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Aviation History
1972
1972 - 1974.PDF
FLIGHT International, 3 August 1972 159 decision is that it is in a good bargaining position: all the aircraft being considered are available when it wants them, and no decision has to be made until after the summer. Even then BCAL could still start 747 operations, if necessary, on the North Atlantic next April. "A lot of people have 747s sitting on the ground," says Thomson. The A-300B? "This could be part of our fleet if we decided to go for a very-long-range aircraft." Although Caledonian is actually watching the British Airways decisions very closely, since this airline's choice would inevitably have some influence on its own, the independent points out that BOAC has a shorter average haul. BEA's subsidy for the One-Eleven 500, says Cale donian's chairman, "is something we have never been able to understand. We and other airlines have operated this aircraft profitably without any subsidy." BCAL is interested in Concorde, which as far as it can see will take the first-class-fare passengers of scheduled services. But the decision is a long way away, says Thomson, who speaks of his perhaps greater interest in a Concorde development—"a bigger supersonic aircraft of the second generation." When BCAL inaugurates North Atlantic services on April 1 next year, there will initially be one service a day between London and New York and one a day between London and Los Angeles. The Boeing 707-320Cs will have 16 first-class and 129 economy (34in pitch) seats. Each aircraft will be equipped with three film-screen and pro- NINETEEN-SIXTY was, by coincidence, the formative year of both the elements which, ten years later, went to make up British Caledonian Airways (BCAL). On the one hand, the former Caledonian Airways was founded as a charter company (it was legally constituted and began operating in the following year); on the other, British United Airways (BUA) came into being by a merger of two independents, Hunting-Clan Air Transport and Airwork. The latter, which had itself already absorbed several small British airlines, could trace its history back to 1928. In 1970 Caledonian Airways bought BUA from the British & Commonwealth group for £6-6 million. The result was a major British independent flag carrier, not far short in size of some of Europe's best-known national airlines. That there should be such an airline had been one of the main recommendations in the 1969 report of the Edwards Committee, which had examined the whole structure of British air transport; this was one of a number of major changes—establishment of the Civil Aviation Authority and the British Airways Board were others—which resulted from the committee's work. "Second-force airline" was the name given by the com mittee to the new airline it envisaged; the report recognised that BUA and Caledonian were the prime candidates for the formation of the airline, but did not rule out the possibility that other independents might also participate. Rejecting the notion of a State monopoly of Britain's scheduled air transport industry, the Edwards Committee put forward three grounds on which it believed a powerful force in the private sector to be needed. These were, first, that "we ought to put a second British competitor on the North Atlantic"; secondly, that "it is valuable to have more than one source of expertise, judgment, experience and enterprise including commercial innovation"; and thirdly, that Britain already had, at the time that the Edwards Committee reported, the makings of a second- force airline. The first point was related by the report to Britain's share of Atlantic traffic and to the fact that BOAC was the only British carrier operating transatlantic schedules, against three (now four) US carriers operating into Britain. "One thing is clear," said the report. "If the intention is to make a powerful bid for a larger share of the North Atlantic trade we must not send a boy on a man's errand. If BOAC's share of American as distinct from British jection systems, one in the first-class cabin and two in the economy section. BCAL claims to be making a profit on its UK domestic trunk routes. Not only is passenger traffic increasing on Glasgow and Belfast from London but, it says, its share of the market is increasing also. The walk-on lower-fare services, known as Moonjet, have increased the load factor and, as de la Haye says, "judging by the queues this service is fulfilling a need." Passengers who fail to get aboard the 105-seat One-Elevens can catch the train. "We are not worried about the competition," says one official. "Provided it is not subsidised we can more than hold our own." According to de la Haye, all passengers on these routes now get hot meals, seat selection1 and better punctuality because of the competition. The British Caledonian fleet comprises seven BAC One- Eleven 200s; 13 BAC One-Eleven 500s; nine Boeing 707- 320Cs; and three BAC standard VClOs. There were four standard VClOs, but it now appears that the old faithful VC10 prototype G-ARTA, which had been bought by BUA after refurbishing by BAC, will not fly again after a heavy landing last year at Gatwick. Caledonian's engineering base at Gatwick is to be expanded to include a wide-body hangar. Associated with this will be a new six-floor corporate headquarters building. BOAC overhauls Caledonian's 707 and VC10 JT3Ds and Conway engines at Treforest; Rolls-Royce overhauls the One-Eleven Speys. business is to be supplemented, the effort will call for an airline powerfully financed with a good fleet and ground organisation. . . . We believe there is a case for designating a second British operator in the hope of increasing the UK market share." In connection with the second point, as to expertise and experience, Edwards referred with approbation to BUA's record in South America. In 1964 BOAC withdrew from the continent (except for its route into Venezuela), pleading losses of £1 • 25 million a year. BUA took its place with services to> Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Lima, and by 1969 was making a profit ("We have seen an auditor's letter to this effect," said the Edwards Com mittee). The particular qualities of the two airlines which made up BCAL were in contrast. Caledonian was a newcomer to the industry—in fact a rarity, in that, starring from scratch in 1961 it grew rapidly and profitably from the outset. In its 1963-64 financial year the airline was carrying 110,700 passengers and made a net profit of £90,600. In 1965-66 it carried 148,000 passengers and earned a net profit of just over £200,000. By 1969-70, the net profit was nearly £550,000 on turnover of £16-7 million. This growth rate, although phenomenal, was stable as well as profitable, and the airline has avoided over-reaching itself. The reason is that, although it was the new boy in an established industry, it had from the start the expertise of its founders. Adam Thomson, now BCAL chairman and managing director, was an ex-Britavia captain; John de la Haye was formerly with British Eagle as sales director North America. They were joined by Frank Hope, an expert in operational planning, and M. A. Guinane, British Eagle deputy managing director. The team had objectives in the charter market from the outset; they were among the first in Europe to recognise the potential of the mass-travel market, particularly with reference to the North Atlantic. Caledonian was the first foreign charter airline to obtain a US foreign carrier permit for affinity groups. The team approach to management evinced by Caledonian was in sharp contrast to the highly personal way in which most of Britain's independent airlines were being run. Every new industry needs its entrepreneurs to get it going, but so often the entrepreneur's grasp weakens when his company grows in size. While some airlines appeared indecisive and even out of touch with the immediacies of BCAL takes its place as Britain's third carrier
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