British Midland Airways, Leeds Bradford to Glasgow flights
LBA - GLA is a route that's had its share of operators over the years. BMA flew it for a spell in the early 1970s, Dan-Air took it on in 1972 and held it until 1984 when it was passed on to their associate company, Metropolitan Airways. After Metropolitan ceased trading, Brown Air/Capital flew the route until they too went down the pan, in 1990. This is where it gets more interesting. Loganair quickly stepped in after Capital's demise to operate the route on an initial temporary basis but this was made permanent before too long. In common with many of Loganair's English routes from Scotland, GLA - LBA was transferred to sister company, Manx Airlines (Europe). Between them, Loganair and Manx operated the Shorts 360, Jetstream 31 and 41 and ATP on the route, the ATP most latterly. I guess passenger figures were healthy to warrant the ATP flying a relatively short route. After about 18 months, the route changed hands once more - full circle back to British Midland, the third 'Airlines of Britain' brand. However, the aircraft used were actually Manx Airlines' ATPs MANL and MAUD and newcomer J41 MAJA, all painted in British Midland livery but flown by Manx pilots with BMA cabin crew. The aircraft of the moment was also then based at LBA from then on and the route stayed with British Midland for many years afterwards. Currently, there are no scheduled services between Leeds Bradford and Scotland.
My question is, what prompted the change of airline/brand from Manx to British Midland ? At this time - spring 1995 IIRC - BMA was flying only between LBA and LHR year round and flying to Jersey in the summer season. Was Sir Bishop trying to boost the presence of his top brand at LBA ? If so, it was a half-hearted way of going about it by using another of his brands to actually do the business, although the passengers probably never noticed. On the other hand, the tie-up between Manx and BA as British Airways Express was kicking off so maybe that was significant.
Thankyou.