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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0737.PDF
APRIL 2ND, 1942 FLIGHT 325 THE FUTURE OF CIVIL AVIATION The position of shipping was, indeed, instanced as a good example for aviation to follow. It was entirely divorced from any Admiralty influence, government con trol was reduced to the minimum necessary to ensure the safety of the travelling public, and the ship-owner was able, to carry on his legitimate business without unneces sary interference. The Marine Department of the Board of Trade was, in fact, of great assistance to him and, in conjunction with the Shipping Registers—Lloyd's and the British Corporation—helped to make the standard of safety and seaworthiness of British ships the highest in the world. This may have been a good example to imitate, but there was no real reason why the Board of Trade should interest itself in aviation. In any case, the position has now changed, because the Department of the Board of Trade which dealt with shipping has been incorporated in the Ministry of Transport and it seems unlikely that the old position will be revived. Its Logical Place 'the Ministry of Transport seems to be the logical place for air, sea, rail and road transport, but the important aspect to bear in mind is that the less government inter-" ference with any industry, the more efficient that industry* is likely to be. This applies irrespective of whether the industry, or part of it, is publicly owned. We should not forget that within the framework of the regulations which governed it, the Department of Civil Aviation was well run and assisted British civil aviation when and how it could. We have recently seen a public attack on the efficiency of the ex-Director-General, Sir Francis Shelmerdine, which was to a large extent quite unjustified. The truth is that the blame for what was wrong with pre-war civil aviation _can be laid entirely at the doors of the politicians; the head of the Department, as a Civil Servant, merely carries out the wishes of Parliament. Although the Civil Service is a wonderfully efficient insti tution, people forget that it was never intended to be an executive body. The power of actually doing things is in the hands of the representatives of the people, that is, Parlia ment and its officers. The Civil Service is there to see that things are done in accordance With the wishes of Parlia ment as expressed in Acts and Regulations. It is not fair,' therefore, to expect them to show initiative or executive pqfcers, and we would, foi instance, be very unwise to cxp. «4 the Civil Service to operate aircraft with any sem blance of efficiency. These considerations naturally lead to the suggestion that the Department of Civil Aviation should concern itself only with seeing that the expressed wishes of Parliament are carried out, and with giving the aircraft operator any assist ance that he may require in respect of international agree ments, or permits to fly over foreign territory. In the past, the Department has attempted to do far too much detail work which it could do neither efficiently nor economically. This detail administration work should be left to recognised bodies allowed to do it in their own fashion untrammelled by the necessarily detailed methods of the Civil Service, and responsible for its efficient doing to the Under-Secretary of State for Air. Some people have suggested that civil aviation will be of sufficient importance in the post war world to have its own Minister, and that we should press for a Minister of Civil Aviation, who presumably would be responsible to the Cabinet. Although civil aviation will undoubtedly play a very important part in future world communications, it seems more likely that Parliament would decide that all forms of transport should come under the same minister, and that each particular form should be represented by an Under-Secretary of State. There would, no doubt, be friendly rivalry and competition between Jh^se Under- Secretaries for the ear of the Minister on various matters which might affect their departments, but this is quite a different position from that which has held in the past, when a civil department had to fight for its existence against a service department, the claims of which must obviously be paramount in certain conditions. I suggest that the ideal political set-up after the wai should be an Under-Secretary of State, whose concern is solely civil aviation, assisted by a Director-General and a comparatively small Department of Civil Aviation consist ing mainly of senior officials whose duty^twould be (apart from seeing that the wishes of Parliament were met) to assist the development of British civil aviation both at home and abroad. The detail administration should be left 1o what have been termed the Government's "chosen instru ments." These chosen instruments would not, of course, be profit-making concerns, but in the nature of what we now know as "public utility bodies." One general requirement of post-war civil aviation is essential.—it must from the very beginning have a reason ably fixed policy and be allowed to develop within that framework. ^ After the last war it w^s first decided that civil aviation should fly by itself. When this was shown to be impossible, and after the attempt had reduced the status of civil avia tion abroad below the level which Parliament thought was tolerable, they decided that, even though it would cost the nation more money to do it, British civil aviation must take its proper place in world affairs. Unfortunately, the people who had tried, and indeed with considerable success, to carry out the original policy, were made scapegoats, and others substituted who have not yet had the opportunity to show whether they are better or worse. Clearly Defined Objective In framing future policy we musf first of all be quite sure of what we want to do, and of how much we are prepared to pay forJt, and thereafter stick to that policy. The present Government has made a half hearted attempt to outline the future of civil aviation and has set up an inter-departmental committee to make certain recommenda tions. This is not the kind of body which is fitted to make decisions on matters of policy, and it is unfair to saddle it with the responsibility. These decisions call for a more authoritative body such a» a Royal Commission and, when they have indicated the broad outlines, the picture can easily be filled in by the Under-Secretary of State, the Department, British Overseas Airways Corporation, and the others whose business it is to translate policy into action. Only by focusing on a clearly defined objective can efficient team-work be ensured. - ' DECENTRALISATION THE centre pages of this journal, which for some years have been occupied bv advertisements of the de Havilland Aitcr^ft Co., Ltd., will be used for editorial purposes hence forth and that company's advertisements will occupy smaller spaces. In explanation, the de Ilavilland Aircraft Company state that until the paper shortage developed they were glad to advertise to keep their name alive in those markets, especially overseas, which war conditions prevented them from serving. This company in particular has built up its business since 1920 ;n the hard field of civil and commercial aviation. As manu facturers and exporters of aircraft, engines and controllable- pitch airscrews, with a chain of associated companies and some large factories in the Dominions as well as flying schools and technical training establishments, they are virtually several organisations in one. The directors have expressed their keen regret that a reduc tion in advertising must mean withdrawing necessary revenue from just those journals whose world-wide circulation and editorial integrity have aided enormously in the building up of de Havilland business overseas, especially as in wartime they are doing valuable work in the Services and elsewhere, parti cularly in the Dominions and America.
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