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
United Aircraft Corporation The Tu-204 was succeeded by its variant, the Tu-214. The Ilyushin Il-114 is a turboprop, narrow-body regional airliner developed to replace the Antonov An-24, which most were in service of Aeroflot. However, only 20 were built so far, and only two airlines were using it, so the Il-114's production was temporarily ceased. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is the first airliner and regional jet airliner that is developed and exported under the UAC brand, by which it was developed by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a branch of the UAC. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 was designed to compete with the Antonov An-148, Embraer