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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0091.PDF
FEBRUARY 15. 1923 v THE THIRD AIR CONFERENCE [LAST week we published extensive extracts from the paper on seaplanes read by Mr. C. R. Fairey, and synopses of the other papers read before the Third Air Conference. This week we continue with extracts from the papers read during the morning of the first day of the Conference, i.e., " The Position of Air Transport Today," by Major-General Sir Sefton Brancker, and " The Establishment of a Self-supporting Airship Service," by Commander Dennis Burney. Next week we hope to conclude by publishing the remaining papers and a report of the discussion.—ED.] : "A% THE POSITION OF AIR TRANSPORT TODAY ^ : By Major-General Sir W. Sefton Brancker, K.C.B., A.F.C., Director of Civil Aviation THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR AIR NAVIGATION THE International Convention for the Regulation of Aerial Navigation was drawn up under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles. Its object was to facilitate air transport between States who were signatories to the Convention, and to ensure the proper standard of safety and reliability through- out the air transport activities of those signatories. The Convention was signed by 21 States, but so far has only been ratified by the nine following States :—The British Empire, Belgium, Bolivia, France, Greece, Japan, Portugal, Jugo- slavia and Siam. Persia has also adhered to the Convention since, and is now represented on the Commission. The Commission first met in Paris last July, and it was there decided that it should meet three times a year at the capital of one of the signatories wherever most convenient. Its second session was held in London during October, and its next will be in Brussels at the end of February. Its meetings so far have been remarkable for the cordiality of the relations between all nations represented ; there has not been a single point of serious difference of opinion, and in consequence very considerable progress has been made. Some of the non-signatory States had several criticisms to make against the Convention as it stood, particularly with regard to two Articles, Article 5 and Article 34. Article 5 as it stood made it impossible for a contracting State to allow flight above its territory of aircraft belonging to a non- contracting State, except by means of a special and temporary authorisation. An amended wording of Article 5 was drawn up in July, and finally approved at the London meeting in October. By the new Article 5 contracting States have freedom to make agreements with non-contracting States without let or hindrance, so long as these special agreements do not infringe the rights of the contracting States, and do not clash with the rules laid down in the Convention or its Annexes. Article 34 relates to the International Commission for Air Navigation. Under this article, the voting power of members of the Commission is such that the five great allies, France, Italy, United States, Japan and Great Britain if voting together will always have a majority. The present representative gives France, Japan and Great Britain two votes apiece. The small nations naturally take exception to this, and this Article has undoubtedly been a deterrent for the late neutral nations from asking for membership. They plead that it smacks too much of the Great War, and that they cannot agree to the principle of the old allies always being certain of a majority. This question has also been considered, and it is generally agreed that something must be done to modify Article 34. Actually, the fact that two of the great allies—the United States and Italy—have not yet ratified makes the assured majority of the great allies inoperative. I believe that Italy and Czecho-slovakia are about to ratify and that the United States are also considering the question seriously. It is of urgent importance for the future of air transport that all nations, including our late enemies, should sign the International Convention, as it is only by its means that common rules of navigation, lighting, signalling and other regulaflkms for the safety of aircraft and personnel can be extended throughout the world. The International Commission has so far been an unquali- fied success and personally I have very great hopes that it will develop into a strong factor towards maintaining the peace of Europe in the future. HISTORY OF AIR TRANSPORT DURING THE PAST YEAR Subsidised Services.—The new subsidy scheme which had just been decided at the time of our meeting last year catered for three rival companies flying to Paris and one company to Brussels. The Daimler Airways Co. had risen from the ashes of the old Aircraft Transport and Travel Co , and had been approved by the Air Ministry for the Paris route as well as Instone and Handley Page, The Instone Air Line had also been allotted the Brussels route in addition to Paris. On paper this scheme looked wonderful. In practice it did not work satisfactorily. It had three outstanding defects :—(1) It fostered undesirable competition between British firms ; (2) It depended entirely on the volume of traffic obtained, and was based on a too optimistic estimate of this traffic ; (3) It was too complicated in its application. By the beginning of May, it was obvious that the scheme was not working well. All three operating companies were losing heavily and could see no hopes of any tangible improve- ment in the future. About the end of May it was decided by the Air Council that something must be done at once. A scheme of compensation for past losses was first arranged. These losses were the direct result of deficiency in the passenger and goods traffic ; so the amount of compensation was calculated on the number of passengers anticipated when the subsidy was drawn up. The increase hoped for was reckoned at 65 per cent, on the traffic of 1921, of which it had been contemplated that 75 per cent, would have been carried by British aircraft. On this basis, for each passenger less than this number, a grant of £10 17s. Qd. was allowed as representing the amount that could have been received in fare and Government subsidy . This gave us the lump sum which should have been expended on firms if traffic had come up to expectations. This lump sum was divided into two—one-half was divided between the firms in proportion to the number of passengers they had actually carried, and the other half in proportion to the seats they had had available. This sounds rather complicated, but I think it was just, and that it met the situation. This scheme of payment was made to apply up to Sep- tember 30, during which time a new scheme had to be drawn up and approved by the Treasury. Even this new scheme was perforce of a temporary nature, as the money available would only last for about another 18 months. At the end of that period, that is, somewhere about the beginning of 1924, most of the ,£600,000 allocated for the subsidies would have been expended ; so the new scheme was only intended to remain in force for the period during which some more far-reaching line of Government policy regarding air transport must be evolved. This temporary scheme was based on the following desiderata :—(1) To preserve the three existing air transport companies, but to prevent them competing amongst them- selves ; (2) To extend British transport activities as far into Europe as possible with the money available, and to establish at least one internal air route in Great Britain. After considerable discussion, arbitrary figures were laid down as representing sums just sufficient to cover the probable losses in one year on these four routes—£15,000 for Paris, £'25,000 for Cologne, /55,OOO for Manchester and Berlin, and £10,000 for Cherbourg and the Channel Islands. No more money was available of the unexpended portion of the £600,000 allowed for the current year. It was also necessary to make some new arrangements regarding the supply of equipment ; so the aircraft and engines Which we allowed to the companies on the hire purchase system were given to them outright up to a certain limit in capital value, each company receiving approximately £30,000 worth of equipment. This cleared away all our troubles regarding responsibility for failures in material and placed the operating firms in direct communication with the manufacturers and designers. An offer was also made to furnish capital up to 30 per cent, of the value of any new equipment required by operating companies during the next financial year. I would like to add here that throughout these negotiations the Treasury were extraordinarily sym- pathetic, helpful and quick in arriving at a decision on general principles and by their assistance enabled us to bring the new competitive system into force on October 1. This scheme entailed certain difficulties in that it contem- plated flying into Germany. These difficulties can be put into two classes :—(1) Those involved by flying from Holland 91
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