Editing Court Line (section)

===Autair===
The airline, originally named '''Argus Air Transport''', was formed at [[London Luton Airport]] in 1957.<ref name="Bubble"/><ref name="WorldAirlines_1973">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1973/1973%20-%200758.html |title=''World Airline Survey'', Flight International, 22 March 1973, p. 452 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024052458/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1973/1973%20-%200758.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="WorldAirlines_1974">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1974/1974%20-%200457.html |title=''World Airline Directory'', Flight International, 21 March 1974, p. 31 |access-date=2 May 2009 |archive-date=18 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318001651/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1974/1974%20-%200457.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1960, it became '''Autair (Luton)'''. On 27 September 1963, it changed to '''Autair International Airways'''.<ref name="Autair_schedulestart">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1963/1963%20-%201792.html |title=''Blackpool—London'', Air Commerce ..., Flight International, 10 October 1963, p. 601 |access-date=16 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024025127/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1963/1963%20-%201792.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Image:Douglas C-47A G-AGHJ Autair RWY 06.62 edited-2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Douglas DC-3]] of Autair at [[Manchester Airport|Manchester]] in 1962]]
[[Image:Vickers Viking 1 G-AHPB Autair AMS 14.03.67 edited-4.jpg|thumb|right|Autair [[Vickers VC.1 Viking|Vickers Viking]] freighter at [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Amsterdam]] in March 1967]]
Autair started as a division of '''Autair Helicopters''', a [[helicopter]] operator established in the early 1950s.<ref name="Autair_schedulestart"/><ref name="Autair_VitalStats_1963">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1963/1963%20-%200535.html |title=''World Airline Survey'', Flight International, 11 April 1963, p. 513 |access-date=17 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024043738/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1963/1963%20-%200535.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Autair_profile">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202399.html |title=''Autair International Airways Ltd'', Britain's Airline Industry — Company-by-company information on the scheduled and non-scheduled carriers, Flight International, 24 October 1968, p. 657 |access-date=14 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024010854/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202399.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CourtLine_Profile1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200486.html |title=''Airline Profile: Number Thirty-Nine in the Series — Court Line'', Flight International, 19 March 1970, p. 438 |access-date=16 January 2010 |archive-date=27 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527141006/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200486.html |url-status=live }}</ref> (Autair's [[helicopter]] interests were subsequently hived off into a separate company.<ref name="Bubble"/><ref name="CourtLine_Profile1"/>) It began public transport operations with an ex-[[British European Airways]] (BEA) [[Douglas DC-3]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Douglas-C-47A-Skytrain/1215862/L/ |title=Autair Douglas C-47A Skytrain G-AJIC (photo) |access-date=24 January 2010 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604220317/http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Douglas-C-47A-Skytrain/1215862/L/ |url-status=live }}</ref> used on contract work for other airlines.<ref name="Autair_schedulestart"/><ref name="Autair_VitalStats_1963"/><ref name="CourtLine_Profile2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200487.html |title=''Airline Profile: Number Thirty-Nine in the Series — Court Line'', Flight International, 19 March 1970, p. 439 |access-date=16 January 2010 |archive-date=27 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527141011/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200487.html |url-status=live }}</ref> More [[Douglas DC-3|DC-3]]s and [[Vickers VC.1 Viking|Vickers Viking]]s<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Vickers-614-Viking/1231360/L/ |title=Autair Vickers 614 Viking 1 G-AHPB (foreground) and G-AGRW (background) (photo) |access-date=24 January 2010 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604220324/http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Vickers-614-Viking/1231360/L/ |url-status=live }}</ref> were bought. The first of the latter joined the fleet in 1962. Both types operated freight and passenger services, including a growing number of [[inclusive tour]] (IT) flights.

One of the earliest charter customers for Autair's DC-3s was ex-[[Naval officer rank|naval officer]] [[Tom Gullick]],<ref name="Aircraft_37">''Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... COURT LINE)'', Vol 43, No 7, p. 37, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2010</ref> who would later head [[Clarksons Travel Group|Clarksons]]. Clarksons began its relationship with Autair by contracting the airline's [[Vickers VC.1 Viking|Viking]]s to ferry day-trippers between up to ten UK departure points and [[Rotterdam]] during the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] bulbfield season.<ref name="end_of_the_line"/><ref>''Aeroplane — Airline of the month: Channel Airways'', Vol. 112, No. 2867, pp. 6–7, Temple Press, London, 29 September 1966</ref><ref name="CourtLine_Profile2"/> [[Airspeed AS 57 Ambassador|Airspeed Ambassador]]s<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Airspeed-AS-57-Ambassador/1230517/L/ |title=Autair Airspeed AS-57 Ambassador 2 G-ALZS (photo) |access-date=24 January 2010 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604220405/http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Airspeed-AS-57-Ambassador/1230517/L/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and a leased [[Handley Page Dart Herald|Handley Page Herald]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Handley-Page-HPR-7/0373522/L/ |title=Handley Page HPR-7 Herald 101 G-APWB (photo) |access-date=24 January 2010 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604220336/http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Handley-Page-HPR-7/0373522/L/ |url-status=live }}</ref> were introduced in 1963. The former were the airline's first [[cabin pressurization|pressurise]]d aircraft while the latter was its first [[turboprop]].<ref name="Autair_schedulestart"/><ref name="Autair_VitalStats_1963"/>

