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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1260.PDF
116 FLIGHT International, 26 July 1%: Commons Debate the Industry MANY QUESTIONS — BUT FEW ANSWERS MANY questions were asked, but few answered, in the July 18 Commons debate on aviation. But the basic issue behind much of the probing from both sides of the House was really the question of whose responsibility it was for giving these answers on British aviation policy. Who does decide general policy ? Is there now any Minister, Ministry, Committee or Board which makes decisions and ensures their execution? One certainly cannot pin responsibility upon Parliament. They are not even consulted these days. Mr Fred Lee, opening the debate for the Opposition, was very cross about the manner in which the BOAC-Cunard merger was reached and announced. And the more one considers this business (writes Frank Beswick) the more peculiar it appears, especially from the parliamentary viewpoint. Once upon a time there were long public debates, and much legisla tion, to set up three corporations; more legislation to merge BSAA with BOAC, still more parliamentary time taken to provide opportunities for independent aviation companies. And then, as Mr Lee said, one Friday night hon Members read in the evening newspapers that BOAC and the Cunard Steam-Ship Co had made a deal which affected a more significant and substantial slice of the British air transport effort than the whole of the BSAA-BOAC grouping about which Parliament had thought it necessary to legislate. The new Minister of Aviation, Mr Julian Amery, emphasized that the responsibility for planning this piece of policy was not his nor his predecessors', and that his Ministry had taken no initiative in the matter. So one accepts that this most important area of air transport policy had been thought up by the respective chairmen of the corporation and the company. There was a more recent time when some thought, or hoped, that our air transport resources would be deployed by decisions of the Air Transport Licensing Board. It was more than a little sad that neither the Minister, nor any other speaker, even mentioned the fact that the whole BOAC-Cunard transaction had taken place without any reference at all to the Board which such a short time before had so laboriously worked out a scheme for two British operators to compete across the Atlantic—and did so under the impression that Parliament had placed this responsibility upon them. It was a newcomer to aviation debates, Dr Bray, now the Labour Member for Middlesbrough West, who developed the point that we "should have better machinery for considering the problems of the aircraft industry." And he might have added, the air transport industry as well. Dr Bray's view was that we needed this new effort not only on the technical level but also on "the strategic planning level—strategic in relation to production and patterns of travel for civil airlines as well as future demands in defence." He suggested that we had much to learn from the experience of the United States in relation to the planning of their space programme and the enormous institutions built to carry out strategic studies. "We should see," he added, "whether our ratio of strategic study effort to technical design effort is not much too small and whether urgent steps should not be taken to remedy it." Although Dr Bray thought that the problem he defined could be tackled only by the Ministry, Mr Maxwell-Hyslop asked from the Government benches that his right hon friend the Minister should ensure "that the advice he receives from his Department is techni cally sound and not obsolescent," and that he should "turn his mind seriously to the problem of obtaining the services, on short- term contracts, of people in the manufacturing industry." The necessity for short-term contracts was emphasized, as otherwise in ten years' time the Ministry would be back in the same position as today, with "no one in any senior position having any recent knowledge of the industry." Mr Lee maintained that in the aviation and aircraft industries there never was a time when there was greater apprehension and so much bitterness among employers and employed, as there was at present. These phrases have a familiar ring, but complaints about delay in decision-making came from many speakers, and indeed, in the context of the sorry Belfast story, even the Minister admitted that his "predominant impression" was Northern Ireland's "need to know," one way or the other, about future orders for Shorts. But he was anxious to make clear that the responsibility was not entirely his and that all he could promise was to try and get a decision as soon as possible. Mr Wigg wanted to know if the Government had re-opened negotiations with Rolls-Royce for the production of a stage 5 Tyne which would make possible an extended version of the Belfast. Mr Amery said he was not informed on the point but would find out The Belfast freighter was the subject of the most intensive sales effort at Westminster since the days of the V1000 debacle. Listening to the appeal of Mr McMaster, the Member for Belfast East, one brushed away a tear and hoped deeply for another Belfast order. But after the Minister had paid his compliments to the potential value of the ten strategic freighters already ordered, there was at least one other aircraft constructor in the public gallery who appeared to be nodding in agreement when Mr Amery emphasized that social and economic reasons must not lead to orders for the wrong aeroplane. The dangers of spreading work over too many production units exercised Mr Maxwell-Hyslop. He appeared to think that two aero engine companies for this country were too many. Rolls-Royce, he said, had increased exports from 1955 to 1961 from £15.7m to £55.2m, or by 252 per cent, and with a labour force increased only from 30,100 to 41,300, or a 62 per cent increase in productivity. He went on to say that if it was the intention of HMG "to endeavour to launch Bristol-Siddeley into the civil jet business which has already claimed Curtiss-Wright and Westinghouse as its victims, then this can only be done at a degree of public expenditure meas ured in tens of millions of £s." And spreading work, added the hon member, was a way of reducing efficiency and losing world markets. Sir Arthur Harvey was also concerned at the delay in making decisions. He alleged that work on the automatic blind landing equipment had practically ceased for the sake of £800,000 or £900,000 of the Government's share of development costs. He further said that a decision was needed also on the possibility of developing the Trident, and that a Government contribution towards the necessary £4m extra development costs could lead to large export orders. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, is done by Mr Amery in the matter of speedier decision-making. He disclosed that within less than 24 hours of his transfer to his present post he had been discussing with some of the air marshals "the slippage in deliveries of some aircraft" and "in a moment of impatience" had said what he would do if he were Minister of Aviation. Looking to the future, and especially at the possibility of keeping design teams employed, the Minister allowed himself some refer ences designed to keep hope airborne. There was the Anglo- French design study of a supersonic airliner, which was "one project which hon Members should keep in mind." Another possibility being considered "would involve an increase in the long-range transport force," but nothing could yet be said about the form this would take or whether it would be undertaken. Then, "we are proceeding with the first stages of the develop ment" of the P. 1154 single-engined supersonic VTOL aircraft as a Hunter and possibly Sea Vixen replacement and are "backing the aircraft in NATO." No decision had yet been taken about a tactical transport to replace the Hastings and Beverley. The news that the X-15 spacecraft was space-borne was a stimulating thought and though there were "enormous financial difficulties" about our getting into space, these must be overcome. Mr Amery said that "co-operation with France and Europe on the lines of ELDO and the supersonic airliner offers the best opportunity." The Minister promised at some later date to give more detail about how he thought these things should be done. Which means, presumably, that he will attempt to establish himself as an answerer of questions.
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