by the smell of smoke in the cabin. The aircraft landed safely and all passengers evacuated.
In December 650 oil related workers were flown to Aberdeen, Glasgow and Belfast from Sumburgh as part of the effort to get workers home in time for Christmas. Dan-Air was praised for the way they handled the extra passengers. None of the flights were delayed and everything ran smoothly.
The Boeing 727 had proved to be an excellent replacement for the Comet, more 727s would soon join the fleet which now stood at six. The BAC 1-11 stood at 14 and four Boeing 707s were used on ABC charters around the world, but the largest number of one type remained the Comet. Eighteen of them worked flat out for the year. It would be difficult to replace them quickly without significant investment. The HS-748 now totalled eleven and were used on oil related charter flights as well as UK domestic scheduled services.
The airline could look forward to the next year.
Above: The 'dumped' stewardesses.
New Routes
- Bristol - Cardiff - Leeds - Glasgow service commenced with HS 748s - 6th January
- Boumemouth - Dinard service commenced - 17th April
- Carlisle-Jersey service began - 18th April
- Newcastle - Stavanger service opened - 28th May
- Gatwick - Perpignan and service started - 20th June
- Gatwick - Kristiansand - service opened - 20th June
NETWORK & PRESS 1976
1977
With a fleet of more than sixty aircraft Dan-Air had become larger than many national carriers. The fleet was larger than Sabena and the airline carried more passengers than Aer Lingus. As well as having aircraft based at London Gatwick, Manchester and Aberdeen, a second hub had been established at West Berlin, where three Boeing 727 and two BAC 1-11 aircraft operated the programmes for many leading West German Tour Operators. Stewardesses and ground crew were recruited locally and flight deck crews rotated from UK bases. The Berlin base had full operational, management and engineering support. By 1977 Dan-Air had become the largest charter operator at Berlin Tegal airport.
The largest and most prestigious Tour Operator Neckermann & Reisen were one of Dan-Air's largest clients. They had very specific requirements for their programme, including a very generous seat pitch, which required Dan-Air to carry few passengers on flights. The Boeing 727s were fitted with extra fuel tanks to enable them to reach the Canary Islands, which at five hours thirty minutes would reach the operational limits of the type.
On January 11th a company HS-748 crash landed at Sumburgh after landing on slush in crosswinds. the aircraft was badly damaged.. The aircraft was ferrying fifty Irish construction workers and their families from Sullem Voe, no-one was hurt. The following day pilots were said to be apprehensive about the state of the runways at Sumburgh. A British Airways flight from Kirkwall was cancelled and another Dan-Air HS 748 returned to Glasgow after bad weather reports. After snow had stopped falling the runways were well sanded giving pilots reassurance. Snow and freezing fog continued to play havoc with services for the nest few days. A Hawker Siddeley 748 heading for Aberdeen was forced back to Sumburgh as flying conditions were hazardous. The flight, with 48 oil workers was stuck at Sumburgh with rig staff desperate to get home to loved ones. Repairs on the crippled plane went on around the clock. The air-frame was repaired within two days and extensive work was carried out on the two engines. It was hoped that it would be back in the air by 22nd January. It was not to be back in service, first it had to fly south to Manchester the main company base for maintaining 748 aircraft. The nose section had been placed under canvas, as no hangar space was available. Repairs had to be carried out under canvas. Progress was hampered with severe snow and ice. Mr. Fred Bloor, Dan-Air's engineer at Sumburgh said; 'The thing we are fearing most is a gale, it would fill the tent like a balloon. But if the wind were to blow anything of ours away, it would have to take Shetland with it.'
Once the initial repairs were carried out, the 748 flew to Newcastle under the command of Captain John Smith, one of the airline' most senior oil charter Captains. Fred Bloor, the chief engineer at Sumburgh accompanied him. Bloor was worried that patched up aircraft might have been left with a tendency to veer off the straight and narrow straight after landing. However G-AZSU was landed perfectly by Captain Smith and taxied to the hangar. The aircraft was repaired and ferried straight back to Aberdeen.
Just a few days later, a Vickers Viscount carrying 21 passengers, suffered a damaged nose wheel upon landing at Lydd airport in Kent. The aircraft had taken off without incident. Shortly after take-off and twenty miles into the English Channel, the Captain noticed engine vibrations in the flight deck and decided to return to Lydd. Emergency services were on hand to assist, but the Captain landed safely.
The Lasham engineering division now employed 750 people looking after a total of 50 aircraft, third-party work was carried out at the base for other airlines and Dan-Air own Comet and Boeing airliners. A Personnel Officer was sought in January with responsibilities covering recruitment, staff queries and problems, salaries, systems administration, and staff induction training. Work relationships were informal, adaptable and highly committed. Experience was not necessary as full training was given - the minimum age was just 21 - all of that for a salary of £3,325 per year!
A strike by airport workers affected Sumburgh in February. Staff who worked at British Airports Authority airports walked out and other airport workers refused to handle passengers who were travelling via BAA airports. Dan-Air was never one to let such a thing as 'emergency arrangements' affects their flights. All aircraft were diverted to Carlisle and passengers were taken to or from the airport by coach.
Dan-Air served the Isle of Man from eight UK airports and in February the airline applied to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to serve the island from East Midlands and Birmingham. The route had previously been operated by British Midland who having withdrawn from the service had no objections to Dan-Air taking it over. The CAA awarded the licences in March.
A small Tour Operator, Pearl Island Holidays went bankrupt this year, Dan-Air were left with extra capacity as they had chartered Dan-Air jets for their programme. The company could take consolation when a massive charter contract that was awarded to them relating to oil support workers. The flights would take off from Aberdeen for the 170 mile trip north to Sumburgh, where workers would board a helicopter to fly directly onto oil rigs. The new contract required that Dan-Air purchase six new HS-748 aircraft. The aircraft were sourced from Aerolineas Argentinas. It was hinted that the aircraft were in some kind of decrepit state. Local journalist Bob Cummings said;
'Dan-Air was known as the 'quiet airline' which was borne out by the fact that they said very little about these 'new' aircraft. But it was known that most, if not all would join the ones already in the oil patch at Aberdeen. No price was put on the Argentine aircraft, but it was only a small proportion of what it would cost them to refurbish them and to bring the aircraft up to Civil Aviation Authority specification. The price was going to be well over £2,000,000.'
Ken Darling was a regular on the Sumburgh flights and recalls;
'You had to make your way to Aberdeen and then board this fairly small aircraft, which I remember having enormous wings. A pilot told me that there wasn't an aircraft in the world that was more suited to the terrain and weather up there. Even in Summer it could be windy and cold. Often the flights were very bumpy. We always got a cup of tea though - the stewardesses were great. So, at Sumburgh we would then get aboard a Sikorsky helicopter that was supposed to be waiting for us. The usually had delays because of inclement weather. Those helicopters made the 748 look like a flying palace. They stank. They were hot, sweaty and noisy - sometimes they were fearful. They didn't fly so high. The flight was ninety miles and most of it we clung to the seat arm-rests. That 90 minute flight was usually awful. The alternative was to board a supply vessel that carried everything from food to toilet rolls to the rigs - I don't know which was worse, bucketing out in rough seas for several hours or going on that rotten helicopter. It was very pleasant to get back to the 748. When we came home we had forgotten how much we moaned about the 748 being flown about. It seemed we were on a lily pond.'
Residents close to Newcastle Airport became angry with Dan-air who carried out engine tests at midnight on a BAC 1-11. More than 50 residents complained bitterly that their sleep was disrupted. Dan-Air issued an apology, saying it was a regular occurrence that had to take place, and had been going on for a long time. As it was the first time residents had complained it was theorised that the wind might have been blowing the wrong way!
The engineering division now employed 1400 staff and were looking to recruit new team members including Avionics Superintendents, Major Maintenance Project Engineers, Group Engineering Manager, Training Manager, Commercial Officer, Training Instructor (For 707 air frame courses) A Weight Control Engineer and a Planning Engineer.
Despite negative press saying how much the airline was in the red financially for the first six months of the year, by April, the company reported its highest ever profit at the end of the financial year. Pre tax profits were £1.88 million, 38% up on the previous year. Dan-Air could also boast that they carried 2,846,000 passenger in 1976. With such impressive credentials, one would expect that such a successful airline would have licence applications looked at favourably - this was not always the case. Certainly, second division routes from regional airports would be fairly considered, but any attempt to fly into Heathrow or a major European capital would be rebuffed. Even licences from Gatwick were seldom granted to independent carriers. The very idea of competition seemed to be a bad idea for the CAA. Instead of allowing carriers to try to lure passengers onto their flights with lower fares and better service, the CAA simply refused to give airlines the right to compete fairly. This often led to squabbles and objections amongst the independent airlines themselves. When a licence application was submitted it was more often than not, objected to by another carrier. Dan-Air, were successful with an application for the Gatwick-Strasbourg service. Which could be lucrative for the company as the city housed the headquarters for the EEC Parliament and with it, all of its MEPs and delegations.
A series of tragedies were averted in April involving three aircraft flying over Spain. The first involved a British Airways Trident flying to Valencia who reported a near-miss with an El Al Boeing 747. The Captain was badly shaken as he reported the near-miss to air traffic controllers. He had reached down to pick up the aircraft log book and noticed the jumbo coming at him at a right angle. The pilot stopped the auto-pilot and pulled the airliner up, avoiding a catastrophe at 33,000 feet. Shortly afterwards the British Airways pilot was given instruction to descend to a lower flight path as he approached Valencia. Captain Derek Baker said;
'I said a word to the air traffic controller, I won't say which one. I told him that we had had a near miss and that any passengers looking out of the El Al jet would have got a very nasty shock. We were no further than 300 yards apart, a split second and it would have been a disaster. Then I couldn't stop shaking. We were at 33,000 feet with 76 passengers. We were then given instructions to descend towards our final approach. My hands were still shaking from the shock as we approached Valencia. Then the air traffic controller told me I was safe to descend to 3,000 - completely ignoring the Dan-Air Boeing 727 flying directly below me. The Dan-Air pilot who was also listening to ATC and cut in saying something like 'Hey you can't do that' - But I was aware of his presence, even if the controller wasn't. It was a trip I wouldn't care to repeat.'
The early part of every year saw Travel Agents and Tour Operators announcing their programmes for the year. Several newspapers tried their hands at being Tour Operators. Regional newspapers in conjunction with a local Travel Agent would often charter a jet from a local airport and book rooms at a hotel. One such flight would see a Dan-Air 727 fly from Birmingham to Lanzarote for a week long holiday for just £138. Many more of these special 'one off' charters were undertaken each year.
Gliders flying around Bristol caused a near-miss in May when a company BAC 1-11 with 86 passengers on a return flight from Ibiza forced the jet to bank steeply to avoid collision. The pilot was praised for his speedy action.
One of only two Handley Page Herald aircraft that Dan-Air operated was on a short term lease from British Air Ferries operating as a temporary replacement aircraft for the HS 748 that had been damaged at Sumburgh. The aircraft had British Air Ferries pilots and in March was operating the DA896 flight from Newcastle to Stavanger. After a normal departure, thirty minutes into the flight the pilot was alerted by lights in the flight-deck that the undercarriage was jammed fast. The Herald returned to Newcastle where it circled to burn off excess fuel. Two other flights, one from Amsterdam and a Dan-Air Boeing 707 training flight landed before the Herald in case the runway was to become blocked. At 6:12 pm police closed the airport to allow emergency services to have a clear run to the airport. Hundreds of people got out of their cars to watch the slow approach. The aircraft landed safely amidst fears of a repeat of earlier snow storms.Ten passengers and the crew disembarked and the aircraft was towed to a remote area. A Dan-Air spokesman said; 'There was a small technical fault which the pilot wasn't happy about. It turned out to be a minor electrical fault. British Air Ferries who own the aircraft sent their engineers to fix the fault.' - The aircraft (G-ASVO) was quickly returned BAF.
