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during the early years. A set of priorities was established. BOAC would: 1. Provide the transport for the RAF, there being no Transport Command at this stage. 2. Would carry important loads such as passengers and freight at the instructions of the Secretary of State. 3. Would be responsible for the carriage of airmail as directed. 4. A National Air Communications (NAC) of the Air Ministry would be set up which would control the operations of all oversas air services by the airline. 5. The Head Quarters and operating airfields would be moved to Whitchurch and Exeter for landplanes and Pembroke Dock, Falmouth or Poole for flying-boats (it turned out to be Poole). It was also at this stage that Durban, in South Africa, was first mooted as an overseas flying-boat base (and possible HQ) incase the Middle East and Mediterranean were denied to Great Britain by enemy action. 6. Bristol would be the new HQ for the airline as well as the NAC. 7. Shoreham and Heston would remain available as airfields depending on enemy action. What did not emerge from this planning was any clear role for BOAC; the RAF would be given first call on the airline’s resources, both human and aircraft, regardless of any commercial considerations and this last point would remain the most frequentsource of friction throughout the war. For an airline used to budgets and forecasting, the planned accounting system was bizarre; simply, and in the words of the Chairman: “We work for account of the Government, they meet all our expenditure and we credit them with all our revenue”. From the other side spares, accommodation and fuel would not be charged for but the Air Ministry would make no payment for services used. This diktate would remain in force until 1946 and which did much to blunt the commercial drive of the airline. 2.4 Initial operations Two days before war was declared the order came to move the entire structure of what was yet to become BOAC to Bristol and Exeter where both companies set up their HQ in the Grand Spa Hotel in Clifton. All commercial operations wereabandoned, though only for a short time; the flying-boats were moved from Southampton to Poole and landplanes flown to Whitchurch. All aircraft orders from America and all services both domestic and international ceased and were subordinated to the military. While there were deep concerns within BOAC at the potential loss of key staff such as air crew and engineers, there were also other demands placed on the airline’s resources. In early 1940 the Air Transport Auxiliary was set up, an organisation under the aegis of the Ministry for Aircraft Production (MAP) to ferry service aircraft from factories and repair units to Squadrons. Gerard d’Erlanger, recently appointed to the Board, was put in charge of this organisation to which both flying and engineering staff were seconded, thus making a further drain on the airline’s resources. Later in 1941the entire administrative responsibility for the ATA was placed under the control of BOAC though the ATA was by now staffed with its own pilots and engineers. In May 1940 the MAP informed BOAC that it was to undertake the modification and repair of RAF aircraft as well as the overhaul of its engines and propellers; factories had to be found or built or built in order to achieve this task and in the same month the company was ordered to take over the assembly of American aircraft delivered to Liverpool by ship . |
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