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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0301.PDF
FLIGHT, 10 March 1961 307 N59I DC-7C N593 DC-7C 1 .50 3.10 13.40 19 10 Anka. 1 .50 14.30 15.10 19.45 Y Cairo The European Quick-reference Timetable . . . Example of a typical vertical table nights between two cities, but the single (and insome cases double) transfer connections which are also available. The inclusion of transfer nightsmaterially improves the service frequency, and the information is clearly presented. By reference toconventional tables, the finding of suitable connec- tions is a laborious one, particularly for the travelagent. Comparison between an airline timetable and the quick-reference counterpart shows thatbetween Brussels and Vienna the airline offers a frequency of four flights per week. The quick-reference table advertises 41 frequencies per week. The next problem was to convince the airlinesthat this was a good commercial proposition, and here there was a fundamental difference of opinion,owing to the fact that the direct flights were the result of bi-lateral agreements between the govern-ments involved, many of whose national carriers were primarily interested in Fourth and FifthFreedom traffic, whereas the transfer nights were, in many cases, an advertisement for Sixth Freedomtraffic. However, these difficulties were overcome by an agreement that the through nights should bepublished at the top of each city-to-city table, and the transfer flights below in a lighter type-face. It now became necessary to sell the idea to a publisher. Negotia-tions were opened with The ABC World Airways Guide; and eventually (after some hesitation, which was only natural as theywere taking the commercial risk) they agreed to publish a Euro- pean timetable in this form as a section of their monthly AirGuide. Publication began in December 1958 and has continued uninterrupted since. It was realized at the outset that some form of mechanizationmust be used to facilitate the production, and to date the Air Research Bureau has been producing a monthly tabulation ofall European international direct flights in co-operation with IBM, while the airlines have been constructing the transfer con-nections, with the tabulation as a reference document, and passing them to the publisher. Most new ideas in science and commerce (the jet engine andradar are good examples) are thought of by more than one person at the same time, and in the United States American AviationPublications were working on similar lines. This resulted in the publication of the US domestic quick-reference timetable, whichis becoming very popular on the other side of the Atlantic. How- ever, there are certain marked differences in presentation com-pared with its European counterpart. In particular the former does not include all transfer connections (which are, of course,much less important on the American continent, owing to the much higher frequency of direct flights). After two years of publication it was decided between ourselvesand the publisher that it was necessary to find the public response to this new form of timetable, and a questionnaire survey hasrecently been carried out. The results were extraordinarily posi- tive and consistent, both as regards European and non-Europeansubscribers and different types of subscriber—airline, travel agent, commercial firm or individual. The opinions expressedby the readers were (a) that the quick-reference section was extremely valuable, (b) that the present form of presentation mettheir requirements, (c) that the geographical area (which had been confined to the United Kingdom and continental Europe) N58i B707 I.Si 5.5 N589 DC-7C N50S DC-7C ® 1 50 X 13 10 13 40 19 10 Y Isianb N593 DC-7C 12 55 X 19.1 Y E'ville 1 50 Y 14 30 15.10 19 45 Y Cairo N795 Super DC-6 D m N50I DC-7C 1 50 1 14 40 15 10 19 50 ® 1 .55 X Y 18.15 Y E'ville N57I DC-7C 12.10 X Y 14.50 15.50 22Y35 Y Leo d. BRUXELLES/ a BRUSSEL National a.l FRANKFURT fd. d.J Frankfurt-Main \a. a.l WIEN (d d.J Schwechat \i. a. ATHINAI d Central Airport TEL AVIV d Lod should be extended, and (d) that in the extension, considerationshould first be given to the Near East and the whole of the Mediterranean seaboard. Before extension can take place it seems probable that theentire production will have to be mechanized. The publishers will then have a bank of information on all European scheduledservices on punched cards, with the great flexibility which this allows. Amendments to schedules can be actioned immediatelyupon receipt of information from individual carriers and transfer flights can be worked out or amended by the computer, therebyensuring a high degree of accuracy. Apart from its value in the construction of the quick-referenceguide the information may find its application in a variety of ways useful to carriers individually or collectively. Indeed, it may bepossible to use this data not only for the practical job of improv- ing the presentation of timetable information, but in furtherresearch into questions of service frequency and improving the co-ordination of schedules between airlines; in both these aspectscertain weaknesses in the present service offered may come to light. There is no doubt in our minds that this form of timetable isa vast improvement upon the vertical timetable as a sales tool, particularly to airline and travel agents' booking offices. The time-table is the sales catalogue of the airlines; it gives the nature of the commodity for sale, its quality in terms of comfort, speedand price, and its availability in place and time. The presenta- tion of this information in tow and in the clearest possible manneris of fundamental importance; and, in Europe, owing to the low service frequency on many routes, it is necessary to have availableall the information concerning all possibilities of air travel between two cities, grouped together so as to offer the widest possiblecoverage of the market. We are therefore confident that this timetable will continue togrow in popularity and will assist the airlines and their agents in selling the airlines' product to, we hope, an ever-increasingnumber of air passengers. MATS AT MILDENHALL TV/fILDENHALL is famous in aviation history as the start-1YX ing-point of the England - Australia air race in 1934, shortly before it became an RAF station: but for thousands of USArmed Forces personnel and their dependents who travel by the Military Air Transport Service, this airfield in the Suffolkcountryside is now the gateway to (or exit from) Europe. It is just a year since Mildenhall took over from Burtonwoodas the centre of MATS operations in the UK, and in that time some impressive statistics have been accumulated: some 65,000passengers and 16,000 (US) tons of freight have been handled at the airfield since March 1, 1959, and there have been 4,000 move-ments by MATS aircraft. Scheduled services are operated between Mildenhall and the United States, France, Germany andNorth Africa, aircraft using the airfield including C-121s, C-124s, C-130s and C-133s. The station is headquarters for the 7513th Air Base Group(USAFE), USAF, which sees to the ground handling of cargo and passengers. Computer equipment is used for the calculationof manifest details and records, and passenger facilities include a fully equipped terminal building, cafeteria and transit hotel.Buses take UK-bound personnel to their destinations at other USAF bases. Dollar currency is used exclusively for goods andservices. Mildenhall is also the headquarters of No 3 Group, BomberCommand. It was used as a bomber station throughout the war (F/Sgt R. H. Middleton won his posthumous VC on an operationfrom there) when Lakenheath, only five miles away and also now a USAF base, was its satellite airfield. Mildenhall is to be "athome" for both stations on the next US Armed Forces Day, Saturday, June 17.
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