Evening star., 1933-01-29

its operations for two and half "
which depressed surface traffic OF
observers have characterized as "a
postal administration, has earned
aviation history.
Since the days of its inception Lud-
ington has had an uphill battle against
a type of competition from which 1t ex-
pected some measure Of protection un-
der the McNary-Watres airman act, but
which it never received.
When the Ludington line was organ
azed there was no passenger competition
for it to face. Eastern Airport Trans
port had the airmail contract on the
coastal run from New York through
Washington. but was flying only a night
airmail service, without any passenger
facilities. Ludington worked carefully
and let its plans be known. Only
few days before its announced opening
of hourly service between Washington
and New York Ludington's competition
began to manifest itself when Eastern
Air, with a single passenger plane and
with no advance notice, put on pas
senger service between New York and
Richmond
Ludington asked the Post Office De-
partment to permit it to carry mail on
its day runs, without interfering with
Easterns Airs mail schedules. Instead,
mail was placed on Eastern Airs pas
Senger planes.
Ludington then inaugurated service
from Atlantic City to Philadelphia and
asked for mail contract on that route,
over which no other airline was operat-
ing. Ludington officials claim they did
not even receive reply to their request.
Instead, without bidding and without
competition Of any sort, Eastern Air re-
ceived contracts for carrying airmail
from Atlantic City to New York, Phila-
delphia and Washington, as three sep
arate extensions" of its coastal route.
Norfolk Airway Requested.
The Post Office indicated its intention
Of inaugurating airmail service from
Washington to Norfolk, Va It did
more than indicate such an intention.
Postal members of the Interdepartmen-
tai Airways Board requested that the
Washing Norfolk route be estab-
lished as Department Of Commerce
airway, and this was done, at an ex-
pense of some $46,000.
Ludington promptly put on service
between Washington and Norfolk, be-
fore the airway was completed, again
alone in the field. Again it requested
the privilege of carrying the mail on
SllC lICW lOuIS. ASd1ll ~ 1CSClNCu AlO
reply. Instead Eastern Air Transport
opened a service. but this time, in the
face of growing criticism, did not par
allel the Ludington line, but operated
instead from Richmond to Norfolk, an
nouncing publicly that it would carry
airmail The result was a storm Of
criticism which reached Congress and
reverberated through the industry. But
this time Eastern Airs mail contract
failed to materialize. To this date the
Post Office Department has not put on
the Neutrality-suspicious. mail service
and only a few days ago the $4,000
airway, installed at its request, was put
on curtailed basis OF operation.
Its failure to gain a mail contract
appeared the more inexplicable and dis
heartening to the Ludington officials be-
cause Of the statement Of the Postmas-
ter General in advocating enactment Of
the McNary-Watres act that one Of his
chief aims under the act would be to
place airmail on passenger planes and
so encourage development of this phase
OF air transportation.
Denied Airmail Contract.
Though it has become the worlds
most heavily travelled air passenger
line, Ludington. after two and half
years of operation, carries no mail. In
the face of the decline in passenger
traffic caused by the depression, it is
in financial straits. In order to pro-
tect the private investment of the Lud-
ington brothers in the line, according to
President James M. Eaton, the COM
pany must take one of two alternatives
to sell out or get mail contract. Its
efforts to gain mail contract having
been denied, it now has no choice but
to sell, Eaton indicated. Whether an
effort will be made to hold on until
after March in the hope that the new
administration will be more gracious
than the old, Eaton was not prepared
to say.
Should Ludington be forced to sell
out, it will follow the path of one after
another of the independents who have
been unable to obtain mail contracts
One by one they have been absorbed by
the big -Four" or forced out of busi-
ness. Today more than 80 per cent Of