First memory of BA?
Jun 10, 2018, 12:37 pm
#16
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Frozen north
Programs: BAEC Silver, HiltonH
Posts: 49
1968 flying from LHR to Sydney.
Dad worked for the then BOAC and we flew standby on a staff family ticket. From memory we went LHR > FRA (always remember being bussed out to the aircraft with Dave Allen and one of his associates sitting opposite us - he grinned and held up his hand with the missing finger) - then some combination (can't remember exactly after all these years) of Abu Dhabi/ Bangkok/Bombay/ Hong Kong /Darwin - got offloaded at Brisbane for a while then managed to get on an Ansett flight on to Sydney. We were made members of the Junior Jet Club and got our log book and badge. Also got a certificate for crossing the equator.
Goodness me, really brings back some memories now.
Dad worked for the then BOAC and we flew standby on a staff family ticket. From memory we went LHR > FRA (always remember being bussed out to the aircraft with Dave Allen and one of his associates sitting opposite us - he grinned and held up his hand with the missing finger) - then some combination (can't remember exactly after all these years) of Abu Dhabi/ Bangkok/Bombay/ Hong Kong /Darwin - got offloaded at Brisbane for a while then managed to get on an Ansett flight on to Sydney. We were made members of the Junior Jet Club and got our log book and badge. Also got a certificate for crossing the equator.
Goodness me, really brings back some memories now.
Jun 10, 2018, 1:27 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 2,660
Absolutely lovely story by the OP, and actually quite interesting as it is sparks my own first memories of BA, albeit these memories came from considerably before I took a BA flight.
As a youngster, my family used to vacation each year in Barbados, and indeed my first trip there would have been as an infant in the mid '70s. We lived on the east coast of the US, however, and would generally fly JFK-BGI with AA (once on BWIA, though our experience with them was not to be repeated).
Sitting on the ground at BGI, onboard what AA then called "Luxury Liner" planes (usually a DC-10, sometimes in the '80s a 757), I'd look out the window at a majestic 747 in BA's stately livery and insist to my parents that we should be flying on one of those. I would also occasionally see them on the ground at JFK, and as far as I was concerned (not yet having much of a sense of geography), seeing BA 747s in both places meant they should most certainly be an option for us! My mother admonished that we'd have to go to London to do that, which also sounded to my young ears not so much as a discouragement but all the more reason we should be flying BA on their beautiful 747. The image was etched in my brain that THAT was the way to fly.
It was only much later in the late '90s (March 1997, I think) that I flew BA for the first time, in World Traveller as a university student coming from San Francisco to Nice for a family Spring Break. I considered my selection to be just a much better way to go to Europe than my family's JFK-NCE nonstop on DL from the east coast, as it materialized my long-awaited desire to fly on those majestic BA 747s I'd seen at an impressionable young age in Barbados. And so the ball started rolling.
As another little memory, I do remember once during a Christmas holiday in Barbados, watching and hearing a BA Concorde fly along the coast whilst I enjoyed the beach. That further reinforced my notion that BA was just so much cooler than these ridiculous excuses for airplanes my parents took me on (yes, I was that precocious). Years later, living in New York as a young adult, after I had already dabbled in multiple classes of BA travel, I seriously toyed with the idea of concocting an all Concorde journey from JFK via LHR to BGI as a way to go back to Barbados once "for old times sake" and fly the rocket before she retired. I never did that (and haven't been to Barbados in at least 27 years now) but at least I did get a couple LHR-JFK Concorde flights in before it was too late. The strongest memory from my first BA Concorde flight in 2002 was that back when I had started flying as a young child, every flight was a special occasion for most everyone onboard, but that sentiment had long since vanished.
Until I finally flew Concorde, where that sense of flying being special, remained very much alive.
As a youngster, my family used to vacation each year in Barbados, and indeed my first trip there would have been as an infant in the mid '70s. We lived on the east coast of the US, however, and would generally fly JFK-BGI with AA (once on BWIA, though our experience with them was not to be repeated).
Sitting on the ground at BGI, onboard what AA then called "Luxury Liner" planes (usually a DC-10, sometimes in the '80s a 757), I'd look out the window at a majestic 747 in BA's stately livery and insist to my parents that we should be flying on one of those. I would also occasionally see them on the ground at JFK, and as far as I was concerned (not yet having much of a sense of geography), seeing BA 747s in both places meant they should most certainly be an option for us! My mother admonished that we'd have to go to London to do that, which also sounded to my young ears not so much as a discouragement but all the more reason we should be flying BA on their beautiful 747. The image was etched in my brain that THAT was the way to fly.
