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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0545.PDF
FLIGHT, 4 May 1956 545 CIVIL AVIATION B.O.A.C. PILOTS' OUTBURST SOMETIMES the shrewdest judgment of an organization'smanagement comes from senior men within; when they go so far as to protest publicly in bitter terms about a new appointment,the circumstances cannot be disregarded. Last week an open letter written anonymously to the Minister of Transport andCivil Aviation (copies were sent to the Press and to selected Members of both Houses) by 12 men styling themselves seniorB.O.A.C. pilots, in protest against the new Corporation appoint- ments, was vehement in the extreme. So unusual is this out-burst on the part of 12 presumably responsible men that we at once wonder whether their views are at all representative of thoseof other B.O.A.C. captains, of which there are some 280. The feelings of the senior pilots—whether first- or second-classis not stated—no doubt go deeper than the matter of present appointments, and this is certainly not the first occasion uponwhich aircrews have indicated their belief that practical flying men should figure among the top executives of the Corporations.To put it another way, they naturally feel that men from their own ranks should have a chance of promotion to senior executivelevel. Captains are not necessarily all suited or qualified to take on senior executive positions when they cease to become activein the air, but it seems to them that they are not even con- sidered. Again, to bring in outside men and place them over theheads of all others in a large organization—particularly when their qualifications could be in doubt—is tantamount to theMinister admitting that, after consideration, no one has been found worthy of promotion from within. The fact that one ofthe new senior appointments is for part-time only may suggest to the Corporation staff that the top direction of their airline isbeing taken lightly. We remarked last week that whatever appointments were madethey were bound to be opposed in one quarter or another. Every- one expected as much when Sir Miles Thomas resigned. Onewonders if the pilots of B.O.A.C. were given an opportunity in advance of the new appointments to warn against the dangers ofwhat they term "inept handling." We fear that their tirade in retrospect will do little good for their cause. The Minister wouldbe faced with the possibility of resignation and the worsening of an already-bad situation should it be necessary to think again aboutthese appointments. If the views of the 12 pilots are at all representative, the position of the two men is not enviable.We urge now that Mr. d'Erlanger and Sir George Cribbett be given a fair chance to show their worth in their very responsiblenew positions. We believe that with proper support at other levels the Corporation will continue to make good progress undertheir guidance. We hope also that the Minister, and in due course his successor, will not overlook the legitimate claims forconsideration of responsible senior pilots in the Corporation when executive positions are in question. Below we give the gist of the letter addressed anonymously tothe Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, and in addition, some comments by Sir Miles Thomas at a farewell luncheon withthe senior staff of B.O.A.C. last Friday. "We, twelve senior pilots in this Corporation, have noted with dismaythe completely inept handling of the two recent senior appointments in B.O.A.C. and wish to record that we think that nothing but trouble canfollow if the affairs of a great national airline are to be handled by a part-time Chairman . . . and a Deputy Chairman whose last experienceof practical flying was nearly forty years ago. . . . We have all been flying with the Corporation for many years and want to serve it in thefuture, but we see no reason for encouragement when its affairs, already . . . handled by a clique of aged Air Marshals, are handed over to a ...banker and a retired Civil Servant. Please Sir, think again, before it is too late. Give us the tools and the men (we have them) and we willdo the job. If not, anything may happen." At the luncheon referred to above, Sir Miles Thomas thankedthe senior staff for the co-operation and support given to him during the past six years. Referring to the pilots' letter, he said:"I am sure that you will agree with me that this kind of thing is to be deplored, as it is not likely to effect any change in theappointments which have been made by the Minister and does not, I believe, reflect the opinions of the pilots as a whole."Adding that the new chairman and deputy chairman would look for loyal support from the senior staff, Sir Miles said itwould be "unfortunate if undesirable publicity of this sort should impair relationships from the beginning". At the moment of going to press, it is officially confirmed thatMr. Basil Smallpeice has been appointed managing director of B.O.A.C. Significantly, representa- tives of the U.S. Civil Aero- nautics Administration, the body responsible for the award of American certifi- cates of airworthiness, paid a visit to Bristol Aircraft at Filton last week. The picture shows Mr. F. Wright, Britan- nia assistant designer (left) with Mr. R. K. Crothers of C.A.A.'s London office. Mr. R. E. Hardingham, chief executive of the A.R.B., was with the party. B.E.A. WELL IN THE BLACK the end of the financial year (March 31st) passed: BritishEuropean Airways have published preliminary trading results. These show that a net profit—the gross surplus after deduction of£600,000 of interest, depreciation, fuel tax and so forth—is about £500,000, compared with the previous financial year's net profitof £63,000 (the first in the Corporation's history). Anticipating "our biggest summer yet," Lord Douglas esti-mated that each of the Corporation's Viscounts would earn about £47,000 a month throughout the season, and each Elizabethan£35,000. B.E.A.'s drive to increase freight business is yielding "really worthwhile results": cargo traffic was 32 per cent higherthan last year, and the month of March showed an 86 per cent increase in domestic freight compared with the previous March. LUFTHANSA'S 707 ORDER CONFIRMED AS predicted in Flight for March 23rd, Deutsche Lufthansa-^•has placed an order with Boeing for four 707-320 jet airliners. The first three will be delivered in time for the German airline'ssummer services in 1960, and the fourth will be delivered for the 1961 peak season. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt andWhitney JT4s (J75s) and will have accommodation for 125 to 130 passengers. The news was given by Lufthansa's technical director GerhardHoeltje at a lunch in Chicago to mark the German airline's new Chicago service via Manchester, inaugurated on April 24th. AIR FRANCE'S COMET lAs AIR FRANCE'S three Comet lAs, two of which have been idle•at Le Bourget since April 1954, have been sold to the Ministry of Supply. The price paid for them is reported to be about£80,000 each and the two aircraft in Paris are due to be flown back to this country shortly. No indication of their precisefuture role has been given by the Ministry or by de Havilland, but the M.o.S. are paying £560,000 to include the cost of pressure-cabin modifications and the payments to Air France. Air France's third Comet 1A has been in storage at Hatfield since it was flownto England for a proposed drooped leading-edge modification early in 1954. It is understood that the French airline is to seekarbitration on its claim for further compensation. Two other French Comet lAs, those of U.A.T., are not included in the AirFrance arrangements. The first official general arrangement drawing of the Vickers Vanguard. Main dimensions are: span, 118ft 7in; length, 118ft I'm; height, 34tt Uin; wing area, 1£27 sq ft. New Vanguard performance estimates are referred to on the next page.
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