Clipper, Vol. XVII, No. 4, April 1960

              
• '
HAVANA STATION PICTURES
. . . Pages 4-5
CLIPPE
[OUNDUP ON
Page 8
LATIN
AMERICAN DIVISION
■IMNMMMMI
VOL. XVII, No. 4
MIAMI, FLORIDA, APRIL 1960
600420
Bitter Battle For Business Facing Pan Am
Competition Grows As More Airlines Invade U.S. Market
United States international airlines today are facing a bitter battle for business that in the words of Pan American World Airways President Juan T. Trippe “makes United States domestic airline operation look like a pink tea party.”
And the runaway competition keeps growing as more and more foreign flag carriers rush to get into the picture, clamor for more routes — especially those tapping the rich United States market.
Particularly is this true in the Latin American field, where 66 international airlines are now operating. A little over a year ago there were 60.
Comparatively, the 66 international airlines battling for business in the southern skies are more than five times as many as there are trunk carriers in the United States —where the potential number of passengers is far greater.
Pan Am Bears Brunt
Ironically, it is a Florida-born airline which pioneered most of today’s Latin American air routes —Pan American—which is bearing the brunt of this overwhelming competition.
Caught in the squeeze of ever increasing costs and massive competition that frequently pays far lower wage' scales and often flies at cut rates, Pan American faces a hard economic row.
Unless the situation improves, a Pan American spokesman says, “we must be prepared to face the possibility that Pan American may not much longer be able to desist from requesting subsidy. This would be a step backward which we would greatly deplore.”
Pan American has been completely off subsidy since October 1956. In contrast, many of its foreign-flag competitors in Latin America are heavily subsidized by their governments.
Runaway Competition
“Competition in the aviation field in Latin America is developing at a runaway pace that threatens the pocketbook of the American taxpayer, the economic life of United States flag airlines and even the well-being of the Western hemisphere,” says Wilbur L. Morrison, executive vice president in charge of Pan Am’s Latin American Division.
A survey shows that six years ago there were 11 foreign flag carriers along the routes between Miami and the north and west coast of South America, Panama, Central America and Cuba. Today there are 23.
Another typical example: About a year ago, two airlines offered
Continued on Page 3
i\
TWIN TV SCREENS at Pan Am’s information counter in the Miami terminal, keep passengers informed of up-to-the-minute information on all Clipper flights. The reports are flashed by closed circuit TV.
What, No Huckleberry Hound?
Arrival and Departure TV Posts Passengers on Flights
Up-to-the-minute arrivai and departure information now is flashed to the Pan American information desk at Miami International Airport by closed-circuit television. The recently installed device utilizes twin screens
carrying arrival and departure^ times of Pan Am flights. It is
prominently located above the counter.
Controlled from the operations room, the camera picks up current flight information that is fed to it as fast as it is received.
Nerve center for the fleet of Pan Am Clippers, the operations department has the most recent flight information available on all Pan Am Clippers in flight. The new TV service reflects each change in arrival time. As the aircraft approaches Miami, revised data is fed to the television camera. From that time on the aircraft is constantly monitored until finally the captain can be heard by the camera operator.
Equally current information is available on departures. A camera scans each Pan Am aircraft before loading begins and reports on the status of loading until the boarding steps are rolled away and the Clipper taxis from the ramp.
Each screen — one for arrivals and one for departures — can handle reports on 10 flights. A simple slotted device permits fast changes of information on any given flight and new flight reports can be posted within seconds of the time they are received in operations.
Jamaica Gets Jet Service
Jetliner service to Jamaica—direct from Miami and from New York via Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic—is being introduced by Pan American on April 28.
The 575-mile an hour jets move the Caribbean resort island to less than five hours flying time from New York and only one hour, 25 minutes from Miami.
Four flights will operate each week between New York, Ciudad Trujillo and Montego Bay with New York departures on Thursdays and Saturdays. Return flights leave Montego Bay Fridays and Sundays.
Two flights in each direction will operate weekly between Miami and
Montego Bay. These flights leave Montego Bay on Thursdays and Saturdays with return trips on the following days.
From New York the huge jet Clippers fly the 1,600 miles to Ciudad Trujillo in 3 hours, 30 minutes. From the Dominican capital they fly the 540 miles to Montego Bay in an hour and 25 minutes.
At Ciudad Trujillo, the jets merge With piston-engined Clippers to Port au Prince, Haiti, and Kingston, Jamaica. Jets from Miami merge at Montego Bay with flights for Port au Prince and Kingston.
The new service is subject to the approval of the governments involved.
DC-8C Jet Sets 3 Marks
First scheduled operation of Pan American’s new DC-8C jet Clippers was an unqualified success, airline officials said after reviewing data of a one day performance, which included flying four separate trips and setting new speed records on three of them.
The DC-8C Clipper Nightingale, a bigger and longer range model of the Douglas DC-8 line, was assigned on April 6 to two senior Pan Am captains. The Nightingale is the first of Pan Am’s new DC-8C fleet.