Industrial action by helicopter pilots who flew oil workers to their rigs spread to other airlines on April 20th when British Airways pilots went on a 24 hour strike in support of the Helicopter Pilots. The National Union of Seamen also banned their crews from ferrying oil workers back to the mainland. Dan-Air pilots operated their flights as usual. Mr. Godfrey Fischer took over the role of station manager at Aberdeen, he had previously had a similar role at Berlin where he had seen the airline grow to become the largest operator at Tegal airport. He foresaw a similar growth at Sumburgh and was able to announce on his appointment that Dan-Air would allow the base to have a similar level of independence at the base. The airline had grown substantially at Aberdeen with six aircraft based there. Several new contracts were in the pipeline and more aircraft would soon be stationed there. The airport's old fire station had been taken over by the company and would be used as an administration and operations building. The building would soon house engineering and flight crew rooms. The charters at Aberdeen had seen a 45% increase in passenger traffic at Aberdeen in February alone. In total, 20,000 passengers used the airport that month, a rise of 32%. One of the Aberdeen ground crew said;
'You have to laugh. Dan-Air would always get things done, but from a PR viewpoint - we were sometimes a disaster. If we saw an opportunity we took it. It didn't seem to matter what it looked like. The main thing was that when it came to running an airline - God, we were good. It didn't matter what stripes you had on your uniform, if baggage handlers were on strike, we would put cases on ourselves. If someone on check in was ill, we'd somehow do it ourselves. The people at larger bases had lots of options. We were just a small team and if that meant rolling your sleeves up and getting your hands dirty then, so be it. They were the best years of my working life.'
In May a Hawker Siddeley 748 made an emergency landing at Sumburgh after pilots saw warning lights indicating that the landing wheels had failed to come down. The aircraft circled for a visual inspection before landing safely. Fire crews were on standby. One pilot of the 748 told us;
'The aircraft were well maintained, but I think that people view these sort of things with 21st century eyes. Today, even regional aircraft that fly up to Sumburgh have glass cockpits where computers tell pilots everything. There is a fail safe on everything. That is to say that if there was an indication telling a pilots that the wheels weren't down there would be a back up and a back up of the back up to tell them that it was in fact an tiny electrical fault that had made the light come on. In the 1970s pilots actually flew the aircraft themselves. Faults were more common, it happened to every single airline and every single pilot. We would rather it not have happened, because there would be a press report about it. We were a large company and so it happened to us more often. There's nothing mysterious about it. Pilots knew exactly what to do. That kind of flying, in the harshest of conditions just goes to show how fantastic the air crews were. I think today's pilots would be off work with stress!'
A near miss was reported at Bristol on 15th May when a BAC 1-11 returning from Ibiza upon making its final approach, spotted a glider heading in its direction. The pilot took evasive action, eye-witnesses said the aircraft went into a near vertical bank. A spokesman said: 'It was in or near his path and he decided to go underneath it, there was never any danger to the passengers at all. we have asked the pilot to submit a report.' The glider pilot, Mr. Griffiths said he was flying with four other gliders when the incident occurred and that he didn't think that their aircraft would have shown up on radar. 'I saw him and he was about five miles away from me. The other gliders were well out of the jet's path. The aircraft passed well beneath me and turned to the right to make its approach. At no time was there a risk of collision.'
An oil workers strike at the Sullem Voe platform was called. Workers were told that they would only negotiate if workers carried on working. They refused and the plant was closed down. Bosses at the terminal chartered an extra nine flights to get 500 workers home to Glasgow and Belfast on Friday. On Saturday a further six flights were operated and seven on Sunday. By June 10th the action had been called off and Dan-Air once more sprang into action with a series of charters. A Convair 440 was sub-chartered from Norfly, a Norwegian carrier, but this was impounded as foreign carriers were not permitted to operate charter flights between two UK airports without prior permission from the Department of Trade. This was quickly obtained and the Norfly flights resumed.
Sadly, one of the company Boeing 707 freighter aircraft was lost on approach to Lusaka whilst on lease to I.A.S. The flight was operated on behalf of Zambia Airways. The cargo aircraft was carrying freight to Lusaka and had re-fuelling stops at Athens and Nairobi where a crew change had taken place. The aircraft had a Captain, Co-Pilot and two Flight Engineers on board, one of whom was in training. The flight had been normal in every aspect and was on final approach to Lusaka. All landing checks had been carried out as standard. Eye witnesses had seen what appeared to be a normal approach when they saw a large part of the aircraft separate from the main body of the airliner. The aircraft then pitched nose down and dived to the ground from a height of 800 feet. The accident had been observed from the airport and fire crews and emergency services arrived quickly. Once the fire was brought under control it became apparent that the degree of damage to the cockpit structure was such that no-one could have survived the impact forces. In fact, all five crew and one passenger were killed. Fortuitously there were no casualties to persons on the ground. The Captain was just 34 years old with more than 6,000 flying hours. The First Officer was 57 years old with 16,000 plus flying hours. The Supervisory Flight Engineer was 38.
The aircraft was manufactured in 1963 making it only 14 years old, which is well withing its air-frame life. Significantly, the aircraft had completed a major check when it joined the airline in October 1976. There had been a maintainence certificate valid for 500 more flying hours. The airliner had performed more than 16,000 hours flying time, 1,649 of them whilst with Dan-Air. G-BEBP had been the first production aircraft of the 300C series of convertible passenger/freighter models. After being retired from Pan Am the aircraft had been stored in Florida. The aircraft had been certified in America and in the UK. It had never been involved in any incident which may have affected its performance.
The subsequent investigation found that the crew were suitably qualified, and adequately trained to carry out the flight. The aircraft had been well maintained. A design flaw found that the horizontal stabilise was susceptible to crack. Six people had died in the accident as a result of a design flaw. Cracks had been found in the tail that resulted in the crash.. In total 30 British Boeing 707s were grounded while checks were carried out. Several aircraft around the world were found to have similar cracks. More about this accident.
Dan-Air appeared in court in July accused of contravening CAA law. Dan-Air pleaded 'not guilty' at the Old Bailey to six charges concerning flights to Ibiza and Majorca in 1974. Mr. Ian Davidson QC said an airline could only accept bookings from Travel Agents who had been issued with an Air Travel Organisers Licence: 'There have in the past unfortunate cases of fly-by-night travel agencies leaving passengers in some parts of the world or going broke.' he said. In this particular case, a firm called Pearl Island tours had been refused such a licence, but it was alleged that Dan-Air had accepted bookings from them on six occasions. Mr. Davidson said that although Pearl Island had been issued with a provisional number, was found to be unsatisfactory and was never given a licence, but it undoubtedly booked through Dan-Air and Dan-Air carried its customers. Yet Dan-Air subscribed to lists which identified licensed travel agencies, and could also have checked by telephone with the Civil Aviation Authority. Davidson told the jury; 'It is not only that there should be a breach of the terms of the licence. the real issue is whether you are satisfied that Dan-Air knew before the flights began, or had reasonable cause to suspect that the breach was likely to happen.' After a short adjournment the jury returned an found Dan-Air not guilty on all six counts. Judge Hines declined to award costs to the prosecution.
Several flights were delayed or diverted due to industrial action by UK Air Traffic Control Assistants in August. Reports of people being stuck in airports in the UK and abroad showed scenes of chaos. Newcastle was hit particularly hard as a number of flights were halted. Frantic staff ferried passengers to other airports to consolidate flights, in an effort to catch up. Well over half of the 146 flights due to leave Manchester were affected with flights departing or arriving up to 17 hours late. Ten thousand people were due to arrive or leave as the go slow action entered its fourth day. In Birmingham a Dan-Air Boeing 727 was due to leave for Gerona at 9am and passengers had been stuck at the departure lounge until 4pm and at Liverpool, the longest delay at Speke was recorded on the eighth day of action, when a Dan-Air flight to Malta, due to leave at 9pm was delayed until 9am the next day. After ten days of a 'go slow' protest, the Civil and Public Services Association called a four day strike over the Bank Holiday which would bring misery to thousands of passengers. The dispute was over a 14 - 20% pay claim that the union had said was because of the 'cavalier way we have been treated, we are taking the action because the money should have paid out with phase one starting two years ago.' The Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Mr. Nigel Foulkes appealed to the assistants to 'think again' about going on strike. 'Whatever your personal feelings of frustration are, I ask you to consider whether the air traveller should pay the penalty.
Dan-Air said that they were confident that they would be able to get everyone to their destination.
In Newcastle, Dan-Air's Des Carlisle said: 'We have only had one flight to Gatwick cancelled, we will do everything we can - We moved Heaven and Earth to keep things going. Of the one flight that was cancelled - that was because the crew did not have enough flying hours left to make the trip to Newcastle and there were no reserve staff. So we laid on a coach to bring them to Newcastle.'
The UK had seen a further sterling crisis in 1976/77. The Labour Government devalued the pound again, which affected the price of fuel in overseas airports. It was an anxious time for the airline industry which has always operated on very low margins. Tour Operators were forced to impose surcharges on holiday-makers. The CAA reacted by saying that Tour Operators were forbidden from charging surcharges after tickets had been issued. Of course, that didn't stop them adding surcharges on holidays after they were booked. Tickets were usually issued six weeks before travel. The CAA also claimed that the surcharges had been the result of Tour Operators cutting prices too aggressively. The CAA then announced that they were considering re-introducing minimum pricing, which soon afterwards, they decided against. Tour firms then were forced to petition their Banks to ask for an extension of how far in advance they could purchase foreign currency. The CAA rejected their requests. Cosmos holidays claimed that the rich-poor and the poor-rich swing had altered. Going on to say that bookings of the upper and middle classes had dropped by 10%, while bookings from the blue collar workers were up 40%. Cosmos saw a gap in this market and announced, with great fanfare, a new feature. "All holiday costs including deposits would be returned if a customer was made redundant". The public reacted positively to Cosmos' offer Ensuring a surge in their bookings.
Cosmos did have its own airline - Monarch Airlines, and naturally, Cosmos would try to ensure that their holiday-makers would fly with their own carrier. However, Monarch was still a very small airline in terms of fleet size, operating a fleet of three Boeing 720s and four BAC 1-11s. Monarch didn't have the capacity for all the new bookings and Cosmos would need to charter other carriers' aircraft, they chose Dan-Air. Other Tour Operators to expand their charter business with Dan-Air were Intasun, Airtours, Arrowsmith, Exchange, Ellerman, Owners Abroad, Neilsons, Inghams, Jetsave and Horizon.
Exchange Holidays provided holidays to Malta, Cyprus and Gibraltar from several UK airports next year all of them would all be carried out using Dan-Air aircraft. Flights commenced in April. Dillie Mayhew who worked for Exchange says;
'I was invited on an educational trip to Cyprus, somewhere I had never been. My manager told me that we had chartered a Dan-Air Comets. I must admit, we had chartered their Comets before and people did complain about them being old fashioned, cramped and smelly, I had flown on one myself and I had to agree with them! The bookings came in really strong and management renegotiated with Dan-Air who happened to have some spare capacity with their Boeing 727s, and a change was made. When I boarded the aircraft through stairs under the tail I was in awe. The aircraft was lovely. I'm no expert, but the 727 seemed to go up like a rocket. I was impressed with the overall service and the food we were served. I was more than happy to promote our Dan-Air/Exchange partnership to Travel Agents after that. We continued working with Dan-Air for many years. They were a great airline and I am sorry that they are no longer with us."
Intasun continued their rapid expansion with Newcastle being added to their stable this year. Dan-Air would carry out the charter programme with Costa Brava, Costa Del Sol, Malta and Tenerife flights undertaken. For the first time the company carried more than three million passengers. (3,591,000) Inclusive Tour passengers accounted for 2,338,360 of the number, leaving 1,252,640 passengers on Scheduled Services. The IT passenger numbers were much higher than rival airlines;
Dan-Air 2,338,360
Britannia Airways 2,146,077
British Airtours 631,238
Monarch Airlines 599,828
Laker Airways 459,257
Caledonian 417,627
Other carriers 233,037
One office worker, Rita Carrudus told us;
'Do you know what, the Britannia and Caledonian thing was a source of irritation to me quite often. We carried more passengers as a whole than anyone except BA. We carried more charter passengers than Britannia - yet they had this advert calling themselves the 'world's largest holiday airline', They got away with it because that is all they did - charters. As a holiday airline we always carried more than they did. Caledonian called themselves the second largest scheduled airline - because they carried more scheduled passengers than us - this was utter rubbish. Numbers are numbers - we carried more than any of them! When I saw the figures you sent me - blimey, if you add up all our rivals together it is only a million more than we carried by ourselves. Take Britannia out of the picture and we carried the same amount of passengers on our charters as the others put together. I don't know why - but it really gets under my skin - It still does, and I will never understand why we didn't shout out a lot more about ourselves.'
Following the British Air Traffic Control Assistants strike, French and Spanish Air Traffic Controllers also stopped work for a four day period. Up to a million passengers on up to 5,000 flights a day would be affected. One Dan-Air flight was delayed by eighteen hours and a flight departed from Naples twenty seven hours behind schedule as airlines played catch up. Thousands of passengers were stuck in airports around Europe. Flights were affected for three weeks as industrial action continued.
