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{{Short description|Defunct private airline of the United Kingdom (1970—19881970–1988)}}
{{For|the airline that currently uses the IATA code BR|EVA Air}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox airline
| airline = British Caledonian
| imagelogo = British caledonian 80s logo.svg
| image_sizelogo_size =
| IATA = BR
| ICAO = BCC
| callsign = CALEDONIAN
| founded = {{start date|1970|11|30|df=yyes}}<br /><{{small>|(amalgamation)</small>}}
| ceased = {{end date|1988|04|14|df=yyes}}<br /><{{small>|(merged into [[British Airways]])</small>}}
| hubs = [[Gatwick Airport]]
| headquarters = London{{bulleted list|
| [[Gatwick Airport<br/>]] {{small|(1970–1980)<br/>}}
| Caledonian House, [[Lowfield Heath]], [[Crawley]], [[West Sussex]], [[UnitedEngland, Kingdom|UK]] {{small|(1981–1987)}}}}
| key_people = {{bulleted listubl|class=nowrap
| Sir Adam Thomson
| John de la Haye
| [[Sir Peter Masefield]]
| Alastair Pugh
| Capt. P.A. MacKenzie
| David Coltman
| Ian Ritchie
| Trevor Boud
| Leonard N. Bebchick
| Frank A. Hope
| Dennis H. Walter }}
| parent = {{ubl|class=nowrap
| Caledonian Airways Ltd<br/> {{small|(1970–1981),}}
| Caledonian Aviation Group PLCplc {{small|(1982–1985),}}
| British Caledonian Group plc {{small|(1986–1987)}}}}
| subsidiaries = {{ubl|class=nowrap
| subsidiaries = several, including <!-- British Caledonian Aircraft Trading (1974–1987),<br/>British Caledonian Airways Charter (1982–1985),<br/>British Caledonian Flight Training (1985–1987),<br/>British Caledonian Helicopters (1979–1987),<br/>British Caledonian Travel Holdings (1982–1985),<br/> -->[[Cal Air International]] (1985–1987, joint with [[Rank Organisation]])<!-- Caledonian Airmotive<br/>(1981–1986),<br/>Caledonian Airways (Charter) (1970–1982),<br/>Caledonian Airways (Leasing) (1970–1974),<br/>Caledonian Equipment Holdings (1970–1974),<br/>Caledonian Far East Airways (1985–1987),<br/>Caledonian Hotel Holdings (1985–1986),<br/>Caledonian Hotel Management (1970–1984),<br/>Caledonian Leisure Holdings (1985–1986) -->
| British Caledonian Aircraft Trading {{small|(1974–1987)}}
| fleet_size = 26 jet aircraft <!-- <br/>(5 [[Boeing 747#747-200|Boeing 747-200]]s,<br/>8 [[McDonnell-Douglas DC-10#Longer range variants|McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30]]s,<br/>13 [[BAC One-Eleven#The One-Eleven 500, 510ED and 475|BAC One-Eleven 500]]s)<br/> --> as of 21 December 1987
| British Caledonian Airways Charter {{small|(1982–1985)}}
| destinations = 40+ as of 21 December 1987<br/>([[British Isles]], [[Continental Europe]], [[West Africa]], [[Southern Africa]], [[Middle East]], [[Far East]], [[North America]])
| British Caledonian Flight Training {{small|(1985–1987)}}
| British Caledonian Helicopters {{small|(1979–1987)}}
| British Caledonian Travel Holdings {{small|(1982–1985)}}
| [[Cal Air International]] (50%) {{small|(1985–1987)}}
| Caledonian Airmotive {{small|(1981–1986)}}
| Caledonian Airways (Charter) {{small|(1970–1982)}}
| Caledonian Airways (Leasing) {{small|(1970–1974)}}
| Caledonian Equipment Holdings {{small|(1970–1974)}}
| Caledonian Far East Airways {{small|(1985–1987)}}
| Caledonian Hotel Holdings {{small|(1985–1986)}}
| Caledonian Hotel Management {{small|(1970–1984)}}
| Caledonian Leisure Holdings {{small|(1985–1986)}}}}
| fleet_size =
| destinations =
| website =
}}
 
