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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0316.PDF
FLIGHT International, 6 February 1964 197 BOAC AND CONCORD WHEN the Concord was launched in November 1962, BOACwere very careful to avoid committing themselves. BOAC drew up with the Minister of Aviation, Mr Amery, a "Memoran- dum of Understanding," the key words in which (issue of December 13,1962, pages 931-932) were, in part, as follows:— "If, when the characteristics of the aircraft are sufficiently estab- lished, they meet the corporation's future requirements, the Board will be prepared, under terms proposed by HMG and outlined below, to enter into production commitments for an initial batch of aircraft at the appropriate stage. "Recognizing on the one hand the national importance of the project and, on the other, the need to avoid a premature commer- cial judgment by BOAC, particularly in view of the extent of the corporation's existing commitments for the purchase of subsonic jets, HMG has undertaken to underwrite the corporation's com- mitment in respect of the supersonic airliner until the early flight trials of the aircraft have taken place and an assessment of its suitability for service in the corporation can reasonably be made. "In making this assessment, the corporation will, amongst other considerations, have to be assured that the Anglo-French super- sonic aircraft will be economically operable and competitive for a periodequal to that currently used in accounting practice" (our italics). The effect of the joint statement on January 28 by the President of Air France, Monsieur M. J. Roos, and the chairman of BOAC, Sir Giles Guthrie, was to revise the Memorandum of Understand- ing. The two airline chiefs, said the statement:— ".. . confirmed the strong interest taken by their two companies inthe progress of the Concord project. At the commencement of the project the French and British Governments had each reserved six air-craft for the respective national airlines. The President and the Chair- man now feel that the progress of the project is such as to enable themto substitute for the previous arrangementst he execution of contracts by the airlines themselves. These contracts will confirm eight aircraftto each airline. The two airlines are taking the necessary steps to finalize the financial terms of these contracts. The two companies willcontinue their present liaison and the President of Air France and the Chairman of BOAC will hold regular meetings on the progress of theConcord project." The Concord's characteristics are far from "sufficiently estab- lished" (see p. 194-5), yet BOAC are now "entering into a produc- tion commitment" for eight aircraft instead of the original six. It is the old, familiar question: Is BOAC a commercial concern or an instrument of national policy? In this case BOAC have had to act first and foremost as an instrument of national policy. Sir Giles Guthrie's confirmation that BOAC were having "exploratory" negotiations for six Ameri- can SST delivery positions caused what must have been something very close to apoplexy in the Ministry of Aviation, in BAC-Sud, and in the French Government. Whatever the wording of the 1962 Memorandum of Understanding, there could have been no mis- understanding of BOAC's political commitment to a project of such national importance. Mr Amery, the Minister of Aviation, was on a fortnight's trip to Peru and Mexico with a party of senior officials, including the Government's Chief Scientist, Sir Robert Cockbum, and Mr D. W. G. L. Haviland, the Minister's top adviser on British aircraft policy. The news was obviously rather more important than the aviation problems of Peru and Mexico. (It does in fact seem extraordinary that BOAC sought the Minister's permission to book American SSTs while he and his top advisers were all several thousand miles away.) The Minister told Sir Giles Guthrie, whom he met on his return on January 23, that for the time being BOAC would not be allowed to reserve delivery positions for the American SST. (Sir Giles Guthrie's senior general manager, Mr David Craig, together with Messrs Ross Stainton and Derek Glover of BOAC, had already been on an exploratory mission to the FAA in Washington.) Sir Giles Guthrie would of course have been entirely justified, particularly in view of all the circumstances of his appointment, in saying to the Minister: "In our commercial judgment we must back ourselves both ways and secure delivery positions on the American aircraft before it is too late. After all, there is nothing to lose until November 1965, when our deposits are returnable. You will have to give me a directive so that the consequences of not booking these positions are clearly understood to be your responsibility in the future." - Such a crisis so early in Sir Giles' new post has led to what might be termed a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Minister and BOAC. Obviously BOAC has had to make some compensating gesture of confidence in the Concord and this has taken the form of the joint statement with Air France to enter into what is described as "the execution of contracts" and an increase in their orders from six to eight. This should now pave the way politically for BOAC to book six FAA SST delivery positions. Meanwhile the ink is barely dry on page 213 of the recently pub- lished Estimates Committee report on Transport Aircraft. On this page, in a letter (dated July 25,1963) from the secretary of BOAC, Mr K. H. Staple, to the committee, the following passage appears:— "The corporation has already declared an interest in the Concord project and has agreed to devote technical effort to it. That is the Latest customer to take delivery of Friendships is Korean National Airlines. Two other Far East F.27 customers placed repeat orders last week: All Nippon—already having one of the largest Friendship fleets—ordered five more 200s to bring their total up to 25; and Philippine Air Lines ordered two more 100s to bring their feet to 11. A new European customer, Balair of Switzerland, has just ordered one 200
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