Dan-Air continued to build up its presence in Aberdeen and Sumburgh to coincide with the introduction of more aircraft to fulfil oil related charter contracts. In September the airline forecast that they would have ten HS 748 at Aberdeen by the end of the year. Mr. Robert Willis was appointed as Operations Superintendent (Oil) Aberdeen. Willis who was the Operations Supervisor at Gatwick would start his new role on October 1st. New cabin staff were also being recruited to be based at Sumburgh to provide charter services to Gatwick.
Twickenham Travel of London chartered Dan-Air's 727 for a series of flights to Tel Aviv and Elait. The flights from Gatwick would operate for the Winter season. Red Sea Holidays and Sovereign Holidays also chartered Dan-Air aircraft for winter sun holidays to Israel. Cabin crew would be trained at Aberdeen for the first time this year. With several aircraft based at the city it made sense to train staff there. Male cabin crew were not employed by Dan-Air, but this year saw applications invited for 'Loadmasters' these male members of staff would be required to serve drinks and act as cabin crew on oil support charters operating from Scotland. These staff would also be required to load mail and small cargo loads on aircraft. It was felt, that given the nature of some of the Scottish services, a more robust style of operation required a more robust member of cabin crew.
For the winter months a company Comet was chartered by oil drilling firm to carry out charter flights to Asturias in Spain for crew change flights from Aberdeen. the flights would depart every second week from October to December. Tees Side Airport also joined the oil charter network with flights going from there to Glasgow and Sumburgh.
The Civil Aviation Authority would soon impose a levy on landing fees that would affect Sumburgh. The local Chamber of Commerce said that while rich oil companies could afford the extra £5 on every fare, ordinary Shetlanders would find the hike difficult. Whilst the British Airports Authority said they were considering charging airlines for passenger handling and ground services that many airlines provided for themselves. This would affect airlines like Loganair who would have to pay the BAA for things they performed themselves much more cost effectively, they would also lose their contract to handle Dan-Air. This was considered a large enough contract for Loganair who were able to meet their own overheads from Dan-Air alone. Loganair had several subsidised flights to serve remote islands. Dan-Air now flew an average of 14 flights a day in and out of Sumburgh and during the first eight months of the year carried 85,310 passengers. their passenger total in September was 15,552, which was twice the number of those carried on British Airways scheduled flights.
On October 27 the CAA awarded licences for British Caledonian to operate several Scandinavian services out of Gatwick and awarded British Airways licences from Gatwick to Dublin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Zurich. Dan-air had applied for several licences from Gatwick and all of them were refused, as were British Island Airways' applications. The CAA said:
'In order to strengthen Gatwick and develop the services that are already there, the authority believes it is vital to build as quickly as possible a network of scheduled services to destinations which will yeild a high level of inter-line traffic. Gatwick services will be developed effectively by those airlines that can promote Gatwick as an inter-change point through a network of world-wide promotional opportunities. It is also desirable that the operators on the major connecting routes should be strong enough to compete with some of the world's major airlines. Gatwick will not be sufficiently developed without the substantial and committed involvement of British Airways. This shall, from the start include the highest possible proportion of business routes. The transfer of predominately leisure services alone, where inter-lining is minimal, would do little or nothing to attract new airlines. It is more likely that foreign airlines will choose Gatwick as well as Heathrow on short-haul routes if British airways do so to. But British Airways operations at Gatwick cannot be made exclusive, and for this reason, Gatwick and its services could not be adequately developed without the substantial involvement of its principle resident operator, British Caledonian in the provision of additional connecting services.'
(Editor's note - Gatwick cannot be made exclusive - Dan-Air's applications all denied - The CAA behaved appallingly to Dan-Air on this instance, and for that matter, British Island Airways. How could such blatant bias be shown against them? Not a single licence to Europe. How could the airline offer inter-linking with other airlines if they were denied the right to fly to international cities.)
A massive air-lift to get 3,000 oil supply workers home in time for Christmas was planned in December. The 3,000 were workers, and their families based on the Sullem Voe Oil Terminal. this giant task was undertaken by Dan-Air between Friday 16th - 22nd December sixty flights were operated to get them all home. Between January 6th and 12th sixty flights would operate in the opposite direction. Most flew direct to Glasgow and Belfast, but some would fly to other airports like Aberdeen. The operation was administered from Aberdeen on two of the day Dan-air had to take over a village hall four miles away from the airport to carry out check-ins for the flights. Additional staff were drafted in to help and police moved in extra men to help with security procedures. After the flights had been completed a spokesman said; 'Everything went remarkably smoothly, I don't think there is another airport in the world that could have expected such co-operation.'
The year wrapped up with considerable success for the airline. Passenger numbers were higher than ever, profits were up, the fleet size was at its largest and the engineering division had expanded, employing 1400 in three bases. The Boeing 727 fleet had increased to eight models. The Boeing 707 fleet also grew with an extra aircraft purchased this year; the last that the airline would acquire. Cabin crew enjoyed flying long haul, but many of them have told this site's webmaster that they often felt nervous on the 707 because it felt old and shaky. Pat Martin, a stewardess on the 707 said:
'When you were in the rear galley, you could actually feel the tail swaying as it flew. I would sit anxiously as it went up the runway.'
Fred Newman, the company chairman, said at the time 'The Boeing 707 was not being successful for Dan-Air - it was the wrong type of aircraft for our style of operation.'
The BAC 1-11 was a different story altogether. A company spokesman told the press in 1977;
'The BAC 1-11 is a marvellous machine, we can operate it with between 86 and 119 seats, depending which model, it is ideal for the job. This means we can even take the aircraft as far as Tenerife with a lower capacity without a re-fuelling stop. Cities like Bournemouth are a long way from London, and whilst a Boeing 727 can be filled easily from Gatwick, it is perhaps too large for Bournemouth. But Tour Operators are more confident filling a 1-11. Our entire fleet is intentionally flexible. No other charter carrier has such flexibility as we do. We have nine aircraft types that have differing layouts from 40 to 189 seats. Quite literally we can tailor those aircraft to suit any customer. Some of our competitors have single types and in the aviation industry one size certainly does not fit all. You couldn't for instance take a Boeing 737 to Sumburgh.'
The obvious short-coming Dan-Air suffered was the Comet. Purchasing new jets was certainly expensive, they also had waiting lists. The Comet fleet had been purchased outright - but the fuel costs were astronomical. Still, the balance sheet, when adding fuel, maintenance, and purchase price together - favoured the Comet - but only just. The Comet's long term operation simply wasn't sustainable. The problem of sourcing spare parts was becoming ever more difficult. The decision was finally made, that the remaining aircraft would be retired by 1980. Dan-Air, and Fred Newman had placed a great deal of faith in the Boeing 727 as the ultimate Comet replacement.
Among senior management however, there was a lot of talk about investing in the Boeing 737. Group Chairman, Fred Newman had resisted pressure from Martin O'Regan the finance director and commercial director, Errol Cossey to 'leap frog' ahead of main rival Britannia Airways and purchase the Boeing 737 200 ADV. This advanced model had greater range than the standard 200 series already operated by Britannia Airways and could take off and land at the airports that the 200 series couldn't. Discussions were ongoing, but always met with the same response from Newman, a firm 'No'.
It is worth noting that the UK economy in 1977 was not in the best of health. Several airlines had lost money. Dan-Air had remained in profit at a time when the whole industry was in real difficulty. The following year would be the company's silver anniversary. It was reported that the fleet was already 70% utilised for the next summer.
New Routes:
- Gatwick - Strasbourg - 1st April
- Bristol - Cardiff - Cork - 4th April
- East Midlands - Birmingham & lsle of Man 21st May
NETWORK & PRESS 1977
1978
Dan Air's Silver Jubilee year of 1978 was to be a record breaking year in terms of passengers carried. For the first time, in the airline's history, more than four million passengers were carried (4,010,000). The Comet fleet was practically obsolete and a concerted phasing period was well under way during 1978. Nevertheless, thirteen Comets were active on several charter flights. The obvious problem facing Dan-Air was a lack of affordable aircraft on the market. It would be futile for Dan-Air to offer charters at significantly higher rates than their competitors for them to travel on an aircraft that was inferior to those of other airlines. Alan Snudden, Martin O'Regan and Errol Cossey were all senior members of the company board, and had begun to show their irritation at the company Chairman, Fred Newman's refusal to obtain new aircraft. In some cases it was reported that Comets had been obtained for as little as £6000. These would not see service, instead they would be broken up for spare parts. The Boeing 727 had been chosen as the Comet's successor and was still in production, but the cost of them was beyond what Newman was willing to invest.
The price of jet fuel continued to affect the airline industry and in particular Dan-Air. The following chart is a fairly comprehensive list of contemporary airliners. In blue are the types that Dan-Air operated and in red the types flown by competitors. It shows the fuel consumption in kilograms per hour, and the typical seat capacity in charter configuration is in brackets. Whilst this is not an absolute or exact list, a lot can be gained from the figures. Pilots talked at length to me to explain that fuel consumption is a lot more of an exacting science than what is shown on this list. Aircraft burn more fuel at higher speeds and less at cruise. With that in mind, one can aim for an average hourly rate of fuel burn. It is also fair to say that different airports had varying landing, take-off, parking charges as well as differing fuel prices. The most fleeting glance shows that a little over a decade ago, a Dan-Air Ambassador burned a mere 600 kg per hour. The Comet, for all its undeniable charm, consumed up to 5,200 kg per hour and carried roughly only 50 more people. The Boeing 737 operated by Britannia Airways used only 2,800 kg per hour. In fact, Dan-Air's Airbus A300, introduced in the 1980s used less fuel carrying 336 passengers, than the Comet did. Monarch were hindered with their Boeing 720 guzzling 6,400 kg/h. Even British Airways could only take comfort from their Trident fleet, knowing they primarily worked on profitable shceduled services. The BAC 1-11 compared well with the 737, but carried 11 fewer people. Only a few years before this year, Dan-Air had introduced the Comet on the Liverpool- Amsterdam service, and based on this basic list, the aircraft could have burned as much fuel as the HS-748 would burn in seven hours. The decision to withdraw from long-haul ABC charter flights was a good choice. The profits had not been forthcoming and the whole operation was costly. Aircraft with technical issues were left down route for hours undergoing repair. Crews had to be accommodated in hotels as replacement crews flew back to the UK. Dan-Air had a fine reputation for being able to operate any kind of flights and to that end - the company had carried out the operation. Whether it fitted with the overall style of business that Dan-Air had pioneered was debatable. Some of the existing 707s still with the airline would be leased to other operators, sold on or used on European charters. The Boeing 707 was older, more prone to technical problems and had found itself in a very crowded market. Laker Airways and British Caledonian had obtained licenses to operate Transatlantic Scheduled Services, and Laker had visions of commencing low cost flights between the UK and the USA. It was an ideal time for Dan-Air to withdraw.
DC 3 Dakota - 230 kg/h (36)
DH Dove - 100 kg/h (8)
DH Heron - 180 kg/h (12)
Ambassador - 600 kg/h (45-55)
Comet 4B - 5,200 kg/h (119)
Comet 4 - 4,400 kg/h (99-106)
Comet 4C - 4,000 kg/h (99-119)
BAC 1-11 (500) - 2,800 kg/h (119)
Boeing 727 100 4,140 kg/h (131-142)
Boeing 727 200 - 4,500 k/h (ADV 4,860 kg/h) (189)
Boeing 737 (200) - 2,800 kg/h (130)
Boeing 737 (300) - 2,400 kg/h (149)
Boeing 737 (400) - 2,600 kg/h (170)
Boeing 707 - 6,800 kg/h (189)
HS-748 - 800 kg/h (48)
Vickers Viscount (700) - 1,299 kg/h (70)
BAe 146 100 - 1,180 kg/h (88)
BAe 146 300 - 1,920 (110)
DC 9 (40) - 2,900 kg/h (90)
Airbus A300 - 4,770 kg/h (336)
Douglas DC 8 - 6,200 kg/h (188-220)
Trident - 4,260 kg/h (110-115)
F27 - 660 kg/h (45)
F28 - 2,00 kg/h (70)
HP Herald - 770 kg/h (45-50)
Boeing 720 - 6,400 kg/h (156)
Tupolev 154 - 5,300 kg/h (120-180)
Caravelle - 2,400 kg/h (128)
Convair 990 - 6,300 kg/h (121)
One of our pilot contributors told us;
"The 707 aircraft that we had were, frankly clapped out. They had carried out the job they were purchased to do, no more, no less. They simply went across the Atlantic and beyond on charter flights. They were sometimes used on flights to the Canaries as well. I had transferred from the Comet to the 707 before joining the 727 permanently. My conversion couldn't come quick enough. When the 707 was at its maximum take off weight it would send a shiver down my spine. Gatwick has a long runway and thank God it has. 'Tango Golf' in particular I felt, only just managed to get airborne before you ran out of runway, it tests your constitution you know. Our 707s had come from Pan Am's first batch of the type and it showed. The damn things regularly went tech down route, so that meant engineers from overseas had to work hard to repair them. It led to disgruntled passengers blaming staff. Far too many times we were sat in the flight deck at the gate with a full aircraft all set to go....You start the push back and the tug is released. Then some warning light came on - something was wrong, which meant that we had to go back to the stand. Everyone had to deplane and wait. Worse still would be that passengers would have to sit on board the aircraft for hours if we couldn't get back on stand. We would have to put people up in hotels, all at expense to us. Our reputation was getting a hammering on a daily basis. Someone wrote to a newspaper saying the brochure had promised in flight entertainment, of course there was none. They called the aircraft 'dilapidated' which was a little harsh, but, perhaps, not altogether inaccurate. We did have the capability to plug in headsets for audio entertainment. Which we eventually provided after the Jetsave programme was underway. The 707 might have been ok, when it went tech if it meant an extra night in a hotel and a three hour flight back from Spain, but when you are facing an eight hour flight and jet lag, people, understandably wanted the aircraft to leave on time and get home on schedule. One year on the aircraft was enough for me. After that I transferred to the 727. My main theory now, and I think then, was that Dan-Air's abiding flaw was a reluctance to invest in new equipment. We had by far, a bigger company than Laker, so, if he was able to get DC10s, why didn't we? There has always been more ways than one to acquire aircraft, lease them, buy them in instalments. Dans had all the resources to handle the flights themselves. I think they were downplaying themselves and sticking with the public's perception of us as a cheap charter airline."
