I worked in maintenance for BEA then BA - the company was a shambles in the late 60's and 70's.Morale was at rock bottom,the aircraft were in terrible shape - filthy and with peeling paint.Maintenance was not what it should have been -the resources available were better than most.Management were beyond belief - absolutely out of touch with reality.When Scottish Airways was formed they gave us an arrogant buffoon as manager who became an expensive laughing stock. As far as the Tridents were concerned I loved working with them - at that time they were at the cutting edge and I learned a tremendous amount that stood me in good stead later. Among the crews were the most arrogant and unpleasant people I have ever worked with - not all,others were excellent but for some reason the arseholes gravitated to the Trident fleet.
As an aside there were some characters - a Capt.Wellford for one - he used to tip us beer money if we gave him a quick turn-round on the last shuttle so he could arrive before the pubs shut.My father worked with him in the 50's and told many tales about him. I heard that he was killed in a car crash the week he retired- can anyone confirm that?