JP Airline Fleets

JP Airline Fleets was a highly sought-after annual release for aircraft spotters that was published by 'Buchair' between 1966 and 2008 and by 'Flight Global' from 2009 to 2013.

In 1966, two Swiss aircraft enthusiasts recognized a gap in the market where aircraft spotters were lacking a reliable source of up-to-date airliner fleet information to assist their regular trips to Europe's major international airports. The early editions aimed to provide the basic registration, type, and construction number for each aircraft in the fleets of airlines visible at European airports, gradually extending to cover airlines worldwide. The fleets were organized by aircraft type in ascending gross weight order and then numerically by registration number, and this basic format remained consistent throughout the series.

From the very first edition, a selection of representative airliner photos was included. Starting with the 1972 edition, technical specifications for each illustrated airliner type were added to the photographic section. With the introduction of large format editions from 1979, JP was considered groundbreaking. With each new edition, the Buchair publication endeavored to include unique information that both industry professionals and enthusiasts would find useful, much of which was sourced from the removable 'Customer Survey Page' included in each edition from 1983 onwards.

The 1981 edition marked the first appearance of high-quality color photos, which could be ordered separately from Buchair if desired. These photos remained an integral part of the publication until the final issue in 2013, long after similar publications had eliminated photographic illustrations mainly to reduce printing costs. Thus, JP was recognized as a quality product in its field. Unique to JP was its inclusion of information such as passenger/freight configuration and power plant details within the main airframe listings, along with a standalone section providing a full index of airline logos, addresses, and contacts.

In 1988, a special reprint of the first edition was published in the larger format of the later editions, entitled 'Buchair Reprint.' This edition featured nostalgic color airliner photography. The intention was to release reprints of all pre-1979 editions in the later large directory format; however, it seems that the response to this release fell short of Buchair's expectations, as the 1966 reprint remained the only one published.

Background

JP Airline Fleets originated from a Swiss publication known as 'Kennzeichen der Verkehrsflugzeuge,' released in 1961, which may well have been the first-ever airline fleet directory, predating those from well-known enthusiast organizations like Air Britain's 'Fleet Operators to be seen in Europe' by six years.

Herrs Bucher and Klee (who later introduced the JPs) assisted the publisher 'World Traffic Editions Vevey' with 'Kennzeichen der Verkehrsflugzeuge,' the English language update the following year known as 'Operator's Aircraft Registrations and Types,' and finally the volume entitled 'All The World's Jet Airliner Markings' of 1963, before compiling their first edition of 'JP Markings' in 1966.

Only 150 copies of the first 'JP' were printed on a shoestring budget, and they quickly sold out. The product improved significantly over the next twelve years as more information became available, aided by worldwide correspondents and improved printing methods. By 1979, 'JP Airline Fleets' in its large directory format became standard and was arguably the most sought-after airline fleet book among aircraft spotters for at least the next thirty years.

However, in March 2008, responsibility for producing the annual fleet book was handed over to the 'Flight Global' organization, and sadly by 2013, the writing was on the wall. The demand for hardcopy airline fleet books was declining rapidly due to the rise of free internet resources, leading 'Flight Global' to determine that producing such a detailed hard copy directory was no longer viable. Spotters were increasingly forced to turn to enthusiast organizations for their annual hardcopy airline fleet updates, marking the end of forty-eight years of what was arguably the best and most informative airline fleet directory ever produced.

The complete set of these books provides an invaluable historical airline fleet resource for any airline enthusiast or historian. I believe I am one of the few fortunate enough to possess every edition, all free of spotter's underlining and notations. As with all examples of this type of reference book, finding copies in good condition without spotter scribblings is extremely hard but well worth the challenge if you can obtain them.

Scroll down to see the images of every edition published. I have also included the three 'World Traffic Editions Vevey' volumes for completeness. The 'JP' images effectively demonstrate how the quality of production improved during the first thirteen years of publication.

A highly recommended collection for the serious airline buff!

In 1988, Herrs Bucher and Klee decided to perform an experiment to determine if there would be an enthusiastic demand among aircraft spotters for retrospective reprints of their early small format editions of 'JP Markings,' 'JP Aircraft Markings,' and 'JP Airline Fleets.' They aimed to produce these works in the post-1978 larger format while maintaining a layout similar to those later editions.