In Flight Entertainment 707 Style (Courtesy Heather Kaan)
The usual round of training flights at Newcastle and Tees Side airport were underway in January with the now usual complaints from residents over noise levels. One resident had made a substantial complaint that the landing charges at both airports were 'unreasonably low' This resulted in the district auditor being called in to investigate. the probe concluded that two airports, both subsidised by Durham County Council were competing against each other. The directors at both airports subsequently agreed to charge the same fees. The increase in revenue would only amount to an extra £100 at Newcastle and a similarly small amount at Tees-Side. County Councillor Peter Dawson of the Environmental Committee said that both directors were fearful of losing revenue if they refused any of the flights, saying: 'They are worried that Dan-Air will go to somewhere like Majorca if local airports are made to charge more. Both directors at both airports now feel they have gone as far as they can go with charges.' When the committee were told about the revenue the council gained from Dan-Air's purchase of fuel yielded a considerable profit they accepted the decision.
The new year got off to a flying start with Dan-Air managing to ferry almost 3,000 oil support workers to Sumburgh after bringing them to the mainland for Christmas. Between Friday 6th and Tuesday 10th of the month 60 flights took-off. The busiest of days was the Monday. To cope with Dan-Air's oil charter work an additional HS-748 was acquired. bringing the total fleet based at Aberdeen to eleven. Additional cabin staff were being recruited for the extra workload.
Dan-Air's Engineering's base at Manchester Airport had started a few years previously with 100 employees, by 1978 350 people worked at the base, making it the largest employer at the airport besides the owners Manchester Council. In late January it was announced that DAE Manchester had been awarded contracts to maintain the aircraft of Fred Olsen Lines, The Sultan Of Oman, Royal Swazi National Airlines and Cyprus Airways. The maintenance of the BAC 1-11, Viscount and HS 748 of these companies would be carried out at the base. This would happen alongside contracts already in place with the Ford Motor Company, Aer Lingus and British Caledonian.
In January, The Newcastle Evening Chronicle compared two services from the city to London, Dan-Air to Gatwick and British Airways to Heathrow. The Dan-Air review was outstanding. The piece said the check in staff were chirpy and professional, and the cabin crew were in a class of their own. The BAC 1-11 offered a hot breakfast with Bacon, Eggs, Mushroom and Crispbread with Marmalade. A glass of grapefruit juice and tea or coffee. The British Airways flight to Heathrow had no food, just hot drinks. Dan-Air's staff had handed passengers their coats and wished everyone a pleasant day. Their flight was on time, and the BA flight delayed 15 minutes. When questioned about the lack of a meal, BA said that 'The majority of passengers were businessmen and a meal was not on their list of priorities'. BA also said the Dan-Air flight was TEN MINUTES longer - giving staff the time to serve breakfast! The journalist disagreed. He said that he was charged exorbitant 49p' for a sandwich and coffee at Heathrow. the only snag for Dan-Air was the £2:25 train journey to London itself. It was just 80p to travel from Heathrow to the capital by underground. Dan-Air charged £24:80 for the flight, British Airways fare was £26.
The number of oil industry charter flights had grown substantially. To meet the demand, the HS 748 fleet had grown in number to eighteen. A 19th came in the shape of a leased model from Mount Cook Airways of New Zealand. During a difficult time two HS 748s collided when a strong gust of wind blew one aircraft off its chocks. The airliner whizzed 20 meters past a French Caravelle smashing the flight deck window of the French airliner with its wing-tip, before bumping into another 748. One other HS-748 took off and developed an engine fault within minutes of the aircraft becoming airborne. It returned to Aberdeen airport safely.
The HS 748 was widely used on the scheduled service network, including the Isle of Man, which was now served by Dan-Air from eleven UK airports. The airline applied for a second time to serve Sumburgh on their scheduled network from Newcastle with a possible stop at Dundee or Edinburgh. The Newcastle - Bournemouth route was increased to a daily service. Further new services commenced including Gatwick-Bergen on 1st April, and just two weeks later, the Gatwick-Jersey service was restarted. Finally on 27th May the Bournemouth - Isle of Man and Jersey-Cork services commenced.
The Bristol-Amsterdam service was to be increased to twice daily return flights. They were timed to connect with Canadian Pacific Air's services to western Canada. The CP Air spokesman said; 'Dan Air have done a splendid job feeding passengers to our flights that we both agreed that a second daily flight would work with another flight we operate from Amsterdam. We believe that there is no need for Transatlantic passengers to travel into London. The difference in flying time is minimal anyway and our fares are attractive.'
To mark the occasion of the silver jubilee, Dan-Air were looking for a new corporate look for cabin and ground crew. In Spring 1977 all girls were invited to fill out a for asking what they would like to see in a new uniform. The new look would have to be popular with a thousand girls, it should not wilt in the heat of Hong Kong, nor leave its wearer turning purple from cold in Toronto. It should also be able to withstand the blustery wind on a wet Shetland Island and be relaxed in the mid summer sun at Greece. Management initially chose a brown and beige but were shocked by the universal rejection of the new uniform by senior cabin crew. Management therefore turned the task of getting it right over to the Cabin Crew Department. Questionnaires were sent out to all girls asking what colours they would like to wear and how they wished their new image to look. Replies were quick to come in, some complete with detailed sketches of what they wanted. A pattern quickly emerged that the girls wanted skirts with blouses, trousers and dresses. With jumpers, tank tops, jackets and coats. Almost unanimously they wanted materials that didn't crease and colours that would flatter. The House of Mansfield had once again been chosen, and despite the original uniform being rejected, and after several meetings, a new design was created. The cornflower blue outfit came with lemon blouse and summer dress. Trousers were optional, or a skirt with a cream overcoat and blue bowler style hat to complete the look. The new uniform was presented in April, ready for the jubilee in May. The new look was nick named 'Mix and Match'. Cabin crew were free to wear the uniform in whatever combination they chose. Denise, a stewardess from 1972-1980 recalls:
'My first uniform was the red one, which I did actually like, although I always thought my legs were a bit chunky for a mini skirt. I wasn't keen on the hat with that one, I then wore the midnight blue one, which I detested. The blouse was crimpolene and had this floppy neck tie that flew in your face if there was a gust of wind. It had baggy sleeves that always ended up getting stained. Then we had a Navy blue one with red piping, which was a lovely design, it was just a little hot for me, because it was a wool blend. When this came out I was really pleased with it. It addressed problems that a lot of us had complaints about. The blouses were short sleeved for a start, so they wouldn't get stained with shepherd's pie! It was lightweight, and if were were in winter we could wear trousers and a jumper. We were even allowed to wear boots if it was heavy rain - but only on the ground. As soon as we were inside the aircraft we had to wear shoes. The had was the best we had. Our instructions were that we had to have it one inch above our eyebrows. If we had to tie our hair back - we did so with a matching blue ribbon. The neck tie could be one in one of three styles. White gloves in summer and dark blue in winter. No jewellery apart from a watch or wedding ring. At some point I believe we were permitted to wear a pearl necklace and matching earrings. The first carnation of the new uniform had a flaw - when you washed it, all the little compass and flag logos ran. I thought I had done something wrong and was going to get into bother. But it was a problem for everybody. I did feel a bit special in that uniform. We were even supposed to wear the hat on our way to work. There was no denying what we were and who we worked for, as a brand I think it was pretty much perfect.'
And as for the rejected uniform? The ground staff at Gatwick Handling were given it, they were not so fortunate in having the option to reject or amend it!
Above: The mix and match uniform (left) The rejected new look went to Gatwick Handling agents (right)
An application to serve Cork in Ireland from Cardiff and Bristol twice weekly had been a success and in April a third weekly flight was started. Plans was submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to operate scheduled flights from Newcastle and Dundee or Edinburgh to Sumburgh in Shetland. In view of Dan-Air's twelve aircraft permanently based in Aberdeen and their unsurpassed operating record on the Shetlands it was widely believed that the application would be successful. It took six months for the CAA to decide they didn't agree with Dan-Air or local businesses and the applications were rejected in October.
El-Al, the national airline of Israel, was affected by industrial action in April. The airline approached Dan-Air to help. El Al chartered a Boeing 707 which flew out to Israel and return passengers to Gatwick. The aircraft would then operate the Stansted - Tel Aviv service. Dan-Air would operate both Stansted and Gatwick flights until the industrial action was settled a month later.
The topic of new aircraft acquisition was high on the company agenda at board level. There were further, detailed meetings between company Chairman Fred Newman, Finance Director Martin O'Regan and Associate Director Errol Cossey, Cossey had been instrumental in bringing new types to the fleet. He had obtained the Comet, BAC 1-11 and both Boeing 707 and 727 and successfully seen their introduction. As the decade had progressed, it was pointed out to Newman that there had been enquiries from Tour Operators who also were keen to see Dan-Air obtain the type.
An improved version of the 737, the 200 Advanced had better fuel efficiency, a longer range and could land at airports the 200 series could not. The service life of the Comet was coming to its end. It was obvious that the type couldn't remain profitable. Its fuel consumption was astronomical and obtaining replacement parts was getting more and more difficult. Intasun, one of Dan-Air's largest clients had, for several years waited until the majority of Dan-Air's flights had been chartered, before coming in at the last minute and taking spare capacity or late-night departure times, which were much cheaper to operate. This had been seen as a win-win for both companies. However, against the back-drop of increasing fuel prices following the oil crisis of 1973 - Dan-Air were finding it increasingly difficult to offer Intasun the rates at which it was prepared to contract its business to Dan-Air.
Errol Cossey became convinced that he could offer Intasun these rates without any difficulty, and therefore do a lot more business with them, if Dan-Air had more modern aircraft with a substantially lower fuel-burn and overall lower direct operating costs in its fleet. He was also aware that Britannia Airways, Thomson Holidays' sister airline and Dan-Air's main rival in the charter market, had already begun building up a fleet of brand-new Boeing 737-200 jet planes, which had lower operating costs and a better operational performance than the older, second-hand Comets.
Fred Newman did not agree with the board members. He had rejected their pleas outright. On each occasion the men clashed about a suitable replacement aircraft, and the speed at which it should be obtained. It has never become public knowledge as to how heated the exchanges were, but this website creator has been told by several people that they were not easy meetings. If, as has been reported, Fred Newman had simply dug his heels in, and was just being stubborn, then what followed was a mistake.
It had been stressed to Newman several times now - that it was the only way for Dan-Air to secure its long term place within the competitive charter market. Ordering the aircraft would give them an advantage over Britannia and secure more work with Intasun who were by now the third largest Tour Operator in the UK.
At one meeting O'Regan and Cossey threatened to leave the company - Newman refused to meet their demands. Instead Newman announced he had ordered two Boeing 727 200 series jets. The larger model of a type already in service with the airline. He claimed that the longer range and increased passenger capacity model did put Dan-Air into a different league from rival carriers. Only the Boeing 707 had a similar capacity but the latter burned almost 2000 kg per hour of fuel more than the 727. Cossey and O'Regan were furious and left the meeting.
