Article from retired Non-Executive Director Paul Sandilands.
I recently discovered, amongst some papers that had belonged to my mother the amazing brochure below:
It describes the first ever Transatlantic Jetliner Service from London to New York that took place on the 4th October 1958. The aircraft was a BOAC Comet 4 and it was the start of a revolution in Transatlantic travel!It is signed by the captain, and gives the names of the Co-pilot, Navigators, Engineer, Chief Steward and two stewardesses.
The chart within the brochure shows the route of the aircraft and the time taken to fly to New York via Gander.
My parents were on the flight and vividly recalled the experience. My mother described how there were crowds waving Union Jacks and police motorcycles escorted the aircraft on either side as it roared down the runway at Heathrow. They were rapidly outstripped by the powerful jet and my father, who had flown many times to America in propeller driven aircraft, described how the sensation of take off was so utterly different and dramatic as the jet soared into the sky.
Today flying is taken for granted by so many of us and we are used to travelling all over the world.
But this brochure is a reminder that the travel wasn’t always so easy and that travel by jet aircraft is a comparatively phenomenon.
Nowadays people travel for all sorts of reasons. And usually travel insurance is easily available, particularly for short holidays.
But sometimes travel insurance may not be so easy to obtain.
- Cameramen and reporters and their teams, for instance, can find themselves despatched to war zones.
- Medical teams are committed to areas affected by outbreaks of a particular localised pandemic.
- Divers work on wrecks.
- Advertising teams travel to all sorts of exotic and sometimes remote locations.
The reason for travel are many and various!