On 1 October 1963, the airline commenced scheduled services between [[Blackpool Airport|Blackpool]] and [[London Luton Airport|Luton]] with Vikings.<ref name="end_of_the_line"/><ref name="Autair_schedulestart"/><ref name="CourtLine_Profile2"/><ref name="Background">''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 1990, p. 249</ref> The route was subsequently operated with [[Airspeed AS 57 Ambassador|Ambassador]]s and extended to [[Glasgow]] on 24 May 1966.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1966/1966%20-%201615.html |title=''A fourth way to Glasgow'', Air Transport, Flight International, 2 June 1966, p. 916 |access-date=16 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024025205/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1966/1966%20-%201615.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the following years, all [[piston]]-engined aircraft types were withdrawn and replaced with [[Hawker Siddeley 748]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Hawker-Siddeley-HS-748/1239637/L/ |title=Autair Hawker Siddeley HS-748 Srs 2A/225 (photo) |access-date=24 January 2010 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604220421/http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/Hawker-Siddeley-HS-748/1239637/L/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and Handley Page Herald turboprops. Three [[Handley Page Dart Herald|Herald]]s operated the company's scheduled services, including the main [[London]]—[[Teesside]] route.<ref name="CourtLine_Profile2"/><ref name="Autair_VitalStats_1969">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%200633.html |title=''World Airline Survey'', Flight International, 10 April 1969, p. 561 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024052929/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%200633.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="subsidy_refusal">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%202552.html |title=''No Subsidy for Autair'', Air Transport, Flight International, 7 August 1969, p. 192 |access-date=16 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024025403/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%202552.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1978/1978%20-%200756.html |title=''British Midland's double anniversary'', Flight International, 6 May 1978, p. 1390 |access-date=2 May 2009 |archive-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014034133/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1978/1978%20-%200756.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

1960 saw the formation of Clarksons Tours (later, Clarksons Holidays) with Tom Gullick as [[managing director]]. Over the next few years, Clarksons would become Autair's and its successor Court Line's most important tour operator customer.<ref name="CourtLine_Profile2"/><ref name="Clarksons_History">{{Cite web |url=http://www.clarksons.com/about_us/history/?entryId=862329 |title=''Clarksons — The heart of global shipping'' (Home > About us > History > 1950 > Diversification) |access-date=14 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708162152/http://www.clarksons.com/about_us/history/?entryId=862329 |archive-date=8 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In April 1965 Court Line<ref name="Aircraft_37" /> bought Autair's entire [[share capital]] for £215,000.<ref name="end_of_the_line"/><ref name="CourtLine_Profile1"/><ref name="Aircraft_37"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1965/1965%20-%201137.html |title=''Shipping company buys Autair'', Air Transport ..., Flight International, 22 April 1965, p. 629 |access-date=14 January 2010 |archive-date=6 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406173217/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1965/1965%20-%201137.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1965/1965%20-%202936.html |title=''Autair control clarified'', Air Transport ..., Flight International, 17 June 1965, p. 978 |access-date=17 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024035912/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1965/1965%20-%202936.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Image:BAC 1-11 416EK G-AWXJ Autair Intnl Ringway 26.07.69 edited-2.jpg|thumb|right|Autair International [[BAC One-Eleven#Early development|BAC One-Eleven 416EK]] G-AWXJ at [[Manchester International Airport|Manchester]] in July 1969.]]
Autair became a [[jet aircraft|jet]] operator in 1968, when three brand-new [[BAC One-Eleven#Early development|BAC One-Eleven 400 series]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%200258.html |title=Air Transport ..., Flight International, 22 February 1968, p. 252 (photo including caption) |access-date=6 February 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024124411/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%200258.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/BAC-111-416EK-One-Eleven/1252157/L/ |title=Autair BAC One-Eleven 416EK G-AWBL (photo) |access-date=24 January 2010 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604220357/http://www.airliners.net/photo/Autair/BAC-111-416EK-One-Eleven/1252157/L/ |url-status=live }}</ref> joined its fleet. The new jets mainly operated IT flights.<ref name="CourtLine_Profile2"/><ref name="Autair_VitalStats_1969"/><ref name="111_orders">''Aeroplane, Commercial continued — Autair International'', Vol. 116, No. 2960, p. 8, Temple Press, London, 10 July 1968</ref><ref name="Autair_jetorders">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201196.html |title=''More One-Elevens for Autair'', Air Transport, Flight International, 11 July 1968, p. 42 |access-date=17 January 2010 |archive-date=2 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302232107/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201196.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Autair_jetservices">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%202094.html |title=''£30 million holiday deal'', Air Transport, Flight International, 22 May 1969, p. 815 |access-date=16 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024025257/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%202094.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

