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Aviation History
1972
1972 - 0679.PDF
FLIGHT International, 30 March 1972 437 AIR TRANSPORT First TriStars due for hand-over to airlines THE FIRST TWO Lockheed TriStars were due to be handed over to Eastern and TWA for crew training as this issue appears. Training will carry on into next month when certification is expected (tentatively for April 15) and passenger services are scheduled to start. The RB.211 is now FAA and ARB certificated and cleared for airline service, flat rated to 42,0001b, 187kN thrust at 66°F (see page 434). Funding to the tune of about £190 million is being provided by the British Government and the revised contract calls for delivery of 140 power- plants this year, in support of the 22 aircraft due to enter service with Eastern, TWA and Air Canada. Airline deliveries of the aircraft come at the end of a turbulent development period which culminated, on September 14, 1971, in Lockheed being awarded a US Government guarantee for a $250 million bank loan to keep the programme viable. The settlement between the corporation, the airlines and banks was the final move following liquidation proceedings initiated by Rolls-Royce on February 4 last year and cancellation of the original powerplant contract. , The five-month delay in delivery of the TriStar has had a relatively minor effect at least on one customer airline'— TWA. Chairman Charles Tillinghast said in a recent inter view in Airline Management: "I think it helped as much as it hurt. From the capacity standpoint, having in mind the number of 747s we had and the flat traffic condition, we certainly didn't need the L-lOlls from a capacity stand point. I think the stretchout of the schedule carried as many benefits as penalties." Lockheed is now seriously considering launching an extended-range TriStar to be powered by developed RB.211s, which could offer 45,0001b, 200kN of thrust if more money were to be invested in the programme. Operating costs of the aircraft (the L-1011-2) would be up to ten per cent lower than those of its principal competitor, the DC-10-30, claims Mr Charles de Bedts, vice-president of Lockheed Aircraft (Europe) and managing director for the United Kingdom. Over ranges of up to 4,000 n.m., 7,400km the seat-mile costs will be ten per cent lower and the aircraft-mile costs some nine per cent less, it is claimed. • A TriStar flew into LaGuardia Airport, New York, on March 21 on a demonstration to civic leaders. The visit was arranged by the Aviation Development Council, which represents scheduled airlines serving the New York-New Jersey metropolitan region, PNYA, Airline Pilots' Associa tion and the Aerospace Industries Association. HALABY RESIGNS THE resignation of Najeeb Halaby, chairman and chief executive of Pan American, was announced on March 22. He will remain a member of the airline's board; he is being replaced by William T. Seawell, the former head of Rolls- Royce's American subsidiary, who became president of Pan American last year. Mr Halaby's resignation comes as Pan American financial results continue to look gloomy in spite of traffic improvement. In February losses totalled $10-9 million, compared with $7 • 7 million the previous year—and this at a time when most US airlines, TWA included, are beginning to climb out of the economic depression. Formerly Administrator of the FAA, Mr Halaby joined Pan American in 1965 as president; in November 1969 he took in addition the post of chief executive, succeeding Harold Gray. Pan American said recently that it was confident that the company's banks would continue to support it with adequate credit during the coming year, in spite of the concern they had expressed over the carrier's financial plight. Scheduled traffic was up 13 per cent in the first two months of the year, but the airline says that this does not compensate for low revenue yield in three main markets—• the Atlantic, the Caribbean and Hawaii. Further economies and cut-backs are being put in hand, suggesting that even 1973 forecasts show little improvement. WORLD INTO AUSTRALIA PERMISSION for a series of 21 charter flights next year has been granted by the Australian Government to World Airways. The Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Cotton, said in Melbourne last week that the charter authority was a practical indication that the Australian authorities were keen to meet the demand for low-fare charters across the Pacific. But he also warned that there was no intention of throwing open the doors for a free-for-all at the expense of the scheduled airlines, and thus creating a totally uneconomic situation. These 21 flights will represent only a tentative and experimental step towards regular charter services to the USA. Negotiations between Australia and the USA for a bilateral agreement covering charters have not yet been completed, although a settlement may be reached next month. Senator Cotton said that future developments depended on American approval for charters by Qantas or its subsidiary Qantair. Last week Edward J. Daly, chairman and chief executive of World, said that while the Australian move was appreciated it was "only symbolic of what can be done." He drew attention to a recent remark made by the chair man of the US Civil Aeronautics Board, Secor Browne, in London; Mr Browne had said that the availability of low- cost charters "is taking on the character of a right which governments are increasingly being expected to protect and promote." The World charters are inclusive tours and are expected to be priced 10 per cent above the lowest available scheduled fare. QSTOL TO GO FORWARD BOEING and Aeritalia have decided to proceed with development of their Stol transport, known as the BA.751. But emphasis is on the quiet attributes of the 100- to 150- seater, rather than on very short runway capabilities which have now been excluded from the project study. A 4,000ft, 1,200m field length is the aim, emphasising that Boeing/ Aeritalia thinking is well in line with that of the BAC/ MBB/Saab combine, which is in the project-study phase for a QStol type (see Flight for March 2, page 314). The step to go ahead with the quiet short-hauler was decided by the executive committee of Aeritalia and Boeing at a meeting held at the Boeing Renton plant, following analysis of data from a preliminary study. The choice of this category of aircraft, which Aeritalia (a member of the IRI Italian state holding group) and Fiat will build for deliveries hoped to begin during 1978-1979, was decided following intensive market research which
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