Post by RED EAGLE on Feb 28, 2016 17:33:47 GMT
FROM FLIGHT MAGAZINE 9TH JAN 1959
REFEREE WANTED ? THE Jack Inquiry's report into the B.O.A.C. strike rebuked two people, Mr. C. Jenkins of A.S.S.E.T. (Association of Supervisory Staffs Executives and Technicians) and Mr. Ian Mikardo, M.P. The report described some of the evidence as "mischievous." Now A.S.S.E.T. has replied by publishing in booklet form the full Jenkins and Mikardo evidence, and accusing the Court of Inquiry of "bias." The Association challenges, in effect, the justness of the word "mischievous." A careful re-reading of the full evidence of the two men might well give most fair-minded people doubts that the Court's choice of the strong word "mischievous" was a just one. A better choice, perhaps, might have been "doctrinaire." The leaders of A.S.S.E.T., perhaps more than those of other London Airport unions, appear to be obsessed with the charge that Britain's private-enterprise independent operators are stealing away the Corporation's traffic. The front cover of the booklet is illustrated with a table showing independent scheduled traffic-growth versus that of the Corporations. And on the inside back cover prominence is given to B.E.A.'s unprecedentedly testy remark that "independent airline traffic-growth statistics do not suggest that they [the independents] have much to complain about." Unfortunately, it is difficult to prove that the independents' traffic-growth has in fact been at the expense of the Corporations. There may be union and Corporation allegations to this effect— but no proof is ever offered. And percentages are notoriously misleading. That there was an increase of independent l.t.ms of 212 per cent from 1954-57, compared with 40 per cent for the Corporations, is correct; but a 20:1 difference in the base-line is ignored. It could with equal justification be said that in terms of absolute traffic growth, the two Corporations' traffic went up by 74 million load ton-miles, while independent traffic increased by only 17 million load ton-miles. Nor is it ever acknowledged that the independents' scheduled traffic produces revenue-rates which are only a half to two-thirds those of the Corporations. It is becoming increasingly unrealistic to measure the progress of British air transport in narrow terms of private-enterprise v. public ownership. Business as a whole is growing, more people are flying who have not flown before, and an expanding industry means expanding employment. The industry may well be ready for an executive referee to take the field.
AND THAT WAS IN 1959!!!
REFEREE WANTED ? THE Jack Inquiry's report into the B.O.A.C. strike rebuked two people, Mr. C. Jenkins of A.S.S.E.T. (Association of Supervisory Staffs Executives and Technicians) and Mr. Ian Mikardo, M.P. The report described some of the evidence as "mischievous." Now A.S.S.E.T. has replied by publishing in booklet form the full Jenkins and Mikardo evidence, and accusing the Court of Inquiry of "bias." The Association challenges, in effect, the justness of the word "mischievous." A careful re-reading of the full evidence of the two men might well give most fair-minded people doubts that the Court's choice of the strong word "mischievous" was a just one. A better choice, perhaps, might have been "doctrinaire." The leaders of A.S.S.E.T., perhaps more than those of other London Airport unions, appear to be obsessed with the charge that Britain's private-enterprise independent operators are stealing away the Corporation's traffic. The front cover of the booklet is illustrated with a table showing independent scheduled traffic-growth versus that of the Corporations. And on the inside back cover prominence is given to B.E.A.'s unprecedentedly testy remark that "independent airline traffic-growth statistics do not suggest that they [the independents] have much to complain about." Unfortunately, it is difficult to prove that the independents' traffic-growth has in fact been at the expense of the Corporations. There may be union and Corporation allegations to this effect— but no proof is ever offered. And percentages are notoriously misleading. That there was an increase of independent l.t.ms of 212 per cent from 1954-57, compared with 40 per cent for the Corporations, is correct; but a 20:1 difference in the base-line is ignored. It could with equal justification be said that in terms of absolute traffic growth, the two Corporations' traffic went up by 74 million load ton-miles, while independent traffic increased by only 17 million load ton-miles. Nor is it ever acknowledged that the independents' scheduled traffic produces revenue-rates which are only a half to two-thirds those of the Corporations. It is becoming increasingly unrealistic to measure the progress of British air transport in narrow terms of private-enterprise v. public ownership. Business as a whole is growing, more people are flying who have not flown before, and an expanding industry means expanding employment. The industry may well be ready for an executive referee to take the field.
AND THAT WAS IN 1959!!!