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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1757.PDF
OCTOBER 9TH/ IQ47 FLIGHT 4*1 CIVI^VIATION NEWS- CHOCKS AWAY: The B.S.A.A.C. Tudor IV "Star Lion " taxying out at London Airport on Tuesday, September 30th, for a goodwill tour ot South America. It was the first Tudor to carry fare-paying passengers, but did not follow a scheduled route. It is expected back in London to-day, October 9th. Attstralian-huilt Aircraft for Feeder Lines : B.E.A. Curtail Services and Economize on Staff : Travel Ban Concession Report on Civil Aviation Estimates t I \ HE Sixth Report of the Select Committee appointed I to examine estimates presented to the House of •*- Commons is connected solely with civil aviation and was published last week. The history of Government organization for civil aviation in the United Kingdom was reviewed and the present system, established under the provisions of the Civil Aviation Act, 1946, was also re- viewed and criticized. It was revealed that in August, 1939, the staff of the special Department in the Air Ministry numbered 273, whereas in May, 1947, the staff of the Ministry of Civil Aviation amounted to 4,950, consisting of 1,450 at headquarters and 3,500 at outstations. It is estimated that the implementation of the airport programme will involve an increase to 6,900, followed later by a further increase to about 11,000. The headquarters establishment will be increased to 2,250. The Ministry was criticized for delegating insufficient financial authority to Divisional Con- trollers and Airdrome Commandants. Government Indecision •" The organization of the three British Corporations was closely examined, and it was found that there had been a delay in deciding upon the programmes to be adopted by the Corporations and upon which depended the grants which should be provided. Such delay had been occasioned by uncertainty of types of aircraft to be available for their use owing to Government indecision. B.O.A.C. had, in fact, prepared three different programmes based on varying assumptions. Government indecision on the acquisition of airports had also affected British European Airways, since no announcement on an airport programme had been made until July 9th, 1947. and even then no indication of development priority was given. The Committee found that the Corporations had endeavoured to effect reasonable economy and had sought to reduce the cost on the servicing and maintenance of aircraft. It was found, however, that there was some overlapping between the Cor- porations and the Ministry, particularly with regard to pas- senger handling, police duties, marshalling of aircraft, tele- printer services and in the provision of other similar facilities. On the subject of airports, the estimated expenditure for the year on radio equipment and installations amounted to £057,000, and that was only a portion of the technical sendees provided At present the only considerable income at airports Was derived from landing fees and rents payable for the use of buildings, and such income was less than half of the ex- penditure. Again, the Committee criticized the indecision of the Government in stating the amount of importance which was attached to the development of amenities at airports, and there was a consequent hold-up in the development of such amenities for providing an income. Expenses for ground services on Empire and other routes showed an increase of ,£1,315,000 above last year's figure, over ^1,000,000 of which was attributable to capital expenditure and was necessary for the development of airfields on the trunk route through Africa to make it suitable for the Tudor II and similar types. Such expenditure was borne by the U.K. as it w«s not essential for local requirements. B.O.A.C. con- sidered that its financial deficit was partly due to the dispeisal of bases in this country, and the Committee expressed the hope that the building of hangars would be given some priority. >" ?: > Uneconomical Aircraft Commenting upon the Corporation's fleet of aircraft, the Committee found that for well-known reasons the types were generally uneconomical and slow and gave foreign operators an advantage. It did mention, however, that B.S.A.A.C. had an arrangement whereby some Yorks and Lancastrians wen: procured on a hire basis from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and others had been purchased outright. The operating costs have already been mentioned, but the- Committee made a special point of drawing attention to the cost of petrol, and estimated the amount of petrol duty paid by B.E.A.C. for the current year on internal services as being ^150,000. In reaching conclusions and making' recommenda- tions, the Committee observed that it had become increasingly clear that the new organization provided for civil aviation was still at a stage of its development too' early for the Com- mittee to formulate any decisive conclusions. Improvements would continue to be made largely as a result of trial and error, but, generally speaking, it had noticed that both the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Corporations were en- deavouring to provide, with reasonable economy, services as efficient as circumstances would allow. The conclusions, which are printed below, were therefore to be considered as provisional. (1) Delay in Governmental Decisions.—Both the Ministry1 of Civil Aviation and the Corporations have been hairpered by the Govern- ment's delay in announcing their decisions on the purchase of aircraft and airdrome development. These delays have caused much work which might otherwise have been avoided. (2) Tim Establishments of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.—Your Committee accept the assurance that the establishments o£ the Ministry are under review and that care has been exercised in expanding these establishments to meet current needs. Neverthe- less, they emphasize the necessity for strict and constant scrutiny and recommend that, not only the advice and assistance of the Organization and Methods Division of the Treasury should con- tinue to be sought, but also the Ministry should institute thc:ir own Organization and Methods Branch. The possibility, owing tc inadequate salaries, of limiting appointments to applicants already in receipt of pensions should be avoided and generally the present procedure for making appointments should be reviewed. The dele- gation of responsibility to Divisional Controllers and Aerodrome Commandants, which i« to be revised in the light of experience, also needs special attention. It is important that the interests
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