Of the four pure jet Caribbean airlines (Air Aruba, Air Jamaica, ALM Antillean Airlines and BWIA among them), the last was the largest and the only one that operated the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar.
The airline’s roots stretched across the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, all the way to New Zealand, at least in terms of the nationality of its founder, Lowell Yerex, a WWI fighter pilot who planted his seed in Trinidad in 1939 so that he could reinstate what had become a suspended air service to Barbados. Links were re-established on November 27 of the following year with a single Lockheed L-18 Lodestar, registered VP-TAE. Tobago was also served three times a week.
Although World War II generally thwarted the operations of commercial airlines, they expanded into the Caribbean. The 1942 acquisition of two Lockheed L-14 Electras allowed it to operate charter flights to US military bases there.
Transformed, the following year, into a joint stock company and infused with the financial plasma of the British government, it bought three commercially converted Hudson bombers, while the completion of many airfields on small Caribbean islands allowed it to spread its wings to Grenada and the United Kingdom. . Dominican Republic, as well as Guyana in South America.
No longer hampered by war, it acquired four more suitable Lodestars in 1945.
A change of ownership two years later, to British South American Airways (BSAA), earned the temporary nomenclature of British International Airways, a subsidiary of BSAA, although it returned to its original title of British West Indian Airways on June 24, 1948. In order to cater for increased demand, it purchased five 24-passenger Vickers Viking aircraft, which featured twin piston air screws and dual vertical tails and rested on rear wheels.
Another change of ownership occurred the following year, when British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) merged the BSAA into it, transforming the BWIA itself into a subsidiary. It ceded several routes north of Jamaica from parent BOAC, which monetarily supported its expansion, replaced its L-18 Lodestars with three 28-seat Douglas Dakota, but even these proved inadequate for its ambitious expansion plans.
Moving from piston to turboprop technology, it acquired four Vickers V.700 Viscounts, powered by Rolls Royce Dart engines, able to offer passengers greater speed and comfort starting in 1955.
Because these aircraft were too large to serve the Leeward Islands, BWIA, which had the majority stake, formed the Leeward Island Air Transport (LIAT), which operated with more equipment suitable for short stripes.
Spreading its wings across the Atlantic in 1960 with leased four-engine Bristol Britannias, BWIA inaugurated service to Jamaica and Barbados from London with an intermediate stop in New York.
However, a third change of ownership, albeit after lengthy negotiations, occurred the following year, November 1, 1961, when the government of Trinidad and Tobago purchased 90 percent of BWIA from BOAC.
“British West Indian Airways is envisioned by the government of Trinidad and Tobago as a national airline for the West Indies area as a whole, and steps are now being taken to implement this policy,” according to Dr. Eric Williams, then first Minister of Barbados. .
A Boeing 707, the airline’s first pure jet type, was chartered from BOAC that year to replace the Bristol Britannia on the transatlantic route, and by 1965, it had also replaced the Boeing 727-100 “Sunjets” with its Viscounts on the US services for Miami and New York.
Canada included in the route system on May 3, 1969, when BWIA had been granted a temporary license to operate a Trinidad-Barbados-Antigua-Toronto sector.
By standardizing on Boeing 707 aircraft in 1971, BWIA was able to offer a 45 percent increase in seating capacity.
“This was also a year of unprecedented growth in the charter market,” according to the “Corporate Timeline” (BWIA International Airways, Corporate Communication Department, October 1, 1996). “BWIA tripled the number of charter flights in the UK from eight to 24, and continued to improve Miami services with the continuation of the trend of faster services, coupled with increased capacity.”
Flight schedules from the Eastern Caribbean to New York and Toronto were also improved.
A milestone came on April 5, 1974, when it inaugurated a weekly scheduled service to London-Heathrow, a considerable improvement over the previous private charter flight to Gatwick.
An order for a single Douglas DC-9-30CF Convertible Freighter and four long-body DC-9-50s materialized four years later, on June 28, when it received the first aircraft.
A merger of January 1, 1980 with Trinidad and Tobago Air Services, which had been formed six years earlier to operate high-frequency connecting flights between the two cities inherent in its designation, allowed it to become a single national, Caribbean and intercontinental. .
The first of four L-1011-500s, delivered on January 29 of that year, allowed it to offer a widebody type for the first time and a 31 percent capacity increase over the 707 it replaced on the London route two. months later. the 28th of March. With the delivery of the fourth aircraft in 1982, the 707s were completely withdrawn from the fleet and completely replaced with TriStars to New York, Toronto, London, Manchester, Frankfurt and Zurich.
Expansion continued to Martinique with Hawker Siddeley HS.748 turboprops and Baltimore with pure jet aircraft.
1985 was marked with the delivery of the first of nine MD-83s, configured with 12 commercial seats and 108 coach-style seats, progressively replacing the DC-9-50 in some sectors of Miami.
Employing 2,032 employees across the system in 1987, BWIA operated four DC-9-50s, three MD-83s, and four L-1011-500s.
Privatized, the Caribbean airline, which was incorporated as BWIA International Airways, Limited, on February 15, 1995, is now listed on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange.
The 21st century brought significant changes and declines. A new light green and blue colored steel pin drum livery, for example, symbolizing Tobago, was introduced in 2000, replacing the old gold, yellow and white, while a fleet modernization program was implemented. . Two four-engine Airbus A-340-300s were ordered, planned as replacements for the TriStar 500, comprising the 9Y-JIL aircraft with 40 commercial seats and 215 coaches and the 9Y-TJN with 32 commercial seats and 252 coach seats.
Although it reversed its decision to replace its MD-83s with A-321-100s on the Caribbean and North American routes, should it receive two, registered 9Y-BWA and -BWB, before standardizing the Boeing 737-800, that accommodated 16 business passengers and 138 economy class.
Although, as with any airline, its route system varied over the years with the addition and removal of destinations, it served Antigua, Barbados, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean ; Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela in South America; New and Miami in the United States; Toronto in Canada; and London, Manchester and Frankfurt in Europe from the primary flight bases in Trinidad and the secondary bases in Barbados.
While it peaked, operating some 660 weekly flights and carrying 1.4 million passengers in 2003, profitability was often not comparable to these high figures, requiring multiple infusions from the government of Trinidad and Tobago to ensure its continued financial momentum.
However, three years later, the unions’ failure to agree on the new terms of the contract resulted in the bankruptcy of Trinidad and Tobago’s national airline after 66 years of operation.
From its ashes emerged the state-owned BWIA, which replaced Caribbean Airlines on September 27, 2006 with a fleet of six 737-800s and a single A-340-300.
Sources:
“Corporate Timeline”, BWIA International Airways, Limited, Corporate Communications Department, October 1, 1996.