Monan in Command
Capt. William P. Monan was in command from New York to San Juan, a scheduled 3 hour 30 minute flight on which Capt. Richard Vinal set a record of 2:49 a few months ago with a 707 jet Clipper. Bucking into winds as high as 110 miles an hour, Capt. Monan’s best was 3:02 for the route.
Again at the controls for a flight from San Juan to Miami, Capt. Monan clipped 21 minutes from the schedule time with a 1:59— eight minutes better than the previous record.
Vinal Takes Over
In Miami Capt. Vinal took over and, flying at a top speed of 630 miles an hour and an average speed of 607, made the journey to San Juan in 1:45. By this time the winds encountered by Capt. Monan had died out completely and “without help or hindrance” Vinal covered the 1,626 miles from San Juan to New York in 2:58, ten minutes better than the previous northbound record.
The record for the day: scheduled flights of 11 hours 40 minutes flown in 9 hours 44 minutes—1 hour 56 minutes better than the schedule time and 14 minutes faster than previous record for the four trips. On the three new record flights of the day, the total time clipped from records was 27 minutes.
Trippe Forecasts Need For 45 Jet Cargo Planes DuringNext Three Y ears
Congressional Committee Hears Pan Am President Outline Plan For U. S. Overseas Flag Airlines
American-flag overseas air carriers will acquire a fleet of 45 cargo jets over the next three years, some 30 of which will be required for public cargo and 15 would be required to move potential United States government cargo including that of the Defense and Post Office Departments, on the basis of present forecasts, Juan T. Trippe, president of Pan American, told the Housed Armed Services Subcommittee on
TRIPPE
National Airlift.
Trippe appeared before the committee to present information from the airline industry which would be of assistance in formulating and supporting government policies in acquiring and placing into service a fleet of modern cargo j ets.
No Cargo Jets Ordered
The forecast of 45 cargo jets for the overseas industry assumes that average public tariffs will be down to 15c a ton-mile.
Upon delivery of the last one, 10 months hence, Pan American’s jet passenger fleet will represent an investment of some $400,000,-000. No cargo jets were ordered because the initial engines available were limited in thrust and fuel economy. Cargo jets are required to carry far heavier pay-loads.
“The situation has improved today. Fifty per cent more powerful jet engines with a 10 per cent fuel economy are available. International cargo tariffs are already starting down. Manufacturers are able and willing to produce efficient cargo jets with over-ocean range with well over twice the speed and capacity of the most efficient piston-engine all-cargo ship,” Trippe said.
Authorized by CAB
The Pan American president told the committee that the CAB recently authorized the four United States-flag airlines certificated to serve Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Orient, to submit to the Department of Defense a contract which would permit the Department to move overseas cargo as well as passengers at reduced rates specified by the CAB as being in the public interest.
Trippe said that he shared the view expressed recently before.the committee by TWA President Charles S. Thomas that unless the United States overseas-flag lines received real assistance from all branches of our government, the alternative is subsidy.
He called attention to the ever-increasing competition from foreign carriers many of which are government owned. On the Atlantic the three United States-flag lines are competing with 12 foreign-flag monopolies, all of which have labor costs of less than half of the American carriers.
SFO FACILITIES SOLD
Facilities formerly used by Pan American at San Francisco International Airport have been acquired by the Flying Tiger Line. Tooling, equipment, and facilities installed by Pan American in buildings leased from the city of San Francisco were sold by Pan Am to Flying Tiger.
Pan Am Keeps Pacific Route
The Civil Aeronautics Board has renewed on a permanent basis the certificates of Pan American and Northwest Airlines to serve the Pacific Northwest-Hawaii route.
In so doing the Board affirmed the need for competitive service and the traffic-generating potential of the jets both of which had been cited by Pan American and civic officials during hearings before the Board.
A CAB Examiner recommended last September that' Pan Am be dropped from the route. The Board voted four to zero in overriding the examiner’s recommendation, with Chairman James R. Dur-fee not taking part.
State and city officials of Washington, Oregon and Hawaii unanimously supported service by two carriers following the recommendations by the CAB examiner that Northwest’s certificate be made permanent and that Pan American be taken off the route.
The Pacific Northwest-Hawaii route in almost 12 years of service by the two carriers has seen a thousand per cent increase in traffic, Hubert A. Schneider, vice president and general counsel for Pan Am, told the Board. He pointed out that Pan American was offering a total of 534 seats weekly including 150 first class seats on the route. In 1959, this market produced 57,003 passengers.
Lipscomb Elected To Pan Am Board
Willis G. Lipscomb, vice president for traffic and sales of Pan American World Airways since 1947, was one of two new directors elected to the Board of the airline, President Juan T. Trippe has announced.
The other new director is General Alfred M. Gruenther,U.S.A. (Ret.), who has been president of the American Red Cross since 1957. elected a vice president of Pan Am in July 1947 and succeeded V. E. Chenea. Previously he was general traffic manager of American Airlines.
LIPSCOMB
Lipscomb
GROUP ATTENDS FAIR
A group of Pan American Management Club members attended the third annual Junior Achievement Trade Fair, held at the Dupont Plaza Center, early in April. Articles made by the Junior Achievement groups o f Dade County, including two companies sponsored by Pan Am, were on display at the fair.