Corporate flight departments, UK
 

Has anyone compiled a list of all the company mini airlines which used to exist? I can only go back to the 70's but remember Ford (1-11, G1) BAe (1-11,125, Jestream), Rolls-Royce (Dove, Herron, PA31, Argosy, 1-11), GKN (125, King Air, Islander). Back in the 50's and 60's, it seemed like every company in the aerospace industry had a fleet and most large companies in wider industry had one or more aircraft. It seems odd that one minute, a company needs to spends millions on maintaining a fleet, then, next thing, they don't need it anymore!

BAe (737, EMB-145, King Air) still do, and JCB are still going for it!

Public image is one major change. They can't be seen to spend a lot on transporting their corporate personnel while paying peanuts to the lower echelon staff and squeezing the last dime out of any contract with a customer... and then there's the climate of course.

The one I can think of is Shell, they still run a couple of Falcons (8Xs I think).

BAE currently have two flight ops departments, BAE (Air) based at Warton with 2x E145s and 1x B738 and then BAE (Marine) at Barrow which has x4 B200s.

Other flight ops departments in the UK are:

-Rolls Royce with a Gulfstream at East Midlands,
-JCB with 1x G650 and 2x S-76s at East Midlands
-Specsavers with 2x B350s at Guernsey

Any more?

BP, Readymix Concrete, Robert Maxwell all used to have their own operations on AOCs.

Volkswagen have a few Falcons (900s, I think). Vernon's Pools used a Beech King Air, G-VRES, as Vernair in the 70s and 80s.
Beecham used to fly their own HS125, on their own AOC.

Granada Television also flew their own HS125 for some years - G-WBPR.

BICC and Volkswagen (GB) Ltd both had the same Dove G-ARYM. BICC first, then VW

Shell Aviation - Following his accident and leaving the RAF Douglas Bader joined the aviation department of the Asiatic Petroleum Company, soon to become part of Shell. He rejoined after the war eventually becoming Managing Director.

Bovis Construction owned a corporate aircraft

In Yorkshire David Brown Engineering (Tractors and Gearbox and at one time Aston Martin) had a a Heron or Dove and his own airfield at a place called Crossland Moor a few miles from both factories.

Cheers
Mr Mac

Tube Investments operated Heron G-ANPV, then King Air G-BKTI both BHX based.

Also at BHX BSR operated an HS125, the registration of which escapes me at the moment.

Late '60s driving to Santa Pod (Podington airfield) and just north of Newport Pagnell where the Aston Martin factory was, I often saw a Dove parked in a field just north of Newport Pagnell with a windsock nearby.

Laura Ashley: Navajo
J. Lyons: ?
United Biscuits: Kingair at Denham
AA: Dragon Rapide G-APAA, Auster, Aztec, Cessnas?
De Beers: HS 125s at LHR
Shell: ? (plus Douglas Bader's Beechcraft G-APUB at White Waltham)
National Coal Board: Dove at Stansted
BA: Kingair at Booker G-LKOW (Lord King Old W***er)

At Leeds Bradford, we had Ogden B200 G-OGDN, B400 N1565B and Falcon 900 G-SIRO. Bass Brewery owned B90 G-BAVG, B200 G-BPLC and B400 G-BRBZ. Much earlier, Charrington (as it was then) had a Piaggio - a P160, I think.

Rio Tinto Zinc - HS125 G-AWMS

Hawker Squiddeley/BAe - I personally flew quite a few times in our Jetstream 31 + 41 plus ATP and 146 if we were lucky :).Early in my time with the company they also still had a Dove or 2 .
One of our J31's (G- BWWW) of course also known as 'Whisky Three' had previously been operated by the Distillers Company - hence the Whisky Three Reg :).Their company nameplate was still in the fuselage/cabin.
Our J31 with the reg ending in 'KP' was of course referred to as 'Peanuts'.
We also had a PA44 puddle jumper :)

Used to look after lots of company aircraft at Glos Air in the 1970s and 80s.
United Biscuits - King Air 200
Ranco Europe - Commander 690C
Distillers Co. - King Air 100 then Jetstream 200 then Jetstream 31
Guiness - Jetstream 200
Laura Ashley - King Air C90, B200, Citation I and Falcon 100
BA for Lord King - King Air 200 then 300
Westland Helicopters - HS125
JSAX corp. - HS125
TVS television co. - BN2T Islander, Commander 690B
AAH - Commander 690B and 695
That's a few that come to mind, there were lots more.

British Aircraft Corp. had a Heron and HS125 in the early 1970s.

Couple of gap fillers...

Systime at Leeds Bradford C421 G-EAGL and Kenton Utilities at Newcastle Beech Kingair G-BHYU
The Vernair fleet in the late 70s was..
G-VRES Kingair 200
G-BAVE Kingair A100
G-BFVX Kingair C90
G-BFVY Kingair C90
G-AVNG Queenair A80
G-AYPC Queenair 70 (my daily driver)
G-WWS Skyvan
G-AWPK PA-23 Aztec

In these times, when climate change is dominating the headlines, it is not good PR to be seen to be using company aircraft. Hence Tesco's decision to divest itself of it's fleet back in 2015

Tesco prepares to get rid of last corporate jet

G-ASSM.

Standard Telephones and Cables - DC-3 G-AJRY
Ferranti - Heron G-ASCX,G-APMV
Dowty - Dove G-AVHV
British Steel - Dove G-AOFI
Rolls Electromatic - Dove G-AMXW
Leyland Motor Corporation - Dove G-APVX
BICC - Dove G-ARYM
Scottish Aviation - Dove G-AMFU
Hawker Siddeley - HS125 G-ASEC
David Brown - Dove G-ARDH
Standard Telephones and Cables - DC-3 G-AJRY


Plus most avionics companies - Marconi, Ecko Electronics, Decca, etc operated there own aircraft.

TJ Morris (Home Bargains) have at least one helicopter, Bell 429, AS50 ?