Fred Newman later had talks with the airline's Managing Director; Alan Snudden, hopeful of a sympathetic hearing. It comes as no real surprise that Alan Snudden shared the same viewpoint as Cossey and O'Regan. And extraordinary meeting was convened. At this final meeting, Newman is alleged to have told the board that the fleet proposals were all in place and did not include the Boeing 737. Operating turnover had increased from £79.4 million to more than £100 million. Pre-tax profits were down from last year's £1.8 million to £802,000. Newman blamed 1977's Air Traffic Control disputes for much of the losses. He also claimed that fleet changes for 1978 would concentrate activities and bring about a better financial result next year. Finally he told the assembled board that the Boeing 727 200 would join the fleet in 1980.
Exasperated at being ignored, Martin O'Regan and Errol Cossey left the company. At the time it was not known what their intentions were. Shortly afterwards Alan Snudden then left the airline and took up a position as Managing Director with Monarch Airlines, where one of his first moves was to order brand new Boeing 737 200 ADV. Captain Alan Selby knew all of the men;
'I won't go into the board room discussions, I wasn't there, but the general picture is clear for all to see. I think even the most junior member of staff would have been able to work out the situation. I have no idea why Fred Newman made the decision that he made. I do know that it was a terrible position that he took. Those three men, four if you include Newman had more airline knowledge that perhaps anyone else in the country. What is more, Cossey and O'Regan knew from the inside out, everything about Dan-Air. He had the contacts, the knowledge, the facts and figures - the lot. Now, I don't think that it is a good idea to let a board member be in a position to hold a gun to your head. But the man wasn't trying to do the company down. All three of them had done a fantastic job at getting us where we were. O'Regan was the finance director - he knew our position and I am sure he knew we could get the finance package for that aircraft. When they walked out of the company they took all of that know how with them. There is no way of knowing if they were already in the process of joining Goodman's operation, but that is what they did, and I don't think they had revenge on their mind, they were not like that as people. But I think they would have been determined to show Fred that he was wrong. Fred Newman must have felt betrayed and must have been anxious that the damage they might do would be minimal. Over the years I have reflected on that period, O'Regan and Cossey were right. We desperately needed to get the Comet out and replace them with 737s just to stay in business. I have come to the conclusion that it was so very sad and what makes it even sadder is that after all of that anger and bitterness, we ended up ordering the 737.'
As the Easter Holidays approached both Thomson Cosmos and Intasun announced that all of their holidays had been booked up. A new, unwelcome phenomenon began to affect holiday-makers - that of surcharges. Intasun said that holidays that were booked and paid for would still be liable for a surcharge of between £3 and £4 per person. Tour Operators said that the surcharges had come as a result of hotels increasing room rates and higher wages being paid to hotel staff. Thomson said they were 'committed to surcharges' and that clients should expect £2 per person per week as the norm.
In June Dan-Air announced that their passenger figures out of Aberdeen were up 87% which was welcome news, especially when Harry Goodman, Chairman of Intasun had announced the day before that a new airline was being set up. The as yet unnamed airline had plans to purchase three brand new Boeing 737 200 ADV jets for delivery in Spring 1979. Goodman said the carrier would operate as an entirely separate entity to Intasun. The order, worth £18 would see half of the aircraft's capacity taken up by Intasun and the other half sold to other Tour Operators. The new airline would be able to fulfil 20% of Intasun's total needs. The rest would be supplied by Dan-Air. Goodman went onto say that they had not decided if they would run the airline or have it operate with its own management structure. Behind the scenes those matters had largely been decided. Martin O'Regan and Errol Cossey had joined the airline. (Later in the year newspaper advertisements began, with a campaign to recruit cabin staff and flight deck crew for a new, still unnamed airline to be based at London Gatwick with a strong presence at Manchester.) In a very short time, several Dan-Air staff at various levels, left the company and joined the new airline, including the training Captain and a training stewardess. Just how much information Dan-Air knew about any of this, is speculative.
The formation of the new airline had quickly gone from an airline on paper, to a real airline. It would be the UK's first new airline in over a decade. By October, the firm orders for three aircraft were revised with two additional aircraft ordered for delivery in late 1979. Intasun had enjoyed a boom in 1978 which saw an increase of 17% in their bookings. They now claimed to be the second largest Tour Operator in the UK.
Four 130 seat jet aircraft can fly half a million passengers in a year. Intasun was Dan-Air's biggest client. Throughout the year Air Europe actively targeted Dan-Air crews for recruitment in their new company. The media interest in the new airline couldn't be ignored. At the start of the next season these aircraft would be flying UK holiday-makers to their destinations. Parked next to them would be Dan-Air Comets. Captain Alan Selby continues;
'From my point of view it didn't matter one bit. I was in the flight deck. The Comet, again from my point of view, performed as well as the Boeing 737, and in many respects better. It handled beautifully and was known to be hugely over-powered. I was salaried, and the economics of an airline isn't on your mind when you are doing what you love to do. The thrill of flying is what keeps most pilots doing the job. You aren't a fool, you know that your airline had to be profitable or you won't have a job. It might have been a thrill to fly the new 737, but I was perfectly happy. Air Europe would have to match my seniority, which sees a pay increase every year. In reality though - we had twelve or thirteen Comets in '78 and there was no way that we could replace them in time for the start up of Air Europe. I'm not even sure that Newman had the desire to do so. Fred Newman was a delightful man, but he was known to be frugal, even when the company and himself were very wealthy. When all this happened he had almost a year to replace the Comets en masse. That is what he should have done. Begged stolen or borrowed the money to finance replacements. It would have been wise to have made sure that at least some of the new ones were brand new. I knew he wouldn't though - he didn't even own a new car....'
More scorn was poured on the Comet in the press, when a Coventry journalist was delayed 32 hours after his pilot ran out of flying time.'Delays followed delays due to snow and fog. Eventually the crew ran out of flying hours and no replacement aircraft or crew could be found. The journalist said he never wished to see the inside of Milan airport again. He called the Dan-Air Comet 'Ancient but elegant'.
The Flagship Boeing 727 flew exclusively the charter flight programme and the eighth of the type joined the fleet this year. The 727s were based in Manchester and Gatwick. The tri-jet would also reposition in other UK airports with smaller programmes before returning to their base. Their utilisation rates were among the highest of any airline. Each of the aircraft flew for over twelve hours a day. Boeing 727s were also based in West Berlin. One Dan-Air 727 flight witnessed high drama when a passenger went into labour, two months early. The flight had departed from Tenerife, when one of the passengers, Mrs. Carole Walker, who was seven months into her pregnancy, felt contractions at the airport in Tenerife, and had boarding 'Hoping for the best' Walker hadn't informed Dan-Air she was expecting, had no holiday medical insurance and couldn't afford to stay in Tenerife and pay for hospital and hotel costs. As the flight progressed, Walker's contractions began to intensify as the pressurised cabin and gravity played their part. Eventually her contractions made it apparent that the baby was not going to wait until the aircraft had landed. The Captain asked on the public address system if there was anyone medically trained on board. Fortunately Jessie Morley, a trained midwife, stepped forward. The delivery turned out to be a complicated breached birth. Despite this, Jessie calmly went about her business. Her only surgical equipment being the aircraft's first aid kit and a pair of scissors, borrowed from the crew that were sterilised with the flame from a passenger's lighter! Stewardesses also found some towels a kitchen roll. The aircraft's emergency oxygen was delivered in an effort to help Carole with pain. Cabin crew then moved Mrs. Walker to the front of the aircraft where there was a little more room. Female passengers then formed a circle and used coats and blankets to form a screen, giving Mrs. Walker a little privacy, and to avoid the 'theatre' When the baby was born she wouldn't breathe. Without any surgical equipment Jessie used her little finger to clear the baby's airways before administering mouth to mouth resuscitation. The baby's cries were heard over the whine of the jet engine. This brought the passengers to their feet. Her baby was delivered as the aircraft passed over Daventry, twenty minutes before the aircraft was scheduled to land at Birmingham. The Captain briefly delayed landing which enabled the baby, a 5lb daughter, to be born in the air - The Mother said 'I knew we didn't have insurance and would have faced crippling Spanish medical bills. I was in so much pain I wanted to scream, but I had to bite my lip and pretend that everything was fine.' Dan-Air gave Mrs. Walker a ticking off and said that if they had known she was that far into her pregnancy they would never have let her fly: 'It is very unusual for a baby to be born this way - but we can't be angry at her for too long, because she has called her daughter DANielle!!'
August 10th saw drama at Maidstone when a leased Vickers Viscount's nose wheel failed to lower. The aircraft circled Maidstone in an attempt to burn fuel and to enable crew to manually lower the undercarriage. Upon landing the nose-wheel collapsed. Fire crews were on scene within seconds and no-one was injured. Several passengers were treated for shock.
Dan-Air were invited along with other carriers to evaluate the brand new Dash 7 turbo prop aircraft which promised excellent efficiency and performance including short take off and landings. De Havilland Canada who manufactured the type were confident UK airlines would purchase the aircraft. Dan-Air did indeed expand their fleet, but not with Dash 7s. Instead they purchased another HS-748, this time purchased from Mexicana. The aircraft was the eighteenth of the type and would be based at Aberdeen for oil supply charters. The total number of HS 748s now based at Aberdeen was fourteen. Applications were submitted in August for a scheduled service to operate nine flights a week from Stansted to Jersey.
Female Captain on the HS-748 fleet, Elizabeth Overbury was awarded woman of the year at a ceremony in Shropshire. Elizabeth was one of three female Captains with the airline. Others served with the rank of First Officer.
The Summer season was blighted by yet another round of industrial action by French and Spanish Air Traffic Controllers. Tour Operators informed passengers to 'expect the worst'. Birmingham airport reported delays of up to eighteen hours. Manchester Airport had similar delays. Dispute went on to affect 100,000 people. On top of this, Manchester was undergoing runway improvements that would be undertaken at night. For many nights Dan-Air and other carriers had to divert their aircraft to Liverpool, ferrying passengers to and from Manchester to Liverpool for flights.
The Unfair Contract Terms act came into force this year. The law was resisted by the operators who had always included exemption clauses in their terms and conditions. This covered all external suppliers, such as airlines, hotels and transfer coaches. For example, If a person died as a result of fire or a coach crash the liability was passed onto the Tour Operator. The CAA also announced new measures designed to please consumers, they would however displease Tour Operators. Firstly, Travel Agents were no longer to be under legal restrictions to offer travel incentives. From now on, they were allowed to offer inducements such as beach towels, bags, and even sun cream as an incentive to entice holiday makers from one firm or another. The Tour Operators would provide these goodies. Another rule change was to be far more wide reaching; In July 1978 the CAA gave approval for a Danish Tour Operator; Tjaereborg, to start selling directly to UK customers. For the first time people could book an international holiday without visiting a travel agent. A huge TV campaign followed, providing a telephone number to call for a brochure. Once the customer had chosen their holiday they could then phone the call centre at Tjaereborg, who would advise, in real time, prices and availability. Travel agents had traditionally sold holidays on behalf of Tour Operators with a commission of between 10 and 15%. Tjaereborg's owner, Elif Krogagor, also owned his own airline; Sterling, who sold 600,000 holidays a year to Scandinavians and Germans. Krogagor was now attempting to take a share in the UK travel market. Quick to follow, with a similar product was a Swedish company - 'Vingresor' who had cornered about 40% of the Swedish market. This new concept was quickly accepted by UK consumers, but the industry itself was not so keen. Some of the flights were flown by Dan-Air who were only too happy to have a new client. The Tour Operators in the UK, on the other hand, were furious and a dispute broke out. Appeals to the CAA fell on deaf ears. Tour Operators, naturally, were worried that these direct sales companies would almost certainly take some of the business from the established UK Tour Operators. When Tour Operators realised that their attempts to stop the direct selling of holidays had failed, several, established companies went on to start up similar operations of their own. Portland Holidays is one such example, they were a subsidiary of Thomson Holidays. Portland ran alongside their parent company, and unlike Thomson, chartered plenty of Dan-Air aircraft. Thomson decided that Portland would become a direct sell Tour Operator, leaving Dan-Air unsure if it would remain a client. In this new, very competitive market, Portland had to work very hard to earn any market share at all.
It wasn't long before Tour Operators realised that there was a substantial market for direct selling holidays. In fact the Tour Operators would not have to pay any commission to Travel Agents. Office space and equipment were all that was required. Michael Croft from Hogg Robinson, one of the UK's largest Travel Agency chains recalls;
'I was based in Leeds and loved my job. I had qualified in my industry with recognised certificates. Legally people were not supposed to sell airline tickets without such qualifications. Our industry newspapers advertised for supervisors to give training on these direct sales companies. The actual agents didn't need to be qualified. Well they wouldn't would they if they were just inputting data in a computer and taking payments for late availability holidays. People still payed for holidays by cheque in the post back then. I was worried that I would lose my job. But I was safe for a few years. Back then the industry was magical.'
