British European Airways Operations 1971 in Glorious Colour – Now on JetFlix TV

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BEA British European Airways 1971 Operations - 25th Anniversary FilmBEA British European Airways was the UK’s State owned domestic and medium haul airline until it merged with BOAC to form British Airways in 1973.

This promotional film was produced to celebrate BEA’s 25th Silver Anniversary in 1971, and highlight the airline’s accomplishments and operations during that year. BEA and associated airlines operated an all British built fleet of airliners including the Vickers Viscount and Vanguard, the BAC One Eleven, the Hawker Siddeley Trident and of course the De Havilland Comet 4.

The latest and greatest airliner in the BEA fleet in 1971 was the Trident 3 with its impressive CAT III autoland capability. Famous British Test Pilot John Cunningham appears in this film to explain the capabilities of the Trident 3.

Although the Trident 3 gets most of the screen time in this all colour film, we also get glimpses of BEA Comet and Vanguard aircraft. The films touches on every aspect of the airline’s operation from pilot and flight attendant training, cabin services, reservations, to maintenance, and winter operations, filmed at a snowy Zurich Kloten airport.

All in all, this film is a fabulous snapshot time capsule look back at a great British airline during its heyday. But don’t take our word for it. JetFlix TV member Mario Vuksanovic sent us the following message after he watched this video:

Hi Henry, I heartfelt thank you for providing this film about BEA 1971.

It just so happens that it hits home for me.

In August of 1971, I was 9 years old….my family and I flew to Europe

Our flight was on a BEA Trident 2 from Belgrade to London.

We boarded by stairs. I was a kid so I didn’t have to duck as I entered through the front main door.

We sat in first class.

The stewardess immediately came over to me with a gift.

It was a special book that BEA would give to children.

It was a book about BEA aircraft and the routes that they flew.

It had a special page with rub off images of BEA aircraft….so you could have a fun time placing the aircraft images on the colorful pages of BEA’s popular destinations.

It was better than a colouring book…but as the engines started..I was paying full attention to what was happening outside the window.

Of course I loved the big red wings…and how swift our take off was.

It was a mid day flight and it was a crystal clear day with. large cotton ball clouds.

The time passed quickly and the captain announced that we were close to London, to prepare for landing.

The weather below was the typical rain storm with heavy cloud cover. Suddenly we decended from a crystal clear blue sky to a dark gray mixture of rain.and clouds causing the entire ship to slightly vibrate on a continues basis.

Soon after that, Heathrow airport”s runway lights could be seen. as we landed in heavy rain.

As we touched down and rolled down the runway, it seemed that the air-conditioning was letting in outside air that had a slight scent of jet fuel.

It was business as usual for this highly professional BEA crew .

We landed, taxied and pulled up to the gate without a fault.

It was comforting to hear the captain welcome us to London as he spoke with a British accent.

As an american, I felt great admiration for English aviation know-how…

As we deplaned , I took a long last look at our majestic ship through the large terminal window covered with rain drops.

I couldn’t help but notice the smart looking design of the Trident 2 and how befitting the color scheme was….especially the stylized union jack on the tail.

Your film brought back this wonder memory.

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