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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0051.PDF
FLIGHT International, 10 January 1963 47 Those familiar with the multiplicity of ticket types and credit systems will no doubt be able to elaborate on these lists. So far as English law is concerned, the only passenger who needs no ticket at all is the one who has no registered baggage, is not IATA interline, has no known overseas origins or destinations by air, possesses no conjunction tickets, exchange vouchers (or other forms of credit), and upon whom the carrier wishes to impose no special conditions. But the airline is still likely to need some record of fare payment and it may still be necessary to use something like a boarding pass if only to control aircraft loading. From this it will be seen that no simplifications can be made for IATA interline passengers and that all the varieties of on-line passenger may be dealt with by, at the most, two types of tickets according to whether registered (or checked) baggage is accepted. By "registered baggage" is meant baggage "of which the carrier takes charge" and in respect of which both the Warsaw Convention and the 1952 Order create a presumption of liability on the part of the carrier. No carrier who separates a passenger from his baggage for the purpose of stowage and carriage can pretend that he is not taking charge of it. From the legal point of view this leads to the suggestion that considerable simplifications are possible if no registered baggage is accepted from "walk-on" passengers and instead they are allowed to take on board only the baggage which Type A ticket—alternative designs for passengers with wore than one piece of registered baggage (tear-off perforations shown dotted) PASSENGER & BAGGAGE TICKET MAN Manchester Flight N<? REGISTERED BAGS - THIS PASSENGER KILOGRAMS TOTAL WEIGHT TOTAL PIECES SEE OTHER SIDE FOR CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE Type A, on-line ticket for use when registered baggage is accepted. It combines the functions of a passenger ticket, baggage ticket, boarding pass and baggage claim tag The tear-off tag at left is tied to the baggage; the right-hand portion is completed and handed to the passenger. On the reverse side of this latter portion are printed "Conditions of Carriage," including (a) statement about applicability of Warsaw Convention; (b) statement (if necessary) linking all tickets issued to one passenger as one ticket; (c) statement that baggage will be delivered only to bearer of ticket with corresponding serial number; (d) any special conditions. processed as a single lot. In the Eastern Air Lines shuttle the passengers themselves deposit non-cabin baggage on the airline's loading trolley and at destination are allowed to claim baggage without showing any documents, i.e., a self-claim system. On flights where all passengers embark and disembark together (i.e., no intermediate points) the operational benefits of allowing passengers to load and claim their own baggage without docu mentation are so great that British carriers may conclude that so far as baggage is concerned the advantages outweigh the risk of having no defence or limit of liability for Warsaw cases, or no limit of liability for non-Warsaw cases. In major accidents, when all passengers may be killed and their belongings destroyed, the total of all unlimited baggage claims could be considerable—e.g., 100 at £500 each is £50,000. Considerable courage and careful calculation BRITISH WALK-ON AIRLINES PASSENGER TICKET ISSUED IN CONJUNCTION WITH TICKET NQs EXCHANGE VCHR'=- SEE OTHER SIDE FOR CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE can be accommodated in the cabin under their own control all the time. This also simplifies many staff and operational problems as well as reducing the number of special tickets to one—type B. Of course if the issue of tickets is to have the slightest legal value it must be possible to prove that they have been issued in the specified form, e.g., by designing procedures to ensure that no one can board an aircraft without a ticket (which is also a boarding pass) or to use a tear-off strip as a boarding pass which is collected and totals counted. So far as registered baggage is concerned, on all flights there should be adequate evidence available on the ground to relate a passenger's name to a ticket serial number and the total number and weight of registered articles. Very tedious—but very necessary if the carrier wishes to take advantage of the statutory limits of liability under the Warsaw Convention or the 1952 "Non-Inter national Carriage" Order. The type A ticket (if it includes copying arrangements) therefore only has marginal advantages from the carrier's point of view as compared with the IATA interline form or the multi-coupon on-line domestic forms which may be necessary for accounts or similar purposes. The airline industry generally does not suffer from a crippling incidence of baggage losses and the risks of loss by theft or mis- routing are very small when all baggage for one aircraft can be Type B, an on-line ticket for passengers without registered baggage, could be simpler than a bus ticket Details such as the following could be added to suit the carrier's requirements: serial number, tear-off boarding pass, destination and flight number, passenger's name, fare, method of payment. Individual tickets could be printed on perforated continuous stationery and issued from a "cash register" type of dispenser with any of above additional particulars (other than pre-printed items) recorded on con tinuous storage roll. This basic style is also suitable for season tickets or for tickets issued in bulk to credit customers (such tickets would then need space for flight reservation). "Conditions of Carriage" on the reverse of the ticket would include any special conditions to which the carrier wished to draw attention. would be necessary before any British carrier could emulate the Eastern Air Lines pattern. It seems unlikely that many baggage- liability insurers would welcome such a scheme. If Eastern insure their liabilities they will no doubt have reached a satisfactory understanding with their insurers. Hence the really useful simplified ticket to aim at would be type B (without registered baggage) and if the carrier does not wish to impose any special conditions on the passenger and there are no other complications like "IATA interline," or overseas origins or des tinations, or conjunction tickets or exchange orders or "accounts" requirements—then even type B may be eliminated and no ticket whatsoever is required. H. AIREY
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