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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0392.PDF
392 FLIGHT, 18 March I960 AIR COMMERCE . . . Misleading Comparisons IN the current heated discussions on the new Bill a great deal ofreference is being made to the US Civil Aeronautics Board and to the Canadian Air Transport Board—just as if they were bodies analogousto the proposed UK Air Transport Licensing Board. This is only partially true, as may be seen from the analysis on page 338 of lastweek's issue, and this commentary. FEDERAL legislation in both the USA and Canada is charac-terized by complex laws protecting the public against the dangers of monopolies—the so-called anti-trust laws. But whereas in the USA Congress has not selected any particular carrier to be its chosen instrument for air transport, in Canada not only is the Minister of Transport empowered to provide air transport services, but Trans-Canada Airlines is the chosen instrument. Thus the nearest comparison is probably to compare the com- bination of (Minister + ATB) in Canada with the (Minister + ATLB) in the UK. But since the UK independents are hoping for a degree of competition more similar to the US model than the Canadian model, it is useful to glance briefly at the comparative systems. United States. In order to escape prosecution for infringing the anti-trust laws, US air carriers require CAB approval of contracts they enter into, pooling arrangements, stock mergers, rates and charges. In order to carry out this enormous task of approval conscientiously the CAB has, and uses, .massive powers requiring full disclosure of every facet of an airline's activities. It is safe to say that the UK industry would not welcome the degree of control and scrutiny exercised by the CAB—and yet the whole CAB system is dedicated to the proposition that regulated competition is the lifeblood of commerce. This may be regarded as typical of the American ideal of one force acting as a check or balance to another force in government The CAB, in fact, controls the major policy and regulates the operations of the whole US air transport industry without remov- ing the right of each carrier to use its own capital and to provide manpower and brainpower within this framework. The results are not free from criticism either by lawyers or businessmen in the USA. But the CAB is not concerned solely with the economic regula- tion of air carriers. It can appoint its own staff, co-operate with other government agencies, and even exchange information with foreign governments. Above all, its decisions must be published. The CAB does not simply "approve" of rates. It can fix the rates —including mail pay—and award subsidies. The CAB also investigates aircraft accidents and may call upon the NASA for assistance. And in the 1958 Federal Aviation Act it was given a new task—that of hearing appeals from the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (which deals with safety) on decisions concerning the grant, suspension, variation or withdrawal of aircrew and other licences, certificates of airworthi- ness, air carrier operating certificates (inadvertently omitted from the table last week), etc. Canada. Like the CAB, the ATB can determine its own rules of procedure and has considerable powers to obtain the evidence it needs, to summon witnesses and to make investigations. The ATB also has powers to act in an advisory capacity to the Minister. The ATB may only issue licences for commercial air services subject to the approval of the Minister and it must issue licences to TCA to enable TCA to carry out its appointed functions. BREVITIES An air services agreement is being negotiated in Prague betweenCzechoslovakia and Iraq. Skyways' Hermes G-ALDH suffered a collapse of the starboard under-carriage while landing at London Airport on Tuesday morning, March 8. BEA's order for six Rotodynes will be completed when BEA has themanufacturers' assurances on certain requirements, "particularly in respect of noise." Six of the 30 Convair 880a which are on order for TWA may bediverted to Alaska Airlines for service on the Seattle - Fairbanks route in June. No defects in either the airframe or engines had occurred to thePiaggio P. 166 in service with Papuan Air Transport up to the time of the first engine change at 600 hours. Cambrian Airways are "looking at Viscount 700s" according to theirmanaging director, Wg Cdr M. B. Elwin. They hope to operate them from Cardiff and Bristol to the south of France "within two years." A third Lockheed Electra has been ordered for delivery in August by Trans-Australia Airlines. Those already in service with TAA are currently achieving an average utilization of more than 11 hours per day. It is reported from America that New York Airways are "seriouslyconsidering" the possibilities of installing Napier Gazelles in their fleet of 10 Vertol 107s, five of which will be going into service in the springof 1961. Another carrier which may place additional orders for Fairchild F-27s(the probability that Ozark may do so was mentioned last week) is Quebecair. The airline will probably order at least one more this yearand is considering ordering a further six over the next two years. A letter of intent for three Boeing 720s has been signed by Braniff.If the order is taken up delivery will be in February, April and September of 1961. An option on a fourth for delivery in May 1962has also been placed. The order is subject to negotiation "of a mutually acceptable definite agreement." Bookings on BOAC flights between London and New York betweenFebruary and July are 50 per cent greater than those last year, and reservations on flights from New York to London have risen by37 per cent. In all, 18,000 more seats have been sold on BOAC's North Atlantic services than at the same time last year. John Turner-Lashmar has been appointed sales manager for KLMin the UK and Ireland. The first Electra service to Moscow will be operated by KLM fromthe beginning of next month. Total dividend declared by the airline for 1959 will be 7 per cent. Olympic Airways' Cornet services between London and Athens havebeen postponed from April 1 until May 18. A note on the BEA/Olympic Comet 4B deal appears on page 388. The FAA has ordered all US airlines operating Boeing 707s toinspect the nose gear for cracks. A visual check is to be carried out daily with a magnifying glass and within 20 days a test must be madewith an ultrasonic probe. Bookings on BEA domestic flights are said to be at least 20 per centhigher than at the corresponding period in 1959. Particularly popular arc the cheap early morning and night nights on the trunk routesbetween London and Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast. Douglas have established a Caravelle programme management officefor co-ordination between Douglas and Sud Aviation. It will be managed by J. J. Dysart, previously assistant superintendent ofschedules for the Santa Monica division. Another office will be set up at Sud Aviation's factory at Toulouse. American International Airways, charter operators based at Burbank,California, have been refused renewal of their first year's operating certificate by the FAA. Violations were said to have covered "just abouteverything in the book" including general level of aircraft maintenance, pilot qualification, and flight-time limitations. This was the first suchaction to be taken by the FAA. BKS have applied to the AT AC to operate a scheduled service toCork (Flight, December 11, 1959) with Dakotas and Ambassadors, and later Viscounts and Avro 748s, from London Airport and /or Bristoland/or Cardiff, from January 1961. An application to fly to Cork has also recently been made by Morton as an extension of its servicebetween Gatwick and Brawdy (Flight, February 26). Blame for the accident to the Avianca Super Constellation whichcrashed at Montego Bay airport on January 21 has been placed on the pilot. It was said that he adopted a final approach which resultedin a heavy landing and major structural failure. A contributory cause was default of the supervisory and advisory authorities responsible forconduct of flight operations of the airline. The report also said that there was some deficiency in respect of training. A big load of passengers was carried on one of the Vanguard's current series of proving flights. Here they are, all 104 of them, at the end of a flight to Malta
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