The result was the reprint of the 1966 first edition, renamed 'Buchair Reprint.' This relatively thin volume reflected the fact that there were significantly fewer airliners around in 1966 than in later years. However, the presentation was excellent, featuring some stunning color photos of vintage airliners, making it a true gem for collectors if you can get hold of a copy. Mine even came from rural France!

From a personal point of view, I feel it was truly unfortunate that the original intention to reprint all the volumes from 1966 to 1978 never materialized, as it would have created a tidy and impressive looking set on the bookshelf. The contents would also have been remarkable from an airline fleet directory perspective, providing invaluable insights for airliner historians.

As it stands, only the 1966 edition reprint ever saw the light of day, leaving one to lament, 'If only!'

'Buchair' endeavoured to placate the 'Spotter community', which includes many dedicated aircraft spotters who found the new large format editions less than ideal for transporting around airports, with a number of different solutions.  

These included:  

- JP Airline-fleets pocket  

- JP Airline-fleets take along  

- Buchair Log  

The 'Buchair Log' was probably the closest they got to a true pocket register for aircraft spotters. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I owned a couple of editions of this version, which I took plane spotting with me, and they ended up heavily underlined as they should. My personal copies have long since vanished into the mists of time!  

The image to the right is of the JP airline-fleets pocket edition, which was essentially the same height as the standard large format edition but significantly thinner, as it only included the first four columns of the main airline fleet directory. While it was obviously much lighter, you still couldn't really fit it in a standard coat pocket!  

Those of you with a keen eye will notice the square to the left of each registration, which was also included in the large standard volumes. This was yet another of JP's groundbreaking ideas from 1977, as they were the first to introduce this far easier and neater way of marking off aircraft seen by coloring in the square instead of underlining with an often messy pen and ruler!

Contributor: 1

Hi. Flightglobal announced Monday that they are ceasing publication of the JP Airline Fleets Intl book, making this current edition the last one. I'm very sad to hear this as I find it very useful for aircraft spotters. The quality has declined slightly over the last few years, but it's still the best print airline fleet directory available. The JP Airline Fleets Intl. book was first published in 1966 by BUCHAIR, which continued until about five years ago when they sold it to Flightglobal. Perhaps someone else will take over and continue the Buchair publication under the same name?

Contributor 2:

I believe it was just a matter of time before that decision would be made. It was always a bit outdated when it was published, and this became increasingly true with all the data available on the Web. Like many things, its time is over.

Contributor 3:

That's OK. I've ceased buying it. More than 'slightly.' It was never the same after Flightglobal took it over. Shame. I used to look forward every year to the new edition.

Contributor 4:

Yep. People stopped buying it when it became less and less accurate. Not to mention the electronic version was lacking as you couldn't even check off the planes you had seen.

Contributor 1:

I contacted the editor of 'Skyliner' magazine and thought that he might publish something similar. His reply: "Hi. The former Swiss guys are back on track and will make a decision within three weeks' time they say." So perhaps BUCHAIR will take over again. I really hope they come through. We'll see what happens.

Contributor 5:

I hope so too. There's no doubt the book was better all around when Buchair published it.

Contributor 6:

I bought my first JP Airline Fleets in the middle of the 80s. Whenever I saw a new registration, I 'clicked' the little box in front of the registration. But as all the others have said before: today I wouldn't even think of using it; I would simply type in the registration in GOOGLE and check the pictures that appear. At that time, we had a lot of B.707 and DC-8 in FRA and MAC and sub-charter flights. These planes used to change their operators more often than I change my underwear (well, not really, but you know what I mean). So even back then, it wouldn't help.

Contributor 7:

Anything on paper is out of date even before it's issued. It's the same reason why very few airlines still issue printed timetables.

Contributor 8:

Exactly right. These days, it's extremely difficult to make a business case for a paper directory, as it doesn't sell. It's too expensive to include all the data available, and the selected data that does end up printed is inaccurate before it even goes to print—not because it was bad information, but because it can't keep up with changes the way electronic data can.

...............................................................................................................................................

It would seem that despite the initial optimism above, Bucher and Klee decided not to take back the reins of production. Thus ended an era!