Britt
Airways British Aircraft Corporation BAC-111
N392BA (c/n 131)
The ultimate aircraft to appear in Britt livery was the
BAC-111. Two were purchased in the mid
1980s to provide more
capacity on the heavier routes. There were retro fitted with
Stage-II Hush
Kits (for which
Britt owned the U.S. Patent). N392BA, seen above at O'Hare
in October of
1986 in this image by
Gary C. Orlando had originally been built for UK charter line Court Line
(known
originally as Autair) as G-AVOF. It flew with several
independents after that (including
Air Manchester, when it
was briefly re-registered G-BMAN), although had reverted to G-AVOF
with the manufacturer
as a trade-in when Britt bought it. Meanwhile, Bill
Britt had sold his airline
in 1985 to
PeoplExpress and in 1988 closed its Chicago-O'Hare operation.
American Eagle bought
his gates
and departure slots. In 1987 the PeoplExpress/PBA/Britt
compendium was bought out
by the Texas Air
Group consisting of Continental and Eastern. By 1989
Britt's entire operation
was absorbed into
Continental Express. As ExpressJet, Britt's legacy survives to
this day.