Evening star., 1953-05-13


the average seems to be about
A per flight, adding up to a total
ticket revenue Of $1,337.82 fol
each trip.
/ The major lines estimate that
it costs roughly 1882 for each
Constellation fight from here to
Chicago, including all expenses
The figure of 44 passengers be-
comes a rock-bottom minimum
If the lines hope to make a
profit.
While many lines have been
reluctant to increase the seat
ing capacity of their big ships
above the 5000 limit, Eastern
AirlineS-which is celebrating
its 25th anniversary now-is ex-
panding its seating space to the
88 limit through use of the larg-
est Constellation available.
Unlike railroads, which have
had more than a century to per-
feet operations and Standardize
equipment, the airline industry
still is in the infant stage, the
ATA says. So far. no mixture
of economic and scientific gen.
ius has appeared to design an
airliner that can be bought and
operated at a passenger cost
comparable to the railroads.
$1,750.OOO Price Tag.
The Constellation has an aver
age price tag of $1.750,000. With
full load, the biggest will seat SO
passengers, with no standees
permitted. Its cargo capacity
will be limited to a few tons.
For the same money. a railroad
can purchase a train consisting
Of two diesel locomotive units
and IL streamlined cars, each
seating so persons with plenty
of room for standing customers.
There also would be a bit of
cash left over to buy fuel oil for
the dieselS.
With such borderline revenue
situation facing them on short
haul flights, the big -Four" do
mestic lines-American, United,
TWA and Eastern, in that order
look to their long distance
operations beyond the 6OO-mile
mark to keep them out of the red
side of the ledger.
But their closest competitor
and fifth largest domestic line,
Capital, which is. the only COM
pany with headquarters here,
ends its routes just about where
the pay-off point begins. Its
longest lines in a 16-State net
work covering only 5000 miles
are to Milwaukee and New
Orleans, terminals that barely
get into the paying" class.
Under this handicap, Capital
has been forced to cater to the
short-haul trade. 1t inaugurated
the Aircoach idea comparable
to regular day-coach rail service)
in 1948. Using TWA as a COM
parison. Capital has a fleet of
ST airliners; TWA, 153 in domes-
tic service alone. Last year, Cap
ital handled 80 per cent of the
total volume recorded by TWA
in all its runs over the Nation.
But, in revenue it barely equaled
a third of TWAS, the Alta shows.
U. S. Bridges Gap.
Because of this marginal op-
Grafton, most airlines made ends
meet for years through the Gov
ernment's subsidy" payments
for airmail service.
Since the first airmail flight
on September %. 1911, Uncle
Sam has been a financial spon-
sor of American air development.
After Inauguration of the first
scheduled airmail run between
Washington and New York in
1918-an event which will be
celebrated here on May Is
Congress has repeatedly appro-
priated money to help defray
cost of flying the mail. Most of
this was turned into private air.
line expansion.
The subsidy was set up on a
sliding-scale rate based on a fair
profit over operating costs and
was paid out in adjusted airmail
fees to each line. At the end of
each year. the airlines totaled
their deficits and the Govern
ment made up the difference.
In 1887. when aviation devel-
opment was in a sort of economic
doldrums. Post Office officials
confidently declared that the
Nations alrlines would be clear
of the subsidy within two years.
In January, 1898, the president
OF ATA pleaded with Congress
for an increased appropriation,
predicting failure for many lines
unless they received a greater
! subsidy.
The cycle Of airline progress
had begun late in 1887. Airplane
manufacturers began turning
| out new equipment and the lines
were forced to buy because Of
public demand for the luxury"
travel. Since that time, airline
progress has been tied to a
spend-and- improve philosophy.
ATA experts concede.
Outflies Subsidies.
BY the end of 1852. however. all
/. major trunk airlines finally had
left the subsidy behind. They
now are operating on fixed air.
mail rate which means saving
| for the Government. But, most
of them still keep a close eye on
the books. If their passenger
trafic slumps or the air mail
volume drops. they'll be back on
the subsidy again.