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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0586.PDF
204 Commercial Aviation FLIGHT. MARCH 2, 1039 JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON The A.T.L.A. Holds the Balance Between Scottish Airways and Allied Airways BY far the most interesting, and probably the most impor tant, of the-enquiries held by the Air Transport Licensing Authority has been that involving the rival claims of Scottish Airways and Allied Airways for the various services in the North of Scotland. For some years now those two strong individuals, Capt. Fresson and Mr. Gandar Dower, have been doing battle in that part of the world, and the fact that a year ago a new company, Scottish Airways, took over Capt. Fresson's Highland Airways has increased rather than decreased the tension. In its findings the A.T.L.A. decided that competition was necessary for the best results. At the same time, however, it was realised that untrammelled competition might eventually, for economic reasons, cause the complete collapse of some of the services. Consequently, the Authority has held the balance carefully between the two companies and, certainly from the outsider's point of view, there is nothing to criticise in these findings. Allied Airways have, perhaps, been slightly favoured. In such circumstances one or other had to-receive the benefit of what doubt there was, and it is just as well that the lesser of the two companies should be given this benefit. Both companies applied for services between Inverness and the Shetlands, with intermediate landings at Wick and /or Thurso and on the mainland of Orkney; for services between Aberdeen and the Shetlands, with similar landings; for services between Aberdeen and the Shetlands direct; and for local services between Wick and/or Thurso, the mainland of Orkney and certain Orkney Islands. In addition, Scottish Airways applied for a service between Aberdeen and Stornoway, with, an intermediate landing at Inverness, and for a service between Glasgow and Inverness with an intermediate landing at Perth. During the hearings it became clear that the two parties were in substantial agreement about the services which should be operated, and the issue was narrowed down to the question of which should operate each. Until now more services had been operated than were commercially sound. ' The Authority's decisions were based upon certain funda mental assumptions which were concerned with the use of the different aerodromes and with the arrangements for car riage of mails. Dyce aerodrome, at Aberdeen, is privately owned by Allied Airways, while Inverness is a public aero drome. Because Dyce was privately owned, Scottish Airways have been using their own landing ground at Kintore. Wick has been a public-use aerodrome under the control of Scottish Airways, and Thurso a private-use aerodrome under the con trol of Allied Airways. Wideford (Kirkwall) is also a public- use aerodrome, but has been under the control of Scottish Airways, so that Allied Airways, in order to be freed of land ing charges, have been using another field of their own when ever weather conditions permitted. Curiously enough, Thurso is a better starting point for both Kirkwall and Stromness, in the Orkneys, while it has been found that most of the na gers to the Shetlands come from Aberdeen, and most of th™ for the Orkneys come from Inverness. se The Authority has assumed the interavailability of Thu Wick, Wideford and Sumburgh to both companies, the c^' tinuance of the carriage of mails from Aberdeen and Invern°n respectively to the Shetlands and the Orkneys; the (braf* ment of a public-use licence and radio facilities at Dyce- a^j the future collaboration between the two companies in th operation of the services. The decisions have been influenced to a large extent by mail carrying necessity. At present the Orkney mail is carried dailv by Scottish Airways from Inverness, while the Shetland mail is carried by Allied Airways from Aberdeen on four days a week. In fixing the schedules it has been assumed that the mail contracts will continue. This Summer's Services During this summer each company will be licensed to operate a similar number of services per week from the mainland to Kirkwall and Sumburgh—one per day for each company to Kirkwall, and three per week for each company from Kirkwall to Sumburgh. Allied Airways, therefore, will be expected to sub-contract the Shetland mail to Scottish Airways on the three days on which that company is not running. Time tables, of course, will be arranged to suit the transference of mails. Allied Airways will be granted a licence to operate an ex perimental service direct from Aberdeen to Sumburgh, while Scottish Airways will receive a similar licence for an experi mental service between Aberdeen and Stornoway, with an intermediate landing at Inverness. They will not, of course, be entitled, on this service, to carry through-passengers to the Orkneys, via Inverness. A service from Kirkwall to Wick will be licensed to Scottish Airways, and one from Stromness to Thurso licensed to Allied Airways. The main part of the Pentland Firth " ferry " traffic is between Thurso and Kirkwall, and until now, all this traffic has been carried by Allied Airways. Since Thurso aerodrome is now to be opened to Scottish Airways, licences for operation between these two points will, in all fairness, be grantee on a basis of an equal share of the total number of journeys. Scottish Airways will receive a licence for a service between Kirkwall, Sanday, Stronsay, Westray, Longhope and North Ronaldsay, with no limit to the number of services. Allied Airways will be permitted to stop at South Ronaldsay on their Pentland ferry service only. The periods of the different licences vary from two years to seven years, with the shorter time for the experimental and "collaborative" services. In the latter case extensions will be offered when the Authority is satisfied that the companies are working amicably together. Pacific Plans REPORTS on the starting dates of Pan-American's San Francisco-Auckland and Imperial Airways' Sydney-Auck land services are still conflicting, but the latest moves suggest that August and October have probably been chosen. P.A.A. announces that its trans-Pacific service will not be inaugurated until its Boeing 314 Clippers have started regular services between New York and France, and between San Francisco and Manila. The new machines are expected to be in operation on these services by July at the latest, so that the opening of the America-New Zealand service will probably be about a month afterwards, allowing time for the completion of ground organ isation, and the making of two or three preliminary flights. On the Tasman question, October still seems the most reasonable forecast. The construction of the temporary build ings at the Auckland base is expected to be completed this month, but, even so, it does not seem possible that the entire ground organisation, including radio and meteorological ser vices, could be fully installed and tested before October. Only last month the first step in establishing a chain of radio and weather stations across the Tasman was taken by the appoint ment of observers and operators to Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands by the Australian Government. It is now being suggested in Australia, however, that both services will be inaugurated in October, and that the present projected routes will be changed. Pan-American, it is said, may come direct to Australia by way of the Phoenix Group and New Caledonia, leaving the Auckland-Suva-Honolulu line to Imperial Airways. In this case, it is thought, Pan-America would obtain permission from France to establish a landing base at Saigon in Indo-China. Meanwhile, twenty-eight meteorological observers have been appointed by the Australian Government to aerodromes in all the States, the Federal Capital Territory, New Guinea, Papua, the Northern Territory, and Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, which are under Australian administration. Their appoint ment represents the first stage of a plan evolved by the Com monwealth Department of the Interior to develop a complete service for the benefit, mainly, of civil aviation. Under trie plan, three observers and three radio operators will eventually be stationed at every important aerodrome and a continuous 24-hour service will be maintained. „ _ . The object of establishing weather stations on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands is, of course, to assist in the projected Sydney-Auckland service. Reshuffle ALTHOUGH it is customary still to speak and to thinko the "railway octopus" in internal air transport arrau. this at least partly imaginary polyp appears now to hav<:- SD up into two. Railway Air Services may, in fact, be co'^1(:tern as being almost exclusively L.M.S., while the Great _'rte° and Southern Railway interests are concerned, as its ^ implies, with Great Western and Southern Air Lines. ^ latter organisation is incorporated Channel Air Feme , both Captain Olley and Lord Amherst are importantly cerned with both. G.W.S.A.L. handle all the railway
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