Alex McWhirter looks through the Business Traveller archive. This month: British Midland's Diamond Service, September 1987.
Little Red is welcome competition for British Airways. But take it from me, Virgin Atlantic’s spin-off will not change domestic aviation in the same way as British Midland did with its “Diamond Service” in the 1980s.
Then, as was the case until the end of March, BA monopolised the four domestic trunk routes from London Heathrow to Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It seems hard to believe in today’s liberal era but until the early eighties, the then state-owned BA was granted a monopoly by the government for these four domestic routes at Heathrow.
Mind you, what BA provided at that time was handy. The problem was that not everyone appreciated the convenience of its turn-up-and-go Shuttle flights. Fares were costly, limited in scope and there was zero onboard service.
So when the government allowed Sir Michael Bishop’s British Midland to compete against BA, it did so in style, shaking up the market with a combination of Diamond Service and lower fares.
Many of our readers who flew on business in those days fondly remember Diamond Service because not only had nothing like it been seen before, but nothing like it has ever been seen since. One-class Diamond Service provided “business class” standards of onboard attention with lavish meals and free drinks served to all, irrespective of how much one’s ticket had cost.
Not only that, but British Midland realised that most short-distance business trips were accomplished within three days. So it introduced a flexible three-day excursion, valid on all flights and allowing changes and refunds without penalty, offering a 20 per cent discount on the normal fare. It meant the cost of a flexible return London-Edinburgh ticket, normally £144, was cut to £119.
What if you just wanted to fly one-way? Provided you chose to travel off-peak, British Midland brought in cheaper fares for less busy flights. A one-way trip to Edinburgh, costing £72 at peak times, was cut to £54 off-peak. BA’s riposte was Super Shuttle. This offered the same turn-up-and-go convenience but with onboard meals, snacks and drinks.
I truly believe this period was the heyday of UK aviation. Which other country, anywhere, could boast domestic flights where all passengers sampled excellent onboard service, and where Concorde would make an appearance on BA’s Super Shuttle from time to time?
Several readers have asked why onboard service was so important given passengers could grab a bite to eat in the lounge beforehand. But there were no lounges in those days and, in any case, with streamlined airport procedures – check-in deadlines were ten minutes even at Heathrow – passengers would have had little time to use such a facility.
Sadly, it all had to end. After a few years, rising costs spelt the end of Super Shuttle, while British Midland gradually disbanded its one-class Diamond Service in favour of a two-class business and economy product. But it was great while it lasted.
