Originally Posted by
stevie.C
probably the most innovative airline of its day (remember seat back catering) on the 1-11's.
As I understand it seatback catering was a considerable nuisance, which however did not dissuade Dan-Air at least, who picked up some of the One-Elevens after Court ceased trading, continuing with it on those aircraft so fitted for years afterwards. Notably the mechanism which held the two meals for outward and return sectors locked in place until the latter was released at the outstation was none too robust and it was all too easy for the outbound passenger (especially probing children) to fiddle with a coin and release, and eat, the return sector meal as well. It seems there were spare meals carried on board to overcome such problems but on occasions these were not sufficient !
Goodness, if the pax were so desperate for such in-flight catering they must have been hard times indeed !
Originally Posted by Gooneyone
....Leeward Islands Air Transport. They used local crew to operate Avros and BAC 111s inter island.
I believe the One-Elevens were only used in the Caribbean in the winter (their peak season), and balancing aircraft usage between summer in the UK and winter in the Caribbean was a key part of the decision to buy LIAT in the first place, aside from Court's various investments in hotels etc in the region. Certainly in the early 1970s work for a UK-based IT operator during the winter with a large fleet of new short-haul aircraft must have been very thin.