politics etc, L1011s were "moved" to the RAF before BA privatisation, at the time certainly NOT the RAF's choice! Harold Wilsons govs allegedly bribed to place the order....Maggie Thatchers govt trimming BA to become a privatisation wonder, now if you were to have an airline with an virtually new fleet bought and paid for, property worth billions and a clean new balance sheet with no debts plus a monopoly on many routes you would be very profitable! but thats a subject for another thread
A former BCal senior engineer told that, in the process BCal was deliberately sent bust as they were lined up to sell their DC10s to the RAF thus providing the cash they needed to stay afloat/ invest etc. No BCal, no competitor for BA.