View Full Version : Airlines operating one type
flash8
5th May 2018, 21:09
"After the Boeing-707 ceased operation with Qantas in March 1979, and up until 1985, Qantas was an airline operating just one type of aircraft, the Boeing-747"
I found this very interesting, can't think of another (major) National carrier that has operated just one type for so long, or am I mistaken?
Not talking about those LoCo's with 737's here :)
Kiwithrottlejockey
6th May 2018, 00:44
TEAL was a single-type airline for the first 14 years of its existance and it went through three generations of airliners during those 14 years: S.30 Empire Boats, then S.25 Sandringhams, then S.45A Solents.
And during the early part of the 1960s they became a single type airline again with only Lockheed L.188 Electras for about four years.
Heathrow Harry
6th May 2018, 06:42
Ah yes - I can remember the inherent flexibility of Quantas all 747 fleet - one Saturday night traveling trans -Tasman - 15 pax (including kids......... )
One hell of party tho'......
rog747
6th May 2018, 07:10
major charter carriers
Britannia airways had just 737-200's for many years from about 1970/71 until the 767 came 1984
air2000 757's for many years from 1987 (a lone 733 for one year only joined the fleet 88/89)
and Virgin Atlantic had from 1984 -1993 solely PW JT9 powered 747-200 and -100 classics (finally 8 in total by 1990) the new 747-400 followed in 1994
but A340's began being delivered late 1993
LTU was a pure L1011 operator (-100 and -500) from 1979 (departure of its last Caravelle) until 1984 (arrival of its first 757)
Britannia airways had just 737-200's for many years from about 1970/71 until the 767 came 1984
Actually 1973 until 84 after the 707s went.
Today of course there is Ryanair (until the MAX arrives) but this is probably the wrong thread for that.
TowerDog
6th May 2018, 11:30
Tower Air had only one type: B-747-100/200.
jensdad
6th May 2018, 17:03
Am I right in saying that JAL were purely a 747 operator for many years? I know they were definitely the biggest operator of the 'lump' at one stage. Don't have any at all nowadays of course :(
kcockayne
6th May 2018, 17:22
You might be. I’m not sure. They did have DC8s & then DC10s at the same time as the 747s ; but there might have been a gap between the 8s going out of service & the 10s coming in. I look forward to finding out !
jensdad
6th May 2018, 17:28
Hmm, I think the 8's and 10's might have been concurrent. I was more thinking about after the 10's were phased out and before the 777s etc came in? Someone on these esteemed pages will know the answer, I am sure :)
Don't know when the 767s were delivered to Jal - they did have them as have been in one.
El Bunto
6th May 2018, 21:35
In terms of national carriers, weren't MEA using only 707s / 720s for a while? Will check the books tomorrow.
Also Austrian Airlines; after retiring the Caravelles they flew only DC-9s for quite a while until the A310 arrived.
Lots of secondary / charter carriers only operated one type at a time but one that comes to mind is Transavia who have only ever operated variants of the 737. In that regard they even beat Southwest who dabbled with 727s.
Cubs2jets
7th May 2018, 01:30
Interesting that nobody has mentioned Southwest...well, they did have that one 727 for a bit...
Cubs2jets
DaveReidUK
7th May 2018, 06:41
Interesting that nobody has mentioned Southwest...well
They probably just read what the OP said. :O
Not talking about those LoCo's with 737's here
kcockayne
7th May 2018, 07:02
In terms of national carriers, weren't MEA using only 707s / 720s for a while? Will check the books tomorrow.
Also Austrian Airlines; after retiring the Caravelles they flew only DC-9s for quite a while until the A310 arrived.
Lots of secondary / charter carriers only operated one type at a time but one that comes to mind is Transavia who have only ever operated variants of the 737. In that regard they even beat Southwest who dabbled with 727s.
Didn’t Transavia start with DC6s? Regardless, they were a Caravelle operator for many years - before they got the 737.
Transavia may have been a pure 737 operator for a period, but certainly in the 70's and 80's also dabbled in 707's. I seem to recall an A300B as well during that time. BA leased 737's from them prior to getting their own -200's so they were familiar sights at LHR T1 for a while.
treadigraph
7th May 2018, 08:10
Transavia certainly had a A300 and an A310 for a short while, plus a few 757s a bit later on.
vctenderness
7th May 2018, 08:38
Looking for a bit of thread drift what airlines had the most types at one time?
El Bunto
7th May 2018, 09:43
I was obviously having a brain-lapse re: Transavia!
