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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0461.PDF
232 FLIGHT At Wisley on February 5, Col. A. Soriano, Philippine Air Lines presi- dent, arrived in the first of their five P. & W.-powered Twin Pioneers to inspect the Vanguard. With Col. Soriano are (I. to r.) Mr. J. B. Armstrong, Vickers-Armstrongs; Mr. Clair Waterbury, P.A.L. representa- tive in London; and Mr. R. C. Handasyde, V-A. sales manager AIR COMMERCE ... B.O.A.C. INQUIRY CRITICIZED A VOTE of 13 hands to 11 by the trade-union side of theNational Joint Council for Civil Air Transport, turning down the findings of Professor Jack's court of inquiry as "not contribut-ing in any way to a solution of the [industry's] difficulties" seems to have been made more in the nature of a protest than as anoutright rejection. The resolution implies a rising of union hackles at any attack on the functions of shop stewards; but theAmalgamated Engineering Union—one of the sponsors of the resolution—noted that sections of the report could be discussed.The most violent reactions to this vote have come from within the union side of the Council itself; the secretary, Mr. JimMatthews, said that he was perfectly certain that the report had been rejected because of criticism of certain individuals—par-ticularly the chairman (Mr. Ian Mikardo, M.P.) and he suggested that this might mean the break-up of the trade-union side of theCouncil "as we know it." He then announced his intention of resigning. SWISSAIR FORGE AHEADN O European airline weathered last year's economic depressionas comfortably as did Swissair. Over a period when rivals rejoiced at the mere appearance of a plus sign, the Swiss nationalairline experienced an increase in traffic of 18 per cent. Load ton-miles increased to 84m, but capacity ton-miles rose atan even faster rate to 140m (load-factor dropped from 62 to 60 per cent). These figures show that Swissair has doubled insize over the past three years, most of this expansion coming from the intercontinental routes. During that time the number of staffemployed rose by only 69 per cent from 3,223 to 5,429. Average utilization over the whole fleet was of the order of2,500 hr. The eleven Convairs, operating exclusively on the short- haul, seasonal European routes, averaged slightly over seven hoursflying per day, while the DC-7Cs reached the impressive daily utilization rate of 11 hr. JACK FRYE IT is with great regret that Flight learns of the death of Mr.Jack Frye in a car accident on January 28 at Tucson, Arizona. Jack Frye, who was 54, was one of the big men in Americanaviation. A friend has described him as "a flier, a businessman, and a visionary." His flying career, like that of many otherAmericans in leading aviation positions today, began with barn- storming; and with two other such fliers, Paul Richter and WalterHamilton, he founded Standard Airlines in 1927, operating be- tween Los Angeles and Phoenix. This was one of the companieswhich later, in 1934, merged into T.W.A. He became the first president of T.W.A. in 1934, when he wasonly 29, and he held this post until 1947. He was a prime mover behind the design and development of the Douglas DC-2, and hebought this aircraft—and the other famous DCs which followed it—for operation on T.W.A.'s routes. His name is also linkedwith the Lockheed Constellation, which T.W.A. were, in 1940, the first to order. In other words, Jack Frye helped to launchboth of the world's most famous airliners. In 1955 he founded the Frye Corporation, with the object ofdevoting his air transport operating and engineering experience to a project which he called the Safari, an interesting DC-3replacement type powered by four Wright piston engines. Despite the promise of firm orders the project was dropped early in 1957owing to lack of sufficient finance. FOLLOW MY LEADERE AGLE'S announcement of their low-fare project for Britishcabotage routes aroused immediate interest as to the course to be adopted by the two independents—Airwork and Hunting-Clan—originally responsible in 1952 for developing the colonial- coach class services to Africa. After rather more than a month's silence—a period duringwhich there were reports of opposition by these companies to the Eagle project—Airwork and Hunting-Clan have now revealedtheir own scheme for extending low-fare services. This scheme is virtually a replica of that put forward by Eagle. Most colonialterritories of any air transport consequence are included, proposed fares corresponding almost exactly with those quoted by Eagle. This coincidence is, of course, no accident. It appears to bea phenomenon unusual to the airline industry but common else- where—price leadership. Once a new low price-level has beeninitiated cost considerations militate against undercutting while competitive pressures prevent overpricing. The possibility thatthe various parties in the present instance got together is most remote—and is in any case denied by the airlines concerned. When the A.T.A.C. come to consider these applications, theexperience of the U.S. supplemental carriers might well be borne in mind. The C.A.B. has granted permission to selected non-scheduled airlines to operate routes on a low-frequency, low-fare basis. By keeping frequency at a low level, and relating it to thetotal volume of traffic, it has been possible to avoid diversion of passengers away from the higher-fare services, or at least to keepdiversion down to insignificant proportions. The two corporations have plans to introduce economy-classservices on most routes to which the Eagle/Airwork/Hunting- Clan applications refer. But although seating standards in eithercase conform to the 34in pattern, the independents—thanks to lower operating costs and higher expected load-factors—are offer-ing rates well below the economy-class level. Noisy objection to the low-fare applications is likely to harmthe reputation of the corporations in the eyes of the public. A negative Ministerial decision would also damage their reputationshould the affair become a popular issue. But two political considerations will weigh against the indepen-dents : on the home front, a Socialist Government would hardly enthuse over the proposed services; and abroad, the emancipationof colonial territories (particularly Nigeria, Southern Rhodesia and the Caribbean) will result in a reduction of cabotage privileges. TEN ELECTRAS A MONTH T OCKHEED plan to deliver no fewer than 46 Electras during•*—' the first six months of this year, production rising to a peak in June when ten aircraft will be delivered. Last year saw the first eleven Electras being delivered toEastern and to American. A single aircraft was also taken over bv Allison. Further deliveries will continue within the first halfof the year to Eastern and American and to three other U.S. domestic trunk carriers—Braniff, National and Western. Threeforeign airlines will also be receiving Electras within the next few months: Cathay Pacific and Ansett-A.N.A. will accept theirfirst aircraft in March while T.A.A. will take delivery in Jurw- A seauel to American Airlines' Electra accident is the impositionby the F.A.A. on Electra landings of a minimum ceiline of 1,000ft and one-mile forward visibility by day and two milesby night. Continental Airlines' striking livery—the most distinctive feature^ of which might be called the blue-faced took—is here applied to the /'•'*' of their four Boeing 707-120s, rolled out on January 29
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