Originally Posted by
subject2load
Ah yes … Dan Air …… (or
Dan Dare 
) ……. very much a household name back in the day. Also Wardair ….. very low cost, although perhaps mostly known as a Canada specialist.
They were certainly ‘nothing like the current LCC’s’ in terms of scale or network coverage, true. BUT not sure I would agree on the matter of relative cost. What changed the air market from the early 70’s was the arrival of cheap charter travel, with some tour operators setting up their own in-house airlines (innovative back then) ; key examples being the likes of Clarkson’s, Intasun, Horizon et al who began pushing all-inclusive 7 day packages to (a seemingly exotic !) Benidorm or Majorca for as low as £50. This meant that (even allowing for inflation-adjusted price comparison), a large section of the population which had previously been excluded from overseas air travel, due to cost, were suddenly able to take advantage. And of course they DID …. in droves.
.
Wardair Low Cost? Did you ever fly them? They were simply wonderful and were not low cost in the slightest. The service offered aboard was, I would say, better than the stuff passengers aboard J class on either AA or BA.
You are correct about the charter carriers - but you could not of course book them without a package. There were those who bought packages which were bunks in some dormitory in order to fulfil the rules. Portugal was particularly strict. I know I worked them when I first joined BCAL.
Getting back to the thread. It is a sad state of affairs. It is a sorry state of affairs. This is the state of affairs at BA. We have all been through it and I am sure that this is not over. However, may I say that American have altered every single flight on my next itinerary with cancellation and re timings. Two wrongs do not make a right, but BA is not alone.