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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1519.PDF
836 FLIGHT International, 21 May A I R C O E R C E 8UBS0NIC BOOM PAN AMERICAN'S repeat order for Boeings—ten 7O7-32OBs for delivery in 1965 and five more on option for delivery in 1966—caused no great stir, yet it was of significance for two reasons. First, the world's largest international airline—which inaugurated the big-jet era with its order for Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s in October 1955—has decided that the Boeing is the better aircraft for its pur- poses; secondly, a repeat order of this magnitude—equivalent to BOAC's initial entire 707 fleet—means £48m of new business for Boeing who, as recently reported, are now making a profit on every jet transport. In the 30 days of April no fewer than 24 Boeings were delivered: six 7O7-32OCs, eleven 727s, and seven KC-135s. Hardly a week now goes by without a repeat order for both Boeings and DC-8$ from one airline or another, and it seems that these aircraft will be rolling off the Seattle and Long Beach produc- tion lines probably well into the supersonic seventies. Of particular interest is Pan American's estimate that their mixed- traffic Boeing 7O7-32OCs, of which seven are in service out of 13 ordered (four more by June and two by next winter), are "flying at the lowest ton-mile cost of any all-cargo aircraft ever operated." Cost per ctm, PAA estimate, works out at 7s 8d*—approximately half that of the DC-7F. During January and February of this year these PAA cargo jets increased the airline's transatlantic freight business by nearly 25 per cent, and on the Pacific by 180 per cent. These are big increases for operations on the Pan American scale, the world's largest airline freight business. The Boeing 707- 32OCs are being worked at a utilization averaging ten hours a day. As the No 1 transatlantic passenger carrier, Pan American reports traffic increases following the introduction of the 15 per cent lower fares from April 1 as very large indeed-; this has been the experience of most of the other transatlantic carriers, including BO AC. In the month of April, PAA's transatlantic passenger traffic shot up 55 per cent westbound, from over 13,400 in April 1963 to over 21,100, and 46,600 altogether compared with just over 30,000 a year ago. Preliminary figures show record traffic for May, and advance bookings indicate a 30 per cent increase in June and July. Most transatlantic airlines are reporting similar big increases, which are indeed a vindication of the CAB's intervention a year ago when IATA airlines proposed to increase transatlantic return fares. For both Boeing and Pan American, who made a net profit of no less than £12m in 1963, the jet revolution may be said to have paid off. CONCORD TO CO8T £250m? ACCORDING to the Sunday Telegraph, the longer-range version of the Concord will involve the British and French Governments in a total cost of £250m compared with the original estimate of £170m. Any increase will of course be shared on a 50-50 basis. Asked whether an official estimate could be given, a Ministry of Aviation spokesman said last week: "As the Minister has stated in the House, there will certainly be an increase in cost, but revised figures cannot yet be quoted. The firms are revising their develop- ment cost plans and officials will then have to examine carefully the firms' estimates." SSTs for KLM Delivery positions on three BAC-Sud Concords and on three American SSTs were reserved by KLM on May 14. BEA Fare Increases? While BEA may be compelled "in the face of rising costs" to increase fares, the corporation's chairman, Mr A. Hf. Milward, says in BEA Magazine: "Our aim must be to reduce fares whenever economically possible." He estimates that the average British wage-earner has to work nearly four times as long as his American counterpart—30 hours compared with eight hours—to buy a 300-mile air ticket. Mr A. H. Milward, BEA's chairman, has been appointed by the ARB to fill the vacancy on the Board caused by Lord Douglas's retirement. DC-9s for Swissair At a Board meeting on May 13 Swissair confirmed an order for ten Douglas DC-9s for delivery between June 1966 and December 1968. StarLifters for Tiger On May 12 Flying Tiger placed a £28m "firm order" for eight Lockheed AL-300B StarLifters, paying a $500,000 deposit. This civil version of the C-141 has a 104ft-long hold and a 110,0001b payload. As reported last week, Slick has also ordered StarLifters. TWA Want Nairobi TWA has asked the CAB to extend its New York - Cairo route to Nairobi, arguing that this point would integrate far better with TWA's proposed East African route than with Pan American's West African route. Another Irish Boeing Aer Lingus has ordered a second 707-32CC for May 1965 delivery, costing £3.3m including spares and "certain development costs." The first -32OC joins the airline's three 720s next month. BOAC's Management From June 1 a new 11-man BOAC management team, headed by Sir Giles Guthrie, will meet weekly to implement board policy. They are: Mr Keith Granville, new deputy chairman, with a special interest in international relations and commercial matters; Mr Gilbert Lee, who takes over from Mr Granville the chairmanship of BO AC-AC; Mr Ross Stainton, the new commercial director; Mr David Craig, senior general manager; Mr Derek Glover, financial director; Capt D. Peacock, flight operations director; Mr Charles Abell, chief engineer; Mr John Gorman, new personnel director; Mr Winston Bray, planning director; and Mr Robert Forrest, secretary and solicitor. A five-man group—Messrs Granville, Craig, Stainton, Abell and Capt Peacock —will meet daily under Sir Giles. All 34 members of the manage- ment will meet monthly. Capt Peter Gibbs, director of operations for Ansett-ANA, studying the flight deck of the Short Skyvan at Queen's Island. Capt Gibbs has visited Shorts with other members of the Ansett staff to discuss Skyvan perfor- mance and progress. The airline has shown interest in the aircraft from the time when plans for its development were announced, and Mr Ansett recently mentioned a requirement for ten
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