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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0779.PDF
7 June 1957 785 PRACTICAL STATISTICSL AST year the U.S. scheduled airlinesJ accounted for just over 61 per cent of the world's passenger traffic, and their com-bined fleets totalled 1,726 aircraft. Yet so fine has the balance been struck betweentraffic growth and spiralling costs that—if fares are to be held to their present level—a constant search for more efficiency is required in order to maintain even a slenderprofit margin. The table (right), condensed from fiurespublished in American Aviation, is a digest of the economic performance of theaircraft operated by U.S. scheduled air- lines. The figures are the average of alloperations; there is frequently a consider- able spread between the best and worstfigures achieved. Load factors, for example, are found to vary as widelyamong local service operators as between feeder services and major trunk routes. Thesame is true of block speeds, which vary between carriers and between differentoperations by the same carrier. It is a remarkable fact that the block speeds shown here are lower thanthose recorded for 1955. The biggest drop occurred among air- craft operating in high-density areas such as New York, Washing-ton and Boston—statistical evidence of the economic penalty of the air traffic control problem. INCREASED COSTS—SAME FARES LAST week the Civil Aeronautics Board confirmed its earlierJ tentative judgment and rejected I.A.T.A.'s proposed five per cent increase in transatlantic fares."Evidence available," the Board said in its decision, "supports our repeatedly expressed view that the current level of NorthAtlantic fares, which exceeds the domestic level by approximately 70 per cent, may be unreasonably high"; and to the contention thatcosts had increased it replied that "price increases in major cost components over recent years have not been reflected in a corres-ponding increase in the unit cost of operation upon which the fare is based." This decision is likely to be contested by I.A.T.A.; werecorded last week Sir William Hildred's views on the increased landing charges in the U.K. Since then I.A.T.A.'s director hastaken up his cudgel again. "The airlines," he said, "are subject at any time to arbitrary increases in landing fees, and unfortunatelywithout regard to the fact that they are tied to a scale of earnings which some governments are most reluctant to change." Theseincreases were "unhappily typical" of the many small factors of rising costs. He forecast that "If the trend continues it will cripplethe air transport industry at the very moment it faces its greatest venture yet into . . . low priced mass transport and its heaviestcapital investment yet to meet the jet age." SWANSEA AIRPORT OPENED THE inauguration of Cambrian Airways' scheduled passengerservice between Swansea and the Channel Islands coincided with the official opening of Swansea Municipal Airport on Satur-day last, June 1. Civil notabilities from Jersey and Guernsey arrived by Heron and were received by the Mayor of Swansea,Councillor A. E. Harries, J.P., after which G/C. Douglas Bader, C.B.E., D.S.O., D.F.C., declared the terminal building open. At a luncheon given by the Mayor in Swansea Guildhall afterthe ceremony, speeches were made by Councillor T. W. Davies, J.P.; G/C. Bader; Mr. S. Kenneth Davies, C.B.E.; CouncillorPercy Morris, M.P.; Councillor W. T. Main waring Hughes, Deputy Lieutenant of Glamorganshire; Mr. R. H. Johns, C.B.E.,Chairman (Guernsey Delegation), Channel Islands Air Advisory Council; Senator W. H. Krichefski, chairman of the C.I.A.A.C.;and Mr. J. H. Watts, chairman of Cambrian Airways. Mr. Kenneth Davies, chairman of the Welsh Advisory Councilfor Civil Aviation, emphasized in his speech the contribution made by Swansea Flying Club in the development of Fairwood Commonas Swansea's airport. Mr. Johns disclosed that almost £500,000 had just been allocated for the expansion of airport facilities inGuernsey; Senator Krichefski pointed out that Jersey's 1956 total of more than 400,000 air passengers was greater than that of Man-chester and Glasgow combined; and Mr. Watts said that Cam- brian's services from Swansea would be increased according totraffic demand in future. Located on the site of the wartime Fighter Command station,Fairwood Common, the airport has three runways of 1,450 yd, 1,050 yd, and 840 yd. The existing control tower has been modifiedto include passenger-reception and catering facilities and has been generally modernized. Ekco airfield approach-aid equipment isincorporated in the second-floor control room. The airport will be managed for Swansea Corporation by Cambrian Airways. Aircraft Douglas: DC-3... DC-4...DC-6... DC-6ADC-6B DC-7... DC-7B and C Convair 240/340 Curtiss C-46/CW20T Lockheed:L.49 L.649 and 749 L.1049 L.1049C L.1049G Boeing 377 ViscountMartin 2-O-2 . Martin 4-O-4 . 1956 D.O.C. (cents per a/c mile) 51.89 93.993.41 111.51110.47 126.91 149.14 (b) 79.40 81.61 136.39 106.6 110.71 155.5 190.91 158.42 75.886.29 84.88 Change from 1955 (percent) (o) • 15 6 -6.2 • 2.8 (c) id)4.2 19.2 -+- 7 2 ' 5.7 8 (c)! 3.7 -1.7 Main- tenance (cents, per fly- ing hour) 17.53 47.79 60.39 56.58 59.56 96.83 74.92 (b) 48.04 30.53 101.9 71.66 87.78 99.0186.79 98.64 34.45 38.96 42.23 Change from 1955 (percent) (a) 2 -6 • 6 N.A. + 16 + 1.25 (c) id) '5.7 + 15.6 + 27 + 30.1 + 4.4 (c)-17.8 + 15.8 Av. and(max.) seating 25 (31 )<e) 57 (70) 56 (80) N.A.68 (94) 64 (89) / 42 (44) N.A. 66 N.A 79 (88) I 77 (88) 72 (83) 46 (48) 39 (40) Av. bik. speed (m.p.h.) 149 189255 256247 296 288 199 (f)184 288 240 257 253 249 (g) 254 246 180 186 Av. load factor 50.1 62.564.1 N.A.63.6 67.2 65.1 59.2 49.4 56.3 59.1 63.1 61.957.9 64.0 63.0 \ > Footnotes, (a) Changes of less than one per cent are ignored, (b) Early operations, (c) First full year,(d) Declining operations, (e) Not including versions with less than 21 seats, (f) Includes Convair 440. (g) Includes L.1049H. N.A.: Not available or not applicable. BREVITIEST HE Comet 3 development aircraft, G-ANLO, was demon- strated to K.L.M. at Schiphol Airport on June 1. The time taken from Hatfield was 45 minutes. T.C.A. intend to make weather radar standard equipment ontheir Super Constellations. Conversion will take about nine months. As from June 1 three of Sabena's twelve weekly transatlantic flights will be made in daylight. During the summer the airline is to organize a six-day helicopter tour of the Loire chateaux. * * * T.A.I, are to begin a regular service between Paris and Australianext month. Initially the terminal will be Brisbane, but the airline is expected to operate into Sydney towards the end of the year. Bristol Corporation are to spend a further £300,000 on thedevelopment of Lulsgate Airport. The chairman of the airport committee has said that "we intend to develop our airport so thatB.E.A. will be forced to take some measure of interest in it." A Comet 4 fuselage was tested to ultimate landing load at Hatfield recently. A total load of 90 tons was applied forward and aft of the wing-root fittings and the test continued to destruction. Failure occurred, D.H. state, at almost exactly the design figure.
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