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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0585.PDF
3 May 1957 587 THE BRITISH AIR CORPORATIONS (1) B.O.A.C. Now in full service to South Africa and Australia, the Britannia 102 comprises B.O.A.C.'s first-line equipment. This picture shows G-ANBC with its newly styled fin paint-scheme. FOR the British Overseas Airways Corporation the past yearhas been a crowded, eventful and in many ways a salutaryone. There have been big changes in management, im- portant decisions about future equipment policy, and a subtle butdefinite trend towards greater commercial independence. Although Britain's appointed overseas flag carrier has not had anuntroubled year, it has at least emerged from it with clearer poli- cies for the future, and—most important of all—with a profit. The changes in leadership last May, when Sir Miles Thomasresigned, confronted the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation with many difficulties, not the least of which was to reconcile thedesirability of internal promotion with an inclination to tuck a State-owned concern closely under the Ministerial wing. But aworkmanlike leadership resulted; and although Mr. d'Erlanger and Sir George Cribbett did not come up from the ranks, but werebrought in by the Minister from outside, they were men who knew the air transport business. And the Corporation won a point ofprinciple in the appointment of Mr. Basil Smallpeice as managing director. It was recognition of the fact that the day-to-day com-mercial affairs of a commercial enterprise—State-owned though it might be—should be directed by men promoted from within. Later in the year, in November, B.O.A.C. scored another point.It had been clear during the six months before Sir Miles resigned and the new management took office that the Corporation wouldhave to order American jets, notwithstanding its traditional "obligation" to the British aircraft industry (with which, at thattime, it had orders outstanding for about £85 millions). The out- come of a further six months of discussion between the Govern-ment, the industry and the Corporation (which had now formed an aircraft requirements committee) was that an order for 15 Boeing707s was approved, on condition that these aircraft should be dis- posed of when a "comparable" British design, the de HavillandD.H.I 18, became available in 1962. The extent to which B.O.A.C. might have been coerced into this compromise has never beenclearly established; but whatever the circumstances may have been the D.H.I 18 project was dropped two months later. The Corporation can now look forward to a long period duringwhich it will be most competitively equipped. Bristol Britannia 102s are now in full service to South Africa and to Australia, andwill soon be the staple equipment for all the Far East services. The Constellation fleet is to be progressively withdrawn and dis-posed of and Argonauts will concentrate on secondary operations to East and West Africa (three of these aircraft have been disposedof to E.A.A.). Later in the summer the first of B.O.A.C.'s long- range Britannia 312s are due to be delivered, and they should startto take over the Monarch services to New York later in the year. They will be operated on a thrice-weekly "daylight service",leaving London after breakfast and arriving in New York for dinner. Britannias should give B.O.A.C. (and El Al, who also intendto introduce them on to the North Atlantic this year) an indis- putable advantage on this vital route for a clear year, at least until Mr. Gerard d'Erlanger, Sir George Cribbett, Mr. Basil Smallpeice. PanAm introduce their Boeing 707s in December of next year.The Britannia 312 will in due course operate the newly opened service from London to Los Angeles (the extension of the routeto New York, linking in California with Qantas), taking over this operation from the Seven Seas Fleet. These latter aircraft willcontinue to provide adequate capacity for the Corporation's other tourist-class and mixed-class services between the U.K., Canadaand the U.S.A. Stratocruisers in the meantime will continue to operate the Monarch services—a number having recently beengiven Slumberette seats and interior redecoration—until these popular old piston transports are completely displaced byBritannias. They will then be diverted to other routes (some are already operating to West Africa, in support of Argonauts). The summer of next year should see the ^introduction ofComets, when the first 4s are due to appear on the Corporation's routes to the Far East. They are likely to be unchallenged on theseroutes for two or three years. The 4s will be preceded into service —though not into passenger service—by two Comet 2Es, whichare due to start route-proving and training flights later this summer. These operations will service also to amass hours on the Rolls-Royce Avon RA.29, powerplant of the Comet 4, two of which will be fitted (outboard) to each of the two Comet 2Es. Finally, in I960, B.O.A.C. will introduce the first of its Conway-powered Boeing 707s into service. The very strength of the Corporation's equipment position is inone sense its weakness: few other world airlines have such a multiplicity of major types—six in all—on their books, and theeffect on operating economy must inevitably be adverse. Crew- training alone will require a non-stop programme extending overthe next four years. It is little wonder that—at least until very recently—the Corporation has appeared unwilling to commit itselfto definite requirements for the medium jet which it will need to replace Comets before the mid-sixties—a subject which is dis-cussed on pages 578-580. Commercially, the financial year 1956-57 surpassed B.O.A.C-'sexpectations. When Mr. d'Erlanger took office last May and had had a few weeks in which to take stock, he forecast that the Cor-poration was likely to end the year with a loss of about £1,500,000. In die event a small surplus (the exact amount has not yet beenrevealed) was achieved. A preliminary assessment of the sparse details so far disclosed about the year's trading shows that theincreases in revenue (13| per cent), capacity (8 per cent) and passenger-miles flown (Hi per cent) were all less than the com-parative increases of the previous year. Furthermore, costly and unforeseen setbacks to the Britannia 100 programme, caused byengine-icing troubles, deprived the Corporation of nearly nine months' revenue from these aircraft. (The Britannia was intro-duced on to the South African route on February 1.) It is there- fore reasonable to assume that the surplus was achieved by highload-factors and by considerable savings in operating cost and efficiency—the latter a healthy sign of continuing success for theCorporation's efforts in this direction. Finally, B.O.A.C. has ambitious plans for the future expansionof its world network, including hopes for the opening of a trans- Pacific route from San Francisco to Australia—which would pro-vide the last link in a London-to-London-service around the globe. Senior executives of B.O.A.C. include: Mr. Gerard d'Erlanger, chair-man; Sir George Cribbett, deputy chairman; Basil Smallpeice, man- aging director; Major J. R. McCrindle, adviser international affairs;Keith Granville, commercial director; A. C. Campbell Orde, develop- ment director; H. O. Houchen, director of current operations; K. H.Staple, legal adviser; C. Abell, chief engineer; K. W. Bevan, financial comptroller; G. H. C. Lee, general sales manager; H. C. Spear, chiefpersonnel officer; J. R. Stainton, chief of ground services; Capt. J. N. Weir; chief of flight operations; F. C. Gillman, chief Press and informa-tion officer; Dr. K. G. Bergin, chief medical officer; Sir Duncan Cumming, director (associated companies). Fleet: 20 Argonaut, ten Britannia 102, ten DC-7C (six delivered),16 Lockheed L.749A Constellation, 16 Stratocruiser. On order: five Britannia 102, 18 Britannia 312, 19 Comet 4, 15 Boeing 707. Operating Results for the year ended December 31, 1956: 388,342passengers; 6,559,100 kg of freight (including diplomatic bags) and 3,719,700 kg of mail carried; total revenue £44.3m; 18,749 staff. Headquarters: London Airport, Hounslow, Middlesex.
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