'''British Caledonian''' ('''BCal)''') was a private independent airline in the [[United Kingdom|British]] privatethat independentoperated airlinefrom which1970 operateduntil outit ofmerged with [[LondonBritish Gatwick AirportAirways]] in south-east England1988. during the 1970s and 1980s. It wasoperated createdprimarily asfrom an[[London alternativeGatwick toAirport]] thein British governmentsouth-controlledeast corporationEngland. airlines andBCal was describedformed asby the "Secondmerger Force"of in[[Caledonian theAirways]]<ref 1969 Edwards report. It was formed bygroup=nb>then the UK's second-largest, independent [[charter airline]]</ref> [[Caledonian Airways]] taking overand [[British United Airways]] (BUA),.<ref group=nb>then the largest British independent airline and the United KingdomUK's leading independent scheduled carrier</ref> It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlines and was described as the "Second Force" in the 1969 Edwards report. The carrier slogan was ''Let's go British Caledonian'' in the 1970s and ''We never forget you have a choice'' in the 1980s. The BUA takeover enabled Caledonian to realise its long-held ambition to transform itself into a scheduled airline. The merged entity eventually became the UK's foremost independent, international scheduled airline.
 
A series of major financial setbacks during the mid-1980s combined with the airline's inability to grow sufficiently to reach a viable size put the airlineit at serious risk of collapse. British Caledonian began looking for a merger partner to improve its competitive position. In December 1987, [[British Airways]] (BA) bought the airline. The Caledonian name was used to rebrand BA's Gatwick-based subsidiary [[British Airtours]] as [[Caledonian Airways (1988)|Caledonian Airways]].
 
==History==
 
=== Inception ===
[[File:British_Caledonian_Boeing_707_at_Gatwick.jpg|right|thumb|British Caledonian [[Boeing 707#707-320C|Boeing 707-320C]] at [[London Gatwick Airport|Gatwick Airport]] in June 1975.]]
On [[St. Andrew's Day]] (30 November) in 1970, Caledonian Airways acquired British United Airways (BUA) from [[British and Commonwealth Holdings|British and Commonwealth]] (B&C) for [[£]]6.9 million.<ref name="Atlantic_growth12">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1973/1973%20-%202399.html "BCAL Atlantic growth"], ''Flight International'', 20 September 1973, p. 466</ref><ref name="Profile_1592">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%20-%201974.html "Airline Profile: Number Forty-Two in the Series — British Caledonian"], ''Flight International'', 3 August 1972, p. 159</ref><ref name="risk256_7">{{harvp|Thomson|1990|p=256-7}}</ref> Caledonian Airways also purchased three new [[BAC One-Eleven#The One-Eleven 500, 510ED and 475|BAC One-Eleven 500]] aircraft, which B&C had [[Aircraft lease|leased]] to BUA, for a further £5 million.<ref name="CA_BR2">"Second Force at last", ''Flight International'', 29 October 1970, p. 659</ref><ref name="risk256_7" />
 
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Following the interim period, Caledonian Airways (Prestwick) Ltd and British United Airways Ltd were merged into British Caledonian Airways Ltd (BCal).<ref name="Atlantic_growth12" /> All former BUA aircraft were repainted adopting Caledonian's [[Aircraft livery|livery]] featuring a prominent Scottish [[Lion (heraldry)|Lion Rampant]] on its aircraft's [[Stabilizer (aircraft)|fins]]. At that time, all aircraft were named after famous [[Scottish people|Scots]] and well-known Scottish places. This tradition was continued throughout the airline's 17-year existence. Some BCal aircraft were also allocated out-of-sequence registrations. (For instance, G-BCAL was allocated to one of the Boeing 707s, G-CLAN<ref>[http://www.airliners.net/photo/British-Caledonian/Piper-PA-31-350-Navajo/0676592/L/ Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain G-CLAN (photo)]</ref> and G-SCOT<ref name="private_feeder">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1978/1978%20-%200109.html "B.CAL opens feeder link"], ''Flight International'', 21 January 1978, p. 165</ref> were the registrations of the [[Piper PA-31 Navajo|Piper Navajo Chieftains]], G-DCIO was the registration of the eighth [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10|DC-10]] and G-HUGE was the [[Boeing 747-200|Boeing 747 Combi]] registration<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%200669.html "BCal Saudi routes approved"], ''Flight International'', 9 March 1985, p. 7</ref><ref>{{harvp|Thomson|1990|p=512}}</ref>)
 
