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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0240.PDF
16 January 1959 113 On the Fokker Friendship line at Schiphol can now be seen two of T.A.A.'s first aircraft. Up to last week four Fokker and 17 Fairchild-built Friendships were in regular airline service, having flown a total of more than 4,150 hours reported compromise is one snag; the other is that the AmericanCivil Aeronautics Board, though having no strong views one way or the other on the principle of a fare differential between aircrafttypes, have said that they will not accept any agreement which excludes the jet from any particular class of service. But it may well be that the C.A.B. will revise this particulardecree to avoid a breakdown of the I.A.T.A. machinery, just as they revised (at the very last minute) their 1957 stipulation thateconomy-class fares should be 20 per cent lower than tourist-class. In the end, it will be recalled, I.A.T.A. compromised on aneconomy-class fare which was 20 per cent less than an increased tourist-class fare, the net difference being only 13 per cent.Admittedly that was less of a climb-down for the C.A.B. than would be expected of them now. But the survival of I.A.T.A.'sfare machinery is at stake. Whatever the outcome of the controversy, which has to be settled by March 31 (when Government approval of existing fares ends), the airlines have little time left in which to prepare their summer fares promotional campaign. BLEAK OCTOBER CTATISTICS by the M.T.C.A. for last October, recently^ issued, are as depressing as any for 1958. Traffic on all British scheduled services fell by 4 per cent compared with October 1957,while capacity increased by 2 per cent. Contributing to this unhappy state of affairs was the strike by B.O.A.C. engineers.Provisional November figures are slightly less depressing: capacity rose by 5 per cent while loads were up 1 per cent. B.O.A.C. capacity and loads in October dropped by 6 and 12per cent respectively. B.E.A., in contrast, managed to increase traffic by 12 per cent although capacity increased even morerapidly, by 21 per cent. But the most heartening results were experienced by the independents: traffic on their scheduled'services increased by 14 per cent at a time when capacity was up by only 10 per cent. The Ministry's airport statistics for October reflect the improvement in short-haul traffic: total number of passengers at British airports rose by 7 per cent. But most of this improvement was concentrated on London, where passenger traffic increased by 13 per cent. Traffic at other U.K. airports was static, while the Channel Islands suffered a fall of 7 per cent. B.O.A.C.'s COMET RESULTS— *"* THE B.O.A.C. Comet 4 fleet, of which six out of 19 have now -*- been delivered, appears to be giving a good account of itself. According to B.O.A.C. News, services have been virtually sold out to date. Load factors of more than 80 per cent can be assumed from the fact that, up to December 31, Comets had carried 3,913 passengers. To meet the heavy demand for de luxe class seats, the number of these is being increased. Services started with 32 first-class and 16 de luxe class; the latter will now be increased to 20. The newspaper B.OA.C. News is a new internal broadsheet. Mr. Basil Smallpeice, B.O.A.C.'s managing director, introduces it on the front page as follows: "I hope that by keeping everyone more in the picture about what we are doing, and why, we will do much to promote a better sense of common purpose and better team spirit throughout the Corporation." —AND THE ORDER FOR DECCA THE announcement that B.O.A.C. have placed a firm order forDecca/Dectra for its North Atlantic Comet 4 fleet, briefly reported last week, comes at a critical moment in internationalair navigation affairs. Next month, on February 10, a special meeting of the I.C.A.O. Communications Division is to attemptto resolve the differences between the two rival national claimants —Decca and Vortac.Though the argument is essentially about an internationally agreed short-range aid, B.O.A.C.'s order for Decca/Dectra to beinstalled in its North Atlantic Comets—the first such airline order for Dectra—is further evidence of British backing for thebasic Decca system. Meanwhile, a Comet 2E has embarked on a series of Decca/Dectra demonstration flights in Europe andNorth America as an overture to the I.C.A.O. meeting, and no doubt as a counterbalance to the American VOR symposium heldin America last year. Last week the Daily Express aired the controversy in an articleof which the keynote was "Ugly Salesmanship." The newspaper reported that the American Government, in an effort to diminishthe influence of Decca, has refused permission to ships entering the Port of New York to use the existing Decca chain. Thearticle alleged also that certain airlines in Europe have been told by the Americans that "whatever may be decided internationally,Vortac will be used in the U.S.A.," thus committing airlines to American Vortac equipment regardless of any international agree-ment to the contrary. It is also said that the Americans are paying the expenses of "numerous small nations, which wouldotherwise not attend the I.C.A.O. Montreal meeting, to back [America] with pro-American votes." The Daily Express suggests that the Americans know Decca tobe superior to Vortac, and the article refers to the favourable airline [Pan American] test-report on Dectra. The Americansknow, it is said, that Decca/Dectra is much cheaper than Vortac and they are anxious to "prevent a Congressional inquiryinto comparative costs and performance." It is said also that the American Government has already invested $600 million inVortac. The article quotes a confidential memorandum from the Air Transport Association of America: "The large U.S. invest-ment in the Vortac programme has the Government running scared." It is also said that Greece, Turkey, Italy and Icelandhave been persuaded by the Americans to accept Loran C instal- lations as part of the NATO defence programme, ,paid for by theU.S. Government. Loran C, like Decca/Dectra, is a low- frequency hyperbolic system, though it is not yet operational.This suggests some weakness in the American technical argument. It seems that the Americans have already prejudged the issueby virtually disassociating themselves from a stated I.C.A.O. preference for hyperbolic systems, and declaring unilaterally thatthey would not be bound by any decision standardizing such a system, or even that they would take part officially in furtherdiscussion on the subject. They are concerned about the technical shortcomings of VORand Vortac, though these are disregarded officially. They object to Decca, but apparently propose another hyperbolic systemwhich they admit is technically a tougher nut to crack. Above all, they are nervously but steadfastly supporting a $600m investmentin VOR and Vortac. Even setting aside Decca, they have a weird problem to solve.
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