When did BOAC end?
British European Airways
BEA ceased operations on 1 April 1974 when it merged with BOAC to form British Airways. A BEA Trident operated the airline's final flight from Dublin to Heathrow on 31 March 1974. Following the late-night arrival at Heathrow at 23:30 hrs of flight BE 943 ("Bealine 943"), BEA passed into history as of 00:00 hrs the following day.
However, even after the merger, a British Airways European Division, which incorporated the former BEA Mainline operation, the erstwhile Super One-Eleven and Cargo divisions, as well as British Airtours, continued to exist alongside a British Airways Overseas, a British Airways Regional and four other divisions until 1 April 1977 when these were replaced by a unified operating structure organised into a number of departments, including commercial operations, flight operations, engineering, planning, catering and personnel. These organisational changes were accompanied by the adoption of a single, two-letter, IATA airline identification code for the entire airline, i.e., BA, the old BOAC/Overseas Division code. Until then, each of the three main airline divisions had its own two-letter, IATA airline identification code, BA for Overseas, BE for European and BZ for Regional.
Modern Air Transport
Having carried the airline's losses since 1967 and failed to secure a buyer for the entire business, GAC refused to invest any further in its airline subsidiary and instructed the airline's management to wind down operations and begin disposing of its fleet in 1975. This resulted in the sale of three CV-990s. It also resulted in a labour dispute that saw the airline's last remaining seven pilots walk out on 1 September after abandoning the last two active CV-990s (out of a remaining airworthy fleet of five) at New York JFK and Chicago O'Hare, respectively. All remaining airworthy aircraft were parked at various US airports pending their eventual disposal. The last example was parked at Miami's Opa Locka Airport shortly before Modern Air ceased operations on 6 October 1975 in response to the CAB's decision to ground the airline, as a consequence of the regulator's unhappiness over GAC's refusal to commit new funds to the business (after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier that year). In addition, the CAB ordered it to surrender its operating permit the following month (with effect from 20 November). Its West Berlin traffic rights were acquired by Aeroamerica, another US charter and supplemental carrier. Denver-based travel club and charter airline Ports of Call acquired most of the erstwhile Modern Air fleet. Four CV-990As saw active service with Ports of Call while a further two were cannibalised. Other former Modern Air CV-990As were acquired by Detroit-based Nomads travel club and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The aircraft acquired by NASA was used on the Space Shuttle programme as a landing systems research aircraft.