Evening star., 1948-08-20
TroyeI by Air Coach?

The Civil Aeronautics Boards decision to
allow new ten per cent fare increase on
the country'S major scheduled alrllneS LENDS
point to the application of three nom
scheduled lines for permission to make
regular transcontinental flights at low
rates and without the subsidy of mail pay.
Banded together as the Air Coach AS
ISOLATION, the three applicants are Stand
ard Air Lines, Viking Airlines and Airline
Transport Carriers. What they ask for
is the right to start scheduled flying across
the country. Given that, they will be
able, they say, to carry passengers at
fares about a third cheaper than those now
charged by the regular certificated lines.
They claim moreover, that they will be
equipped to do this profitably, even
though they receive no mail subsidy.
In some ways this interesting proposal
seems a bit hard to believe. All but one
of our sixteen regularly scheduled airlines,
despite progressive increases in their mail
pay, are now operating deeply in the red,
and the impending new boost in fares will
be the third of its kind since last year.
Yet here are three nonScheduled COM
panieS fatty asserting that they can make
a profit if they are allowed to operate on
schedule flying people on nonsubsidized
basis at rates third below what is being
charged at present
The explanation is that the three appli-
eants propose to operate without heavy
overhead costs and minus the usual "frillS."
For example, they would cut promotional
or public relations expenses to the bone.
1c hp
latter being an item on which our regular
airlines are spending over $l0000,000 a
year-about half their present annual
deficit What would be offered, as in rail-
road transportation, would be plain coach
travel in the sky, as distinct from the
fancy parlOr-car travel provided now on
the scheduled flights.
All this makes at least a specifically
impressive case. From the standpoint
of both the CAB and the scheduled airlines,
however, certain factors need to be con-
sidered First of ALL there is the question
of safety. Although the applicants have
fine nonscheduled flying record, the very
nature of their low-cost operating plans
makes some experts seriously doubt that
they could be quite AS safe on scheduled
flights as the regular lines. A second
major question has to do with the eco
nomics of the situation. The big sched-
uled carriers are In the red not simply
because of ineficiency or "frills." Faced
with the same problems, the air-coach
people probably would be hard pressed, too
To retain their certifcation, for example,
the scheduled lines are required to fly
certain routes where the passenger load
Goes not pay its own way. In addition,
bcause of their relationship to national
security, and with new equipment today
becoming obsolescent tomorrow, they must
undertake exceptional expenditures to
keep from tagging behind In the circum-
stances should air-coach travel be allowed
the opportunity to take much-needed busi-
ness away from them? Would such
competition be good for the country in
the long run? And would the companies
offering that kind of service be able to
purchase expensive requirements when
their present planes-bought largely at
bargain war-surpluS prces-wear out?
These are some of the many questions
the CAB must weigh in passing on the
merits of the pending application. Our
domestic aviation picture is a decidedly
complicated one, the more so because of
the security factor involved. There are
no simple answers right at hand. Never