Originally Posted by
LGS6753
It was after these incidents that the independent airlines realized that the public were clamouring for jet aircraft ..... the groundswell of opinion was very strong. Not long after these events, the independent airlines started ordering jet aircraft, and it wasn't too long before tour operators demanded jet aircraft.
Actually the bulk of the IT accidents seem to have been caused by navigation CFIT at secondary destination airports rather than airframe-related issues (Stockport being an exception). What would they have given for GPS ? There were a number of other accidents to turbine aircraft on IT flights at the time - Dan-Air Comet at Barcelona, Britannia at Ljubljana etc.
The quick move to jets in the late 1960s was brought about by several coincidental factors.
1. The arrival of the BAC One-Eleven 500 which was well suited to such operations. The 737 came along at the same time which was chosen initially by Britannia as their first jet.
2. BOAC and BEA selling off their Comet fleets for operators like Dan-Air and Airtours.
3. Tour operators forming closer financial links with airlines leading to much longer term contracts, something you can take to the bank to borrow the millions to buy jets. This also led to a concentration on UK airlines rather than destination-based ones, who were even more likely to have old equipment.
4. The bankruptcy of British Eagle in late 1968 removed a large fleet of prop Britannias from the market.