Travel Agents bitterly resisted all attempts to interfere with their industry. As often happened in the travel industry; there was a fight for ownership of Tour Operators. Vingresor was quickly swallowed up by Thomson and Tjereborg was taken over by Owners Abroad in 1987, which was seen as a bold, high risk strategy. Harry Goodman's ILG and Intasun continued to carve a sizeable share of the market. Never shy of publicity, Goodman was unapologetic in boasting that his holidays were 'cheap and cheerful'.
Sumburgh Airport was closed for three hours on Monday 23rd October when a company HS 748 skidded off the end of the runway and became jammed in the mud. The aircraft with 27 passengers on board had landed the aircraft on a charter flight carried out on behalf of Shell. Fire and emergency vehicles arrived on the scene and the aircraft was evacuated. No-one on board was injured and the aircraft was not damaged. The airport's second runways was closed for resurfacing, so the entire airport was closed to fixed wing aircraft, apart from a Loganair Islander which was able to land whilst carrying out its inter-island services. At the time of the incident the runway was very wet and there had been fierce cross-winds.
The Civil Aviation Authority had refused licence applications to serve Sumburgh Airport to all but one airline. Loganair had been given approval to operate between Edinburgh and the Shetlands. Dan-Air had hoped they could serve Newcastle, Dundee and Sumburgh, saying 'We didn't want to use Aberdeen as we already had 14 aircraft there operating charter flights and didn't want to disrupt them. The air route we had planned would operate from Newcastle, Edinburgh and Sumburgh. No other airline is serving that route, and we are perplexed as to why the application was refused. We are considering appealing against the ruling.'
The decision was widely criticised by not only Dan-Air - The local Chamber of Commerce had said that the proposed service would link the North East to the heart of the North Sea oil operation. Dan-Air declared they would take the matter up with the Government, going on to point out the the CAA had given a licence for Loganair to fly Edinburgh to Tingwell on Shetland direct charging higher fares and using smaller aircraft than Dan-Air had proposed. Dan-Air would have added Newcastle, Manchester and Cardiff to the network if the flights were a success. Loganair would use a tiny Twin Otter aircraft and charge £100 for tickets. Dan-Air said: 'We believe the CAA made an erroneous assessment of the facts presented at the public hearing and in written evidence.' Loganair had been supported by the Shetland Island Council, and the owners of Tingwell Airport, which had no modern radio aids or facilities. Dan-Air had the support of the Edinburgh and Shetland Chamber of Commerce and the Highlands Development Board. In their statement on October 24th, Dan-Air concluded: 'In addition to the CAA's wrong conclusion we feel the authority did not take due account of the evidence indicating a public need for lower air fares and the importance in the British Caledonian representation in support of the Dan-Air application, or the more suitable type of aircraft offered to the travelling public by Dan-Air.' The CAA said they could not comment on Dan-Air's complaint but that there was an appeals procedure that they can use.
Dan-Air did indeed use the appeals process, but not before writing to the Secretary of State. Outlining why they believed the CAA had got it wrong. In a new twist, the CAA said they had denied Dan-Air the licence because they believed it would do damage to British Airways' Shetland Island services, and that they believed they would not be able to operate profitably with £35 one way tickets. The CAA said the appeals procedure was open for people to use, but that the decision may take weeks, or even months to make its conclusion.
In November, the previously unnamed airline was announced as Air Europe. The company would be part of the ILG group. Five state-of-the-art Boeing 737 200 ADV were on order worth £30 million. Three would be delivered in spring and the remaining aircraft would arrive in summer. Where Intasun had a downmarket brand image, Air Europe would most certainly not be. Most of the cabin crew had been recruited from Dan-Air and Air Europe promised to provide impeccable service and a polished product. Air Europe resolved to serve proper, restaurant-style meals including at least three courses – a starter, a hot main course and a dessert — on all flights, time permitting. This saw bulk-purchase of deep-frozen ingredients only to take advantage of lower rates. Eschewing inbound local catering, the frozen food could stay in the aircraft's holds, which would generally not be filled to capacity. Their aircraft would have more cabin luggage space than any other UK carrier. Martin O'Regan, formerly of Dan-Air said: 'As the airline grows we will be looking at provincial airports for expansion. Manchester Airport will probably be the next airport we go for. It is an ideal northern base for an airline.'
This was in contrast to Dan-Air who's half year losses had come in at £1.8 million. Dan-Air shrugged off suggestions that the losses would become worse, saying they were confident that the end of year results would be favourable. The losses were blamed on the seasonal nature of aviation and the low rates on ship-broking at that time were to blame. The previous year's losses were £967,000 for the first six months. Fred Newman, Dan-Air's chairman said they were happy at improved freight rates and believed the yield from ship-broking would go into profit at year end. Aircraft leasing losses in fact fell from £1.92 million to £1.62 million although there was an increase in depreciation costs from £999,000 to £1.7 million. This reflected the introduction of new aircraft which the board hoped should start to benefit the group in the second half of this year. Dan-Air saw another increase in the first half of this year, and the indications were that despite the difficulties experienced by the continuing French air traffic controllers work to rule, the company should provide better profits this year. The entire fleet was already fully utilised for the whole year. Despite an increase of the losses attributable to shareholders from £475,000 this year to £572,000 this time around. The board declared a bigger interim dividend of 2.178525 pence a share, compared with 2.43474 pence.
Manchester had by now become the second busiest airport for Dan-Air, and was the second largest employer at Manchester. Runway repairs had to be carried out this year - at night! This would affect most charter carriers, who for several weeks would have to divert flights into Liverpool and transport passengers by coach to Manchester. With several late night departures and arrivals Dan-Air was very much inconvenienced, not to mention their passengers.
Air Europe announced that their entire fleet had been chartered for the following year. 1979 would see 2,100 flights carrying 225,000 people to 29 destinations. Renee Manchester was appointed chief stewardess. Renee, who had been a fleet stewardess with Dan-Air had the task of recruiting 80 cabin crew and training them. She would also be responsible for the new airline's uniforms.
Tjaereborg Holidays had seen a runaway success for 1979 bookings. Flights would be carried out by Dan-Air and Britannia. Holidays were a low cost as £64 for a week self catering in Majorca. Newcastle-Gatwick flights were increased to ten each week in both directions. The fare was to be cheaper than those offered by British Airways to Heathrow.
Dan-Air's administration offices, crew training, uniform stores and operations departments were scattered in several parts of Horley, including above a supermarket and above a bank - as well at at Gatwick Airport. A new, purpose built office block was to be built in Horley, housing the many departments under the same roof. This new building would be a two storey development and carry the name; Newman House.
New Routes
- Gatwick - Bergen- Commenced - April 1st
- Gatwick - Jersey Commenced - April 15th
- Bournemouth - Isle of Man Commenced. May 27th
- Jersey - Cork - Commenced May 27th
NETWORK & PRESS 1978
1979
Dan-Air started the year by announcing that they had applied for licences to operate several new routes;
- Tees-Side - Belfast
- Gloucester Staverton - Isle Of Man
- Gloucester Staverton - Jersey
- Manchester and/or Birmingham - Cork
The Tees-Side Belfast flights would have a one-way fare of £27 and the return excursion fare would be just £32. The airline now served the Isle of Man from 12 UK airports. An application to serve Edinburgh-Bergen was submitted in February. Flights from Bristol to Amsterdam were doubled to now operate twice daily in each direction. The aircraft was upgraded to a larger Vickers Viscount.
After a very successful silver jubilee year, Dan-Air knew that their fleet renewal was the number one priority. The departure of Martin O'Regan and Errol Cossey from the board of directors had been a major blow. Dan-Air had been dealt a second blow when it was announced that the two had joined Harry Goodman's of International Leisure Group and launched a new airline; Air Europe, who would commence operations in May of this year using Boeing 737 200 ADV twin-jets.
In March of this year Horizon Midlands announced that they too would be launching a new airline; Orion Airways had ordered three brand new Boeing 737 ADV aircraft. Laker Airways had ordered ten brand new Airbus A300 aircraft with a the intention of launching a new 'Skytrain Europe' scheduled services. These would operate low-cost scheduled services to capital cities Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels as well as serving Scandinavian destinations and southern European sunspots. This alarmed both Dan-Air and Britannia who were fearful that if Laker's applications were turned down, which was highly likely, that Laker would then use the aircraft on charter flights, effectively flooding the market and forcing down the charter rates.
In March 'Fly Drive' services were introduced to Ireland. Dan-Air would serve Cork from Bristol with return fares from as little as £83 for the flight and car hire. Whilst the scheduled services that Dan-Air were operating smoothly, the charter division was having to move quickly to resolve the Comet problem. Air Europe and Orion were the first new airlines in Britain in thirteen years. Air Europe had ambitions to be operating ten Boeing 737 200 ADV by 1983 and Orion Airways would have six of the type by 1980. Dan-Air needed to replace thirteen inefficient, ageing Comets. The Boeing 727 200 was evaluated and would join the fleet in 1980. These aircraft could carry 189 passengers. The Comet aircraft had no cash value and some of those retired from the fleet ended up as Museum features, however, one Comet was obtained from Dan-Air and towed just two miles away, to the Fur and Feathers pub in the picturesque village of Herriard. The aim was to convert the Comet into a restaurant. Villagers were incensed that a 113 foot long airliner would be parked outside the pub. Its tail was taller than the pub! Eventually, irate locals made an official complaint to the local authority. Basingtoke council decided the aircraft should be returned to Lasham where it would be broken up.
In April Dan-Air joined forces with Dutch national carrier KLM to link Bristol with all corners of the world. Dan-Air flights were timed to arrive at Amsterdam in time for connecting flight worldwide. The reciprocal arrangement would see Dan-Air feed their passengers onto KLM flights from Amsterdam to worldwide destination. A similar link up was started at Tees-Side. The Newcastle-Birmingham service was performing better than expected, so frequency was increased to twice daily. There was increased frequency too on the Newcastle - Isle Of Man service. One of our contributors said:
'I think there would be nothing we would have liked to have done more that to feed British Airways passengers into Heathrow from the UK airports that BA didn't serve. But the Civil Aviation Authority wouldn't hear of it. Not just us - but any UK airline. Both organisations had a very high opinion of themselves.'
In March Dan-Air won a three month contract with Aker Offshore to fly twice-weekly charter flights carrying construction workers between Newcastle, Glasgow and Stornaway. Construction workers would be working at Lewis Offshore Ltd at Arnish Point Stornaway. The work would be carried out constructing a rig master platform and flights would use a Hawker Siddeley 748.
In April Dan-Air was able to report that turnover had risen by £16,850,000 to £117,500,000. Whilst pre tax profits soared by from £802,000 to £2,010,000. The first time that profits had ever surpassed the two million mark. The charter fleet was fully booked for the upcoming season as were the 14 HS-748s based in Aberdeen on oil charters. For the first time in the airline's history, the charter fleet was also fully employed for the Winter season. Share prices rose to 150p at the news. Despite the overall gloomy economic picture in the UK, Dan-Air appeared to be bucking the trend. For the first time in the company's history 4,000,000 sector passengers were carried.
British Airways were challenged by Dan-Air in April to take over BA's existing Aberdeen-Gatwick service. Dan-Air said they would operate the service cheaper than British Airways with a standard single fare of £35 which was £4:90 cheaper than BA. There would be off peak reductions as well. The Aberdeen-Gatwick service was the only trunk route that was operated without any competition Dan-Air said 'We expect British Airways to oppose the application. The city's Chamber of Commerce were supporting Dan-Air's application. A few days later, the Chairman of British Airways, Sir Frank McFadzean travelled to Aberdeen after being invited by the Chamber of Commerce, with a view to improve BA's service. The next day Grampian Roads and Transport committee threw their weight behind Dan-Air's application. British Airways had no desire to relinquish the route which was believed to be one of the routes that had seen the biggest increase in passenger numbers. Dan-Air worked hard to win the license, giving 12 positive reasons why they should operate it instead of British Airways. At the hearing, the CAA said that British Airways should concentrate on their Aberdeen-Heathrow service, and Dan-Air should be given the chance to help improve Gatwick as an airport. Dan-Air planned to offer more flights, and fares would be £10 cheaper than BA. Dan-Air would operate two flights each way on Mondays and Friday and three on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There would be a south bound service on Saturdays and a north bound one on Sundays. Dan-Air went on to say that they were willing to improve the service on board. If they were successful with their bid, flights would commence using BAC 1-11 jets, but were willing to use larger aircraft, such as the Boeing 727, should the need arise.
