Airline (TV series) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Airline was a fly on the wall

Fly on the wall

Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in filmmaking and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them...

television programme, produced in the United Kingdom that showcases the daily happenings of passengers, ground workers and on-board staff of Britannia

Britannia Airways

Britannia Airways was the largest charter airline in the United Kingdom, rebranded as Thomsonfly in 2005. Its main bases were Gatwick, London Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow...

(Series 1) and later EasyJet

EasyJet

EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...

(from Series 2). The show has been broadcast since 1998 on ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

, is often repeated on ITV2

ITV2

ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...

and shown on syndication on Pick TV.

Production

EasyJet

were first approached about the possibility of filming during mid-1998, after the first series with Britannia Airways was discontinued. The first series with EasyJet was broadcast in January 1999, and the cameras have been with EasyJet almost constantly ever since. In 2003 it was ITV's most popular factual programme. The programme has been sold to many countries worldwide, including New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.

Starting with the second series in 1999, the programme follows staff of EasyJet and Reed Aviation (the handling agents) such as: Manager: Graham Fraser; Check-in trouble-shooter: Jane Boulton; Check-in assistant: Katrina Leeder; Supervisors: Leo Jones, Brett Holland and Leanne Chung, Dispatcher: Kevin Reardon; Captain: James McBride, Stewardess: Janey Stock and of course, Stelios

Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou , born 14 February 1967) is a British entrepreneur of Greek Cypriot origin, currently a resident of Monaco. He is the scion of a wealthy, shipowning family, but is best known for setting up easyJet, a highly successful and profitable low-cost airline, with start-up funds...

as well as many passengers. The series were originally set in Liverpool

Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport serving the city of Liverpool and the North West of England. Formerly known as Speke Airport, RAF Speke, and Liverpool Airport the airport is located within the City of Liverpool adjacent to the estuary of the River Mersey some southeast...

and Luton

London Luton Airport

London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...

but later incorporated Belfast

Belfast International Airport

Belfast International Airport is a major airport located northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was formerly known and is still referred to as Aldergrove Airport, after the village of the same name lying immediately to the west of the airport. Belfast International shares its runways with...

, Bristol

Bristol International Airport

Bristol Airport , located at Lulsgate Bottom in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England and the surrounding area. At first it was named Bristol Lulsgate Airport and from March 1997 to March 2010 it was known as Bristol International Airport...

and Newcastle

Newcastle Airport

Newcastle International Airport is located in Woolsington in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, north-west of the city centre. In 2010 it was the 11th busiest airport in the United Kingdom....

airports. Airline was also occasionally filmed at Gatwick

London Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...

and Stansted

London Stansted Airport

-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...

airports. Tony Robinson

Tony Robinson

Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...

and Veronika Hyks replaced Charlie Higson

Charlie Higson

Charles Murray Higson , more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer...

as voiceover.

The programme also follows some passengers and staff on interesting journeys and during important moments in their lives. Wedding proposals, marriages, illnesses, business trips, reunions and once-in-a-lifetime experiences have all been filmed, both happy and sad. The programme also aims to educate the airline's passengers concerning its rules and regulations -- some of the highlighted issues relate to missed check-in, incorrect travel documentation, and the carriage of prohibited items.

Notable members of Britannia staff

Supervisors: Pat Baines, Cathy Duffy
Captains: Peter Klack
Flight Steward/Stewardesses: Brian John Aldridge (BJ),

Overview of Staff

Administrative
Founder of Easyjet	Stelios Haji-Ioannou Stelios Haji-Ioannou Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou , born 14 February 1967) is a British entrepreneur of Greek Cypriot origin, currently a resident of Monaco. He is the scion of a wealthy, shipowning family, but is best known for setting up easyJet, a highly successful and profitable low-cost airline, with start-up funds...
Airport Terminal Staff
Managers
	Luton
	Alan Derbyshire (Series 5-6) Graham Fraser (Series 3-4) Jane Boulton (Series 3-4) Leo Jones (Assist Manager) (Series 7-10)
	Liverpool
	Sarah Tier
Bristol
Machell Riley
Supervisors
	Luton
	Brett Holland Leo Jones (Series 6) Jane Boulton (Series 3)
	Liverpool
	Leanne Chung,
Passenger Services Agent	Jane Boulton (Series 2) Leo Jones (Series 5)
Ticket Desk Agents	Anita Helen Skeggs Katrina Leeder
Ground Staff
Dispatch	Darren Ramsey (Luton) (Series 2) Kevin Reardon (Liverpool) (Series 2-3) Jane Boulton (Luton)(Series 5-9)
Air crew
Pilots	Georgie Hobbs (Series 4) Lance Jordan (Series 5) James McBride (Series 4-) Mike Jamerson (Series 5-) Tony Underwood Tony Underwood Tony Underwood is a former English rugby union footballer who played as a wing three-quarter back. He is of Chinese-English parentage.... (Series 5-)
Flight Steward/Stewardesses	Bob Brain Andy Swain Darren Ramsey (Series 3) Janey Stock (Series 3&4)

