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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1366.PDF
588 FLIGHT THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY SPEAKS second place in the memorable England to Australia Air Race that year. When the war destroyed much of K.L.M.'s organization and equip ment some aircraft and crews reached the United Kingdom, and this unit maintained a regular service between the United Kingdom and Lisbon. K.L.M. also operated in the Netherlands West Indies. K.L.M., now stronger than ever, has a route mileage of well over 100,000 in Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Far East and Australia. The fleet consists of Constellations, DC-6s, DC-4S, DC-3S and Convair-Liners. A DC-6A, DC-6Bs, Convair 340s and Super-Constellations are on order. NORTHWEST AIRLINES. From CROIL HUNTER (President) AS I am writing this brief message for your special issue, the annual reports of most of our country's commercial airlines are now being made public. The year ended December 31st, 1951, was a banner year for the airlines and revenue passenger- miles reached a figure never before attained. However, as we enter the year 1952, we must now be fully aware of the fact that higher costs in wages, materials and taxes are already offsetting much of the financial benefit derived from this upsurge in passenger miles. It is a matter of record, and also a matter of pride, that during this period of inflation and rising costs the airlines made available to the public a product which, unlike other items that are import ant in our day-to-day living, has never been allowed-to increase in price. However, we must face the facts. This condition can not long continue without resulting in a situation similar to that in which the airlines found themselves back in 1947. It is my sincere opinion that a moderate increase in fares is justified at this time to keep our airlines strong. Northwest Airlines' Background.—A mail service from Twin Cities to Chicago on October 1st, 1926, was the first flight by a Northwest Airways aircraft. In the following year a Stinson Detroiter flew the company's first passenger service over the same route, and a year later - Northwest flew its first night mail service. By the end of 1933 the airline had extended its routes to Seattle on the Pacific coast. Following the cancellation of the air mail contracts, the company was reorganized as Northwest Airlines, Inc., in 1934. In 1935 N.W.A. reopened the international route from Chicago to Winnipeg. DC-3S were introduced in 1938 and soon after N.W.A. applied We are busy at this time, as many of you know, in working out the details regarding our pending merger with Capital Airlines, which we hope can be made official sometime between now and early fall. We fully believe that the merger of these two companies will develop a stronger transcontinental and international system that will render an even better service to our travelling public. Looking into the future, I continue to feel that there will be an ever-increasing demand for high-density "coach"-type service. The American people are great travellers and our experience with "air-coach" schedules has convinced us that this type of transportation may soon account for more than half of our revenue passenger-miles. £~—<—/^ unsuccessfully for a Twin Cities to New York route in order to have a complete transcontinental system. On June 1st, 1945, N.W.A. succeeded in opening a Milwaukee -Detroit - New York service, thus achieving their transcontinental route. They became major international carriers on July 15th, 1947, when they began regular operation to the Orient. At present the company is operating transcontinental routes and trans-Pacific routes to Honolulu and to the Far East with a fleet of Stratocruisers, DC-4S and DC-3S. It is also undertaking the operations of Japan Air Lines. -<v PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS APART from the company's importance as a major world operator, Pan American Airways is particularly in mind at this time in view of its close association with the introduction of low-fare (tourist) services. Additionally, during the last week or two Pan American are reported to have announced something of an ultimatum—if the American industry does not produce an P.A.A.'s Background.—On October 28th, 1927, a Fokker F.VIIb/3m flew from Key West, Florida, to Havana, Cuba, thus inaugurating the first air service of Pan American Airways. Today P.A.A. is one of the world's largest airlines. It is also a purely international operator, for it has never been authorized to operate U.S. domestic services. Routes were opened in the Caribbean area and an extensive system was built in South America. The company has from its early days amassed vast experience of over-water flying; as early as 1935 it made its first experimental flight across the Pacific from San Francisco to Honolulu. A regular mail service was begun over this route in November 1935, and passengers were carried in 1936. In 1937, Pan American, with Imperial Airways, made a series of North Atlantic experimental flights. In May 1939, P.A.A. began regular adequate jet aircraft soon, Pan Am will be forced to place orders for the Comet. With these thoughts in mind it is the more unfortunate that readers will not benefit from the views of Mr. Juan T. Trippe, Pan Am president, a message from whom had been expected for several weeks, but which has failed to materialize for publication alongside those of his competitors. transatlantic operations and in 1940 it opened a trans-Pacific service to New Zealand. During the war the company undertook a vast amount of military flying throughout the world. On May 31st, 1946, the first P.A.A. aircraft (a Constellation) to arrive in London landed at Heathrow, and in June 1947 the company realized its ambition when it inaugurated round-the- world scheduled flights. P.A.A. has an unduplicated route-mileage of over 60,000. Its Clipper fleet cumprises Stratocruisers, Constellations, DC-6Bs, DC-3S, Convair-Liners and some C-46 freighters. The company also has interests in other associate and subsidiary airlines in Central and South America, the Lebanon, and elsewhere. In 1950, P.A.A. took over American Overseas Airlines. QANTAS EMPIRE AIRWAYS. From W. HUDSON FYSH, D.F.C. (Chairman) T HE history of commercial aviation has up to date been short but hectic, and it is difficult to believe that the first hesitant efforts which marked the inauguration of the air-transport age, now in full being, had their beginnings only some 32 years ago, which is within the lifetime of most of us. Qantas Empire Airways has been one of the longest on the scene, and during the whole of its history has been greatly indebted to the assistance given in developing its services by British air craft manufacturers. We are also indebted to the British air transport industry, as our introduction to international air trans port came in 1934 through the co-operation of Imperial Airways in the George Woods Humphery era, and this continues today in parallel partnership with B.O.A.C. in the Miles Thomas era. As Australia's International Airline, Q.E.A. is preparing to take its part in the greatly expanded sphere of air transport which lies ahead. High-density traffic must be catered for and a hand taken in the development of jet types. The principal new service to be operated by Q.E.A. in 1952 will link Australia and South Africa, involving a flight-stage of 2,677 miles across the Indian Ocean between Cocos Island and Mauritius. This is one reason why my company favours long- range aircraft; another is that we suffered the lesson of having our Sydney-London route broken in 1942 by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya. Choice of replacement types of aircraft has been complicated by the virtual revolution caused by the introduction of jets, and this is, of course, further complicated by the rival claims made by the protagonists of the turbojet and turboprop types of«airliner. It is obvious that on the Kangaroo Route between England and Australia—where thefe is a heavy mail and freight demand—the high speed, low-volumetric Comet can only be operated in conjunction with larger long-range types which can also cater for the coming so-called tourist-class traffic, and Q.E.A. is desirous of adopting the same policy as its "partner," B.O A.C., in this respect. Delivery timings are important; thus Q.E.A. has ordered the Super Constellation 1049C type, which it is felt will make an exceedingly valuable contribution on the Kangaroo Route. Further orders for aircraft depend on type developments, coupled with delivery dates. Q.E.A. share the view of other operators that the development of air transport will ultimately result in cargo loadings exceeding the figures for mails and passengers, but this depends greatly on the production of a cargo carrier operable at an acceptable cost per C.T.M. to our business clients, and the production of such a type is one of the major jobs of today.
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