British United Air Ferries Officer Lesley Hardy became Britain's first airliner flown by an all-female crew. On 1 January 1979, BAF transferred its entire scheduled operation including associated aircraft and staff to British Island Airways (BIA). Following British Airways's decision to withdraw from its loss-making regional routes and to retire its Vickers Viscount turboprop fleet, BAF acquired the entire 18-strong fleet along with the spares inventory during the early 1980s. This acquisition made it the world's largest Viscount operator at the time. As a result of the changes the airline underwent in the late 1970s and early 1980s, BAF mainly concentrated on leasing, charter
Vickers V-1000 Victor. Armed with nuclear weapons and powered by jet engines, these aircraft would be enter service during the 1950s as the V-bombers. The first of the V-bombers to enter service was the Valiant; observing the favourable performance attributes of the Valiant, both the Ministry of Supply (MoS) and Vickers became interested in a prospective transport derivative as a potential long-range successor to the smaller Comet. The RAF had also noticed a demand for a suitable transport aircraft capable of accompanying the V-bombers on deployments to any part of the world, carrying a mix of personnel and cargo needed for such