British Overseas Airways Corporation
On 24 November 1939, BOAC was created by Act of Parliament to become the British state airline, formed from the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. The companies had been operating together since war was declared on 3 September 1939, when their operations were evacuated from the London area to Bristol. On 1 April 1940, BOAC started operations as a single company. Following the Fall of France (22 June 1940), BOAC aircraft kept wartime Britain connected with its colonies and the allied world, often under enemy fire, and initially with desperate shortages of long-range aircraft. During the war, the airline was sometimes loosely referred to as 'British Airways', and aircraft and equipment were marked with combinations of that title and/or the Speedbird symbol and/or the Union Flag.
Basil Smallpeice
d'Erlanger retired as chairman in 1960, and was succeeded by Matthew Slattery. Smallpeice remained as managing director, and together Slattery and Smallpeice set about cutting costs at the airline as the financial performance continued to deteriorate. BOAC would incur significant losses in 1961 and 1962 amidst decreasing passenger loadings, comparatively high maintenance costs and ongoing payments to Vickers for the VC10 orders. The financial situation was further endangered by competition from independent British operation Cunard Eagle Airways, a joint venture between British Eagle and Cunard Line. The venture had ordered two Boeing 707 aircraft in March 1961, intending to recapture Cunard's transatlantic market which was traditionally the preserve of their ocean liners, the RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth. They received permission to operate services between London and New York in June 1961, though this was swiftly withdrawn by the Minister of Aviation when BOAC appealed the decision.