On May 2nd, British Airways objected to the application claiming that they could lose £1,000,000 if Dan-Air were granted a licence. However, a formidable array of oil and oil service companies, national and local authorities were backing Dan-Air. British Airways said; 'We recognise the importance of Aberdeen and want to bring it the best service possible. This involves linking Aberdeen with other vital business centres though a fully co-ordinated service. For example Gatwick and its important inter-line connections to the US. Not everyone was happy with British Airways with companies including BP Petroleum Development, Mobil North Sea, Oceaneering, Wharton Williams and Seaforth Maritime. Support for Dan-Air was also given from Aberdeen Air Services Action Group, Grampian Regional Transportation and Roads Committee, and perhaps most significantly, The Scottish Consumer Council, Airline Transport Users Committee and Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, who in their letter to the CAA said they wanted the hearing to be held in Aberdeen. The CAA said that British Airways had objected and because of a heavy backlog of applications would not be able to convene a hearing until July.
Dan-Air were selected along with Air Ecosse and Donnington Airways to fly Royal Mail letters and parcels. Dan-Air would be operating the Liverpool-Newcastle flights. Liverpool was to benefit from a brand new sorting plant.
In May, a company BAC 1-11 departed Manchester for a flight to Alicante. The aircraft had been airborne for just ten minutes when smoke came into the cabin from the flight deck. The Captain announced that DA2620 would be returning to Manchester. The aircraft landed safely and passengers were taken to a lounge and given refreshments. The aircraft was thoroughly examined before being given the all-clear. The 76 passengers re-boarded the same jet and flew to Alicante.
The official report into the 1977 Lusaka crash was published in May. the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) largely exonerated Dan-Air from any blame. The metal fatigue on the tail's main spar could not have been found with the maintainence guidelines laid down by the CAA. Dan-Air had followed the guides to the letter. The report also pointed out that of the 521 Boeing 707s flying, 7% had been found to have similar fatigue on the main spar. New rules would be laid down for UK operators of the type. Dan-Air did not have to concern itself about that, as the company had decided to withdraw the type from the fleet, just one remained at Lasham, awaiting disposal. The aircraft was eventually broken up.
In May the Gatwick-Dijon route started, with the airline optimistic about its success. Saga Holidays, the UK's leading Tour Operator for the over 60s, announced in June that they had signed a major contract with the airline. Saga would use the airline for the majority of its flights. The 1979 programme would feature 40 destinations. Saga said they had an excellent relationship with Dan-Air and were keen to offer an ever expanding network for both companies.
The Belfast-Tees-Side application was considered at a hearing in Belfast. British Midland Airways withdrew their objection. The Aberdeen-Gatwick hearing came to a close with Dan-Air making their closing statement to the CAA.
'The position now is that the eyes of Aberdeen and the oil industry are on the CAA. You should ask yourselves whether you are going to do something about this scandal or risk becomming a part of it. The prosperity of this country and even its balance of payments depended on the kind of people who had come forward in support of Dan-Air being able to go about their business without unnecessary impediment. The CAA has always been particularly concerned about the oil industry. Services to a destination like Aberdeen should be equal to the best in the country. I have been taken aback at the level of criticism that have been made about the present air service.'
British Airways said 'We have answered many of the criticisms and we would be offering the lowest fare on the Gatwick-Aberdeen route.' The hearing was told that British Airways believed they would make a profit on the route in 1982 and that they had incurred losses of £453,000 in 1977/78 and £520,000 in 1978/79 they estimated that they would be in the red to the tune of £403,000 at the end of the present year. British Airways promised that there would be improvements to the service if they were allowed to continue it, saying they would permanently use jet aircraft instead of the Vickers Viscount and that as soon as traffic increased they would increase the number of flights operated. It was highly likely, they said, that the flights would be operated by the Boeing 737 that was being introduced next year, initially on the Heathrow-Aberdeen service and later on, on the Gatwick-Aberdeen service. British Airways said a poll taken by BP employees that was highly critical of BA had been taken solely because of Dan-Air's application and that employees were aware that BP were supporting Dan-Air.
British Airways had been stripped of its licence to operate Aberdeen-Wick-Sumburgh with the rights being passed to Air Ecosse. British Airways continued to fly the service as an appeal had been lodged. On 30th July Dan-Air were awarded the Aberdeen-Gatwick licence with British Airways being stripped of their licence. A British Airways spokesman said they had not decided on whether to loge an appeal and would reserve their comments until they had fully reviewed the text of the CAA's decision. the CAA said that they had given Dan-Air the licence as it would benefit the development of Gatwick. The spokesman went on to say 'The evidence is that Dan-Air propose to offer a greater frequency and a lower normal fare than British Airway will expect to serve Aberdeen profitably from Gatwick within a reasonable development period.'
The normal return fare would be priced £74 which is £10 cheaper than British Airways. Off peak fares for weekends and mid-day flights would be £63. Dan-Air's spokesman said 'Promises of improvements on this service from British Airways were nothing more than a 'Deathbed Repentance' and that there had been complaints about BA's standard of service, aircraft used, punctuality and fares.'
The Newcastle station manager John Clementson had been effective in his post for four years. He had been a popular figure with staff, who were shocked when he was sentenced to a fifteen month jail term for stealing cash. Clementson was responsible for banking cash from bar and duty free sales. Stewardesses had handed over sealed envelopes and receipts that Clementson took money from. Clementson, was jailed for fifteen months for admitting to 'borrowing' £3655 from Dan-Air, that he never paid back. Clementson had taken the cash from 1976-1978. He told the court that he had 'borrowed' money to pay off gambling debts. He had also began drinking heavily. He co operated with the police and said he was sorry. The crime was discovered following a break in at his office, where £2,000 was stolen from a safe. This led to a full investigation that discovered the discrepancy. Claiming that he was too embarrassed to tell his family, the father of four had co-operated with the airline and the police. His wife did clear the debts ultimately.
The upgrade of the runway Manchester Airport continued to cause a great deal of disruption and expense to many airlines. As repairs could only be carried out at night, charter flights were the only flights affected. Fuel cost $20 (30 cents a gallon) a barrel more at Liverpool than Manchester. The additional cost of then ferrying passengers to and from Liverpool was time consuming and expensive. On top of that, only one supplier of fuel was available, panic ensued when supplies started to run out. British Airtours diverted five Boeing 707 flights to Gatwick rather than risk the extra charge or not being able to refuel. Dan-Air had to divert more than sixty flights a week during this fraught time.
On July 31st, just one day after the Aberdeen-London Gatwick service had been awarded to Dan-Air a Dan-Air HS-748 was involved in a fatal accident in Sumburgh. The aircraft had failed to become airborne and plunged into icy sea at the end of the runway. The pilot attempted to abort take off and braked heavily. Sadly there was not enough runway. As the aircraft hit the water one wing broke off. The weather had been described as 'filthy'. Seventeen people died and 30 were injured. . The aircraft was one of the type recently purchased from Aerolineas Argentinas. Gust locks are used on smaller aircraft to stop ailerons, rudders and moving parts from being moved about by wind. The gust lock control was on the Captain's side and required lifting before being moved to lock or unlocked position. A small part underneath the visible control had been poorly fitted by Argentine engineers. Thus, when engaged by the Captain, the control appeared to be in the correct position. Sadly the gust lock was still engaged as the aircraft sped along the runway. As the crew adjusted flaps and other devices, they had, in fact, remained locked. the aircraft could not take off. Once V1 speed was made, the aircraft appeared sound. V1 is the time a pilot is committed to taking off. By the time he realised the aircraft was not responding, the best he could do was to brake heavily and try to stop the aircraft. This is the most simple explanation, without any technical language. For an in-depth look at the accident, please check out the Full Details.
After the accident, one of the passengers, Joseph McKinnon said:
'We were ready to take off from the runway and the plane seemed to lift, then go down, then try again to lift, and finally went down. The pilot braked and then veered to the left, but the plane ploughed through a fence and went straight into the sea. It was less than a minute before the cabin was full of water. I could not get my life jacket on to inflate, so I threw it away, when I got into the sea. I managed to swim ashore, where two men helped me get out of the water. I was swept by the queue to get out of the rear door into the sea. I think most of those who died were sitting at the front section of the aircraft I think it might have been that the starboard engine had failed.'
A British Airways helicopter and members of a scuba diving club assisted the rescue. Captain Bain of British Airways said
'When we got there we could see a few survivors and bodies in the sea and we picked up those that we could see. The plane was in the sea, about 50 yards from the end of the runway, and was nose down at an angle of about 45 degrees. Only the tail was sticking out of the water and the rear door was about six foot under water. There was nobody left clinging to the fuselage, so we started looking at bodies that had the most signs of life. We winched one man up out of the water and another from the deck of a small trawler. We tried to pick up more, but our winch man was swamped by a large wave. Some of the survivors had managed to swim ashore with the help of wind and tide.'
Another passenger, Keith Dwyer said;
'The young stewardess tried her upmost to keep everybody calm. The water was up to our waists in seconds, but still she was calling to people not to panic.'
The stewardess on the flight Liz Cowe who was 22 at the time of the accident was hailed a hero said;
'I was embarrassed by all the fuss.I just did everything I could. Afterwards I went home and rested in bed. I then had to file my reports. Dan-Air offered to send me and a friend away on holiday if I would like to go on one, before I went back to work. I had no intentions of stopping flying. I had started with Dan-Air in March, I had no intention of being an air stewardess, it just happened. I worked as a civil servant for two years after leaving school. i had applied for other jobs at the time, and the job at Dan-Air was one of those that I had applied for. I spent a month at Gatwick, training, then in April I went onto the normal routes that the girls from Aberdeen did. I flew to the Shetlands many times, and from Glasgow and Aberdeen to the Isle of Man. I didn't want to even think about the crash itself. I was a very strong swimmer, but it was very difficult to swim to shore because the sea was so choppy. My training stood me in good stead, but I was just doing my job. That is what we were there for. Any of the girls would have done the same. I was determined to fly again, I liked being an air stewardess. I wanted to fly on the jets!'
Liz was later awarded an MBE for her bravery.
Passenger Harry Kennedy who was just 21 at the time said;
'She was telling us to put their life jackets on, she was so calm and courageous. Suddenly she was hurled into the sea by a wave. She bobbed about in the sea and still she kept shouting 'Don't panic, we'll make it'
Dan-Air had a heavy heart at the loss of life in Sumburgh. It must be incredibly difficult to carry on operating in such difficult circumstances. That however, is exactly what the airline did. In August there was a hearing; the third such hearing for the Aberdeen - Inverness - Stornaway service. The same day that another Hawker Siddeley 748 was involved in an accident. The aircraft was parked at Stornaway Airport on the Outer Hebrides when it began rolling toward the control tower. Attempts were made to stop the plane, but it eventually hit a parked car. Air Stewardess Angela Wakeling and a 13 years old boy, Calum MaCrae the son of a British Airways passenger officer were on board the aircraft. The car was a write off. Calum recalls:
'I realised the plane was moving so I ran down the steps and onto the tarmac. I was out of the plane before it hit the car, it was quite frightening.'
The CAA said they were aware of the accident, and that a tyre was damaged. It was likely that the aircraft could return to service as soon as the tyre was replaced. The 748 had arrived with 47 construction workers who working at Lewis Offshore Ltd at Arnish Point Stornaway. Dan-Air said they would be carrying out their own investigation.
August was always a trying time for UK airlines, in no small part because of what was becomming an annual event, when either the French or the Spanish Air Traffic Controllers would go on strike. This always resulted in many delays. 1979's dispute was because of the French. Airlines had requested to fly out into the Atlantic and head toward Spain. The CAA claimed to do so was dangerous and thus refused. Manchester Airport's fire department went on strike in September, which saw the airport close for two weeks.
The year has gone down in history as the 'Winter of Discontent' as millions of days were lost due to strike action in almost every sector of British industry. Dan-Air had a period of hostile negotiations with BALPA, the trade union for airline pilots. Trades Unions had, what is now generally agreed, too much power. Many businesses had closed shops, where union membership was compulsory and strike action could be called without any ballot of members. Several companies were brought to their knees by such practices. Most of the largest businesses in the UK were state owned, including several UK airports, British Airways, and a significant number of national companies. British Airways was in a desperate situation they were over manned, poor performing and inefficient. They were in the enviable position in that the Government had to prop them up financially, not matter how badly they operated. The Government had warned BA that improvements, and savings would have to be made. The idea that BA would make redundancies would not be contemplated by the Trades Union, nor, it would seem, the Government itself.
