Dan-Air Dan-Air Services Ltd, known as Dan-Air, was a British airline owned by the shipbroking company Davies and Newman. The business was launched in 1953 with a single aircraft. Dan-Air initially flew charter passenger and cargo flights out of Blackbushe and Southend airports. In 1954 Dan-Air created an engineering business, Dan-Air Engineering.
In 1960 Dan-Air moved to London’s Gatwick Airport, and began to offer scheduled services year-round. The company also moved into ‘inclusive tour’ charter flights, and, in 1961, acquired Scottish Airlines. Dan-Air was an early adopter of jet aircraft in Britain, buying two de Havilland Comet series 4 jets in 1966. Dan-Air established its first overseas base at Berlin’s Tegel airport in 1969.
The 1970s saw the business expand into the long-haul market, with flights to the United States and Canada. Dan-Air acquired Skyways International as the business grew. The company also became heavily involved in transporting oil industry workers involved in North Sea operations.
The company expanded its scheduled services and grew throughout the 1980s. At its peak in 1989, Dan-Air carried 6.2 million passengers. The company underwent an extensive re-branding exercise, adopting new livery, uniforms, stationery etc. However, 1989 was also a rare year when Dan-Air made a loss in all 12 months.
Decline came swiftly at the start of the 1990s, and Dan-Air lost £35 million in 1991, and £24 million during the last six months of its existence in 1992. The mix of aircraft owned by the airline was inefficient, management changes and financial difficulties all presented challenges. Attempts to merge Dan-Air with Virgin Atlantic failed and the business was sold to British Airways for £1 in 1992.
Rolls-Royce Ltd Rolls-Royce Limited was established by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in 1904. The company designed and built luxury cars and with the help of Henry Royce’s previous experience in building cranes, it soon gained widespread reputation for engineering excellence.
During the First World War Rolls-Royce added building aero engines to its skills. This enabled them to later become involved in the development of jet engines. They worked engines for both the civilian and military market. However, a costly over-run in designing and building the RB211 civilian aircraft engine brought the company to financial ruin. Even though the RB211 proved a great success in 1971 the owners of the company entered voluntary liquidation.
The government of the day bought the productive parts of the company which became known as Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited. Portions of the company were sold to British Aircraft Corporation and transferred the profitable car division to Rolls-Royce Motors Holdings Limited. In 1987 Rolls-Royce Ltd was privatised and subsequently became Rolls-Royce plc. The Rolls-Royce Motors brand was bought by BMW in 1998.
Air 2000 Limited The airline was incorporated in 1985 as Melroscan Limited and became Air 2000 Limited in 1986. It began it's chartered flight services in 1987 from Manchester Airport, London Gatwick and Glasgow Airport and flew to various destinations in Europe, North America and Africa. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of First Choice Holidays and Flights and it remained so until 2003 when it was incorporated under First Choice Airways Limited. First Choice eventually merged with Thomson Airways.
Litton Industries Litton Industries was named after Charles Vincent Litton Sr. (1904–1972) who in 1932, founded Litton Engineering Laboratories. During World War II, Litton participated in the design and production of microwave tubes used in communications and radar equipment. In 1941 he formed a partnership called Industrial and Commercial Electronics with Philip Scofield and Ralph Shermund. After the war, Litton Industries was incorporated in 1947 to manufacture vacuum tubes and the machinery used to produce them. The company grew rapidly, soon rivalling established electronics firms in the east. On August 3rd, 1952, Litton split off the glass lathe products, which became the sole proprietorship Litton Engineering Laboratories on May 1st, 1953.
On November 4th, 1953, he sold the vacuum tube manufacturing portion of the company to Electro Dynamics Corporation, which had been founded by Charles Bates "Tex" Thornton (1913–81). In 1954, Electro Dynamics bought the rights to the name Litton Industries. Over the years there were dozens of further acquisitions, such as Ingalls Shipbuilding Company in 1962. In 1983 the company purchased International Laser Systems, Inc. Several companies were bought and later sold, including Stouffer Foods Corporation (1967–73), the construction business of Rust Engineering Company (1967–72), and Monroe Systems office-equipment division (1958–83).
Litton Industries had more than 80 divisions providing products and services ranging from electronic and electrical components and equipment to aerospace and marine systems and equipment. It was headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Among Litton’s popularly known brand-name products are Litton microwave ovens and Royal and Triumph typewriters. It was a major defence contractor. In 2001, Northrop Grumman bought Litton Industries.
Board of Trade, Civil Aviation Department Civil aviation in Britain was the responsibility of the Air Ministry until 1945. In that year, responsibility for civil aviation was transferred to a new Ministry of Civil Aviation, before merging with the Ministry of Transport in 1953 to become the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. Further re-organisation in 1959 saw the creation of a new Ministry of Aviation.
In late 1966 civil aviation functions were transferred again, this time coming under a new Civil Aviation Department forming part of the Board of Trade. In 1970 the successor to the Board of Trade, the Department of Trade and Industry, retained responsibility for civil aviation until 1972. The successor to the Civil Aviation Department is the Civil Aviation Authority, created in 1972.
