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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 1182.PDF
1184 FLIGHT. NOVEMBER 8, 1934. IMPERIAL AIRWAYS At the 10th Ordinary General Meeting of Imperial Airways, Ltd., last Monday, Sir Erie Geddes, the Chairman, made a long and important speech, some of the more striking passages of which are summarised belozv SIR ERIC said that the time was approaching whentheir major fleet would have to be replaced by fasteraircraft, but their main line fleet was less than three years old, and it was impossible to contemplate re- newing the fleet every two or three years. The section of route Singapore-Australia would com- mence operations in December. Doubling the Services The line from England to South Africa, at least as far as Johannesburg, was to be doubled in frequency almost immediately to give two services each way a week. The Board also had under immediate consideration the question of increasing the Eastern service to twice weekly. They had under construction three new four-engined aircraft and four new twin-engined aircraft. The top speed of these would be in the region of 170 m.p.h. The four- engined aircraft were for use on the European services and certain extensions which the Board had in view. They would seat from eight to ten passengers. The twin-engined aircraft were for long-distance tours and charter work. New Aircraft They had decided to order two flying boats and two land- planes as prototypes on which experimental work could be conducted. These would be much larger and faster than anything now in the company's service. They would have a carrying capacity of from 3J to 5 tons according to tbs amount of iuel carried. One of the new flying boats would be required for the New York-Bermuda service, and would have a greater radius of action than the other boat, though otherwise the two boats would be approximately the same. The tenders for these aircraft were now under considera- tion. All of them would provide a higher standard of comfort than was provided at present. Internal Air Lines After outlining the company's policy as regards feeder lines in Africa and elsewhere, Sir Eric went on to discuss internal British lines and Railway Air Services, Ltd. He said that the day was approaching when some internal services could be operated profitably, though possibly only seasonally, without subsidy. Fierce competition between rival transport companies might be of temporary benefit to the public in certain conditions, but where no question of rival nationalities arose all forms of transport had been driven or led to amalgamation into large units. Separate Mail Services Turning to the question of separate mail services, Sir Eric said that to separate them from passenger services would mean that, instead of both classes of traffic getting the benefit of increased frequency, neither of them would, '' and we believe that the passenger services are as im- portant as mail services." From the industrialist's point of view, the personal contact was more important than any correspondence, and no amount of written matter could equal the visit of a director, a salesman, or an inspector. He held the view that '' trade follows the passenger'' far more than that "trade follows the mail." It might be that on some routes, when a higher frequency had been established, it would be necessary to operate some services to a faster schedule, or even perhaps at a higher air-speed, than others, but the Board regarded it as of the utmost importance to keep the fares and rates as low as possible, hoping that in due course they could look to freedom from subsidy—a goal only obtainable if all countries tried to attain the same goal and refrained from a mad race in subsidised travel by air. Speed— When the present fleet had been replaced, the public might expect a substantial increase in speed as well as frequency. It would be idle, however, to hope that speeds achieved in the recent Australia race could be reproduced in a normal commercial service. Services which picked up and set down mails and passengers all along the line could not avoid a certain loss of time. In fact, the success of a service; measured in terms of the traffic which it attracted, tended automatically to restrict its speed. After paying a compliment to Messrs. Scott and Camp- bell Black, Sir Eric said that it would be out of the ques- tion to contemplate flying through the night on the regular services with the existing aids to navigation on the Australia route. He then commented on the low cost of high-grade petrol in America as compared with the prices Imperial Airways had to pay, and said " the price we have to pay for fuel has been, and is still, the most powerful deterrent to high speed with which we have to contend." —and how to get it " Until our fleet is replaced, the desire for higher speeds can be met in two ways—first, by increasing the hours flown per day as soon as ground equipment permits, and, secondly, by an increase in the frequency which, in effect, is even better than an increase in speed alone. " Increases in speed obtained in this way do not neces- sitate an increase either in subsidies or postal rates or passenger fares. We.know that increased overall speed will be appreciated by our clients when it can be obtained without extra cost. I need hardly say, however, that we are anxious to take advantage of all the increase in air speed that is offered by scientific development, but within the limits of the economic pressure represented by the amount paid by the Government for mail carriage and subsidies. " There is only a limited field by which we can provide additional speed. First of all, there is you, ladies and gentlemen. If you choose that this company shall be run at a loss we can give higher speed. Then there is the user. If he will pay more money, we shall be able to run at a higher speed. Thirdly, there is the Government. If they want higher speeds, someone has got to pay for them, and they are the only persons left. When we talk about higher speeds let us be quite clear in our minds that someone has got to pay the bill. '' I emphasise this point because our business is to operate whatever services our clients are prepared to pay for. We believe that our function of operating air transport ser-t vices to the Empire can best be fulfilled by giving facili- ties to the widest public possible at the lowest economic fares; by carrying the ordinary passengers and the letters of the ordinary business man who is unable to pay the charges which are inherent to abnormally high speeds. But we can operate any kind of-service, and it is for the Govern- ments concerned and oaf customers to say and demon- strate which class of service and which scale of charges they wish to have." The development of night flying was an urgent line of future development, and it required a large expenditure.
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