The "Second Force" inherited BUA's extensive network of scheduled routes serving the [[British Isles]], [[Continental Europe]], [[Africa]] and [[South America]].<ref name="Atlantic_growth2">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1973/1973%20-%202400.html "BCAL Atlantic growth"] ''Flight International'', 20 September 1973, p. 467</ref> Its scheduled ambitions were aided by the [[Her Majesty's Government|British Government]] transferring to it BOAC's [[West Africa]]n trunk routes to [[Nigeria]] and [[Ghana]] as well as the corporation's [[North Africa]]n route to [[Libya]].<ref name="Atlantic_growth12" /><ref name="risk262_263">{{harvp|Thomson|1990|p=262-3}}</ref><ref name="route_transfer_package">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%200475.html "Rest of the Package"] ''Flight International'', 1 April 1971, p. 440</ref> These routes represented only 3% of BOAC's annual, worldwide turnover.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%201486.html "Green light for second force"] ''Flight International'' 6 August 1970, p. 186</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%201558.html "Second force under way — The second-force statement"] ''Flight International'', 13 August 1970, p. 228</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%201557.html ''Second force under way'', Flight International, 13 August 1970, p. 227]</ref><ref name="Profile_160">[http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1972/1972%20-%201975.html ''Airline Profile: Number Forty-Two in the Series — British Caledonian''], ''Flight International'', 3 August 1972, p. 160</ref>
 
The Government also agreed to let it serve [[Casablanca]] in [[Morocco]] from [[London Gatwick Airport|Gatwick]] in competition with BEA's service from Heathrow.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201485.html "Caledonian/BUA"] ''Flight International'', 12 August 1971, p. 245</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1974/1974%20-%200287.html "British Airways loses Casablanca ..."] '' Flight International'', 28 February 1974, p. 257</ref> Furthermore, the Government agreed to license BCal to operate non-stop scheduled services between London and [[Paris]] and to begin negotiations with the French authorities to secure reciprocal approval for BCal to be able to commence scheduled operations on what was then the busiest international air route in Europe.<ref name="Atlantic_growth12" /><ref name="Profile_160" /> BCal moreover received Government assurances that it would be designated as the UK's sole flag carrier on all routes transferred to it and that it would be assisted in obtaining traffic rights for additional, selected scheduled routes where it wished to compete with the corporations, including the lucrative London—[[New York City|New York]] and London—[[Los Angeles]] routes.<ref name="Atlantic_growth12" /><ref name="ch4" />
 
Another important concession by the Government designed to improve the competitiveness of the "Second Force" was to permit it to provide a [[First class (aviation)|first class]] cabin on its [[East Africa]]n routes.<ref name="route_transfer_package" /><ref name="risk273">{{harvp|Thomson|1990|p=273}}</ref><ref name="class_restriction">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%200990.html ''Caledonian/BUA'', Flight International, 17 June 1971, p. 883]</ref> (BUA, from whom BCal inherited these routes, had been prevented from offering a first class on its East African routes. To compensate for this loss of competitiveness, [[Sir Freddie Laker]], BUA's managing director from 1960 to 1965, had come up with the idea of designing a cargo door to be installed on the left-hand side of the forward [[fuselage]] of that airline's long-haul [[Vickers VC10|VC10s]], where the first class cabin was normally located. This modification permitted the carriage of additional freight instead of first class passengers on the East African routes.)<ref name="class_restriction" /><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1960/1960%20-%200543.html ''Britain Goes It Alone'', Flight International, 15 April 1960, p. 543]</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1960/1960%20-%200741.html ''The New Pattern Takes Shape'', Flight International, 27 May 1960, p. 741]</ref><ref>''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, pp. 88/9</ref>
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=== 1974 crisis year ===
The creation of British Airways (BA) as a result of the 1974 BEA-BOAC merger came against the background of the first global [[1973 oil crisis|oil crisis]] in the wake of the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War|Arab-Israeli War]], which led to the quadrupling of the price of a barrel of oil as a consequence of the decision by the [[OPEC|Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries]] (OPEC) to boycott the West in retaliation for its support of [[Israel]] during that war. This meant that the newly merged corporation's original revenue and profit projections were far too optimistic. During that time, BA began exerting pressure on the Government, at the time its sole owner as well as the regulator for all UK airlines, to curtail the activities of its independent competitors generally and of the "Second Force" in particular.<ref name="2F2T">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1975/1975%20-%201063.html ''Second-force second-thoughts'', Flight International, 19 June 1975, p. 961]</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2015|reason=source does not say BA pressured government, not that BA projections were optimistic, nor mention 1973 war}}
 
