THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1932 BRITISH AIR SERVICES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21253, 5 August 1932, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1932 BRITISH AIR SERVICES

The recent increase in traffic by the service of Imperial Airways, Limited, between London and the Continent is a matter for satisfaction, apart from its significance as a welcome indication of a general business revival. In the history of the company, indeed, there has been a continuous development, and although this Iras varied in pace according to prevailing economic conditions no serious check has been experienced. Even when these conditions have been unfavourable, the directors have sometimes been able to declare a dividend, and when years have closed with a loss there has been a convincing explanation in the outlay on improved plant. Year by year there has been announcement of extension of the service, and particular care has been exercised in ensuring the safety and convenience of passengers. This policy of confidence in the outlook for commercial aviation has been justified. There has been a remarkable freedom from accident, not quite complete but almost so, attributable to generous expenditure on "maintenance and overhauls," this being regarded as a necessary price for the assurance of the public that the company's craft are safe and reliable. No figure, however high, has been indefensible on this ground, and an early impatience of shareholders, because the balance was on the wrong side of the ledger, soon gave place to gratification that their interests were being surely safeguarded in the long run. The British Government, subsidising the company as the most practicable means of fostering civil aviation, has shown the same confidence. Years ago it set apart £1,000,000 as the State's contribution to this desirable national development, spreading the amount over ten years in a diminishing ratio; and it has never had reason to repent of its bargain. Thirteen years have passed since the inception of the Continental service. That was the virtual beginning of aviation in Britain on a commercial basis, regard being paid, of course, to the need for promoting "airmindedness" in Britain by providing facilities for aerial transport beyond existing requirements. This need was apparent. Continental countries moved faster in this activity than did Britain; in particular, there was a palpable reluctance to provide for point-to-point travel in the Homeland, this reluctance betraying itself in the prolonged neglect to provide landing-grounds in most of the main centres of population. So a start was enterprisingly made with crosschannel transport,. and out of. this two advances have come, one being an expansion of Imperial Airways' services to distant parts, as in the regular travel to and from India, and the other a favourable reaction in the development of services in Britain itself. For this enterprise th 6 Air Ministry and Imperial Airways are jointly to be congratulated. The history of the company goes back beyond the amalgamation, in 1924, of the four businesses then operating, but then beg:an a period of quickened advance. It was not accomplished without shareholders' misgivings. They cohiplained that they were being made to wait an unconscionable time for dividends. But the policy of the directors in paying more attention to perfecting the services than to such complaints vron its way. After the fifth year there was ample compensation for waiting. Technical difficulties were mastered so well that British-made equipment became famous for high quality in design and workmanship, British airmen attained an international ranking no whit behind that reached by British engineers, and the .British public soon left its timidity and aloofness for a proud interest, shown in a practical way. The Government, too, soon made an advantageous change in the conditions of the subsidy; what was at first a mere mileage provision, a minimum aggregate of 800,000 flight miles being essential for the earning of the subsidy, became a.horse-power mileage, with 425,000,000 miles as the minimum. This encouraged the construction of bigger and better craft, more powerfully engined and more comfortable, until the 60-seater airliners mentioned in to-day's news came into use. It would be a mistake, however, to confine to the cross-channel and inland development of British aviation the gratification felt at such an excellent achievement as that scored by Imperial Airways. The company has done much to justify the first word in its title, encouraged by the Air Ministry. Throughout its histpry, although the cross-channel traffic has been mainly considered, for obviously good reasons, the prospect of regular lines binding the Empire into a network of aerial communication has been regarded seiiously. Sir Samuel Hoare once expressed the mind of the Air Ministry by saying that "air lines are not matters for an individual country," and the many possible applications of the dictum include one of clear importance to the Empire as a scattered commonwealth. Viewed in relation to Europe, Britain has been on the fringe of Continental communication ; it has been to Berlin, not London, that all air-roads in Europe have led. But a very different position obtains when the Empire is considered as a geographical unit. Then London lias its central value emphasised, and this fact has not been overlooked by either the Government or the company. Into Asia, down through Africa, across toward Australia and New Zealand, and even athwart the difficult Atlantic, development is envisaged ; and the established success of the crosschannel service, increasing its passenger traffic as well as its facilities for mails and other freight, has already made feasible an all-Empire use of commercial flight.