FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1969
1969 - 0841.PDF
FLIGHT International, a May 1969 AIR TRANSPORT... THE EDWARDS REPORT --'committees sucoumib to this temptation, making recommenda tions which greater knowledge and a deeper understanding would have avoided. On the whole our basic philosophy is that in matters of industrial structure, management and, for that matter, .policy, it is not useful to lay down detailed blue prints. We believe it is best to create conditions in which change can come about naturally over time in response to the forces that are then operating. Business is organic and the pressures working in the business field are changing con tinuously and are extremely complex. It is never possible to plan for a long period in detail how any business activity should be conducted. No-one has that degree of foresight, and certainly this Committee does not presume to be better able to see the future than others are. Although we have studied the •civil aviation industry in its widest sense, in some depth, it would be too complicated to try to suggest detailed solutions to the many individual problems, and to have attempted this would have extended the work of the Committee for a number of years. We have tried instead to outline how we believe the various problems should be thought about; to provide, as it were, a frame of reference or—at the risk of sounding rather pompous—a philosophy for tackling the important issues against a constantly changing background. We have also sought to resist another temptation of all committees, namely, to do no more than propose yet further committees to examine problems about which we ourselves feel baffled. All that we would say here is that some of us know from our own experience in public utilities that there are certain problems in transport that are excruciatingly diffi cult, even in theory, let alone in practice; problems to which some of the best minds have given time and thought for a century or more without reaching agreed conclusions. Only those who do not appreciate the complexity of some of these problems will believe that they can be cleared away once and for all by a committee. While we have been studying our remit and taking evidence, the airline business has in certain respects been subject to severe strains. We took the view that the Committee could not toe expected to reach conclusions until it at least under stood the problems. However, we are fully seized of the urgency of settling a policy framework for the future of British air transport and have done everything in our power to produce our Report speedily. Appointed on 5 November, 1967, we held our first meeting on the 6th, have taken major evidence right up to January 1969, and have completed our Report three months later. We have faced our task with humility, and if we can make some contribution to this fascinating and important industry we shall feel our time has been well spent. We are well aware from the highly conflicting evidence that we have received that some of our recommendations will not prove palatable to all concerned, and others will not be regarded as sufficiently sweeping. On the major questions there is a balance of argu ment, and where we have given greater weight to one side than the other we have sought to explain why. Objectives of British Civil Aviation Edwards's Summary (1) The primary long-term objective of Government policy towards civil aviation should be to ensure that the customer, be it for personal travel or freight, should be able to buy what he wants at the minimum economic price compatible with safety. (2) This is consistent with our view that efficient airlines ought to be allowed to earn an adequate profit. Profitable businesses are more likely to be innovative and profitable air lines are more likely to be safe. Sound commercial policy in large-scale business implies a long-term view not a short-term one. (3) It should be an important objective of the regulation of prices to hold the balance between present and future airline customers and between different customers at the same time. 747 (4) It should be the aim of all in British civil aviation to achieve safety standards which match the best in the world. (5) In the long-term the balance of payments interest of the UK is likely to be consistent with 1 and 2 above since efficient airlines are likely to be better foreign exchange earners than inefficient ones. Regulation or interference that impedes efficiency will in the long run serve neither the customer nor the broad public interest but short-term foreign exchange conditions may sometimes be overriding. (6) The development of good employee relations is impor tant in the interest of morale, efficiency and safety. (7) So far as is practicable and economic, long-term condi tions should be so organised as to create opportunity for new entrants to- the industry. (8) If unprofitable services are required for reasons of public policy, for example in connection with internal communica tions or for external strategic considerations, and the support required for these goes beyond commercial justification, the finance should come from taxation and not from other airline customers. (9) Support for the British aircraft manufacturing industry, though important, should not be regarded as a prime objective of the civil air transport industry. If for balance of payments or other reasons civil airlines are required to act against their commercial judgement, it is the Government's duty to protect them from any economic consequences there may be. (10) A once-for-all enshrinement of civil aviation objectives in statute is unlikely to be adequate, and Government state ments of policy will be necessary from time to time. A new Civil Aviation Authority "... should also be responsible for the National Air Traffic Control Services ..." Selected extracts:— ". . . in our view the primary long-term objective of a national policy towards commercial flying should be to see that each customer, be it for personal travel or freight, gets what he wants—not what somebody else thinks he ought to want—at the minimum economic price that can be contrived. Romantic, exciting and important though,the airline business may be, it is, in the last analysis, there to do the same job as butchers, bakers and candlestick makers, i.e., to provide services for money. "Many other objectives are talked about in connection with air transport, but we put this humdrum one right at the top. Moreover, we believe that if any other objective conflicts with it the onus of justification should fall on those who want to press that objective against the interests of the customer. ... ". . . The onus of spelling out policy objectives in detail should fall on the Government of the day which can formu late these in the light of current economic, strategic and social objectives. ..." Competition, traffic rights and pooling Edwards's Summary (1) We have sought to identify the problems facing a licens ing authority in considering the licensing of competitive ser vices on air routes. There can be no hard and fast definition of the point at which a route becomes capable of carrying competitive services. The licensing authority must be free to consider each case on its merits, and properly equipped to take all the relevant factors into account. We have examined
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
