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Aviation History
1973
1973 - 0014.PDF
FLIGHT International, 4 January 1973 12 AIR TRANSPORT that whilst the West African services are returning profits, this—as forecast—has yet to be the case as far as Paris and Tripoli are concerned. The article assumes that suppliers are giving BCAL live months' credit. This is simply untrue. An examination shows that the average credit taken is less than two months—and in the case of many main sup pliers, much less. The figure shown in the balance sheet contained a large element of accruals. Therefore the con clusion drawn is incorrect. Debtors are shown as totalling £12-5 million; in fact, only £6-9 million was in respect of trade debtors. Diminution in value of investments is shown as £1-087 mil lion against subsidiaries. This figure includes the subsidiary company loss shown separately in the article—a point which Flight does not make clear. What it all boils down to is the basic economic truth that one cannot create a highly profitable, new, major British flag carrier overnight. Perhaps Flight expects too much too soon. The over-riding fact is that the airline is developing and innovating—and will continue to do so. British Caledonian was and still is viable. Thus, we have proved that the "second force" concept works, while the public have benefited from our existence. In productivity terms, BCAL's passenger-miles output in 1971 was almost three times (266 per cent) as great as the next largest independent airline. Flight suggests that the implementation of our original North Atlantic plans would have been... "an act of excep tional boldness." Without such commercial boldness, no inde pendent airline could survive. Mixed with sound business judgment, it is the stuff that goes to make up private enter prise. British Caledonian will continue to play a profitable, contributory role for British Civil Aviation. And there are more than 5,000 people at British Caledonian determined to ensure just that.—M. A. GUINANE. HEATHROW: SECOND UK PORT LONDON Airport, Heathrow, has now overtaken the Port of Liverpool to become the second port of the United Kingdom in terms of value of foreign trade handled. Figures for the first nine months of this year, released by Customs and Excise, show that Heathrow handled goods to the value of £1,756 million compared with £1,480 million at Liverpool. The Port of London, which handled trade valued at £3,064 million, is still easily the most important port in the country. The average growth rate in value of goods handled at Heathrow has been 15-3 per cent a year since 1968. CONCORDE INTO EUROCONTROL A SIMULATION of future air traffic over western Europe is being undertaken by BAC, Aerospatiale, Eurocontrol and the Anglo-French authorities to test procedures and routes for Concorde. The Eurocontrol facilities at Bretigny allow the genera tion of traffic samples, and the individual control of each simulated aircraft in real time by professional controllers from the staff of the Orly regional control centre. A real time link with Toulouse allows Bretigny to take over Aerospatiale's Concorde simulator while simulating other traffic. Airline crews can thus evaluate the procedures proposed for supersonic transports while at the controls of the Concorde simulator. The first part of the exercise lasted from December 4 to 15, and has provided prelimi nary results confirming that the procedures can be easily followed by the crews, according to BAC and Aerospatiale. Three airlines—Air France, BOAC and Iranair—took part. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS HOW many air travellers know what to do if an airline overbooks them? In much of the world there is not a lot they can do, but in the USA they are entitled to compen sation. So that they may know their rights the Civil Aeronautics Board is planning to publish a handbook entitled Consumer Guide for Air Travellers. It has been prepared by the board's Office of Consumer Affairs. "If you get 'bumped'," says the booklet, "under certain conditions specified by the CAB you are entitled to a payment from the airline equal to the cost of your first flight coupon." If the airline cannot book the passenger on another flight scheduled to arrive within 2hr of the original flight (4hr on international journeys), and pro vided the customer has complied with check-in times and so on, the airline must pay compensation equal to the price of the flight, but not less than $25 and not more than $200. (Foreign, intra-state and Alaskan carriers are in general exempt from this liability.) Another common problem is whether, when a flight is badly delayed, a passenger can claim hotel expenses and so forth from the airline. On this the booklet is less precise, because individual circumstances vary. "Generally speak ing," it says, "complimentary services will be provided when the passenger holds a confirmed reservation and the flight delay involves a period of four or more hours. Airlines are required to list in their tariffs the expenses they will cover for all delayed passengers." Fares, loss of baggage and reconfirmation of bookings are dealt with in the booklet. There is a section on charter flights which explains the rules for the new "travel group charters," and gives hints on how to recognise the crooked operator before your pocket suffers. "One indication that a charter may not be completely on the up-and-up is the refusal of the promoter to tell you the name of the airline on which you will travel. It may mean that he does not have a contract with any airline, and is waiting until he signs up enough passengers to fill a plane before he arranges for the plane." Affinity-group charters may be on the way out, although the CAB has not said so yet. The bulk of the booklet will none the less remain a useful passengers' vade mecum. "The board and its staff," it concludes, "particularly the Office of Consumer Affairs, are available to protect the air traveller and promote air transportation consistent with the public convenience and necessity. If you have a problem or a question, contact the board's Office of Consumer Affairs." Welcome words; we could do with more of that sort of thing from authorities in other countries. Britain's CAA is making a start by preparing a leaflet giving a plain man's guide to advance charters, but what of the scheduled passenger, who may not know what redress, if any, he has against an airline? Or can he look after himself? D.H.W. SCREEN ALL PASSENGERS BY February 5 all airline passengers are expected to be screened and all carry-on bags inspected before both domestic and international flights can leave United States airports. To make sure that these anti-hijacking measures are carried out, a law-enforcement officer will be stationed at every airport boarding gate during an airline departure, according to the Department of Transportation. Former Secretary of Transportation John Volpe said recently that "we do not see an end to air piracy but certainly we have moved several steps closer to our objectives, first, of denying hijackers access to commercial aircraft, and second, giving them no place to go . . ." Mr Volpe stressed that in the United States the failure rate of hijackers had increased to 68 per cent during 1972 (17 per cent in 1969) and that there were only about 10 hijackings during more than 3 • 5 million flights. From 1930 to 1967, there were only 12 attempts to hijack US civil aircraft, according to the FAA. In 1968 there were 22 attempts and in 1969 there were a record 40. Since then the US Government has adopted tighter security measures, beginning with "sky marshals" flying aboard airliners in 1970. The marshals, however, could not prevent potential hijackers from boarding aircraft, so the strategy then switched to a careful scrutiny of passengers and much of their luggage before boarding. Either hand-held or walk-through weapons detectors were in use at 87 airports by early 1972. There are now 1,185 hand-held detectors at all 532 commercial airports in the United States, and by February 5 there will be 1,100 walk-through detectors at all those airports. It is estimated that about 3,000 new law-enforcement officers will be employed, although some airport operators estimate that as many as 4,500 more will be needed.
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