Aircraft procurement and operating costs at British European Airways (BEA), 1946–1964

Abstract

In the twenty years or so following the Second World War, the procurement policies of the major British airlines had a significant impact upon the fortunes of British aircraft manufacturers. It is the main contention of this paper that the nationalized air corporations, especially BEA, were poor instruments with which to foster the British aircraft industry because they had operating costs which were too high to set competitive standards in manufacturing design and construction.