Recently describing my encounters with airlines over the years brought back fond memories of British Caledonian. I just had to see if those old ads were on You Tube. Sure enough many of them are although unfortunately not the one with the Caledonian Girls going round the luggage carousel.
I had forgotten the one with George. (Got all you gear?)
Apologies to alt.home.repair readers who do not want to read this but there has been a bit of cross posting between rec.travel.air and alt.home. repair. If you do not want to read it then don't.
Those old ads were so openly sexist and totally not politically correct but THEY WERE (mostly) TRUE. I say mostly because in truth BCal had a lot of male cabin staff as well and the guys were just as good as the girls. Sure BCal were not perfect but anyone that had regular experience of BA out of Heathrow then being fortunate enough to be able to wave goodbye to Heathrow BA and start flying BCal out of Gatwick would have echoed the sentiments in those old adverts:-
I've found a better way to fly I've found a better way to touch the sky. British Caledonian A better way to fly.
The World is our beat (pa pa pa pa pah) Sit back in your seat. (pa pa pa pa pah) The hours fly (pa pa pa pa pah) The time slips by When you're up in the sky Lets go British Caledonian
Da da da da, da da da da, da da da da, da da da da I've been all around this great big world And I've flown with all kinds of girls. But I can't wait to get back to Gatwick To the cutest girls in the world. Da, da da, I wish they all could be ??????. . God I really wish they all could be Caledonian Girls.
They really did never forget you had a choice. They proved you do not have to sacrifice safety for good service and FUN FUN FUN.
BA had a very good safety record. But BCal had an even better safety record than BA and thumbed their noses at them with a smile on their faces.
It reminds me of a time long long ago and far far away when flying was something to be enjoyed. Not something to be endured in misery and worried about.
Anyone that watches the videos linked below, particularly the former BCal staff ones and does not have to wipe a tear from their eye is made of sterner stuff than me.
Ads
A better way to fly
Lets go
Caledonian Girls 1
Caledonian Girls 2
Gatwick Limo
Staff Videos
We had fun
BCal crew 1
BCal crew 2
The way we were