GENERAL GAIN

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 69, 23 March 1938, Page 20

GENERAL GAIN

AMERICAN AIRLINERS

BUT MONEY DROPPED

From the viewpoint of traffic carried and technical prpgress, the commercial airline operators of the United States enjoyed their best year in 1537. It was, however, a disastrous year economically, with the losses for the airline industry aggregating approximately 3,000,000 dollars (£750,000), writes Wayne Thomis in the "Chicago Tribune."

The year's purchases of private aeroplanes were the greatest in nearly a decade and the military services finally began getting a start towards, their goal of 2000 first-class fighting ships each for the army and naval air services ,by 1940. The two services together ordered nearly 1500 aeroplanes valued at about 30,000,000 dollars (£7,500,000). V

The year also, saw the opening ! moves in the race to span the North Atlantic ocean with regular passen- . ger, mail, and express service in heav--1 ier-than-air craft. Three nations par- : ticipated actively—the United States, ' Great Britain, and Germany—with the United States and England having a slight edge through the joint flights made. by Pan-American and Imperial : Airways. Another important and significant • development of 1937 was the decision ' of the country's leading surety com- . panics that airline travel is no-more ■ hazardous than railroad travel. Acting upon airline records of recent years, these companies announced that • beginning January 1, 1938, the rates for ; j insurance for airline passengers will %c fat the same level as those for passen;gers riding the railroads. ; Two factors were responsible for the anomalous situation in the commercial air transportation industry. Mail pay during the year did not increase as mail loads rose—many thousands of pounds of mail were carried absolutely free by the operators—and acci- : dents in the spring and early in the fall reduced the passenger totals. A TRAFFIC INCREASE. Despite these handicaps,. recapitulation of all figures discloses that the number of passengers carried by the airlines, both domestic and foreign, increased 15 per cent.; the egress tonmiles 25 per cent., and mail ton-miles 19 per cent. Obsolescent equipment on most oE the country's airlines was retired during the year. Douglas and Lockheed equipment was substitute^ ' almost ■ universally, giving the operators the most modern aeroplanes with which 'to work. This change is beneficial in terms of economy of operation and also in terms of competition with surjface vehicles. • ■ '■! The Douglas company continued to sell its DC-2 airliners and also sold 'a record number of its DC-3 ships. The Lockheed company had three ; types in transportation, the eight-pas-senger Lockheed 12,. the 10-passenger Lockheed Electra, and finally the 11----passenger Lockheed 14 or Zephyr, which is the world's fastest transport 'plane. Its cruising speed is 225 miles an hour. . | The major airlines placed orders during the year with the Douglas and Boeing aircraft companies for giant four-motored liners which will be delivered some time during 1938. The Douglas DC4, which, should be one, of the finest transport planes ever constructed, will begin flying early in 1938, and the Boeing .transports are supposed to be delivered in time for the summer rush season. FIGURES OF OPERATIONS. - Here are- Government tables for United States domestic and international airlines for the years 1936 and 1937: i ■ ' . Per cent. 1938. 1937. oflnc.: Miles flown .... . 73,303,836 77,702,100 G Pass, carried ..'.''. 1.147,90!) 1,300,000 13 Pass, miles .... 491,714,053 557,012,300 15 Exp. aariea, lbs. 8,350,010 9,101,000 9 Mall carried, lbs. 18,324,012 21,805,600 19 Itoute miles 61,032 65,294 3 Gals, gas used . 37,057,069 39,286,500 6 Gallons of oil .. 871,663 924,100 0 By far the largest number of private aeroplanes sold during the year were the so-called "flivver" types— light ships carrying two passengers on from 36 to 40' horse-power. One company alone built nearly 600 of these' ships, and there are three in the field with others threatening to enter. A number of manufacturers offered new executive, sports, and air-yacht types.

The individual costs for army and navy fighting aeroplanes soared as both services began buying fourmotored equipment. The army's Boeing 815, weighing 60,000 pounds and with a wing spread/of 160 feet, cost nearly one million dollars. The other large ships are costing up to 250,000 dollars each. With the increase in price came an increase in general speeds. i The larger ships tall are cruising now at 200 miles an ihour or over and the smaller pursuit and attack planes are credited with top speeds of over 300- miles an hour. The speeds for all military types are nearly double those of a decade ago.