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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0228.PDF
218 AIR CO MR WYATT'S PROPOSAL A LECTURE which may well become one of the standard works of reference on Britain's independent airlines was given on February 11 before the Institute of Transport in London. The twentieth Brancker memorial lecture, it was delivered by Mr Myles Wyatt, chairman of British United Airways, and was entitled: "British Independent Aviation—Past and Future." Interest will no doubt centre most on Mr Wyatt's frank comments concerning investment in the independents. It will, be said, always remain "something of a mystery" why in 1953-54, and later, the shipping companies invested in independents without a firm under standing of the Government's future intentions. He wonders, too, whether it will be possible to devise some method of providing the "very substantial finance" which will be required. It is not, he thinks, going to be easy to obtain it from the City of London: funda mentally, an aircraft is still regarded in the City as "a hazardous form of property not worthy of the credit which is regularly afforded on the security of a tramp steamer." He wonders whether the time has now come for the formation of an institution which would purchase aircraft and charter them to operators who might be shareholders. BKS AND FREQUENCY-THROTTLING LAST year BKS applied to the Air Transport Licensing Board for increased frequency on their busy Leeds/Bradford - London trunk route. They are the only air carrier on the route, and the only objection came from British Railways. But the Air Transport Licensing Board refused to allow any increase beyond the existing maximum of seven flights a week. Now BKS, who are operating a 748 on the route chartered from Skyways, have applied again for more services—28 a week to begin with this year, rising to 42 a week next year, and "in accordance with traffic demand" in 1965 and thereafter. It is not known yet whether British Railways will once again object; but the ATLB will have to find very good reasons indeed for continuing to throttle air frequency on this important route. Footnote BKS have lodged an appeal with the Minister of Aviation against the Board's decision to refuse their application— the fourth in the past few years—to include Amsterdam as a traffic stop on their Leeds/Bradford - Dusseldorf service. FLIGHT International, 14 Februar, ]%. E R C E UK FARES DECISIONS AS this issue goes to press it is announced that, as expected, tht ATLB has in the main approved the BEA and independent applies tions for 5-10 per cent increases in UK domestic fares. A decision on BEA's " standby " fares (see page 221) is deferred for further consideration. — AND PASSENGER PENALTIES AS from February 27 airlines operating British domestic services will be able to penalize passengers "in accordance with their commercial judgment" for such misdemeanours as not showing up for a service, or cancelling a booking at short notice. This follows an announcement by the Board in the current issue of its Notices. It says, in so many words: "The existing provisions for the appll cation of these penalties, unsatisfactory as they are, need no longer be adhered to and you can use your own judgment pending the Board's consideration of the new proposals published last August." The word "penalties" is one to which the airlines might take exception, since the money concerned is not taken from the passen ger—who would not pay up anyway—but is docked off the sum already paid to the airline for the ticket. BEA's passengers, for example, incur a forfeiture of £1 if they fail to report in time for the flight. Is this newly sanctioned freedom likely to lead to new and heavier penalties being imposed at the whim of each airline until such time as the Board's proposals to introduce standard conditions for ticketing time limits, booking deposits, cancellation charges and no-show charges become law? BEA and BIATA have, with the encouragement of the Board, been getting together to agree on scheme which comes as closely as possible to that proposed by the Board, pending its official implementation in due course. It is believed that BEA, who with the independents played a major role in formulating the proposals, are 90 per cent in agreement with them already and that, as already reported, they are also agreed in principle to the payment of compensation to overbooked passengers. There is no indication when the Board will make official the proposals now being considered, which are highly complicated and controversial. There is indeed some doubt, due to a vagueness in the wording of the licensing regulations, as to the Board's legal power to impose certain of the conditions. 1 The first production Piaggio P.I66-B Portofino, VH-ASA, has been delivered to Airlines of South Australia, who will soon be operating with the other Piaggio P.I66 light transports belonging to the Ansett group of companies. Price of the Portofino, equipped for executive use, with full night and blind flying equipment but without radio, is approximately £43,000
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