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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0710.PDF
FLIGHT, OCTOBER 5, 1938 AIR MAIL SERVICES Deputation from the London Chamber of Commerce to the Secretary of State for Air -Br ORD LONDONDERRY, Secretary of State for Air, — who was accompanied by Sir Ernest Bennett, Ml ^ M.P., the Assistant Postmaster-General, Sir Christopher Bullock, Secretary to the Air Ministry, Lt.-Col. Shelmerdine, Director of Civil Aviation, Mr. Reynolds, principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Air, and Mr. Burkett, Directorate of Civil Aviation, received on September 28 a deputation from the London Chamber of Commerce led by the President, Lord Leverhulme. The other representatives of the London Chamber were Sir Geoffrey Clarke, Chairman of the Council of the Chamber, the Master of Sempill, Deputy Chairman of the Council, Capt. P. D. Acland, Chairman of the Chamber's Civil Aviation Section, and Mr. A. de V. Leigh, Secretary of the Chamber. Lord Leverhulme, in introducing the deputation, recalled that it was 1\ years since Lord Amulree had received a similar deputation, and that the Chamber recognised that the troubles of the past few years had held up much of the development which business people would like to have seen in the Imperial air services, particularly in connection with the extension of the India route to Australia. The Chamber was keenly alive to the value of the air mail to the business community. The mail was the normal means of communication. Telegrams and cables were expensive and their use accordingly limited to cases where the greatest despatch was essential. The develop ment of fast air mail services was therefore bound to be of the greatest importance to the commercial community. It was appreciated that the figures published from time to time by the Post Office relating to the weight of mail carried on the Imperial Air Services showed a gradual increase. At the same time it would be admitted that at present only a very small percentage of the first-class mail went by air. This, it was felt, was due chiefly to the fact that the gain in time offered by the air mail over ordinary surface transport was not sufficiently great to make the air mail service attractive. The public had to be convinced that the aeroplane was a normal and not an abnormal means of transport. It was realised that the speeding up of the air mail closely concerned both the Air Ministry and the Post Office, but on previous occasions the two aspects of the question had been discussed separately with the two Departments. They were very glad, therefore, that Lord Londonderry had invited the Assistant Postmaster-General to be present. Sir Geoffrey Clarke said that one of the great difficulties in dealing with any question of air transport from the commercial point of view was the fact that the most important function of commercial aircraft, namely carriage of mails, was under the jurisdiction of the Post Office, whilst the subsidies were controlled by the Air Ministry. The result was that when the Chamber approached the Post Office for an improvement in the air service, it was referred to the Air Ministry, and when it asked the Ministry for an improvement in the mail services it was referred to the Post Office. Value of Speed in Air Transport The one real advantage of commercial air transport was speed, and therefore all its efforts must be directed towards the saving of time. In the case of the European services generally, there could be little advantage in time saving unless night flying were adopted. It was no use flying twelve hours and resting twelve hours, when trains and steamers ran continually for twenty-four hours. It rather reminded one of the fable of the Hare and the Tortoise. There was little use in having posting times at 7 and 8 o'clock in the morning, seeing that letters were all ready for despatch the previous evening. The commercial community, therefore, pressed most strongly for the general adoption of night flying. This it was recognised would not suit passengers, and, therefore, at any rate in the case of the important services, passengers and mails must be separated. Sir Geoffrey then referred to the question of cruising speed, which he understood in the case of the Imperial Airways fleet was about 100 miles per hour on the India route. To meet modern requirements for mail services, very much higher cruising speed was necessary. Indeed, the Air Ministry must be impressed with the importance of fast air mail services, seeing that they had constructed a special air mail carrier which it was understood had recently completed its tests. Moreover, it was believed that the Dutch had a similar machine under construction with a view to experimenting on a 3£ to 4 days' service between Amsterdam and Batavia. The Chamber urged the ultimate adoption of a twenty-four hour schedule and the use of aircraft with higher cruising speed for Empire air mail. This was advocated by the Chamber's last deputa tion to the Secretary of State for Air in March, 1931, when it was submitted that by this means Calcutta could be reached in 3| days and Sydney and Wellington in 1\ and 8J days respectively. Such an arrangement would also mean that Capetown could be reached in about half the present time, owing to the elimination of night stops. In any case it was considered that mails should travel at least 2,500 miles a day. Subsidies Sir Geoffrey referred to the fact that under the Air Transport (Subsidy Agreements) Act, 1930, the control of air subsidies was vested in the President of the Air Council, which meant that the Post Office was using an important service subsidised by another Department. There were obvious objections to this, as it led to the anomaly of the Post Office showing a profit out of a service which was really a heavy charge on the Exchequer. As the Post Office was earning a clear profit of ten millions a year, it could easily afford to pay a sufficient subsidy to any air service in order to enable it to pav its way. Air Mail Fees There were many services performed by the Post Office at a loss, such as the parcel post, the £d. post and telegrams, but when any reduction was urged in air postage there was at once an outcry regarding the cost of the service and the heavy loss that would be involved. The Post Office had always employed the fastest avail able services for the carriage of mails, without charging extra postage. The Chamber recognised that in the present state of air services it was only fair to charge the public something additional for fast communication by this means, but the total amount should be a postal rate, and not a telegraphic rate, and the present air postal rates could not be regarded as fair or likely to develop the use of the air mail services. In fact, the rates were deterrent. The whole basis of postal rates was a suitable initial charge with a very much lower charge for each additional unit of weight. In this connection Sir Geoffrey compared the air rate to India, namely 6d. for a \ oz. letter and 5d. for every additional \ oz. with the Inland rate of l|d. for 2 oz., and |d. for every additional 2 oz. The proposed rate for the Australian service was Is. 3d. per \ oz. without any reduction for additional units, so that air postal rates were fixed on an entirely different basis from what had usually been regarded as suitable for postal rates. The charges were too high, and when any reduc tion was asked for almost exactly the same arguments were put forward as were used by the Post Office in 1840 when Rowland Hill proposed the introduction of the penny post. Whilst appreciating that these were purely postal matters and could hardly be dealt with by the Air Ministry, Sir Geoffrey suggested very tentatively the adoption of a flat rate for all Empire air mails of about 4d. for the first unit and 2d. for each additional unit. If these were introduced, he felt sure there would be an enormous increase in the air mail. Inquiry Suggested The Chamber felt, however, that the whole question of subsidies and their incidence should be carefully examined in the light of recent experience and the great extension of air services. It fully recognised the splendid work done by Imperial Airways, but in view of the piecemeal de velopment of air services and the very large amounts expended from the public purse, it was urged that the time had come for a full inquiry by an impartial tribunal before which evidence could be given. Until such tribunal had made its recommendations, no further commitments should be entered into. Such an inquiry should include, such matters as the extension of the air services, air fees and subsidies. The Master of Sempill also emphasised the importance of night flying and the need for the use of higher speed machines, and inquired what was to be the ultimate use of the high speed mail machine which the Air Ministry had had constructed. Concluded on page 1014)
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