Editing Pearson plc (section)

=== Aviation businesses 1929 to 1959 ===
In 1929, Pearson's Whitehall Securities [[Whitehall Securities#Aviation interests|entered the aviation field]], purchasing an interest in [[Airwork Services]].<ref>''The ATL-98 Carvair: A Comprehensive History of the Aircraft and All 21 Airframes (Part 1: Getting off the ground – Airwork''), p. 14</ref>

By 1935 Whitehall Securities had major interests in a number of British airlines and aviation companies, including [[Spartan Air Lines]], [[Saunders-Roe]], [[United Airways Limited|United Airways]], and [[Hillman's Airways]].<ref name="Airways">''Airways (The Archive: The Legacy of BOAC (Pt. 1)''), p. 62</ref> In September 1935, Hillman's Airways, Spartan Air Lines, and United Airways merged to form [[British Airways Ltd]]<ref name="Airways"/> In 1936, British Airways absorbed [[British Continental Airways]] and [[Crilly Airways]].<ref name="Airways"/> In 1940, British Airways was nationalised due to World War II.<ref name="Airways"/>

In 1937 the company acquired [[Northern & Scottish Airways]] and [[Highland Airways Limited|Highland Airways]], and merged them into a new company, [[Scottish Airways]].<ref name="Bao">{{cite book |last1=Lo Bao |first1=Phil |last2=Hutchison |first2=Iain |title=BEAline to the Islands |date=2002 |publisher=Kea Publishing |location=Erskine, Scotland |isbn=0951895842 |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5JZ9GBTZwwC |access-date=25 June 2020}}</ref> This airline was nationalised by the British government in 1947 and merged into [[British European Airways]].<ref name="Bao"/>

Pearson's aviation interests ended by 1959, when Saunders-Roe was sold to [[Westland Aircraft]].<ref name="IDCH">{{cite book |editor1-last=Long |editor1-first=Steven |editor2-last=Jacques |editor2-first=Derek |editor3-last=Kepos |editor3-first=Paula |title=International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 207 |date=2019 |publisher=[[St. James Press]] / [[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] [[Cengage]] |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1066283259 |chapter=Pearson plc |oclc=1066283259}}</ref>