Imperial Airways

Only the adventurous and the wealthy patronized the first companies to inaugurate air services to the continent in 1919. They flew in primitive converted military machines and could expect their flight or be interrupted by an unscheduled landing in a field when bad weather or an engine problem was encountered. The fledgeling airlines operated on the edge of bankruptcy because the government refused to offer finance. The French and German governments susidised their own airlines to provide themselves with a military reserve.