3 Months To N.A.C. Deadline

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31343, 13 April 1967, Page 1

3 Months To N.A.C. Deadline

(New Zealand Prtet ' Association; AUCKLAND, April 12. 'The Government would have to approve the purchase of the National Airways Corporation 552 million jet fleet by June or July if existing capacity was not to be overrun by the end pf next year, the general manager of NA.C., Mr D. A. Patterson, said in Auckland today.

It would take 15 months from the date of Government approval to have the jets delivered and in service, and N.A.C. wanted them flying by September or October next year.

1 This would allow it to cope with the increasing traffic demand without chartering aircraft or buying secondhand ones and would avoid having 10 per cent to 15 per cent of its pilots training on the new aircraft during the 1968 Christmas rush. NA.C. had been waiting for more than a year for the ' Government to approve its recommendation of the Boeing 737 twin-jet as a replacement for the obsolete Viscounts. The British BA.C. 1-11 was right out of NA.C. considerations, mainly because of insufficient capacity and the unavailability of Rongotai airport for the recentlyannounced “stretched” version. Mr Patterson said a new version of the Douglas DC9,

with more powerful engines, was a contender for the Viscount replacement but its economics would still not be as good as ttbsq of the Hoeing for New Zealand. I fi Eighteen airlines had ordered 141 Boeing 737 s and

; although NAC.'s order has > not been approved, it has reI served positions On the ! delivery list. These would ■ give NA.C. its aircraft in . &ly. August and September I next year. I S If the present growth in

traffic continued and the corporation had no jets by December, 1968, It would have to charter aircraft or buy second-hand planes. Both would be most uneconomic. Electras Oboslete Neither more Viacounts nor more Friendships would be satisfactory, as only pure jets could provide the necessary capacity at an economic cost It had been suggested that the corporation could charter Air New Zealand’s three Eleetras, but these were obsolete and in any case not designed for short-haul work. To buy sufficient Friendships to cany the traffic would cost £2 million more than Boeings.