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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 0957.PDF
'' ^pPflBsiiP1 *** Whereas Hawaiian Airlines has the DC-9-30 as a bigger-capacity jet to support the -10s originally operated, Aloha Airlines, the other Hawaiian local-service operator, has two Boeing 737-200s on order to follow their BAC One-Eleven 200s A I R T RANSPORT Independents Denied Transatlantic Rights AREFUSAL TO GRANT APPLICATIONS by two British independentairlines for scheduled services across the North Atlanticwas announced by the Air Transport Licensing Board in London last week. The airlines concerned were British Eagle International and Caledonian. The decision, which may mean that BOAC will remain the only British scheduled carrier on the North Atlantic for the "foreseeable future," does not represent, in the board's view, a reversal of earlier policy. The ATLB in 1961 was in favour of a second transatlantic carrier and granted an application from Cunard Eagle— though the decision was reversed on appeal. Commenting on this the board says that "our decision in the present case might have been different if either applicant had been able to show convincingly that, even in the circumstances of today, it could successfully establish its proposed operation." Both the independent airlines are to appeal against the decision. The ATLB points out that neither applicant expected its operation to become fully viable until the early 1970s, by which time there would be very strong competition from Boeing 747s, and probably from supersonic transports. "Before the expiry date of any of the licences asked for," says the ATLB, "there may be no place on the North Atlantic air routes for any airline that is not large enough and strong enough to deploy aircraft of some or perhaps all of these types and of others now being planned." Neither applicant, in the board's view, had established a strong financial position fromw hich it could embark on a major expansion of "this costly and exacting kind," and, although the applications were notT uled out on this ground, success was dependent on the time taken to reach profitability and on the financial resources available in the meantime. The details of the applications, as argued before the ATLB,w ere as follows:— From British Eagle International Airlines: A.7146, London- New York; and A.7154, London-Bermuda-Nassau-Chicago. From Caledonian Airways: A.7147, Gatwick-New York and Birmingham-Prestwick-New York; A.7148, Gatwick-Montreal- Toronto and Birmingham-Prestwick-Toronto; and A.7156, Gatwick-Chicago-Los Angeles. BOAC objected to all the applications, and the two applicants objected to each other's applications numbered A.7146 and A.7147 (earlier cross-objections to the other applications having been withdrawn). In giving the reasons for the decisions on the UK-USA route applications, the board said first that it had addressed itself to two main subjects: traffic on the routes and BOAC's performance; and considerations of the applicants' experience, financial resources and general fitness and competency, which under the Civil Aviation (Licensing) Act the board must take into account. The main point in the cases of both applicants was the need to appoint a second carrier to reverse the downward trend of the UK share of North Atlantic traffic. BOAC, said the board, had carried 28 per cent of the UK-USA traffic in 1967, com- pared with 62 per cent carried by the two US airlines involved and 10 per cent by other (fifth freedom) carriers. The BOAC share of UK-North American traffic had fallen from 42 per cent in 1959 to 34 per cent in 1967, although in the meantime the corporation had recovered from its £16.5 million deficit of 1961-62 and had returned to profitability. "It is understandable that BOAC's pursuit of financial rehabilitation has involved the restriction of operations, with the result that they are now probably carrying, and have in the past few years been carrying, a smaller proportion of traffic than might have fallen to the British flag had greater UK capacity been available." The board accepted BOAC's evidence that it intended to bid for a substantially larger share of the market in the next three
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