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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0457.PDF
20 April 1956 T Corporations 457 B.E.A. A B.E.A. Viscount comes in to land past the Corporation's maintenance base at London Airport. B.E.A.'s investment in the future of the turboprop will in I960 amount to more than 80 Vkkers Viscounts and Vanguards. "W!TE are," said British European Airways' chairman recently,"hoping to achieve great things this year." During thesix-month period beginning the day after tomorrow, April 22nd, when the Corporation introduces its full summer schedules, B.E.A. are aiming to carry 1J million passengers and to earn £15.3m in traffic revenue. These figures represent an ambitious increase on the summer 1955 results of some 20 per cent, but there seems little doubt that the target will be achieved. The Corporation has not before been in a sounder position: its fleet is the finest on European routes, and last year, for the first time in its history, B.E.A. ran at a profit. In that year a net surplus of £862,000 was produced, compared with a deficit of £400,000 in 1954. During the year B.E.A. lost the leadership of its chief executive, Mr. Peter Masefield, who left in November to become managing director of Bristol Aircraft. The strength of the Corporation's present position undoubtedly owes much to his forward planning during the past seven years, in which time B.E.A. has risen to become, in terms of passengers flown, second only to PanAm and T.W.A. as an international carrier. Lord Douglas assumed the responsibilities of chief executive after Mr. Masefield's retirement, strengthening the Corporation's top administration by the appoint- ment of Mr. A. H. Milward as his deputy. B.E.A.'s domestic and international 22,000-mile route network showed no marked expansion during the year, emphasis being on the improvement of service on existing routes. The S-55 helicopter service between the South Bank and London Airport, started in July, was recently discontinued, but the Corporation's plans to develop helicopter travel are under close review: a Bristol 173 will be put into experimental operation during the summer, B.E.A. being convinced that twin engines are essential to successful scheduled helicopter passenger services. " I The best piece of B.E.A. re-equipment news during the year wasthe announcement in October that an order had been placed for 20 Vickers Vanguards. This large-capacity aircraft, whose designis based on the sound foundations of Viscount experience, promises to be a most challenging airliner. Its introduction into service willnot be until 1960, but in the meantime B.E.A. will have steadily expanded its turboprop fleet—there are now 29 Viscounts inservice—to a strength of nearly 70 aircraft, B.E.A. having during the year placed orders for no fewer than 38 Viscount Majors. Thecomposition of the Viscount Major fleet will be 22 802s to be followed by 16 806s. By 1960, therefore, B.E.A. will have a main- Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, G.C.B., M.C., D.F.C., BI.A.'s chairman. (Below) The D.H.- Airspeed Eliza- bethan, which con- tinues to form a strong element in B.E.A.'s domestic and international fleet. line turboprop fleet of more than 80Viscounts and Vanguards. The Corporation's plans to re-engine its19 Elizabethans with turboprops are not now likely to materialize: these aircrafthave a long life ahead of them as high- density short-haulers and should continueto be good money-makers in their present form. It is unlikely also that B.E.A. willnow go ahead with its plans for a DC-3 replacement. Present equipment in service is as fol-lows: 29 Viscount 701s, 19 Elizabethans, 38 DC-3 Pionairs, eight Pionair-Leopards,six Dragon Rapides, two Heron Is, three S-55s, two Bristol 171s, and one Bell 47. 1955 Traffic: Revenue passengers carried,2,156,791; freight (short tons), 17,176; mail (short tons), 7,805; revenue load ton-milesflown, 75,950,433; number of staff at December 31st, 9,549. Senior Executives of B.E.A. include: LordDouglas of Kirtleside, chairman and chief executive; Sir John Keeling, deputy chairman;Mr. A. H. Milward, deputy chief executive; P. C. F. Lawton, commercial director; B. S.Shenstone, chief engineer; R. L. Weir, finan- cial controller; J. W. G. James, flight opera-tions director; E. P. Wingfield, traffic director; H. E. Marking, secretary; Dr. Buchanon Bar-bour, director of medical services; R. Watson, chief personnel officer; W. Simpson, chiefpublic relations officer. Headquarters: Keyline House, South Ruis-lip, Middlesex.
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