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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1610.PDF
422 FLIGHT International, 5 September j AIR COMMERCE . . . ONE-ELEVEN PROGRESS REPORT AS this issue went to press, six flights had been made by the first BAC One-Eleven, which flew for the first time on August 20. The initial programme calls for 25hr of flying in which a preliminary look will be taken at all areas of flight testing, handling, performance and systems. After a few preliminary flights from Hum, where the BAC assem bly line is located, the first aircraft is due to be based at Wisley, the flight test centre for the whole One-Eleven programme. The second One-Eleven is due to fly before the end of October, and by about this time next year all six aircraft allocated to the flight test programme should be in the air. SIR JOHN d'ALBIAC AS briefly reported last week Air Marshal Sir John d'Albiac, KCVO, KBE, CB, Dso, RAF (Retd), died on August 20. In a tribute in The Times Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore wrote:— "Those of us who served at one time or another with John, whether with the RNAS at Dunkirk in 1915-16, with the RAF in India, Palestine, Greece, Ceylon, Normandy, or at London Airport, will wish to see some tribute to the memory of this splendid person. He would not like it to be sombre and nor would his charming wife. .. . "John had such a delightful sense of humour which endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. He was a great asset in any company, being a good piano player and a morale-builder when things looked black, as those who took part with him in the final drama of the Greek debacle will know. . . ." Air Marshal Sir John d'Albiac was 69, and in the air transport world was well known as commandant of London Airport for nine years, from 1947 to 1956, and as deputy chairman of the now defunct Air Transport Advisory Council from 1957 to 1961. Sir John had retired from the RAF in 1946 after a long and distin guished Service career which began when he enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment in 1914 and was seconded to the RNAS in 1915. Com missioned in the RAF in 1918, he held a succession of increasingly responsible posts, many of them in India and the Middle East. During the Second World War he was successively AOC in Pale stine, Greece, Iraq and Ceylon; on the formation of the Tactical Air Force in 1943 he was appointed its AOC; and a year later he became Deputy Commander of the Mediterranean ATAF. Sir John's final Service post was that of Director-General of Personnel (III), Air Ministry. BEA AND BOAC PERSONNEL PROBLEMS THE threat of a strike by British European Airways aircrews was averted after discussions between BALPA officials and senior BEA management. The dispute had arisen over changes in the promotion system proposed by the corporation as a part of the forthcoming introduction of Tridents. After a ballot by 860 members of BALPA, representing almost 100 per cent of BEA's aircrew, it had been decided to take strike action to defend the principle that the most senior pilots have first right to opt higher-paid positions. Mr A. E. Jordan, administrative secretary of the BEA see of BALPA, said: "The outcome of the discussions will hav be considered by the full executive council, but having regar the measure of agreement reached it is reasonable to antici that a strike of BEA pilots is now unlikely. There have beeni cessions on both sides." A joint statement issued after the meeting said that whi differential salary system was in operation, a pilot's right toi the highest remuneration should be governed by his seniority suitability, subject to his willingness to operate the appropi aircraft and the existence of an operational vacancy. First signs of the cut-back in operations which BOAC annou last May have become evident. Some 125 salaried emplo\ including 19 captains, are to be retired prematurely and givi cash payment in addition to their normal pension. Most of captains are on Britannia 312s, which are being withdrawn in 1 All these captains are over 50, some within a year or so ol normal retiring age of 55. The other 106 employees include s 51 navigating officers who used to be radio officers, and o ground staff. These employees also are being retired with a i payment and a pension. Reductions in BOAC's hourly-paid labour force are being at ved by a tight control on recruitment to replace normal was By this means the corporation's staff has been reduced by and hourly-paid workers by 220 during the last year. In BOAC's total work force was 21,368. A LESSON LEARNED THOSE who argue that competition automatically inert traffic may well be chastened by the example of one of Amer two busiest long-haul routes, namely New York - Miami busiest being New York - Los Angeles). As already reported, the five-man Civil Aeronautics Board by a 3 :2 decision, ordered Northeast Airlines to suspend New York - Miami service, the deadline now set being Octobffl Northeast was given access to this market in 1956, when the( thought that the addition of a third service to those already prov by Eastern and National would stimulate traffic and imp service to the public. It may be recalled that Northeast came close at that time to purchasing a fleet of Britannias, and all see set fair for this relatively small New England local-service open In fact it has made a loss every year since. But only slight growth has subsequently been experienced in market as a whole, and the CAB has found that Northeast's tr has been principally diverted from that carried by Eastern National. In 1961, in point of fact, Eastern and National cai two million less passengers than they did in 1956. In granting No east its licence in 1956 the Board reckoned on a 5 per cent y< growth; but in fact only a 1 per cent increase each year has achieved, and less than 5£ per cent between 1957 and 1962. The CAB's decision to withdraw Northeast's New York - M permit must be one of the toughest examples cf air trass regulation on record. It must certainly have been the most <^ casting vote ever faced by Mr Alan Boyd, the CAB chain The decision virtually relegates Northeast to the status of a service carrier. To compensate the airline for the loss oi re and the cross-subsidization of New England services that longer possible, the CAB is contemplating a S subsidy for the airline's short-haul services. Northeast has part with its fleet of six Convair 880s (now acquired by TW has also been in default on its Viscount payments. identl ' An important factor in the CAB's decision has the rehabilitation of Eastern Air Lines, whose proposw with American Airlines was earlier in the summer f'naU^ by the Board. It is certainly salutary that three-earner cornp> on one of the world's busiest—albeit highly seasonal should have proved such a failure. But perhaps ltn^jtaij illusion the protagonists of domestic competition in ^ much. Here the arguments centre not on multiply c0 ^ but on two-carrier competition and the ending oi a_ Dissenting from the CAB's Northeast decision, two rno & the CAB argue that the addition of Northeast brougi" deficiencies of service' and that the "competitive spur by Northeast "contributed substantially" to the imp™ service to the public.
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