It was only much later in the late '90s (March 1997, I think) that I flew BA for the first time, in World Traveller as a university student coming from San Francisco to Nice for a family Spring Break. I considered my selection to be just a much better way to go to Europe than my family's JFK-NCE nonstop on DL from the east coast, as it materialized my long-awaited desire to fly on those majestic BA 747s I'd seen at an impressionable young age in Barbados. And so the ball started rolling.
As another little memory, I do remember once during a Christmas holiday in Barbados, watching and hearing a BA Concorde fly along the coast whilst I enjoyed the beach. That further reinforced my notion that BA was just so much cooler than these ridiculous excuses for airplanes my parents took me on (yes, I was that precocious). Years later, living in New York as a young adult, after I had already dabbled in multiple classes of BA travel, I seriously toyed with the idea of concocting an all Concorde journey from JFK via LHR to BGI as a way to go back to Barbados once "for old times sake" and fly the rocket before she retired. I never did that (and haven't been to Barbados in at least 27 years now) but at least I did get a couple LHR-JFK Concorde flights in before it was too late. The strongest memory from my first BA Concorde flight in 2002 was that back when I had started flying as a young child, every flight was a special occasion for most everyone onboard, but that sentiment had long since vanished.
Until I finally flew Concorde, where that sense of flying being special, remained very much alive.
Jun 10, 2018, 1:47 pm
#18
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: Qatar, Turkish, Aeroflot
Posts: 546
An easy one - my first solo international trip back in Feb '09, LHR-JFK. I had been to Florida and Majorca with family before this and used to regularly fly over to Belfast to visit family, but this was something else.
If memory serves, T5 hadn't been open long and being the naive 19-year-old I was, took the full allowance of 2 bags and hand luggage (not that any of them were filled but did anticipate a spot of shopping there). With plenty of money saved, few classes to go to at university at the time of travel as I had every year (studying music really had its advantages!) and inspired by friends heading to here, there and everywhere, New York seemed like the perfect first trip away from home.
Can't say anything was overly memorable about it apart from going by train from Liverpool to Heathrow via the Piccadilly line at stupid o'clock in the morning, taking ages to actually land at JFK, arriving 5 hours before the return flight (I grossly miscalculated how long it would take to get from W128th to JFK), being wished a happy birthday by the gate agent (I had turned 20 3 days before flying home) and spending the next 7 hours unable to sleep due to the sheer heat on board. I knew nothing about planes and airports then, still quite blissfully unaware of planes even after flying 200 sectors and somewhat more clued up regarding airports, but nothing compared to the elite here.
Only ever flew BA once since then (an emergency RUH-LHR-MAN vv. back in Jan 2015) and intend on never flying them again if I can help it!
If memory serves, T5 hadn't been open long and being the naive 19-year-old I was, took the full allowance of 2 bags and hand luggage (not that any of them were filled but did anticipate a spot of shopping there). With plenty of money saved, few classes to go to at university at the time of travel as I had every year (studying music really had its advantages!) and inspired by friends heading to here, there and everywhere, New York seemed like the perfect first trip away from home.
Can't say anything was overly memorable about it apart from going by train from Liverpool to Heathrow via the Piccadilly line at stupid o'clock in the morning, taking ages to actually land at JFK, arriving 5 hours before the return flight (I grossly miscalculated how long it would take to get from W128th to JFK), being wished a happy birthday by the gate agent (I had turned 20 3 days before flying home) and spending the next 7 hours unable to sleep due to the sheer heat on board. I knew nothing about planes and airports then, still quite blissfully unaware of planes even after flying 200 sectors and somewhat more clued up regarding airports, but nothing compared to the elite here.
Only ever flew BA once since then (an emergency RUH-LHR-MAN vv. back in Jan 2015) and intend on never flying them again if I can help it!
Jun 10, 2018, 1:48 pm
#19
Join Date: May 2007
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold HH Diamond
Posts: 210
SYD - NAD on the BOAC VC10 in 1970. I suspect from the handle that you may determine the registration of that aircraft.
And a couple of years later as a temporary (student) employee of Air New Zealand at Mangere on my first day at work the first aircraft I was assigned to unload was the VC-10 service from London. AKL was a sleepy place in those days and as I recall,that was the only long haul movement of my 8 hour shift.
A far cry from the BA we know today, and indeed from current airport experiences.
And a couple of years later as a temporary (student) employee of Air New Zealand at Mangere on my first day at work the first aircraft I was assigned to unload was the VC-10 service from London. AKL was a sleepy place in those days and as I recall,that was the only long haul movement of my 8 hour shift.