Series by Series List of EasyJet Staffing

Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Series 2
Managers	unknown
Passenger Supervisor	Jane Boulton
Check-in/Ticket Desk Assistants	Katrina Leeder
Dispatcher	Kevin Reardon (Liverpool) Darren Ramsey (Luton)
Series 3
Managers	Jane Boulton Graham Fraser
Check-in/Ticket Desk Assistants	Katrina Leeder
Dispatcher	Kevin Reardon (Liverpool)
Flight Steward/Stewardesses	Janey Stock Darren Ramsey
Pilots	James McBride Lance Jordan
Series 4
Managers	Jane Boulton Graham Fraser
Passenger Supervisor	Stephen Elwood
Check-in/Ticket Desk Assistants	Katrina Leeder
Flight Steward/Stewardesses	Janey Stock
Pilots	James McBride Georgie Hobbs
Series 5
Managers	Alan Derbyshire Jane Boulton
Passenger Supervisor	Leo Jones Leanne Chung
Check-in/Ticket Desk Assistants	Permanent	Temporary
Check-in/Ticket Desk Assistants	Anita Katrina Leeder	Several Trainees were seen taking the Check-in Assistant Course but only one was seen in the role for a short time
Pilots	James McBride Mike Jamerson Tony Underwood
Series 6
Managers	Alan Derbyshire Leo Jones (Luton Assist Manager) Sarah Tier (Liverpool Shift Manager) Leanne Chung (Liverpool Checkin Manager)
Dispatcher	Jane Boulton
Series 7
Managers	Alan Derbyshire
Dispatcher	Jane Boulton
Series 8
Managers	Alan Derbyshire
Dispatcher	Jane Boulton
Series 9
Managers	Alan Derbyshire
Series 10
Managers	Alan Derbyshire
Flight Steward/Stewardesses	Bob Brain

Narrators

Charlie Higson
Charlie Higson
Charles Murray Higson , more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer...

(Series 1)
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...

(Series 2-3,7-10)
Veronica Hyks (Series 4-6)

Series 1-4

These titles have a sky background and feature a Britannia plane (Series 1) or a EasyJet plane (Series 2-4) before cutting to clips of the overall series.

Series 9-10

These titles used a similar style to that used in Series 5-6 but now has a reddish tint and features an airline in the logo.

"Coming up/Next time on Airline" Sequences

At the start of each series the narrator would show snippets of what was to come throughout the series. This would normally be announced with the phrase "Welcome onboard another series of Airline"
At the beginning of each episode in every series, the narrator would give a quick preview of what would be shown.
This would normally be announced with the phrases "Coming up/Tonight on Airline" or "Onboard Airline tonight".
Series 1-4 didn't show what was coming up in the next episode but did feature at the end of the programme, before the credits, information of what happened to the passengers featured.
Starting in Series 5, clips of what would feature in the next episode were shown during the first 10 seconds of the credits.
At the end of each series, the narrator would look back and highlight some of the more important things shown such as gripping stories about various members of airline staff. This would take about a minute and feature the common phrase "The Summer/Winter season has come to an end".

Changes to Luton Airport throughout filming "Airline"

- Area not used for Passenger operation at the time

	Series 2-3	Xmas 1999	Series 4-9	Series 10
International Terminal
Check-In (Zone A)	Check-in area near to the future check-in area
Check-In (Zone B)	Original Check-in area with open planned concourse	Check-in area was used as access to departures up until 2005 when the new departures lounge opened
Departures	Original Departure Lounge		Departure Lounge is accessed by the terminal link through the original check-in area
New Terminal
Check-In		New check-in area with the entrance's & Departures access at the west side of the building and the main check-in area to the east separated by 2 passages and a cafe.
Departures				Above the New check-in area on the first floor

UK Series guide

Series	Narrator	First Shown	Notes	Number of Episodes
Series 1	Charlie Higson Charlie Higson Charles Murray Higson , more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer...	6 March 1998	Followed Britannia Airways Britannia Airways Britannia Airways was the largest charter airline in the United Kingdom, rebranded as Thomsonfly in 2005. Its main bases were Gatwick, London Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow... .	6
Series 2	Tony Robinson Tony Robinson Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...	12 January 1999	This is the first series to feature EasyJet and also showed all ground staff wearing Reed Aviation uniforms; Red Jackets, a Dark blue shirt with pink petals and a black rimmed red hat with a Reed aviation badge.	8
Series 3		10 September 1999	This is the last series that feature the old Luton terminal. First series featuring Luton London Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway... and some Liverpool Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport serving the city of Liverpool and the North West of England. Formerly known as Speke Airport, RAF Speke, and Liverpool Airport the airport is located within the City of Liverpool adjacent to the estuary of the River Mersey some southeast... ground staff in orange satin shirts (with a blue tank top).	10
Series 4	Veronica Hyks	30 June 2000	This is the first series that featured the new Luton terminal.	14
Series 5		12 March 2001	Reed Aviation becomes Aviance UK Aviance UK Aviance UK was an aircraft ground handling agent, operating at 15 airports in the UK and many more, as part of its alliance, worldwide. It was a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group, a rail, bus and aviation services provider across the UK... , Liverpool ground staff now wear blue uniforms.	12
Series 6		15 April 2002	This the last series that featured the old Liverpool terminal.	18
Series 7	Tony Robinson Tony Robinson Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...	27 May 2003	This series followed the merging of EasyJet and Go Fly Go Fly Go Fly was the name of an award-winning British airline. It was purchased by EasyJet.-History:Bob Ayling, ex-chief of British Airways, approached EasyJet's founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, to ask whether he could visit claiming that he was fascinated by how the Greek entrepreneur had made the budget... and also featured the new Liverpool terminal in its entirety even though it was seen in Series 6.	12
Series 8		8 October 2004		12
Series 9		17 June 2005	Dispatcher Jane Boulton, who featured on all previous EasyJet series, leaves the airline to work for Aer Lingus Aer Lingus Aer Lingus Group Plc is the flag carrier of Ireland. It operates a fleet of Airbus aircraft serving Europe and North America. It is Ireland's oldest extant airline, and its second largest after low-cost rival Ryanair... at Heathrow London Heathrow Airport London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe... .	12
Series 10		8 September 2006	Currently the last aired series.	13

Special Episode

Series	Narrator	First Shown	Notes
Airline at Christmas	Tony Robinson Tony Robinson Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...	27 December 1999	This is the only episode that showed both the old and new check-in areas of Luton Airport.