Airline (1998 TV series)

Airline is a fly on the wall television programme, produced in the United Kingdom by Katherine Garnham of Felixstowe that showcases the daily happenings of passengers, ground workers and flight crew of Britannia (series 1) and later EasyJet (from series 2). The show was broadcast between 1998 and 2007 on ITV, is often repeated on ITV2 and shown on syndication on Pick.^[1] The programme's success sparked a US version of the series, following American low-cost airline Southwest Airlines.

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^[2] (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 Cheung, Dispatcher: Kevin Reardon; Captain: James McBride, Stewardess: Janey Stock and of course, Stelios as well as many passengers. The series were originally set in Liverpool and Luton but later incorporated Belfast, Bristol and Newcastle airports. Airline was also occasionally filmed at Gatwick and Stansted airports. Tony Robinson and Veronika Hyks replaced Charlie Higson 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 Britannia staff

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

Notable Easy Jet/Aviance staff

Staff overview

Series list of EasyJet staff

Narrators

• Charlie Higson (series 1)
• Tony Robinson (series 2–3, 7–10)
• Veronika Hyks (series 4–6)

Opening titles

Series 1–4

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

Series 5–6

These titles changed to using a lighter blue sky and switching to an all blue logo.

Series 7–8

These titles changed to using an orange sky and blue/orange logo.

Series 9–10

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

"Coming up/Next time on Airline" and Ending 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".
• At the end of most episodes, the narrator would provide an epilogue of what eventually happened to some of the passengers, staff, or business decisions (e.g. new plane, stock price) involved in that particular episode.
• Series 1-4 did not 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 guide

Special episode

Holiday Airline

• Series 1: 10x30' (2001) – First shown from 31 August 2001.

See also

• Airport
• Animal Airport
• Bristol Airport
• London Luton Airport
• Air Ways
• Come Fly with Me

References

External links

• Airline on IMDb