The daily independent., 1937-08-09
: uA NAA

Delay Transatlantic Air Ser
vice; Plane Builders Object To
Route Monopoly BY Pan Amer
lean Airways; State Depart
ment Supports Company, Cites
Agreement With Britain; OPP
pOnents See National Defense
Jeopardized, Plane Business
Hurt.
Washington-The widely her
aided transatlantic air service
scheduled to open this fall be-
tween the United States and Eng
land, may not get under way af-
ter all. Reason is a hot under
cover row between different gov
ernment agencies, which are split
up in supporting rival aviation
interests
The Commerce Department and
the Maritime Commission are on
one side, both supporting the air
plane manufacturers. On the
other side are the State Depart
ment and Pan American AirWayS.
Nub of the controversy is Whe. her
the transatlantic route shall be a
monopoly. Also a bone of con-
tention is a secret agreement be-
tween Pan-Am and the British
subsidized Imperial AirWayS, by
which the U. S. firm obtained eX-
elusive landing field rights in
England.
The airplane builders vehement
ly object to Pan-Am'S projected
monopoly of the transatlantic
business, and base their object
ions on two counts:
First, that such a monopoly is
seriously detrimental to The best
interests of national defense. Sec
ond, that it would injure their
business by contining the demand
for flying boats TO one company
In so vital a national defense
sphere as the Atlantic Ocean. the
Commerce Department Maritime
Commission manufacturer group
contends. arrangements for air
transport service should not be
negotiated by a private company
but by the Government. especial
ly as the Governmen, has big
stake in the service through its
airmail subsidy.
On the strictly business end, the
manufacturers want competition
in the service because that would
mean more aircraft building.
Old Feud
Hard feeling between Pan
American and the plane-makers
is of long standing.
They charge that as a result Of
Pan Americans monopoly of
South American and Pacific air
routS. the United States lagS far
behind Great Britain in the num-
Der and technical development of
flying boats. Imperial AirWayS
has fleet of 40 new ships under
construction, whereas American
manufacturers are constructing
only a few.
Leaders in the inner govern
ment attack on Pan American
Airways are Colonel J. Monroe
johnson, Assistant Secretary Of
Commerce and Grover Looming,
aviation adviser 20 Chairman Joe
Kennedy of the Maritime Com
mission. Of the two. Looming par
ticularly is a thorn in Pan-Am'S S
side.
He knows all about its business
because he was a director Of the
company for years. Several months
ago, however, he broke with his
old associates, resigned from the
bard and joined the Maritime
Commission staff. In this capacity,
insiders say, he is wading into
Pan-Am with relish.
One of the things he is doing is
preparing a report showing the
extent of Pan-Am's foreign op-
erationS and connections. The
Maritime Commission intends to
ask Congress to give it control
over these lines.
State Department Drag
The State Department, long
friendly to Pan-Am, is going to
bat for it again in this contro-
versy. R. Walton Moore, State De-
partment counselor and its repre-
sentative on The interdepartment-
al committee handling the trans
atlantic air question, has vigor-
ouSly defended the company in
the secret deliberations.
He has opposed the manufact-
urers' demand that Pan American
make public its secrcy agreements
with Imperial Airways. He also is
emphatically against competition
by different U. S. lines across the
Atlantic.
What originally happened, &C
cording to MCore's private ex-
planation, is that the British al
first refused landing privileges to
the United States either in Ber-
muda or Newfoundland. In turn
the State Department refused
Imperial Airways landing privil-
eges in The United States.
FINALLY compromise was
reached, so that one British line