History of British Airways

The predecessor companies of British Airways (BA), the United Kingdom's national airline, go back to five airlines established in the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1922. The first of these was Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), which operated the world's first daily scheduled international flight for commercial aviation in 1919.

The present company was formed in 1974 with the merger of the two largest UK airlines, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), and including also two smaller regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. The merger was the completion of a consolidation process started in 1971 with the establishment of the British Airways Board, a body created by the British government to control the operations and finances of BOAC and BEA, which initially continued to exist as separate entities.

British Airways acquired the supersonic Concorde in 1976, operating it on transatlantic services. The same year it assumed sole operation of international flights to North America and Southeast Asia from rival British Caledonian. The formation of Virgin Atlantic in 1984 began a tense rivalry, which led to "one of the most bitter and protracted libel actions in aviation history".

Under the leadership of Chairman Sir John King and CEO Colin Marshall, British Airways was privatised in February 1987, and in July of the same year, it launched the controversial takeover of British Caledonian. Following privatisation, British Airways entered a period of rapid growth, leading to the use of the slogan "The World's Favourite Airline", and dominated its domestic rivals during the early 1990s. Faced with increased competition and higher costs in the mid-1990s, CEO Bob Ayling led a restructuring effort, leading to trade union clashes; the carrier also invested in regional European airlines, courted international airline partnerships, and attempted a controversial ethnic livery rebranding campaign.