A far cry from the BA we know today, and indeed from current airport experiences.
Jun 10, 2018, 2:33 pm
#21
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: STL
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 504
1966 on BEA GLA to LHR prior to flying out to Singapore. Don't remember the aircraft type but it was propellor driven, and the aircraft had two rows of seats that faced each other, which was nice for a family. I remember running over the tarmac to the airplane with my brother and sister totally oblivious of the family members that were waving us off, and would not see us again for several years. Traveling a lot in the 60s and 70s before jet bridges were common, I still miss climbing up the steps to an aircraft. Loved the junior jet program, simpler days back then!
Jun 10, 2018, 2:37 pm
#22
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: London Stratford, E7
Programs: BAEC Gold! Thanks to FT
Posts: 3,381
Was 29 June 1988 for me, BA179 to JFK seat 36D. I was a fresh faced 18 year old flying to the USA to work for the summer via Camp America.
Remember the silver landor endorsed ticket booklet checking in at T4 and waving goodbye to tearful parents at security,
i had only flown from SOU to JER before on an Air Uk F27 so was a bit concerned at the length of runway needed to take off.
Remember the silver landor endorsed ticket booklet checking in at T4 and waving goodbye to tearful parents at security,
i had only flown from SOU to JER before on an Air Uk F27 so was a bit concerned at the length of runway needed to take off.
Jun 10, 2018, 2:37 pm
#23
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Petroleum
Posts: 270
Pretty sure my first BA flight was on a 747-400 to Johannesburg in March 2006. I'd only flown very occasionally out of Newcastle when growing up on the odd charter, a couple of package holidays on bucket and spade airlines whilst at university and afterwards, before this, my first business trip. I stayed awake all night in an almost empty premium economy cabin (unthinkable these days) with the blinds open watching multiple thunderstorms over the equator. I've never forgotten it!
Jun 10, 2018, 3:29 pm
#24
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 47
My first BA flight was in 1975 returning to England from South Africa. In World Traveller seat with the pull down baby bed and my daughter and I had the whole row to ourselves. I had spilled a bottle of baby formular all over my daughters change of clothes for landing and the flight attendant washed them and managed to get them dried before we landed. Also, the toilets were at least twice the size they are now and had Elizabeth Arden toiletries to use.
Jun 10, 2018, 4:03 pm
#26
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYZ
Programs: BA Gold/Marriott Gold/HH Diamond/IC Plat Amba
Posts: 5,992
My first BA flight was in 1975 returning to England from South Africa. In World Traveller seat with the pull down baby bed and my daughter and I had the whole row to ourselves. I had spilled a bottle of baby formular all over my daughters change of clothes for landing and the flight attendant washed them and managed to get them dried before we landed. Also, the toilets were at least twice the size they are now and had Elizabeth Arden toiletries to use.
Jun 10, 2018, 4:29 pm
#27
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: London
Posts: 6
Absolutely lovely story by the OP, and actually quite interesting as it is sparks my own first memories of BA, albeit these memories came from considerably before I took a BA flight.
As a youngster, my family used to vacation each year in Barbados, and indeed my first trip there would have been as an infant in the mid '70s. We lived on the east coast of the US, however, and would generally fly JFK-BGI with AA (once on BWIA, though our experience with them was not to be repeated).
Sitting on the ground at BGI, onboard what AA then called "Luxury Liner" planes (usually a DC-10, sometimes in the '80s a 757), I'd look out the window at a majestic 747 in BA's stately livery and insist to my parents that we should be flying on one of those. I would also occasionally see them on the ground at JFK, and as far as I was concerned (not yet having much of a sense of geography), seeing BA 747s in both places meant they should most certainly be an option for us! My mother admonished that we'd have to go to London to do that, which also sounded to my young ears not so much as a discouragement but all the more reason we should be flying BA on their beautiful 747. The image was etched in my brain that THAT was the way to fly.
It was only much later in the late '90s (March 1997, I think) that I flew BA for the first time, in World Traveller as a university student coming from San Francisco to Nice for a family Spring Break. I considered my selection to be just a much better way to go to Europe than my family's JFK-NCE nonstop on DL from the east coast, as it materialized my long-awaited desire to fly on those majestic BA 747s I'd seen at an impressionable young age in Barbados. And so the ball started rolling.
