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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1086.PDF
176 CIVIL AVIATION . . . week, considered that the problem w?.s primarily a social one,and that government policy alone could not resist inflation. But the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board, the U.S. Government'sagency for regulating America's airline industry, appear to con- sider otherwise. The C.A.B. have so far rejected the U.S.domestic airlines' request for a six per cent fare "hike", and have turned down also their international carriers' recommendation—made through I.A.T.A.—for a North Atlantic increase of five per cent. This latter action, which was not lightly considered,has inevitably incurred the displeasure of other countries—includ- ing Great Britain—whose national airlines fly the Atlantic. We have indicated (July 19) how the C.A.B. arrived at theirdecision to refuse domestic increases: a thorough analysis of individual airline accounting systems has been undertaken, andthe general conclusion reached—rightly or wrongly—that the situation is not so bad as the airlines have suggested. C.A.B.have similarly examined the PanAm and T.W.A. case for five per cent higher Atlantic fares, and decided that they see no reason toalter their opinion that Atlantic fare-levels are already higher than are justified. It is certainly a sound principle that the general public shouldbe able to feel that applications for fare-increases by public trans- port operators should be so carefuliy scrutinized. No airline—least of all B.E.A., whose domestic network is up against the world's stiffest surface competition—wants to price itself out of amarket which it is only just beginning to develop. But it would be good to feel that the Corporations and their guardian Ministry,and the impartial advisory councils, will not bow too deeply and too easily before rising costs. INFRA-RED PROXIMITY WARNING "P OLLOWING the hint that infra-red detection might be used•*• for an airborne collision warning system (reported in these columns on July 12) comes the news that Aerojet General arereleasing details of such a system in Los Angeles. The infra-red proximity warning indicator would weigh as little as 50 1binstalled; and a production prototype might be airborne within six months. In addition, Raytheon are reported to be workingon such a system, while Radio Corporation of America are investigating the use of conventional weather radar for thepurpose. TURKEY BUYS VISCOUNTS HPHE closer co-operation between B.O.A.C. and Turkish State-*• Airlines (Turk Hava Yollari), foreshadowed in our issue of May 3, has been fulfilled with the signing in Ankara of an agree-ment between the two airlines and Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd. Under the terms of this agreement B.O.A.C. will, it isreported, buy shares in Turkish Airlines to the value of £500,000 and will open on their behalf a £1.5m credit with which they willbuy five Viscount 700s and spares. B.O.A.C. have agreed to forgo the delivery of one of their12 Viscounts (ordered for associates) so that one 754 can be delivered to Turkey by the end of this year. The remainderwill be delivered next year and will supplement Turkish Airlines' fleet of 21 DC-3s and seven Herons. The Turkish order bringsthe total number of Viscounts sold to 372. AER LINGUS YEAR AT the end of their financial year, and soon after they celebrated• their twenty-first birthday, Aer Lingus were able to declare an operating profit (after taxes and other charges) of £67,061.Although slender enough, this represents an increase in operating revenue of 27 per cent over the 1955-6 figure (a year which startedwith a debit balance). It was largely brought about by a 15 per FLIGHT cent increase in passenger traffic and by a five per cent improve-ment in passenger load factor (to 70.7 per cent). Part of the increase can be attributed to the development of theairline's Viscount operations and part to the intensive efforts that Aer Lingus make to smooth out their irregular and seasonal trafficflow. Last year an earlier slump in Dublin-Paris traffic was remedied by a special excursion fare, and a single fare was chargedfor a winter week-end round-trip between Birmingham, Man- chester and Dublin. On the latter services, however, the veryhigh load-factors required to break even were not achieved. Aer Lingus, like every other airline, has been facing rising costs,but apart from fare increases of between two and four per cent made last year (in line with most other European airlines) thepassing-on of costs has been resisted. It remains to be seen whether this policy can be continued during the current year.As a result of the revision last year of the bilateral agreement of 1946 between the British and Irish Governments, Aer Lingusexpect a temporary decline in load-factors and revenue. But in long-term return they have accepted a reduction in their Anglo-Irish services (British operators may now compete with Aer Lingus between Dublin and Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester,Liverpool and London and operate other services into Dublin) in exchange for the rights to open up Irish services through Man-chester to the Continent. They regard this as the "logical next stage in their evolution." RESOLVING NO-SHOWT HE problem of the airline passenger who makes a reservationbut does not turn up has long plagued American domestic airlines. Not all suffer to the same extent, and most are loath toimpose conditions—even those mutually agreed and put into effect by all carriers—upon their passengers. The airlines understandablywish to avoid adding complications to the straightforward busi- ness of buying a ticket and making a reservation, and earlier thisyear (see Flight, February 8) they failed to agree to the Air Trans- port Association's plan to impose a penalty on the no-showingpassenger. Nevertheless, the plan proposed by the A.T.A. is progressivelybeing put into effect. The first stage began last September, when a minimum ticket-collection-time-limit was introduced whichstipulated the number of hours before the flight that a passenger should collect his ticket. If he did not do so, his reservation wascancelled, and if an airline reduced the limit it became subject to a heavy fine. Since customers who have paid for their tickets areless likely to cancel their reservations than those who have not, the airline tries to persuade the customer to collect his ticket assoon as possible after making his reservation, and a time limit inside the minimum is usually mutually agreed between the air-line's ticket office and the prospective passenger. To overcome some of the snags that this system has raised, more use is beingmade of the post, travel agents and banks for the sale of airline tickets.The second stage of the A.T.A. plan, the "reconfirrnation rule," has just been introduced. A passenger breaking his journey over-night or longer is now required to reconfirm his reservation before continuing his flight or starting a return journey, and this he mustdo at least six hours before departure. Even if surface transport has been used for one stage of the journey, reconfirmation ofreservation is required if the next stage of the trip is to be by air. An exception is made in the case where the passenger "stops over"for less than 12 hours, even if this is overnight. The final point of the plan is the third-stage safeguard againstno-show which imposes a $3 penalty upon passengers who have purchased a ticket but fail to make use of their reservations. Thishas been the most contentious clause in the A.T.A. solution of the no-show problem, but disagreements seem to have been resolvedand no-show penalties are scheduled to be put into effect in September this year. First production Comet 4 for B.O.A.C. and first production Boeing 707 for PanAm (detail, above, from p. 102 picture last week) appear to be running neck-and-neck towards their certification target-dates of late 1958. These pictures were taken towards the end of last month.
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