The Press SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1934. Imagination in Air Mails

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21354, 22 December 1934, Page 14

The Press SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1934. Imagination in Air Mails

Ever since Imperial Airways began its Empire services by sending a weekly aeroplane to India, it has been criticised for lack of initiative and imagination by people who, while admitting that no other country in the world can beat the comfort, regularity and safety of the British services, have contended that faster aeroplanes, travelling over the routes more often, would greatly increase the traffic and hasten the day when subsidies will not be necessary. Imperial Airways has on one or two occasions been forced by the volume of the criticism to reply, and the spokesmen for the company have always said that it is prepared to give faster services provided that someone will pay for them. In the meantime, as they have seen it, the company's job has been to carry mails and passengers as fast as the subsidy provided by Great Britain and the Dominions served will allow. The British Government, in such statements as have been made for it, has emphasised the safety and efficiency of the British lines, and has shown that they are at any rate no slower than their direct rivals. For the last, few months there have been rumours of great changes, but not even the most optimistic believer in fast mails as a stimulus to trade could have expected such plans as those which Sir Philip Sassoon has now announced will be carried out provided that the Dominions will support the British Government. In "The Press" it has frequently been stated that to attract enough traffic to make their operation worth while air mails must be fast; that they must be frequent, so that the advantage of speed will not be nullified by long waiting; and that postage rates must be lowered so that the mails will be used regularly, and not only on extraordinary occasions. The suggestion has been made that rates almost as low as those for surface transport might attract mail in such quantities that the consequent reduction in overhead costs would actually reduce the amount of subsidy necessary and perhaps make any subsidy unnecessary. Each of these points Sir Philip meets. The seven days proposed for the service is longer than the time suggested by those whose interest in air mails was aroused by the Centenary air race and who do not appreciate the problems of regular air service operation; but it is just about as short a time as is possible with aeroplanes at present in sight if passengers are to be carried as well as mails, and the policy of mixed loading Imperial Airways regards as the only one economically feasible. A twice-weekly service, as suggested by Sir Philip, is as frequent as anyone would suggest at the beginning, though sheer volume of mail may necessitate an increase. I The proposal to make no extra charge for the air mails, beyond reducing to naif an ounce the weight that can be carried for lid, is so revolutionary as to be almost unbelievable. Certainly in the past government answers to such bodies as the London Chamber of Commerce which have urged that this policy would pay have not indicated that it might be put into practice. This is, indeed, the most startling feature of a scheme which for foresight and imagination has never been surpassed in the postal history of the world. The Hon. Adam Hamilton, in his announcement of the proposals, offered no direct comment, but the tone of his statement suggests that New Zealand will support Great Britain; Australia, where there has been loud criticism of the present service, is likely to do so, too; and the other British countries along the route are almost certain to do their share in ensuring that the British Empire will have an air service that will be the envy of the world. But this service cannot be in operation for two or three years, and in the meantime there is plenty of room for improvement in the existing service, with the existing equipment. Two or three days clipped from the time taken (and this presents no great obstacle), the fixing of Sydney instead of Cootamundra as the terminal, and the redaction of the minimum weight of letter to a quarter of an ounce instead of half, with a postage fee of ninepence, would probably greatly increase mail loads, and give New Zealanders and Australians a pleasant foretaste of the good things to come.