Peggy looks back at first jet service – 60 years on

British Airways has marked the 60th anniversary of operating the first transatlantic jet service by inviting one of the flight’s cabin crew to experience how her role has changed.

Ninety-one-year-old Peggy Thorne, who served passengers on the groundbreaking flight on 4 October 1958, visited the airline’s training centre near Heathrow Airport. The London to New York flight was a public relations coup for British Airways – then called BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) – as it beat US rival Pan Am to become the first airline to fly a turbo jet engine aircraft across the Atlantic.

The de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft reduced what was previously an 18-hour journey to around seven hours.

Ms Thorne, from London, said: “It was marvellous. We were used to travelling to New York on Boeing Stratocruisers which took up to 20 hours. We couldn’t believe the flight was possible in such a short time.

“There were all sorts of dignitaries on board, press and the chairman of BOAC. We served customers Madeira biscuits and coffee, followed by cocktails and canapes, and then a five-course lunch with wines. Our customers loved it.”

Back in 1958, a Comet 4 could fly just 48 customers once a day from London to New York at a cost equivalent to £8,000 today.

PICTURES: BRITISH AIRWAYS/PA WIRE

Clockwise from above: Peggy Thorne, right, with the Comet crew; she is welcomed aboarda2018baj et; passengers board the first flight at Heathrow

0 Ms Thorne was chosen for the first transatlantic flight