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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0479.PDF
CitE of . TlxmrtfeF ®ffirf BRITANNIA BAY April tg, 1«8 FLIGHT, 11 April 1958 495 CIVIL AVIATION The airline* of the world pssjriarm i»v*J«abXe »crvice to man- kind by drawing the £*rtb«»t f*oin.t» ©£ tbe &1QI»« to mtliia a iew hour» o£ travel time tfaus str«»gtheniwg $h« bonds ai under standing betwe«n all the peoples of the **rtb, &»<£ :REAS The B*iti*ti O*ei-««** Airway* Corporation, *« ioternauoual air carrier owned by Use Briti#fe Oovern«*«RJ, whose routes ap»» six continents, is oa« of the world's aviation leaders in j^iotieeritt^ net oquipnsettt mad t» tiss third largest airline in tfa* world t»#e«t tin uaduplicated route mileage, and On April la, 1958, the British Ov«r#ea» Airway* will, using th* lateat i«t-prop Airliner, tb* Brittoi Britannia, further encourage th« fr*« flow ©| commerce and good will by i»- ftugui-ating it» Q«<:#oit-fca-Britain rout* th«ret»y further tying our city to the ov«r««sts countries to the east of us; I, X*oui* C, kftjriaai. Mayor oi Detroit, da hereby proclaim April X$, i958, a« BJUTAKNIA DAY in honor of our close frlextd Axiid ally, ih* B4riti*ls G©v«rnm*tt£, *«<i in <;ontin«mor* ftttQtt 9i tfc* ttturt oi tfa$« aaw servicw whicb is the forcing of *»etlu»# iia& in tfe# cfeAiae that &in* our two countries to&ether. TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY CENATOR PALTRIDGE, Australia's Minister of Transport,^* recently listed five main reasons why his Cabinet has turned down the requests by T.A.A. for two Caravelles and by Ansettfor four Electras: (1) The internal air-transport system had been passing through a grave economic crisis, the rate of traffic growthwas experiencing a decline, and the industry still had a very marginal rate of profit; (2) the Electra and Caravelle could notbe operated as economically as Viscounts on the shorter routes of up to 500 miles which carried 75 per cent of the total Australianair traffic. The introduction of these aircraft on short-range routes could only add substantially to the overall cost of national trans-port; (3) there was an urgent need for a period of stability, which could not be achieved if both airlines were pioneering the operationof two entirely new aircraft types; (4) the purchase of larger and faster turbine aircraft at this stage would stimulate a competitiverace for other new turbine types which could be disastrous to economic stability; and (5) the Viscount 800 series in which bothairlines have been interested provided a basis for the achievement of a degree of parity that was regarded as an essential prerequisiteto the purchase of large turbine aircraft types. Two points emerge from this: one is that the Government hasnot closed the door to the purchase of Caravelles or Electras, but has said that the present is not the moment to buy; the other isthat the Government, as the body which would be asked to finance most of the cost of these aircraft, has had bitter past experiencein this field. In 1952 a £3m loan was granted to A.N.A. to finance purchaseof DC-6s to compete with the Vis- counts ordered by Government-ownedT.A.A. It was this disparity which led to many of the recent difficulties (in-cluding default by A.N.A. on its interest payments). (Left) Signed at Ruislip on March 28— B.E.A.'s £7m contract for six Comet 4Bs. The signatories were (left) Lord Douglas and (right) Mr. A. F. Burke, managing director of de Havilland Aircraft. Mr. A. S. Kennedy also signed for D.H. On-schedule development—and August deliveries—of Conways for Douglas OC-8s is the subject of discussion between Mr. J. D. Pearson, chief execu- tive o/ Rolls-Royce, and Mr. N. Paschal! (extreme right), vice-president sales for Douglas Aircraft Company. B.O.A.C. plans to operate its first Britannia service through Detroit on April 18. The Mayor, Mr. Louis C. Miriani, has issued this document proclaiming that date to be "Britannia Day." VISCOUNT II OUT WEST pONTINENTAL AIR LINES describe themselves in their^ annual report for 1957 as "First in the West with Jet-Power Flights." Although shareholders have had to look back on anunhappy financial year—net profits were slashed from $584,426 to $96,073—the future is brightened by the advent of theViscount II (Continental's unofficial designation for their Viscount 812). The first of these 15 aircraft was scheduled for deliveryin March, the balance being due to be delivered at the rate of two a month. An option is also held on an additional five. Continental plan to place the turboprops on to the routescurrently being operated by the Convair fleet of six 340s and three 440s. The Viscount's first service will be between Chicagoand Los Angeles via Kansas City and Denver. To extract as much advantage as possible from the "potentiality of the airplane,"Continental have now launched their largest promotional campaign ever. To further this programme, the entire advertising accounthas been transferred to J. Walter Thompson Advertising. The financial commitments involved in the Viscount programmeand in the purchase next year of four Boeing 707s have mounted to $50m. Such a sum has demanded more than a conservativedividend policy (no cash dividends were paid in 1957): hence the call for increased fares and the sharp rise in long-term indebtedness. C.A.B. route awards this year will affect Continental's financialsituation at about the time the Viscount comes into operation. In the Kansas - Oklahoma local-service case Continental haverequested that certain low-density routes be transferred to local- service carriers. (C.A.L. lost $1.5m last year on short-haul DC-3services.) In the Southern Transcontinental case C.A.L. are hoping to obtain rights to fly between California, Texas andFlorida, rather than rely upon the present interchange with American Airlines at El Paso. Continental also wish to see LasVegas and Phoenix integrated into their network. If the impend- ing C.A.B. awards favour the ambitious Denver airline, then theViscount II will be better placed to display its economic virtues to an American audience than was the Viscount I. CLEARING THE AIR FEW pedestrians walking past No. 30 Curzon Street, London,W.I, can be aware of the significance behind a discreet sign labelled "I.A.T.A. Clearing House." Since its establishment 11years ago this organization has handled airline business valued at over £ 1,000m, last year's clearances alone amounting to £228m. The number of airlines using the Clearing House now standsat 85. This includes 20 U.S. domestic airlines belonging to the Airlines' Clearing House, with which the London Clearing Houseconducted business last year to the value of £9m. Clearance houses work by offsetting credit and debit accountsbetween member-airlines, thus eliminating the need for cash payment of 88.9 per cent of transactions. In the case of tenairlines, the degree of offset last year amounted to 99.5 per cent. The airlines get good value from their membership of this club.Cost of the Clearing House's services has dropped steadily through the years as the degree of offset has been improved, and now standsat 3fd per £100 of claims. Clearance is very rapid, accounts being settled on an average of llj days after the close of each month.
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