As another little memory, I do remember once during a Christmas holiday in Barbados, watching and hearing a BA Concorde fly along the coast whilst I enjoyed the beach. That further reinforced my notion that BA was just so much cooler than these ridiculous excuses for airplanes my parents took me on (yes, I was that precocious). Years later, living in New York as a young adult, after I had already dabbled in multiple classes of BA travel, I seriously toyed with the idea of concocting an all Concorde journey from JFK via LHR to BGI as a way to go back to Barbados once "for old times sake" and fly the rocket before she retired. I never did that (and haven't been to Barbados in at least 27 years now) but at least I did get a couple LHR-JFK Concorde flights in before it was too late. The strongest memory from my first BA Concorde flight in 2002 was that back when I had started flying as a young child, every flight was a special occasion for most everyone onboard, but that sentiment had long since vanished.
Until I finally flew Concorde, where that sense of flying being special, remained very much alive.
As a youngster, my family used to vacation each year in Barbados, and indeed my first trip there would have been as an infant in the mid '70s. We lived on the east coast of the US, however, and would generally fly JFK-BGI with AA (once on BWIA, though our experience with them was not to be repeated).
Sitting on the ground at BGI, onboard what AA then called "Luxury Liner" planes (usually a DC-10, sometimes in the '80s a 757), I'd look out the window at a majestic 747 in BA's stately livery and insist to my parents that we should be flying on one of those. I would also occasionally see them on the ground at JFK, and as far as I was concerned (not yet having much of a sense of geography), seeing BA 747s in both places meant they should most certainly be an option for us! My mother admonished that we'd have to go to London to do that, which also sounded to my young ears not so much as a discouragement but all the more reason we should be flying BA on their beautiful 747. The image was etched in my brain that THAT was the way to fly.
It was only much later in the late '90s (March 1997, I think) that I flew BA for the first time, in World Traveller as a university student coming from San Francisco to Nice for a family Spring Break. I considered my selection to be just a much better way to go to Europe than my family's JFK-NCE nonstop on DL from the east coast, as it materialized my long-awaited desire to fly on those majestic BA 747s I'd seen at an impressionable young age in Barbados. And so the ball started rolling.
As another little memory, I do remember once during a Christmas holiday in Barbados, watching and hearing a BA Concorde fly along the coast whilst I enjoyed the beach. That further reinforced my notion that BA was just so much cooler than these ridiculous excuses for airplanes my parents took me on (yes, I was that precocious). Years later, living in New York as a young adult, after I had already dabbled in multiple classes of BA travel, I seriously toyed with the idea of concocting an all Concorde journey from JFK via LHR to BGI as a way to go back to Barbados once "for old times sake" and fly the rocket before she retired. I never did that (and haven't been to Barbados in at least 27 years now) but at least I did get a couple LHR-JFK Concorde flights in before it was too late. The strongest memory from my first BA Concorde flight in 2002 was that back when I had started flying as a young child, every flight was a special occasion for most everyone onboard, but that sentiment had long since vanished.
Until I finally flew Concorde, where that sense of flying being special, remained very much alive.
Jun 10, 2018, 4:40 pm
#28
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Oxford
Programs: BA Silver, HH Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 169
Mine was 1993 LHR - LUN on a 747 with my brother, then a Zambia airways flight to Ndola where I was surprised to find a BA office which came in useful to change my brother's ticket and send him home after a week as he had a bad reaction to larium, a new malaria tablet at the time.
Office closed years ago, but still friends with the lovely lady who worked there.
Remember having a couple of beers before boarding, and having to ignore the seatbelt signs after a really long wait to take off. Got told it was at my own risk by the FA, I was ok with that.
Office closed years ago, but still friends with the lovely lady who worked there.
Remember having a couple of beers before boarding, and having to ignore the seatbelt signs after a really long wait to take off. Got told it was at my own risk by the FA, I was ok with that.
Jun 10, 2018, 5:23 pm
#29
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 85
I took a BA flight from Hong Kong to LHR at 9 months old, obv don't remember it. I was apparently a nightmare and my father had to walk me up and down the aisle for much of the flight to keep me quiet, perhaps a very early DYKWIA. The first one I recall was a BA Tristar from Dacca to LHR at around 7 years old and I remember being fascinated by the engine on the tail. I've always been fascinated by aviation, my father was a huge enthusiast about trains and I think I inherited the gene and applied it to planes instead. Despite hundreds of flights over my lifetime I still stare slack jawed out the window every take off and cannot resist watching whenever I see planes take off and land. If they didn't obstruct your view from cars on roads near airports I would definitely be one of the idiots who crashed just because a 747 was coming into land.
Jun 10, 2018, 6:37 pm
#30
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,211