1968 was also the year Clarksons' customer base had grown to 175,000 (up from 4,000 in 1964<ref name="Aircraft_38">''Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... COURT LINE)'', Vol 43, No 7, p. 38, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2010</ref>), many of whom flew to their holiday destination on Autair's new jets.<ref name="price_war_124">''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 124</ref>

By spring 1969, five [[BAC One-Eleven#Early development|One-Eleven 400]]s (including an example acquired second-hand from [[Channel Airways#The 1960s|Channel Airways]]<ref>''Classic Airliner (The BAC One-Eleven — Britain's bus-stop jet: Service around the world)'', Kelsey Publishing, Cudham, UK, July 2013, p. 71</ref>) operated Autair's IT flights, primarily under contract to [[Clarksons Travel Group|Clarksons Tours]].<ref name="Autair_profile"/><ref name="CourtLine_Profile2"/><ref name="Autair_VitalStats_1969"/><ref name="111_orders"/><ref name="Autair_jetorders"/><ref name="Autair_jetservices"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200488.html |title=''Airline Profile: Number Thirty-Nine in the Series — Court Line'', Flight International, 19 March 1970, p. 440 |access-date=16 January 2010 |archive-date=28 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528170748/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200488.html |url-status=live }}</ref> These carried the bulk of the airline's half-a-million annual charter passengers, which far outnumbered the 66,000 using its scheduled services each year.<ref name="Aircraft_37"/>

From 1 April 1969, the airline's scheduled operation in London was consolidated at [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow]], joining Teesside services which had already transferred to London's premier airport from the company's Luton base on 1 November 1967.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%201767.html |title=''Autair from Heathrow'', Air Transport ..., Flight International, 7 September 1967, p. 359 |access-date=17 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024043548/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%201767.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968-1%20-%200215.html |title=''Luton to London'', Flight International, Air Transport ..., 26 December 1968, p. 1052 |access-date=17 January 2010 |archive-date=3 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003024352/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968-1%20-%200215.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In summer 1969, Autair announced its decision to withdraw all scheduled services "irrevocably", following an unsuccessful request for government subsidies. By that time, the airline's scheduled network served [[Belfast]], Blackpool, [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]], the [[Channel Islands]], [[Dundee]], Glasgow, [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], the [[Isle of Man]], London and Teesside in the UK, [[Dublin]] in the [[Republic of Ireland]] and [[Amsterdam]] in the [[Netherlands]]. Scheduled services accounted for 12% of Autair's [[asset turnover|turnover]]. The airline's scheduled operation was estimated to have generated an annual loss of £150,000 (only London—Teesside was said to be profitable).<ref name="CourtLine_Profile1"/><ref name="CourtLine_Profile2"/><ref name="Background"/><ref name="Autair_VitalStats_1969"/><ref name="subsidy_refusal"/><ref name="schedule_suspension">{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%203181.html |title=''Autair out, BMA in'', Air Transport ..., Flight International, 13 November 1969, p. 729 |access-date=17 January 2010 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024043354/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%203181.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 31 October 1969, scheduled services were stopped and all turboprop aircraft sold.<ref name="schedule_suspension"/> This was followed by an order for seven of the larger 119-seat [[BAC One-Eleven#The One-Eleven 500, 510ED and 475|500 series One-Eleven]].<ref name="Aircraft_37"/><ref name="111_orders"/><ref name="Autair_jetservices"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202298.html |title=''Autair orders One-Eleven 500s'', World News ..., Flight International, 17 October 1968, p. 596 |access-date=4 February 2010 |archive-date=19 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019000721/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202298.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Clarksons_plight_185_6">''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, pp. 185/6</ref>