National carriers: Aviogenex started in 1969 with Tu-134s and didn't receive 727s until the late 70s. Then sometime in the 90s they whittled down to a single 737 and I think that was their entire fleet until they were wound-up.
flash8
7th May 2018, 15:46
Looking for a bit of thread drift what airlines had the most types at one time?
1974, BA, probably 707, 747, VC-10 from BOAC, Trident, Vanguard, Viscount, Herald, Heron, 1-11's on the BEA side, and the Tristar coming in, perhaps more (10 types so far).
I'm sure though plenty of others operated more. It's a difficult question ;)
DaveReidUK
7th May 2018, 16:47
1974, BA, probably 707, 747, VC-10 from BOAC, Trident, Vanguard, Viscount, Herald, Heron, 1-11's on the BEA side, and the Tristar coming in, perhaps more (10 types so far).
Not the Herald - they had left the fleet by the end of 1966.
flash8
7th May 2018, 16:58
Not the Herald - they had left the fleet by the end of 1966.
Thanks Dave... you always seem to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of these things :)
Certain about most of those types except perhaps the Heron as well (have seen it in late BEA colours)... so down to 9-10 types!
As of 1976...
BA
Concorde (if the types below were all still in operation around 1976 thinking specifically of the Heron)
Tristar
ex BOAC
747
707
VC-10
ex BEA
Trident
1-11
Vanguard (later Merchantman)
Viscount
Heron?
Flash 8, if you nudge forward to 1990, BA had the following types in service:
A320
BAC 1-11
146
ATP
B737
B747 (-100, 200 & 400)
B757
B767
Concorde
Tristar
DC-10
So eleven
I suspect a sometime during the 1970's Aeroflot would be the winner in this category
treadigraph
7th May 2018, 19:37
I suspect a sometime during the 1970's Aeroflot would be the winner in this category
Blimey, yes!
Heathrow Harry
7th May 2018, 19:55
Alitalia bought anything that flew....................
flash8
7th May 2018, 20:08
Ah, yes Aeroflot... silly me... and being in Russia and whatnot :)
If you count the piddly stuff I'd say almost for sure, the main core however must have been the IL-62's, TU-134, TU-154, the latter two flying until pretty recently in fact. Once you add all the foreign stuff they have tried (plenty) and other types (Yaks, IL-86 etc), then surely yes, must be the winner around the turn of the century when the fleet probably was at maximum types.
El Bunto
7th May 2018, 20:14
By the early 1980s Aeroflot had about two dozen types but of course they were organised into various units and departments. The unit that operated the An-2 wasn't the same as that which flew the Il-62. Likewise CAAC in China.
Commercially BA, Air France and Delta seem to have been the most diverse thogh Air New Zealand had quite a range after the 1978 merger, I'd need to check but I remember a lot of types from Islander up to DC-10.
evansb
7th May 2018, 20:18
WestJet, (WJA), based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, operated Boeing 737-type aircraft solely for nearly 15 years of their 1996 start date. WestJet patterned their business model after Southwest Airlines, (SWA), based in Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. WestJet presently has a fleet of 122 Boeing 737's, with another 50 Boeing 737's on order.
Southwest appeared to operate only 737-type aircraft for decades. "One aircraft type" is a major aspect of their business model. Southwest Airlines presently operates 720 Boeing 737's, with another 300 Boeing 737's on order.
WestJet's first non-737 aircraft was a leased Boeing 757, which was crewed by a hired (non-WestJet) crew. Regretfully, WestJet added a couple of former QANTAS ,(QFA), Boeing 767's to their fleet.
DaveReidUK
7th May 2018, 20:31
As of 1976...
Go back a couple more years and you can include this, too:
http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/51/25/512513_05dfff47.jpg
flash8
7th May 2018, 22:34
Go back a couple more years and you can include this, too:
I guess if you couldn't make RHS on the Trident fleet ("aptitude") this was where you were sent :eek:
As this has the BA logo on the fuselage I assume this must be around '74'-'75 ?
Alitalia bought anything that flew....................
As did Iberia. Fleet circa year 1998:
A300
A320
A340
727
737
747
757
767
DC8F
DC-9
DC-10
Tristar
MD87
Admittedly the dying days of a few types (A300, 727, DC9, DC10) and a couple of leases in the mix (DC8F and Tristar). But it must have been very lucrative being IB's safety card producer!
Back to original topic, Blue 1 in Finland flew solely the Boeing 717 for its last three years of existence, prior to its sad winding up in 2015. Was a good airline and I enjoyed rides on OH-BLI and BLQ back in 2012, deliberately seating myself next to the Rollers at the back which was a splendid experience.
El Bunto
8th May 2018, 07:10
As this has the BA logo on the fuselage I assume this must be around '74'-'75 ?