The difficult operating environment at the time did not affect BA alone. In fact, the major scheduled airlines were all losing enormous amounts of money at the time. The sudden spike in the oil price caused a major recession during the second half of 1974 as well as the first half of 1975, with much reduced demand for air travel. This in turn led to the collapse of a number of prominent travel companies and their associated airlines — most notably the [[Court Line]] group and [[Horizon Travel|Horizon Holidays]], the latter having provided work for three BCal short-haul aircraft prior to its collapse.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1974/1974%20-%200178.html ''Court Line bids for Horizon'', World News, Flight International, 7 February 1974, p. 158]</ref> There was also massive overcapacity on the [[North Atlantic]] routes.<ref name="overcapacity1">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1975/1975%20-%201317.html ''BCAL and the North Atlantic'', Flight International, 24 July 1975, p. 109]</ref><ref name="overcapacity2">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1975/1975%20-%201318.html ''BCAL and the North Atlantic'', Flight International, 24 July 1975, p. 110]</ref>
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=== Expanding eastwards ===
As a result of the network structure BCal had inherited from [[British United Airways]] (BUA), an exclusive North-Southnorth–south airline, it became a predominantly North-Southnorth–south orientated carrier as well. The predominant North-Southnorth–south route structure had been further reinforced by the 1976 "spheres of influence" policy, which had locked the airline's long-haul operation into two continents&nbsp;— [[Africa]] and [[South America]].<ref>''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., 1990, p. 375</ref><ref name="punchbag_33">''The Caledonian punchbag'', ''Flight International'', 21 March 1987, p. 33</ref>
 
BCal's [[senior management]] realised that it needed to develop the traffic flows across its network in an East-Westeast–west direction to increase the network's reach and to enable its passengers to make omnidirectional flight connections. This was also essential to enable the airline to increase its [[economies of scale]] and to reach the minimum size envisaged in the Edwards report.<ref>''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., 1990, p. 340</ref><ref name="competitive_imbalance">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1979/1979%20-%204307.html ''The immaculate prospectus'', ''Flight International'', 24 November 1979, p. 1746]</ref>
 
BCal's new Gatwick—Dubai—Hong Kong route was intended to be just the first step in this expansion to the East.<ref name="risk378" /><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1980/1980%20-%200009.html ''B.CAL challenges BA for Far-East routes'', ''Flight International'', 5 January 1980, p. 7]</ref><ref name="expansion_package">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%200806.html ''Soviet airspace warms up'', ''Flight International'', 5 April 1986, p. 8]</ref> The Hong Kong route had come about as a result of the UK government decision in 1979 to open up the lucrative route between London and the [[Crown Colony]] of Hong Kong to additional competition.<ref>''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., 1990, p. 377</ref> This was to be provided by a second British scheduled carrier to ease the shortage of capacity passengers were experiencing at peak times on the [[monopoly]] service operated by BA from Heathrow to Hong Kong.<ref name="risk378" /> BCal, [[Laker Airways|Laker]] and [[Cathay Pacific]], Hong Kong's airline and its ''[[de facto]]'' "[[flag carrier]]", all applied to the CAA.<ref name="risk378" /><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1979/1979%20-%202433.html ''B.CAL drops Concorde plans but asks for Hong Kong licence'', ''Flight International'', 30 June 1979, p. 2331]</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1979/1979%20-%202825.html ''Three carriers seek licences for Hong Kong route'', ''Flight International'', 4 August 1979, p. 311]</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1979/1979%20-%204463.html ''Short hauls ...'', ''Flight International'', 8 December 1979, p. 1895]</ref>
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* On 24 September 1971, a [[Vickers VC10|Vickers VC10 1103]] (registration: G-ASIX) was hit by [[clear-air turbulence|clear air turbulence]] (CAT) en route from [[Santiago de Chile]] to [[Buenos Aires]] while operating the first sector of BCal's weekly Santiago–Gatwick schedule. While the aircraft was cruising above the [[Andes]], it encountered CAT above the [[mountain|mountain peaks]]. This resulted in the aircraft being thrown up on to its side at a greater-than-90-degree angle, and then tossed, headlong, nose down, towards the up to {{convert|27000|ft|m|abbr=on}} high peaks just a few thousand feet (several hundred [[metre]]s) below. The severity of this incident injured an [[flight attendant|air hostess]] who was working in the rear galley and knocked out the powered control units (PCUs) of almost every [[flight control surface]], leaving the aircraft to plummet downwards at a speed approaching [[Mach number|Mach]] 1. The crew managed a successful recovery and reset the aircraft's PCUs. Following the aircraft's safe landing at [[Ministro Pistarini International Airport|Buenos Aires]], a thorough ground check was performed before the aircraft was allowed to resume its flight to Gatwick. A detailed inspection of the aircraft at Gatwick revealed a fracture in one of the [[fin|tail fin]] support [[spar (aviation)|spar]]s, necessitating a lengthy repair. On an airliner with wing-mounted engines under the same circumstances, the engine mounting pins would probably have snapped.<ref>[http://www.vc10.net/History/incidents_and_accidents.html#G-ASIX%20The%20Andes%20incident Incidents and Accidents > G-ASIX The Andes incident] www.vc10.net</ref><ref>''Classic Airliner'' (VC10 – The story of a classic jet airliner: Disposal of British Caledonian VC10s), p. 59, Key Publishing, Stamford, 2015</ref>
 
