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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2192.PDF
FLIGHT International, 6 August 1964 209 BOAC'S SOUTH AMERICAN ROUTES BOAC has been asked by the Government to continue to operate— but with a subsidy—the eastern South American routes which, according to the Guthrie plan, were among those to be axed as uneconomic. The position up to a week ago was that the Ministry were considering putting these routes out to tender, the two other main candidates being British United and British Eagle (Mr Amery mentioned in the House on July 20 that British Eagle had indicated their interest in operating the route with VClOs). Following a Cabinet meeting on July 29, however, the idea of subsidizing independent international British flag services was apparently ruled out, and BOAC are being asked to submit an operating plan and costings for evaluation by the Ministry of Aviation and the Treasury. Sir Giles has said that these routes are losing about £l£m a year, though there is no indication of the basis of this calculation. It is this—and in particular the inevitably arbitrary overheads that have to be allocated when any route is singled out for economic assessment—that will obviously have to be scrutinized by the Government's accountants. It is understood that Mr Harold Bamberg of British Eagle will, nevertheless, submit a tender, although the chances that it will be acceptable now seem politically remote however financially attractive it may be. BOAC have done a good job for Britain in South America in the face of tremendous difficulties. There have been four major headaches: (1) The problem of the Brazilian cruzeiro—and other currencies—which because of the difference between the real and official exchange rates can mean a short fall of thousands of pounds a year on tickets bought in local currency and cleared by I ATA in London for hard currency; (2) the Comet 4 has a fine reputation for reliability and punctuality, but it is not an easy aircraft to sell in competition with DC-8s and 707s; (3) while there are very large European immigrant communities in Brazil and Argentina, the British are in the minority compared with the Germans, French and Italians, who provide a large natural market for Air France, Lufthansa and Alitalia; (4) these three Air Union carriers, who endorse each others' tickets, are being generally extremely aggressive in their selling and promotion, and each is, of course, subsidized by its government. 310 PAGES OF TRUTH THE evidence and appendices which form Vol 2 of the recent Select Committee enquiry into BOAC* comprises sufficient words to fill several issues of this journal, and even to read and to digest it takes a normally busy person several weeks. But it is appropriate at this stage to draw attention to some of the more important points in this supplement to the Report (which was reviewed in Flight International, July 2). Sir Basil Smallpeice said (1194): "It was ruled on, as far as I know, political grounds, and maybe on Vickers' commercial grounds as well, that Britain would not copy an American aircraft. We were therefore forced off, as a matter of policy, the optimum economic design which we should have preferred. We were then left in the position of having to take an aircraft [VC10] which was different from the Boeing 707 and which, because the 707 was an optimum economic design, would be bound to be less economic." One feels that if the Select Committee had had expert advisers, as do American Congressional Committees, different questions might have been asked by the Committee. For example, Sir George Edwards would have been asked for his comments on this remark- able revelation that someone said that the VC10 had to look different on principle. Surely it came out the way it did as a result of design, not national vanity ? It would have been worth asking Sir Basil to comment on the references made by Sir George Edwards (1549 and 1554) to a 1957 BOAC traffic analysis showing "a certain requirement for 35 [VClOs] and a potential requirement for another 27." This analysis, said Mr Charles Abell of BOAC, "was a very long range forecast for that date to try and show that if we were forced to go to 35 it looked as though that would be all right" (1594). That one statement surely records the origin of all the subsequent troubles. In the context of BOAC's financial comptroller Sir Matthew * "Report from the Select Committee on Nationalised Industries," Vol 2,Minutes of Evidence, Appendices and Index. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. Price 18s net. 310 pages. Slattery pointed out the problem that arises (1221) when the managing director is only paid £7,500 and when the man that he wanted could only be offered £5,000 or £6,000. On the question of a BEA-BOAC merger Sir Basil Smallpeice said (p. 265): "We concluded there might be as much as £10 million a year in it." It is not clear whether this £10m would result from savings or earnings; but it is a remarkable figure. What does the Ministry, which has always dismissed the idea of a merger, have to say about it? It might well have been further pursued by the Select Committee. VC10 break-even load factor (appendix 5) is estimated at 12 percentage points above the 707-420, with the Super VC10 six points above. In 1601 is given the evidence of the over-ruling of the BOAC engineering department's VC10 doubts by the BOAC board in favour of the RAE's judgment that the VC10 would be as good as the Boeing. BOEING 727C CARGO JET AN event in the air cargo growth story that may prove as significant as the emergence of the long-range Boeing 7O7-32OC is the com- pany's announcement on July 23 of a convertible cargo version of its short/medium-haul 727. The president, Mr William Allen, announced the new aircraft, called the 727C, with the news that Northwest Orient Airlines had signed a contract for three at a cost of about £1.68 million cash. The first is due to fly in early 1966 for delivery in April of that year. As well as being the world's first short-range cargo jet, the 727C is only the second cargo aircraft of this size to be designed specifi- cally for the short-haul civil market. Though its payload is roughly comparable to that of the other aircraft (the Hawker Siddeley Argosy) the tri-jet Boeing has a somewhat longer range than its smaller (and cheaper to buy) four-Dart pure-cargo competitor. The 727C will have a side loading cargo door similar in size to that of the 320C; and, like the Argosy, pallets compatible with those of the long-haul jet freighters. CHANNEL AIRWAYS LOOKS AHEAD A BOLD series of applications for a network of scheduled jet services from London to some 15 of the most popular tourist centres in Europe has been put before the ATLB by the expanding (im passengers a year) Southend-based independent Channel Airways. Anticipating the final selection of Stansted as London's third airport, Channel have chosen this as the main terminal for a proposed longer-haul network which would be added to their cross-Channel and Channel Islands system based on Southend. Stansted is also being sought as an alternative terminal for present Southend-based services. The destinations sought are: Basle, Biarritz, Palma, Lisbon, Barcelona, Valencia, Luxembourg, Rome, Naples, Milan, Munich, Innsbruck, Ajaccio, Alghero, and Cagliari. Unlimited frequency in accordance with traffic demand is specified and fares in line with IATA. Permission is sought to use a fleet that might include Britannias, Comet 4s, One-Elevens, Heralds and 748s. Speaking to Flight International last week, Mr Bernard F. Collins, deputy managing director of Channel Airways, said that his company viewed the application as "a serious attempt to provide the rapidly developing area of southern east Anglia with modern and competitive air services to Europe." US AUTOLANDING DEVELOPMENTS THE FAA has issued a $975,000 contract to Bunker-Ramo Corp to study four instrument presentations in a simulator with the purpose of assessing their suitability for use during blind landing. The study will take 25 months and will determine what modifica- tions are required in the systems and how well the pilot can detect and overcome any malfunctions. Present general feeling seems to be that the Collins FD-108 "three-dimensional" flight director is the best presently available for this type of operation. Diversions caused by weather are now said to be costing US airlines $10m annually. Meanwhile, Bendix have demonstrated their Microvision system near New York which holds great promise as a monitor for fully automatic systems, if not as a main system in its own right.
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