Financial and Economic Problems.
The commercial exploitation of air transport is passing through a period of experiment, and suffering in the general war reaction from the incapacity of the public to think of aviation except as a fighting service. The machines hitherto used on the lines to and on the Continent are principally converted war machines, and to transform military into commercial craft and to use them as such is of small assistance to civil aviation, which requires reliable, economic machines as one of the basic conditions of its financial success. The cost of running an air transport service is considerable. Depreciation is one heavy item of expenditure. New machines must be evolved suitable to the requirements of mail, passenger and freight transport, but, in the present state of financial stringency, capital is not forthcoming for experiment unless there is every promise of a safe return. Then there are the expenses involved in general ground organization, maintenance, fuel, insurance, etc. The question is how can we carry on until the really economic type of commercial machine is evolved. It will never be evolved unless there is continuous flying and a continuous demand for new and improved machines for commercial work. To meet this in France, the Government came forward with a liberal grant of subsidies which have now been increased and placed on a more favourable basis, permitting of a very considerable reduction in the fares for transport by air. The British Government has also granted a subsidy for British firms operating on the cross-Channel routes, which it is hoped will place them before long on a sound, self-supporting, commercial basis. Part of this subsidy is allocated to assist transport companies in obtaining the latest type of commercial machines on a hire purchase system. With a few services properly supported by the State we shall pull through the experimental period of civil aviation.
The services to the Continent, although the distance is on the short side for the merits of air transport to be properly demonstrated, effect a considerable saving in time, and it is certain that the amount of mail, especially parcels, carried on these routes will continue to increase and lead to the eventual adoption of normal rates for air postage. An extension of the use of aircraft as the regular means of carrying mails will be of great assistance in the development of air transport. Aircraft revolutionize the speed of intercommunication by letter, and banks and financial houses will gradually realize that large savings can be made by utilizing air mails for the transaction of business. A difficulty lies in the fact that the area of the British Isles is not very favourable for an extensive air mail service, which can only operate by day, since by the existing means of transport mails are carried during the out-of-business hours and can generally reach their destination in a night, while the distances to Paris and Brussels are too short to afford outstanding advantage.
Lastly, we require public support and a spirit of confidence in the air. This can only be secured by increased reliability, reduction of charges and keeping the public informed of the progress made. It is the nature of man to distrust new departures. He disliked the introduction of mechanical devices into the Lancashire weaving mills. He scoffed at the steamship and railway. To-day he is inclined to treat as premature the serious exploitation of the air. In spite of the great decrease of accidents, in spite of the increased comfort of air travel, in spite of increased regularity, the average person is slow to realize that the communication of the busy man of the future will be by air. The majority of the business world is too conservative to make general use of the opportunities offered by aircraft for the quick transmission of its correspondence, while, though speed must be paid for, the high fares hitherto charged have deterred the general public from substituting the aeroplane for the train or boat. The running costs represented by these fares are being materially reduced as a more economic machine is evolved, and the reduction of fares which helps to place competition with foreign subsidized services and with the older forms of transport on more equal terms must for a time depend upon the assistance of Government grants.