British Airways announced it was dropping 26 of its most unprofitable routes. Those 26 services lost a staggering £5 million the year previous and was expected to rise to £6.5 million this year. The routes included several services from all services from Cardiff, and Bristol as well as most flights from Jersey and Guernsey, The Isle Of Man and Belfast. International services earmarked for dropping were Cardiff, Bristol to Paris and Dublin-Bristol, Cardiff and Paris. Many of the destinations were served by several regional airports. Heathrow, BA's main base would lose services to Leeds/Bradford the Isle of Man and Birmingham. The flag carrier had lost £6.5 million on the services in the last year, saying that high fuel prices were partly responsible. Dan-Air said they were interested in any routes that BA abandoned saying:
'If there are to any cutbacks by BA we would be interested in examining them, we want to increase our services not reduce them. It makes sense to do this at airports where we already have a base, like Bristol.'
Dan Air's Archie Clough said:
'We really thought we could turn the loss-making services into profitable ones. It is difficult to understand why independent airlines could make the savings, but they could. Difficult because our pilots were not paid any less than theirs, nor our stewardesses and ground crews. A British Airways BAC 1-11's landing fees were not any more or less than a Dan-Air one. Fuel prices are the same, in fact, BA had their own ground handling at many airports, so savings could be made. One has to accept that BA had lots of services that were by nature going to be loss making. The kind of services that operate into remote areas to provide mail and medical as well as passenger carriage. But Loganair had been able to make those successful by using small aircraft. BA had just two HS 748 which we had made money spinners on oil supply charter flights. BA really needed to address the size of aircraft they used. They had trimmed to the bone the standard of catering on regional flights and they were guilty of cancelling flights at random. We were only too aware that if we got it wrong we would lose support on services and then no-one was there to bail us out. We knew that without compromising on service, if we kept the operation tight and made small savings and didn't waste money that we could make these services successful. A simple thing like recruiting cabin crew locally from the Shetlands meant that if we had the last flight going into Sumburgh that the crew would go home and not have to be put up in a hotel. They could then go to work the next day. All of that saves money.'
Dan-Air, Air Anglia, British Island Airways and British Midland were quick to announce proposals to take them all over. The independents claimed they had far lower operating costs and that they would be able to operate the flights profitably. Dan-Air were keen to expand their Newcastle network and had flights to Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff and Bristol in their sights in October. A new Gatwick-Newcastle service would commence on November 1st. The airline also joined up with British Caledonian to interlink with their Gatwick-Atlanta service, also in November. In addition to that, Dan-Air were keen to start a new Gatwick-Toulouse service which, it hoped, would begin in October. The CAA increased fares across the board in November making the £37 fare on the Aberdeen-Gatwick rise to £41.50. Airlines registered their disapproval, without any success.
Air Europe took delivery of another Boeing 737 which would be based at Manchester. The aircraft would operate fifteen return flights a week and fly 40,000 passengers. The airline planned to have ten Boeing 737 aircraft by 1983. The two ex-Dan-Air board members who were behind the new airline joined the press launch at Manchester in October. Martin O'Regan said;
'Ringway was selected as our second operating airport after Gatwick because it is perfect for an airline such as Air Europe. The airport is strategically located and communications to and from the city and indeed the rest of the country are excellent. We look forward to a long association with Manchester Airport and with holiday-makers in the North who will fly our aircraft.'
Errol Cossey said;
'In just a few short months Air Europe has become a highly efficient airline run by experienced professionals. Passengers travelling on our aircraft to and from Manchester will enjoy the benefit of flying with the company. We are operating the most advanced equipment on the IT (Inclusive Tour) market, and on our very latest wide-body over-head storage space. Our catering on Air Europe is equal to that on a scheduled airline. We have received hundreds of letters from people who took the time to write to us to congratulate us on our standards of catering. An absolute must for a new airline is a readily identifiable image to project to the thousands of passengers who will fly on our aircraft.'
Before the new Aberdeen-Gatwick service had started, Dan-Air applied to the CAA to increase the fares. They wanted the £37 one way fare to increase to £41 and the £63 off peak fare to increase to £70.Dan-Air blamed fuel prices and increased landing charges at Aberdeen.
Tragedy struck in October, when two oil support workers were denied boarding on an oil support flight because they had been drinking. The two brothers stormed out of the airport and onto the ramp, where airport staff battled to restrain the men. One of the men became agitated and was intent on getting their luggage off the aircraft. The pilot noticed the men on the tarmac and indicated that he should move away. Instead the man waved his fist at the pilot and went towards the aircraft. He walked into the aircraft propeller and was decapitated. Dan-Air refused to accept any responsibility.
On October 12th, Dan-Air announced they had plans to scrap the sixteen flights a week between Lydd and Paris, the airline had applied to the CAA to transfer the services to Gatwick and said: 'We are still talking to the 19 Dan-Air staff who are based at Lydd, but the transfer seems almost certain to go ahead. the scene at Lydd has changed since 1974 when our development was set up for people who wanted to cross the channel by air. We have 16 flights a week to Paris and weekly services to the Channel Islands and they will continue until their closing date, which is October 31st. The market has been pulling away for some time, there are much cheaper ways to get across the Channel from Kent . Dan-Air would continue with their programme of Summer flights to the Channel Islands the following year, should the CAA approve.
The year was boosted with a massive boost to Dan-Air's oil charters. The job of returning workers to Aberdeen was handed to them. Operation Santa Claus saw almost 5,000 oil support workers flown home by the airline. The busiest day of all saw 904 BP workers flying with Dan-Air. This annual event had now become the largest peace-time airlift in the UK. Shetland manager Geoff Fisher, said that 'it was a tremendous achievement and that only Dan-Air had the relevant experience to do.' It was all the more impressive given that a days flying was lost due to the inevitable bad weather.'
Normally flights were carried out using the HS-748 aircraft, but this year a BAC 1-11, two Viscounts and a Comet were brought in to supplement the 748s and two small aircraft from Dan-Air subsidiary company Air Taxi were also used.
Good news also came in December, when the CAA announced which of the 26 abandoned BA routes would go to which airline. Dan-Air were successful with the Bristol/Cardiff-Jersey, Bristol-Cardiff-Belfast, Newcastle-Belfast and Leeds/Bradford-Guernsey all of which they accepted. Other routes went to British Midland and the newly formed Air UK. The remaining 13 routes would be decided in the new year.
Newcastle City Councillors gave Dan-Air a much needed shot in the arm by was of a £25,000 subsidy to keep the Newcastle-Bergen mid-week service flying through the winter. There had been plans to close the route because of rising costs, but Tyne and Wear economic development committee gave the company £20,000 and promised a further £5,000 would be spend on marketing Bergen as a winter destination. Figures revealed that a round-trip cost £4360. With flights half full the company would lose £60,000 if they kept their Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays flights going throughout the winter. The council decided it was vital to keep the link between Bergen and Tyneside open. Councillor Cyril Taylor said that the payment was a 'one-off' and does not commit the council to further payments in future years, saying 'There is unlikely to be another winter where the opportunity build up passenger traffic on this service presents itself co clearly.' The cash came from unspent money which was proposed for shipping between the two countries.
December 10th saw the launch of the Aberdeen-Gatwick service, which had been taken from British Airways. This service would offer passengers hot breakfast or dinner, depending on time of day, free newspapers and a new style of boarding - 'Trickle Boarding'. allowing passengers to board the aircraft as soon as they wanted to, as soon as the aircraft was ready. Flight times were designed to give business travellers a full day in either city. Three flights a day would operate in each direction. In addition, cargo would also be carried on all of the flights. Beaujolais Nouveau is traditionally released on November 14th. The 1979 release, in accordance with the tradition, would be on the table and corks popped on the stroke of midnight. Dan-Air were responsible for getting the 1979 batch to Scotland on time. Passengers on the last flight from Gatwick to Aberdeen were treated to a glass of that year's vintage early with the compliments of Dan-Air. The publicity stunt helped endear passengers toward Dan-Air who were already getting the thumbs up for the service. None of these in flight options had been available to passengers when BA operated the service.
Aberdeen had proved to be a success story for Dan-Air, when the airline commenced flights from the city in 1971 with just one aircraft was based there and 28 staff. In 1979 fourteen HS 748 aircraft were based at the airport and a BAC 1-11 jet for the new services. Now more than 200 people were employed at the base. The HS 748 flew up to 25 flights a day on oil related charters alone. In addition a scheduled service operated to the Isle of Man.
The BAC 1-11 fleet grew by one, and two Vickers Viscounts were obtained, primarily for use on the Channel Islands Services. Viscounts were based at Lydd Airport.
In November Dan-Air announced that flights operating from Lydd to Paris (Beauvais) would be transferred to Gatwick following the CAA's approval. The flights had carried 42,481 in 1979 which was 5,000 fewer passengers than the previous year. Lydd Airport said that they were 'disappointed but not despondent.' Dan-Air stated that the market for the service had been 'drifting away' for some time because there were so many cheaper ways of getting across the channel from Kent.
Air Europe had a promising start with their first year. Dan-Air chairman, Fred Newman's refusal to purchase new Boeing 737s was a bad decision. Thomas Cook, it was reported, had made it very clear that they wanted Boeing 737 aircraft to fly their passengers for the 1980 season. They claimed that if Dan-Air did not acquire the 737 jets, that Thomas Cook would not charter Dan-Air aircraft. Another Tour Operator that chartered Dan-Air aircraft was Horizon, who announced that from Summer 1980 many of their flights would be operated by their new 'in house' charter carrier, Orion Airways, which would be based at East Midlands. Dan-Air would have little option other than to join the ever growing number of 737 operators, to ever be able to compete.
Towards the end of the year, Dan-Air finally agreed to purchase the new model. Talks began with other carriers with a view to leasing the new type. They would be second hand, as was the usual practice with Dan-Air. One former pilot told us;
"Honestly, when I answer your questions, it sounds like I am having a dig at Dan-Air, and I am not. They were the best airline I have ever worked for. I don't know why Fred Newman wouldn't entertain the idea of getting brand new aircraft. We had this sizeable fleet and a very larger turnover and profit. Although a £2 million profit from a turnover of £117 million would appear strange in any other industry, that is how low margins are in aviation. However, there was not a cash flow problem with us. All the charter fleets were always booked for the whole season ahead, and even the winter season was full. When aircraft were taken out for major maintainence. I don't believe Harry Goodman walked into Boeing with a cheque book and said 'I'll have five 737s please. Here's the cheque'. He had much less by way of collateral than we did. Fred Newman was older, and probably less of a risk taker. We had become experts at acquiring the same types of aircraft that other airlines had, but they had been flown by other airlines first. That was ok with the 1-11s they were young-ish when we got them. As we entered the 80s I am not so sure. We certainly were not a laughing stock within the industry. We were very highly regarded in how we operated. I'm not so sure that's the case with what we operated. My honest opinion about this period is that the Comets did a hell of a lot of the damage to our image. They were flying for a full year and a half after Air Europe had the 737 200 ADV. They were flying for twelve years alongside Britannia's 737s. In that regard, we looked like also rans. It was at this time that the 'Dan Dare' nick-name was in full swing. That was something I detested. Even though many years later I think it had become a term of endearment. I certainly wasn't one of the people who had sentimental feelings about the Comet, yes they were marvellous to fly. Probably horrendous in 1980 to be a passenger on. My real hope was to have a whole new ethos in the eighties. I think we achieved that. I must confess to feeling envy when I went along the pier at Manchester looking at Air Europe's 737s either side of one of our Comets. They really did look dreadful. Elegant in many ways, but not at all when you want to project yourself as a modern, progressive company. "
In total, 3,591,000 passengers were carried in 1979, a new record for a UK independent airline. A new agreement with Intra Airways was signed, allowing each airline to use each other's aircraft on the Carlisle, Staverton and Swansea to Jersey and Guernsey services. By the end of the decade, people were travelling further and more often. It was also clear that people were now opting to take self catering holidays. The role of the in resort representative was changing as well. Holiday-makers were becoming less reliant on them. Smaller Tour Operators, offering a more personalised service were complaining that the giant firms were deliberately trying to undercut them with huge, loss leading discounts on holidays. The smaller companies could never compete with them. Dan-Air aircraft were being chartered by more and more of these smaller companies. It was vital that they retain their working relationship as they entered the new decade.
New Routes:
- Gatwick - Dijon - Commenced May 1st
- Newcastle - Birmingham - Isle of Man - Commenced May 23rd
- Gatwick - Aberdeen - November 1st (Taken over from British Airways)
- Gatwick - Toulouse - December 16th
NETWORK & PRESS 1979
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