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Airline is a fly on the wall television programme, produced in the United Kingdom that showcases the daily happenings of passengers, ground workers and on-board staff of Britannia (Series 1) and later EasyJet (from Series 2). The show has been broadcast since 1998 on ITV, is often repeated on ITV2 and shown on syndication on Sky Real Lives, Sky1, Sky2 and Sky3.^[1] From time to time, ITV shows the American version of Airline, called Airline USA on ITV2.

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 with a total of 75 million viewers. The programme has been sold to many countries worldwide, amongst which 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 Chung, 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 occasionly 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 members of Britannia staff

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

Notable members of Easy Jet/Aviance staff

Overview of Staff

Series by Series List of EasyJet Staffing

Narrators

• Charlie Higson (Series 1)
• Tony Robinson (Series 2-3,7-10)
• Veronica Hyks (Series 4-6)

Opening Titles

Series 1-4

These Titles have a Sky Background and features a Britannia Plane (Series 1) or a 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 5-6 but now has a redish 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 narrater 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".

UK Series guide

Special Episode

Airline USA

• Series 1 18x23' (2004)
• Series 2 26x23' (2004)
• Series 3 26x23 (2005)

Holiday Airline

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

See also

• Airport
• Animal Airport
• Bristol Airport
• London Luton Airport
• Air Ways

External links

• Airline UK at the Internet Movie Database

Footnotes

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