Prior to all of the above, as the 747 was introduced into BOAC, the VC10 and 707 fleet was known as 'mini fleet' you may still hear wrinklies refer to minis.
A whole load of odd aircraft were operated over the years and small numbers of cabin crew operated them. One was Paddy Zulu which was a leased Aer Lingus 747 which was different from other 747' s in BA fleet.
BA operated services between LAX and LHR with an Air New Zealand DC10 as they did not have traffic rights passed LAX at the time. This was integrated into the Tristar fleet at a later date and operated to odd places like Miami and Philadelphia.
Tristar fleet was formed from the Shorthaul Tristar fleet being used to also fly to a range of destinations in the Gulf. The infamous Burford Bridge agreement. For the first time Shorthaul cabin crew were merged into Longhaul and it caused much heart ache! Tristar crews also operated routes from LGW including New Orleans and Malaga.
On introduction of the 767 a new fleet was formed and much hoo ha went on about 'elite fleet' as you had to be interviewed to join. Promotion was swift and it upset a lot of people on 747's.
767 morphed into Mid Fleet with crew operating 757 and a small number of 747 routes - more upset!
A long the way BA dreamed up lots of fleets with Red, White and Blue fleet and, as mentioned Dual fleet (747/Tristar).
Last edited by vctenderness; 26th Dec 2011 at 08:29.
Reason: Typo