Evening star., 1936-11-29

passenger-mile cost.
A corollary goal Is more speed, as
an inducement to the travelling public,
and that. too, is realizable in the near
future. Currently, transport ships fly
coast to coast in from 16 to II hours;
that will be cut to IL hours In another
two years.
Passenger-mile revenue for any
given company, computed on the basis
OF the average ST cents charge for
domestic travel, must be scaled down
for the present, due to the size of
the free-of-charge load. For the first
six months Of 1896, for instance, the
pasSenger-mi figures indicate total
revenue for the 26 lines operating
within the borders of the United
States of $l0,231, ,691. At least tenth
of that must be written of as free
transportation. OF Ill ,072 passengers
carried by domestic airlines in July,
1886, no less than 10,700 paid no fare.
Mail revenue for airlines having
contracts with the Post Office De-
partment aggregated $s,32s,7ss for
the first six months of 1886.
Revenue Hard to Net.
Air express revenue amounted to
perhaps $4,000,000 in the calendar
year 1885, estimating the return on
the sliding-scale tariff which starts
at 96 cents a pound for coast-to-coast
shipment.
Those figures appear impressive for
an infant industry, but weigh against
them replacement of equipment-and
today's sleek. low-winged monoplane
cruising at 100 miles an hour Is alb
solute tomorrow-operation expense
other than salaries, plus salaries, net
income for the present shrinks.
Salaries are big item. That Of
the full-time pilot engaged in domes-
tic operation, for instance, is about
$3.50 month. Some conception of
the air transport companies pay rolls
can be CLEANED from these figures on
personnel: LIS pilots and co-pilots,
2,714 mechanics and riggers, 535
hangar and field workers. 264 host
| esses, Al stewards and 3,392 office
workers.
What of the scope of air line opera
ton? AS of July /, last, 422 airplanes
were operated by all American lines
in both continental and overseas serv-
ice. tbs. included the small, 9-or-
1opassenger ships, equipped to carry
mail and express in the forward COM
partments of their rocket-like fusel-
ages, as well as the great 4O-passen-
ger clipper ships operated by P. A. A.
699 Lighted Ports.
Lighted and radio-equipped airways
in the United States aggregate %, 900
miles. OF the 2,404 airports and land
ing fields-699 with night lighting
squipment-751 are municipal, 495
are commercial and 43 are State-op-
Grated; the remainder largely are De-
partment of Commerce, military and
privately ly-owned fields.
The Federal Airways system is a
product of modern engineering science
1t embraces rotating beacon lights at
l5-mile intervals throughout that 22.-
600 miles; intermediate landing fields
between airportS at intervals of so
miles; radio stations for weather
broadcastS and emergency messages to
aircraft in flight: radio range beacons
for directional guidance; radio marker
beacons for assistance to pilots in To-
eating strategic points, and a weather
reporting service involving the use Of
telegraph circuits and radio.
Twenty-three weather observation
stations provide the air lines each
morning with data on air pressure.
temperature and humidity between
the ground and 1900 feet above sea
level. Throughout the day and night
consolidated weather reports are post
ed at intervals at airports and broad
cast from Bureau of Air Commerc,
radio stations to aircraft in flight.
Keep Up Fight for Safety.
The air transport industry still
fights the accident bugaboo, but with
every means known to science it is
making air travel safer In the first
six months of 1886 regular transports
flew 1881 miles per accident. 6, 6,704,-
6l5 miles per fatal accident nd 1874
1874 passenger miles per passenger ia
tality.
For comparison, the number of pas
senger miles flown per passenger ia
tality in 1880, the first year for which
figures are available, was 1922, ,802.
Back of this panoramic picture of
the American air transport industry
is the manufacturer who makes fight
possible. The planes now in the air
were turned out by 81 concerns, about
half of which are actively engaged at
present in filling the industry's de-
mands. Four manufacturers provide
most of the motors used in standard
transport planes,