Developments In United States Civil Air Services

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27669, 27 May 1955, Page 16

Developments In United States Civil Air Services

Pure jet aircraft for commercial use were not expected to be flying passengers in the United States until 1960, and the first jet airliners which flew would have been thoroughly tested, said Mr D. S. Wilson, the-Pacific representative of United Airlines, in an interview with “The Press” yesterday. Mr Wilson will return to Sydney today after spending 10 days in New Zealand, meeting travel agents and officials of Tasman Empire Airways and the National Airways Corporation.

“We will, gain from the mistakes that de KaviUand made,” said Mr Wilson. We , are not going to put passenger jets into, the air prematurely. . “I am sure the Comet is an excell®"t aircraft, and I am convinced it will fly again. When it does, it will be one of the best aircraft in the air ” Mr Wilson said that American aircraft builders were well on the way with pure jets for passenger carrying One had been built and was at present being tested, and another was still under construction. With flrst-class aeroplane fares cheaper than flrst-class. fares by rail more passengers were flying by air each week, he said. It was thought that 1955 would he a record year”in air travel in the United States, with passenger figures of all conffcanies showing an increase to date of 32 per cent., on last year. His own company had carried 4,750,000 passengers in 1953, and this year it expected to carry 5,500,000. Fares of about 6d a mile flrst-class and 4d a mile tourist class were general in America, and compared favourably with prices for air travel in New Zealand.

The helicopter was being developed rapidly for commercial transport, but until jet helicopters were made, it was unlikely that they would be used, widely, Mr Wilson said. The present helicopter cost a lot of money, it carried only a few passengers, and was uneconomical to run. Helicopters carrying 20 to 30 passengers for trips up to 200 miles were envisaged. » However, for certain feeder services the helicopter was most useful. As an | example, Mr Wilson said that New York had three airports, La Guardia, Idlewild and Newark. Traffic congestion made it impossible to travel by car from one to another in - less than two hours. A helicopter feeder service took 20 minutes.

United Airlines recently placed an order for 26 four-engined Douglas aircraft which will cost 45,500,000 dollars. With 17 similar planes on order to cost 19,300,000 dollars and a huge fleet of 356 other aircraft the company will be operating one of the world’s largest commercial airlines.

The company also claims to have been the first to fly airline hostesses, and this year it is marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the service. The first hostesses flew on May 15, 1930, on three-motored Boeing 80 machines which cruised at 120 miles an hour.

The hostesses then had no specific instructions to follow except to “make themselves useful.” They did so, and won the immediate approval of passengers—so much so that other airlines began to recruit young women for similar work. Today, more than 10,000 women are employed throughout the world as air hostesses.