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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0128.PDF
ACP 2O° (2O° These diagrams illustrate the improyement in visibility that has resulted from re-designing and enlarging the windscreen of the CL- consists of seven electrically heated panels of shatterproof laminated glass. Each direct-vision window opens inward 10W AIR COMMERCE . . . BRITISH UNITED'S JET HOPES ^ believe," declared Mr F. A. Laker, executive director ofBritish United Airways, "that the corporations could do better with a bit of stimulus." He was commenting, in a BBCtelevision interview, on a policy statement issued last week by his airline. Entitled Independent Airlines—The Future, the state-ment is clearly a political document aimed at softening the inevitably tough opposition that will confront BUA's recent bidfor an extensive European, domestic and African scheduled route network (Flight, January 6, page 31, "Here We Go"). The pamphlet breaks the long silence maintained by Britain'sair transport industry since the drafting of the new Act in the spring of last year. Its message might be summarized thus:"// we are given these routes we will spend £17% millions on four VClOs and five D.H. Tridents." In other words, British Unitedare speaking over the heads of the new Air Transport Licensing Board direct to the Minister of Aviation, the man who (throughSection 2(3) of the new Act) will decide whether or not the Board shall be allowed to consider BUA's applications to operate theinternational routes for which it has applied. Of course, even if BUA are granted the routes concerned, theairline will not be able to take delivery of VClOs or Tridents until 1964. Thus the only interpretation of the puzzling statement inthis pamphlet that the equipment plans "are based on the mini- mum possible jor economic operation under the competitiveconditions of 1961" raises the question of what BUA's avowal of orders for British aircraft really means in respect of the yearsimmediately ahead. Will they operate the routes with their existing fleet of Britannias and Viscounts, or will they buy Comets'?Or will they lease 707s and—a shaker for BEA—Caravelles? Whether the Minister, being responsible also for the aircraftindustry, will be swayed by BUA's avowal to buy VClOs and Tridents may well depend on what BOAC and BEA have to saybehind the scenes. These corporations could retort: "If BUA are granted these routes, we might have to cancel some of our VClOsand Tridents. If they are not granted these routes we would in any case be placing repeat orders for these aircraft in accordancewith traffic-growth." All this will be the subject of public discussion before the AirTransport Licensing Board—though it is to be noted that the matters which the Board is required to take into considerationbefore granting licences do not include the prospect of new orders for British airliners. BUA say that "to carry out our plans in their entirety wouldinvolve no more than 20 per cent of the corporations' traffic growth for the years 1961-1965." This is assuming, say BUA, anannual average passenger-traffic increase for the corporations of 14 per cent. In actual fact the diversion can be shown to be morelike 55 per cent. A rough Flight estimate suggests that the total passenger-mileage represented by the BUA applications would be about 256 million in the first year (say 1961-62), of which 70 per cent would incidentally be on BEA routes. Assuming no increase, inBUA traffic, a total of 1,024m passenger-miles would therefor-: be carried in the period 1961-62 to 1964-65. What would thecorporations' traffic-growth be in the same period? Assuming a14 per cent rate of annual growth, the answer is 1,867 miiiion passenger-miles. Thus the diversion of the corporations' traffic-growth would actually be more like 55 per cent than 20 per cent. This is taking the corporations' growth on all their routes: onthe routes concerned the diversion would obviously be much greater than 55 per cent, and most of it would be from BEA. The oblique hint in the pamphlet that BEA and BOAC mighttend to become "complacent and supine" without private com- petition is fighting talk, which is almost always welcome for itsown sake. In this particular case, of course, it is rather easier to make such a suggestion than to substantiate it. It is certainlygood to hear Mr Laker declaring that the corporations could do with a bit of stimulus, if only because BUA—unlike their ante-cedents—are offering, largely because of political circumstances, little stimulus to BOAC on the routes to Africa, where they are ina pool with the corporation and its partners. The fact that British United are campaigning in this forthrightway for the opportunity to expand means that they do not intend to continue as mere sub-contractors to the corporations onscheduled services. Though still in terms of fleet ton-mi!e capacity less than a quarter the size of BOAC and about a thirdthe size of BEA, British United Airways obviously intend to be reckoned with those two corporations in every respect. VISCOUNT INSPECTIONS CONTINUE ALL BEA's 23 Viscount 701s have now been tested for cracks.**-Meanwhile ultrasonic testing of the corporation's 39 V.802s and V.806s is under way and should be completed by the end o(March. Cracks were found in three 701s, the spars of which art being changed. Three "very small" cracks in one of Indian Airlines' tenViscount 768s were discovered during a Check 4, and as a pre- caution all the aircraft were temporarily grounded by the airline.Unlike the original cracks—first discovered by Central African Airways in the spar boom lug of the inner-to-outer wing upperattachment—cracks in two IAC aircraft were reportedly found in the top spar boom. It was the discovery of cracks by CAAwhich led to the Vickers recommendation that all 390 Viscounts in service should be inspected ultrasonically for cracks, the 86aircraft with DTD 363 bottom spar booms within seven days, and the other aircraft (which have 363 for the top spar but adifferent material for the bottom spar) as soon as possible. BEA's BOOM YEAR MORE than 3,800,000 passengers were carried by BEA duringthe calendar year 1960—600,000 more than in 1959. Lord Douglas, BEA's chairman, estimates that the corporation madea profit of £1 Jm. This was rather less than the £2m profit in 1959 but it was not an unsatisfactory result "in circumstances where Installed in the SAS ticket office and telephone reservations de- partment in London, these inter- rogator sets are connected k telephone or teletype to a com- puter in Copenhagen. Simile equipment, which is manufac- tured by Standard Elektrid Lorenz AG of Stuttgart, is installed in five other European countries; SAS claim to hoe the world's first international elec- tronic reservations system
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