Two Skyliners ( G-AZYW, G-BAIT ) delivered March and April 1973 respectively. Former operated the first service on 2 April 1973 BE8746 Glasgow to Tiree. They replaced Herons so were a huge step-up particularly for the passengers.
Power-to-weight ratio was better than Tridents :)
DaveReidUK
8th May 2018, 07:27
They replaced Herons so were a huge step-up particularly for the passengers.
Seasoned travellers used to bring their own earplugs with them, the Skyvan cabin being particularly noisy.
rog747
8th May 2018, 07:30
do the scilly isles S61's count ?
BEA/BA had them for years
treadigraph
8th May 2018, 07:52
BIA only operated Heralds for a number of years.
During the 70s/80s, BA Helicopters also had S-58Ts, Bell 212s and a Jetranger; also eventually WG30s I think. Oh, and Chinooks and S-76s.
BIA only operated Heralds for a number of years.
During the 70s/80s, BA Helicopters also had S-58Ts, Bell 212s and a Jetranger; also eventually WG30s I think. Oh, and Chinooks and S-76s.
Mini thread diversion. Had not appreciated there were so many BA heli types. Which BA CEO fell out of love with the heli business?
Danny G
9th May 2018, 11:32
When did the HS 748s leave the BA fleet? I know the first ATP arrived in 1989 but not when the Budgies left?
pax britanica
12th May 2018, 11:24
I know they had other types but in Europe if one type was synonomous with one operator Scandi DC9/MD80s must come close. I lived in Stockholm in the 90s and the endless procession of different length DC/MDs was even more striking than BEA viscounts at LHR in the 1960s.
Bit like the Cessna or Piper wings joke that theyw ere all the same but just sawed off the right length for the different models, the MD90 must have come close to being twice the length of the 9-15 .
As for one model companies Air India with just 747s in the 70s-80s?
Linjeflug Now defunct Swedish domestic only flew F28s for a while in the 80s/90s
NLM with just Fokker 50s?
Max Skylon
16th May 2018, 18:47
Mini thread diversion. Had not appreciated there were so many BA heli types. Which BA CEO fell out of love with the heli business?
British Airways Helicopters was sold to Robert Maxwell in1986, in preparation for BA to be privatised in 1987
climber314
16th May 2018, 19:10
AirTran flew the 717 exclusively for a while.
Not sure when they started picking up their 737's
Non-Driver
16th May 2018, 19:55
Flash 8, if you nudge forward to 1990, BA had the following types in service:
A320
BAC 1-11
146
ATP
B737
B747 (-100, 200 & 400)
B757
B767
Concorde
Tristar
DC-10
So eleven
I suspect a sometime during the 1970's Aeroflot would be the winner in this category
Don't remember us having any 146's when I was there in 1990, was there a franchise operation on it back then ?
DaveReidUK
16th May 2018, 21:25
Don't remember us having any 146's when I was there in 1990, was there a franchise operation on it back then ?
AFAIK, the only 146 BA was operating in 1990 was G-OLCA, leased for three months from Loganair.
Hussar 54
18th May 2018, 10:26
In the early-ish 90s I certainly flew on a BA 146 from MAD to LGW. Not too sure the exact year - it was the same year that BMI 146s were operating MUC > ARN on behalf of LH because I'd been on one of those the week before.
Maybe a franchise, but the arcraft was full BA livery and the Cpt was Swedish.
Edited to correct - the BMI flight was MUC > HEL, not ARN
Stationair8
19th May 2018, 10:07
Ipec Aviation operated the two DC-9 freighters from early 1990 until 1999.
olympus
19th May 2018, 15:13
For a small airline Air UK operated (at various times) quite an array of types - Bandeirante, SD330/360, F27 (many variants), BAe146 (all variants), F100, B737, ATR72 and probably others.
Airbanda
19th May 2018, 15:55
For a small airline Air UK operated (at various times) quite an array of types - Bandeirante, SD330/360, F27 (many variants), BAe146 (all variants), F100, B737, ATR72 and probably others.
One of it's constituents, Air Anglia, was 100% F-27 200 for a while - after they retired their DC3
OntimeexceptACARS
21st May 2018, 13:10
Don't remember us having any 146's when I was there in 1990, was there a franchise operation on it back then ?
They leased in two Presidential BAe 146s in 1989 for a summer : N407XV/N408XV.
Photo here :
British Aerospace BAe-146-200 - British Airways (Presidential Airways) | Aviation Photo #0132203 | Airliners.net (http://www.airliners.net/photo/British-Airways-Presidential-Airways/British-Aerospace-BAe-146-200/132203)
OTEA