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Aviation History
1970
1970 - 0409.PDF
[FtLDlHT INTERNATIONAL Thursday 12 March 1970 Number 3183 Volume 97 Founded in 1909 First aeronautical weekly in the world Official organ of the Royal Aero Club Incorporating "The Aeroplane" © IPC Business Press Ltd 1970 ibpa International Business Press Associates Publishing Director M. A. Smith, DFC Advertisement Manager David Holmes Towards a British Aeroflot Editor J. M. Ramsden Assistant Editor Humphrey Wynn, BA Technical Editor Michael Wilson, BSc, CEng, FBIS. AFRAeS Assistant Editor (Air Transport) David Woolley Assistant Production Editor Barry Wheeler Editorial Staff John Bentley Charles Gllson Peter Middleton Tony Smith Tim Wrixon Photographic Librarian Ann C. Tilbury The same economic circumstances that have closed Handley Page and Beagle have brought about the BOAC takeover bid for BUA. How ever hard and skilfully the small man may toil he finds it hard to beat the giants. And when the giants are State financed, and the State as a matter of policy protects them from the small men, little wonder that they succumb. But let there be no doubt about the adverse effect that these trends will have on the quality of British air transport as a whole. Remorse less though the economics of size may be, it remains the responsibility of Government to ensure that com petition preserves the quality of service to the public. If the Board of Trade wants a strong independent air transport industry, which accord ing to the November White Paper it does, then it must allow that industry rights. The Edwards Committee, which a baffled Government set up in 1967 primarily to resolve the vin tage question of what to do about the independents, recommended the formation of a strong "second-force" private airline to compete in certain areas (including New York-London and London-Paris) with BOAC and BEA. The subsequent White Paper thought that the "forces of the market" and the proposed Civil Aviation Authority should deter mine its shape and size. The official statement made the point that there is no merit in size for its own sake and—significantly—it said (in para. 42) that it would be a misuse of public funds for the corporations to take a share in the second-force airline. Now the same department approves the BOAC purchase of BUA. The proposed takeover is the inevitable result of the civil aviation policy vacuum of the last ten years —since the Civil Aviation Licensing Act made it theoretically possible for independents to compete with the corporations on scheduled ser vices. BUA itself was the offspring of that Act, formed out of half a dozen small independents like Air- work, Hunting-Clan, Air Charter, Mortons, Transair and others. In practice, although the Air Transport Licensing Board did award routes like Paris and New York to BUA and Eagle, the real licensing authority, the Government, ensured that competition was either severely restricted or not allowed. The high points of the policy came in 1961 when a Tory Government upheld BOAC's appeal against Eagle's New York licence, and in 1965 when a Labour Government said no more competition on domestic trunk routes and actually appointed a special director to BEA's board " to pay special atten tion to the interests of the domestic passenger." The political pressures have always been against the indepen dents and in favour of the corpora tions. It is surprising that the in dependents have done as well as they have. BUA, when BOAC demanded a public subsidy for South American routes of £1J million a year, took them over and made them profitable with VClOs for which BOAC also demanded— and got—a separate subsidy. BUA also operates domestic services with One-Elevens for which BEA de manded, and got, a subsidy. According to the Board of Trade the deal is as good as done. Just like that—no public discussion of the immense public policy issues involved, or of the £10 million or so which BOAC will now spend. According to . BOAC's part-time chairman, the deal "will strengthen British competitiveness against foreign airlines." This is what one of his predecessors said in June 1962, when BOAC and Cunard joined forces and Eagle was ousted from all the western routes on which it had been competing with BOAC. That union did not produce a single extra seat for British air transport; it cost BOAC an estimated £6 million, and the British share of traffic on the dollar-rich routes concerned—North Atlantic, USA- Bermuda and USA-Bahamas—has since declined. There is little doubt that BUA faced a bleak financial future, and that the £6 million which British & Commonwealth Shipping is re ported to have paid Air Holdings for the airline three years ago have not yet shown prospect of a sufficient return. Financing the future of this business is daunting enough even for the great chosen airlines; it must seem hopeless to the less favoured. Thus it was that, for other Continued IN THIS ISSUE World News Air Transport Light Commercial Private Flying Business Flying Air Attack Systems Boeing 747 in the Air Nach Hannover 1970 Defence Industry International Letters Spaceflight Straight and Level at foot of next page 366 368 375 376 377 381 395 399 401 405 406 408 410a Front cover: the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer has entered a new lease of life: like its famous counterpart the Phantom, it has "gone ashore" and is preparing to undertake the very impor tant long-range strike role with the RAF. This particular aircraft is carrying dummy Martel guided missiles in connection with the trials of these new weapons
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