The Gendering of Civil Aviation, 1919–24

Following the First World War a number of British airlines began commercial operations. ATT was the first to offer a regularly scheduled passenger service, flying passengers from London to Paris on 25 August, followed by Handley Page Transport Ltd (HPT) one week later. In October Instone Airlines Ltd (Instone) began flying the same routes but by the end of the year three airlines faced competition from Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM)1 and two French airlines, Compagnie Messageries Aeriennes and Cie. des Grands Express Aeriens (CMA and CGEA).2 By 1923 only HPT and Instone had survived. ATT was closed down in 1920 when its parent company, the Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco), was taken over by the British Small Arms Company (BSA) and replaced by the Daimler Airway, jointly owned by BSA and the Daimler car group. In 1923 a fourth British airline called British Marine Air Navigation Company (BMAN) began international operations.3 In 1924, the British government stepped in to support civil aviation by recommending the merger of Daimler, HPT, Instone and BMAN into a single company, to be called Imperial Airways and subsidized for a period of ten years.