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 Aircraft Company Vickers Aircraft Company Vickers Aircraft Company is a small aircraft manufacturer in Hamilton, New Zealand. Vickers Aircraft Company is developing the Vickers Wave, a two-seat amphibious seaplane. Vickers Aircraft Company was founded in 2011. Previous to being Vickers Aircraft Company, it had been a custom manufacturer of marine and aviation products, operating as Specialized Routing. Vickers Aircraft specialises in carbon fibre fabrication, and in-house manufacturing of their goods. Special attention is being made to make an aircraft that is producible and highly manufacturable. The first public forum discussing the Wave was presented at EAA Airventure 2017. Vickers Aircraft Company's first