Evening star., 1947-08-03

Russia objected to free trade pro.
/ (see ARNE, Page C-5)
Ocean Flying
Begins to Pay
u. S. Airlines Operating
Overseas Are Now
Making Money
By Sam Dowson
! NEW YORK.-The American yer
to get to foreign parts quickly /.
proving a great comfort to the
harassed aviation industry.
The three American companie.
( flying overseas scheduled routes fol
any length of time report that this
phase of their operations is nov
happily in the black, even while the
is leading domestic airlines report
a composite net operating deficit ol
$18,085, 900 in the first five months
Of 1947.
| A fourth, Northwest Airlines, /.
now also in the overseas service, bu,
it completed its inaugural flight tc
Manila July 2l, too recently for any
operational figures.
| Trans World Airline reports its
international division switched
from red to black ink in April
American overseas airfines say they
crossed over into happy ground late
in April and have been improving
steadily since.
See Better Days
The original American overseas
air carrier. Pan American Anyways,
says the first five months of this
year showed gross. commercial rev.
enues 40 per cent above the same
period in 1916.
All three look forward to even bet
ter days ahead in the traditionally
favorable economic weather of the
third quarter.
Air freight and express put the
cream in their coffee. airlines off,
cials say. -,
Passenger travel enabled them to
break even in the late spring and
summer months, but addition of re-
Gently available al.cargo planes
boosted their operational result
into figures dear to their treasurers
hearts.
They expect even better times next
year because, as one says, "the real
postwar plane has not yet been in
troduced to the international field
and with it should come reduced
operational costs and ,pleasanter
profit statements.
TWA reports its international d.
vision recorded a profit of approx
mately $4,000 for April, compared
with net loss of $685., ,129 for March
Total operating revenues, which
were $l,805,801 in March, reached
$685. 1868 In April. At the same time
it pared total operating expenses OF
81, ,240,375 in March to $2,080,025 in
April
Schedules Expand
The amount of cream that freight
added to the coffee is shown ir
TWAS report that in March it's in
ternational division chalked up l..
S7o,2s4 revenue ton miles, in April
2, 372,773. and in June an esti-
mated 3,026,250.
An American overseas official says
a first quarter loss Of $4,000, 900 was
changed into a second quarter net
profit of $250,000 and he estimates
June profits at $4,000.
Since the late April break. the
trend has been steadily upward, he
adds.
In estimating its earnings, AOA
uses the temporary mail pay rate
OF IS cents ton mile, which in the
second quarter was equivalent to
l7.7 cents per revenue mile flown.
Increased overseas ai- traffic is
reflected in expanding schedules
AOA few IA round trips a week to
Europe last December. and nov
flies "a week. using 18 planes, II
of them DC-4s and Z Constella-
tions. Routes have been extended
to Helsinki in Finland and to Ber-
lin. Trafic is reported picking up
steadily.
Pan American also has expanded
schedules. offering its first around
the-world service late in June. It
reports passenger miles, number OF
passengers and plane miles all
showing increases over 1916.
There are several factors account
ing for the switch to black ink in
April, in addition to more favorable
flying weather.
One is the repeal of the Is per
cent excise tax on international air
travel, effective April /, which had
put American carriers at q disad-
vantage with foreign competitors.
Another is as one ofiicial says:
THE airlines got over their grow
ing pains in the first part of the
year" He refers to the absorption
finally of the development and ex-
pansion outlays necessary when
AOA and TWA entered the interna-
tional field and when Pan American
circled the globe.
Distributed b. the Associated 15sss.)