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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0690.PDF
688 FLIGHT, 20 May 1955 The American Airlines freighter fleet consists of nine DC-4s . . . INTRODUCTION TO AIR FREIGHT . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Commodity Wearing apparel (except footwear and furs) ... Automobile parts or accessories Machines or machine parts... Cut flowers Electrical equipment or parts Articles (unspecified) Photographic film Aircraft parts or accessories Metal bars, castings, sheets or ingots Biological:, drugs, medicines and pharmaceuti- cais (including blood plasma and whole blood, and serums and vaccines) Footwear Printed matter (general) Newspapers ... ... ... ... ... Vegetables, fresh (not cold-pack nor frozen) Advertising display material or advertising matter Dry goods Diplomatic pouches Electric motors Radio and phonograph sets or parts Electrical appliances or parts Ton-mitas 442,938.3 352,880.5 330,400.1 272,546.6 255,117.8 215.811.7 203,138.4 149.354.5 99,423.1 94,077.7 86.036.7 84,050.5 7S.089.0 68,384.6 66,639.6 57,152.5 56,443.2 50,389.2 49,285.3 49,270.8 Percent-age of Total 9.32 7.43 6.96 5.74 5.37 4.54 4.28 3.14 2.09 1.98 1.81 1.77 1.58 1.44 1.40 1.20 .19 .06 .04 .04 Freight carried in a typical month by American airlines. air freight is still an immature industry, using makeshift equip-ment, and this fact is freely acknowledged. The super-modern freight terminal is very much a rarity and most of the plans forbuilding new terminals are rather nebulous; it is difficult to pro- vide for the requirements of an industry which is certain ofultimate success but cannot yet predict how or when it will be achieved. We illustrate here the American Airlines freight building atLa Guardia, which exemplifies victory of adaptability and enthusiasm over barely adequate facilities. This terminal hashandled up to 100 tons of outward freight alone in a single day— and most of the work-load is concentrated in the four-hourevening rush period. The airline would naturally like to spread its traffic more evenly over the full 24 hours, but must acceptas largely inevitable the industrial customer's practice of sending his goods to the airport at the close of the working day for next-morning delivery. The DC-6As in service with American symbolize their owners'belief in the potentialities of air freight because, unlike all other aircraft of their type, they are not fitted with cabin windows andtherefore cannot be adapted for passenger work. Four more DC-6As will be added to the fleet early next year, considerablyincreasing the company's freighting capacity and providing extra reserve to meet local and seasonal peaks. On several occasionsdemand for freighting capacity has exceeded supply, notably in November and December. The DC-6A has a cruising speed of about 300 m.p.h. and willcarry up to 32,500 lb payload. It has large double loading doors . . . and three DC-6A UHmasters. Four more DCSAs are on order. and the cabin is fully pressurized—an essential feature of anymodern long-range freighter. The DC-4, which cruises at up to 240 m.p.h., has a maximum payload of about 20,000 lb. Among aircraft which can be regarded as the next generationof freighters, the most likely candidate is the turbo-powered Lockheed C-130. In the air, it promises to have a much lowerton-mile cost than the DC^6A; on the ground, economy will further benefit from simplicity and speed of unloading its low-slung, capacious fuselage. Range, payload and flexibility are essential attributes for the economic air freighter, and cannot besacrificed to speed for its own sake. The aircraft capable of 300-400 m.p.h. provides the operator with all the speed he needsto compete against railways and roads in terms of delivery time; the efficacy of this competition now depends on deliverycosts, and will continue to do so for many years. Cargo specialists of American Airlines feel that a high pro-portion of their present business must still be classified as "emergency" shipment, which can never be the basis of athriving, large-scale air-freighting industry. They contend that not only is the world at large unaware of the significance of air-freighting, but that air transport is itself only beginning to appreciate its possibility. It is not enough, the argument runs,to set before the potential customer a list of the theoretical advantages of air freight, leaving him to work out for himselfwhether or not they offset the higher cost of transportation. In a series of lectures and articles, American Airlines executiveshave put forward their belief that 60 cents of the average manu- facturing dollar is accounted for by distribution costs, and that,furthermore, many manufacturers have no more than a hazy idea of how those costs are made up. They argue that the use of airfreight must be scientifically studied in relation to the entire dis- tribution process, and that if the customer has no inclination toperform such a study the airline must do it for him, presenting the case for air freight with a set of indisputable figures. This theory is now being applied by the largest and most pro-gressive operators. American Airlines have set up an air-freight development branch staffed by a cadre of selected salesmen whoreceive an intensive and lengthy course in distribution economics. These men are equipped to meet industry on its own groundand address it in its own language. Six months or more may be spent investigating the distribution methods and economics of acompany which appears to the airline to be potentially a large- scale user of air freight. Most of the advantages of air freight are well-known, thoughtheir financial value relative to a specific industry is rarely obvious. They are defined by American Airlines as "greater speed, greatersecurity and protection in transit and more efficient and simple methodology in its use." Each of these basic characteristics hasfunctions affecting the process of distribution and, thus, the final decision as to whether the introduction of air freight iseconomically desirable. The airlines can claim that they have redrawn the map ofpractically any area of die world, and that no two p'aces in any continent are separated by more than two, or at the most three,days' total delivery time. This speed greatly reduces the need for warehousing and inventories, and can offer a manufacturer newmarkets as well as increasing his sales in existing markets. Reduc- tion of warehousing and inventories results in less stagnation ofcapital and lower freight-handling costs and, in turn, lowers the depreciation of goods in transit between the producer and thecustomer (since the transit period will in many cases be shorter). Packaging of goods for air shipment is frequently lighter thanfor other forms of transport and never heavier. Goods, are exposed to damage for a much shorter period of time, and forthis reason there is also less likelihood of deterioration or pilfer- ing. American Airlines state diat damage to shipments intransit costs only 0.28 of 1 per cent of total freight revenues, and that the corresponding figure for loss caused by theft is 0.23 of1 per cent. It can be assumed that there are three cases where existingusers of surface transport would consider the change to air freight. In the first case, when freight rates are the only variable, thedecision will be made on a straightforward comparison of charges. In the second case air freight rates may be considerably higherbut some of the factors mentioned above may justify the switch to air freight, even though the volume of business does notchange. In the third case the value of new business resulting from the use of air freight may exceed the additional transportcharges. A fourth field of opportunity lies ahead. The future willbring new forms of business and industry owing their birth to the existence of air transport. Such enterprises will enjoy anadvantage denied to older-established competitors; they will start life with the knowledge that air-freight brings a manufacturer tothe doorstep of his most distant customer, and they will plan accordingly. The beginnings of this trend can already be detected in America,where quality of air service is beginning to be taken as a major factor in the choice of location for new towns and factories.
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