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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 2220.PDF
.••••••.•• •' v [IGHT International, 26 December 1963 1019 HE NEW CAA: A POSTSCRIPT 0OD sense has prevailed over nationalism, and Central African irways will continue after the break-up of the Federation. As [ready reported in these pages the three territories have signed an greement providing for continuation of air transport services for three territories on a common basis. CAA becomes a new cor- oration—though retaining the same name—under the joint owner- tip and control of the three governments. There will be two repre- tntatives on the board from Southern Rhodesia, two from Jorthern Rhodesia and one from Nyasaland. The chairman is to £ appointed by the three governments jointly and the financial Bterests of the Commonwealth Development Corporation, which as done so much to assist the development of CAA, will be looked fter by the appointment of a CDC member to the board. The most important change is the establishment of a Higher Authority for Civil Air Transport consisting of one minister ippointed by each territory. This Authority will exercise policy ind financial control over CAA. Having thus ensured that the obvious economic benefits of a oint air transport system will be preserved, the independence of :ach of the three territories is recognized by the establishment of :hree airlines operating as subsidiaries of CAA. According to un- xmfirmed reports the Northern Rhodesian company will be called Zambia Airways, and the Nyasaland company Malawi Airways. it is not yet known what the name of the Southern Rhodesian sub- iidiary will be. Each company will have its own chairman and board appointed by the parent CAA and will have "a substantial degree of autonomy." The Southern Rhodesian subsidiary will own DC-3s while Zambia Airways and Malawi Airways will each own DC-3s and Beavers. These aircraft will bear the markings of their owners. The DC-3s will be leased back for operation by CAA, who will own and operate the Viscounts and BAC One-Elevens which will be used to operate regional and international services for and in the name of the subsidiaries. ,The three territories will be regarded as one for the purposes of bilateral air agreements and each territory will entrust its powers in this respect to the Higher Authority. CAA will give technical assistance to the subsidiaries and will second staff to them. The excellently equipped CAA engineering base at Salisbury will provide engineering and specialist services. The new arrangements are a triumph for all those in CAA who have worked hard to prevent the break-up of CAA with the dissolution of the Federation. STRONGER EAGLE AS expected, Starways will continue to exist in name, though operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of British Eagle. At least one of the ten Britannias which British Eagle will have in service next year will be operated in Starways' colours. No doubt one of the reasons for retention of the name is to enable the ATLB licences held by Starways to continue unaffected by the merger. The Starways fleet of three DC-3s, three DC-4s and two Viscounts are not included in the take-over (for which no price has been pub lished) and will presumably be disposed of by the Starways directors who will also continue to run the Starways engineering base at Liverpool Speke Airport under the name of Aviation Overhaul Ltd. A British Eagle maintenance base will be established at Liverpool and three Viscounts will be based there. Mr Harold Bamberg of British Eagle has announced that three additional Viscount 700s are being bought so that next year's British Eagle-Starways fleet will consist of ten Britannias, three DC-6s and five Viscounts. Most of the Starways flight crews and commercial staff have been accommodated in the British Eagle organization and, where possible, Starways' offices and facilities at Liverpool and at other places will be merged with the local British Eagle organization. The most important Starways scheduled service, Liverpool - London, will be operated from January 1 by the new organization u .ith one direct nonstop Britannia flight, one nonstop Viscount hfo, and one Viscount flight calling at Chester. From January 1 *o Liverpool-Glasgow will be operated and all other routes will * under the new management by April 1. Control of Liverpool, and in particular of the busy London - Liverpool route, is clearly part of what Mr Harold Bamberg des cribes as "an overall plan to strengthen our operations, particularly m the domestic field." BOAC-CUNARD REBUFFS MR AMERY BOAC have declined to comply with the Minister of Aviation's request that a copy of the BOAC-Cunard agreement should be published. It may be recalled that in the Commons on December 2 the Minister, who has always implacably upheld the BOAC and Cunard contention that the terms of their £30m agreement of June 1962 should not be published, said: "We have refused to publish it hitherto for fear of giving information to commercial competitors. But I think that he [Mr F. Lee, Lab, Newton] was on to a rather strong point when he said that the submission of the agreement to the CAB rather changes the situation. 1 have therefore asked BOAC and BOAC-Cunard whether they would agree to my putting a copy of the agreement in the library of the House." Mr Lee had been quoting from this journal for Augtlst 8, 1963, page 193, in which it was noted that MPs who unsuccessfully pressed the Minister to give Parliament a sight of the agreement might be surprised to learn that the CAB had been given a copy by BOAC. The agreement was also seen by BOAC's competitors, Pan American, TWA and Seaboard, though they had been asked by the CAB to respect BOAC's wishes that the agreement should be treated as confidential. A Ministry spokesman at the time, when asked if a copy of the agreement would now be given to Parliament, said: "The provision of this agreement to the CAB on a confidential basis and for a com mercial purpose is not the same as making it generally available." The Minister, to his credit, has changed his mind about this. He has decided that after all it would be as well for the British public to know as much about their State corporation as the Americans. But how far can he cause BOAC to act against their better commer cial judgment ? It is the old question. BOAC and Cunard insist that, for "sound commercial reasons," they do not wish the agree ment to be published. Neither wishes to enlarge on the nature of the reasons; obviously, these cannot be concerned with BOAC- Cunard's American competitors, who have had access to the agree ment. It may be that, in BOAC's view, publication of the agree ment could prejudice any similar agreements which might be nego tiated with British independents in the future. It is no secret, for example, that before the recent BOAC management changes Sir Matthew Slattery had been having talks with Sir Myles Wyatt of British United about a possible deal covering the two airlines' southern routes. A Ministry spokesman, asked whether Mr Amery would now do something more than request BOAC to publish the agreement, said: "The Minister is still discussing his request with BOAC." Clearly, whenever there is a conflict between EOAC and the Ministry, it is right that BOAC's commercial judgment should win the day. The point is that if such agreements are to be entered into in the future, the Minister of Aviation should decide before, not after, that they should be published. NZ v. France France has withdrawn TEAL's landing rights in Tahiti, according to reports as this issue goes to press. USA-USSR Air Link Mr Najeeb Halaby, Administrator of the FAA, said in Moscow during his recent visit that he expected a New York - Moscow air service to start in about six months' time. KLM's 14-man Board, including Prince Bernhard, has been asked to resign by the Netherlands Minister of Transport. He has told Parliament that it is necessary to create a new team in order to resolve the airline's difficulties. This follows the resignation, reported last week, of Mr E. H. Larive, KLM's general manager. Mr F. Chesterton, ROAC's manager of selection for training and development, has been appointed the corporation's area manager, Western Africa (a new post) with effect from the beginning of January. He will be based in Lagos
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