To the 21st-century passenger watching their seatback TV or listening to music via their AirPods, the
concept seems ridiculous: actual film screens pulled down by cabin crew at strategic locations in the 747,
and passengers handed (or rather rented, at £3 a pop) plastic stethoscopes. But at the time, after decades
without inflight entertainment, the concept was revolutionary. Even the Sony Walkman had not been
invented. We transatlantic travellers gratefully plugged them into the pneumatic sound system in the
armrest (just next to the ashtray) and sat back to enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
Concorde Supersonic Certificate (1980s)
Before long-haul travel became affordable, extensive and comfortable, inflight certificates were
commonplace. Typically they were awarded for crossing the Equator, which British Airways did many times
each week on routes to South America, Africa and Australia. Concorde was different. This supersonic
aircraft was so remarkable that any flight was worthy of a certificate signed by a pilot – provided he or she
had time during the sub-four-hour flight between London Heathrow and New York JFK.
British Airways issued certificates for Concorde
flyers (British Airways)This was the era when the sun rose in the west: on the evening departure in winter, it was dark in the UK,
but Concorde overtook the sun to land in daylight. In the 27-year career of the world’s only successful plane
to fly at twice the speed of sound, only around 3 million passengers flew on a BA Concorde. I was lucky
enough to be one of them – and have the certificate to prove it.
Flower duet musical score (1989)
In the second half of the 19th century, Paris was in full voice, operatically speaking. Georges Bizet had
bestowed the world with Carmen shortly before he died, tragically early, aged 36. Léo Delibes continued
the good work with Lakmé – celebrating the Hindu goddess of wealth. The most memorable tune was,
unusually, a duet rather than an aria. “The Flower Duet” is sung by Lakmé and her servant Mallika. The
latter begins with the words “Sous le dôme épais” (“Under the leafy dome”), as they gather flowers – as the
duet is known in musical circles.
Unwittingly, Delibes had scored the soundtrack for a generation of British Airways commercials. A big-
budget BA ad in 1989 used a version of the tune, and it has endured for three decades: call the airline and
you will hear a guitar version. Now that’s what I call hold music.
A380 flight deck display (2013)