* On 28 January 1972, a [[Vickers VC10|Vickers VC10-1109]] (registration: G-ARTA) sustained severe structural damage to the fuselage as a result of an exceptionally hard landing at Gatwick at the end of a short ferry flight from Heathrow. The airline decided that repairs were not cost-effective and the aircraft was [[write-off|written off]] and scrapped at Gatwick in 1975.<ref name="Profile_1592"/><ref>[http://www.vc10.net/History/Individual/GARTA.html Individual Histories: G-ARTA] A little VC10derness vc10.net</ref>).<ref name="Profile_1592"/><ref>''Classic Airliner'' (VC10 – The story of a classic jet airliner: Disposal of British Caledonian VC10s), p. 60, Key Publishing, Stamford, 2015</ref><ref>[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19720128-0 ASN Aircraft incident description Vickers VC-10-1109 G-ARTA — London Gatwick Airport (LGW)]</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202663.html "BUA/Laker Tie-up"], ''Flight International'', 21 November 1968, p. 813</ref>
 
* On 19 July 1972, a [[BAC One-Eleven#The One-Eleven 500, 510ED and 475|BAC One-Eleven 501EX]] (registration: G-AWYS) sustained substantial damage as a result of aborting [[takeoff]] from [[Corfu Airport]] too late. The aircraft had passed through a pool of standing water close to its [[V1 speed|decision speed]] during the takeoff run. This caused a temporary reduction of engine [[thrust]] which the flight's commander interpreted as engine failure requiring an immediate rejection of takeoff. The flight deck crew's decision to abandon their takeoff was delayed and as a result, the aircraft did not stop on the runway but, after crossing some rough ground, finally came to rest in a {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}}-deep [[lagoon]]. None of the six crew members and 79 passengers was seriously injured in the crash, but an elderly female passenger collapsed after being helped from the aircraft and subsequently died of [[cardiac arrest]] on her way to hospital.<ref>[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19720719-0 ASN Aircraft incident description BAC One-Eleven 501EX G-AWYS — Corfu Airport (CFU)]</ref>
 
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==Further reading==
* {{cite book| author=Thaxter, D.J | title=The History of British Caledonian Airways 1928–1988 | year=2009 | publisher=Unknown Publisher | isbn=978-0-95640-432-9}}
* {{cite book|author1=Bristow, A. |author2=Malone, P. |name-list-style=amp| title=Alan Bristow Helicopter Pioneer: The Autobiography (Chapter 17 – Airline Ego Trip, pp. 253/4) | publisher=Pen & Sword Books | place=Barnsley, UK | year=2009 | isbn=978-1-84884-208-3}}
* {{Cite journal | title=Airline History – The BCal STORY: "I wish they all could be Caledonian Girls!" |journal=Jets Monthly | pages=40–45 |date=November 2011 | publisher=Kelsey Publishing Group | place=Cudham, UK}} ([http://www.kelsey.co.uk ''Kelsey Publishing Group'' online])
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* [ Privatisation of British Airways: Its Management and Politics 1982–1987 (Kyohei Shibata, EUI Working Paper EPU No.93/9, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, 1994)]
 
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[[Category:British Caledonian| ]]
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