Mcallen Daily Press

Imperial Airlines Buy Ships
Passenger Company Is Forced To Drop Service Until Planes Arrive

TERENCE V. SOLL
International News Service Staff Correspondent

London (INS)—Britain's vast rearmament program is crippling the civil air industry, it is claimed, when Imperial Airways announced that lack of men and machines had compelled them to suspend their empire passenger service and seek engines and possibly machines from America.

Armament priority bans factories, by holding up all civil orders, has led to a serious shortage of machines, according to Imperial Airways' statement.

As the company had already entered a contract to increase African and European airmails by fifty percent, passengers will not be abandoned.

Service to Resume Next Year
When the new aircraft, probably by the middle of next year, the passenger service will be resumed.

An order for forty-eight American Wasp engines of 1100 h.p. each has already been placed.

If the first of these cannot be delivered before the end of the year.

As the British industry continues to neglect the immediate and urgent needs of civil air concerns, Imperial states that it is compelled to consider the purchase of aircraft as well as machines from foreign markets.

Personnel Shortage Too
Scarcely less serious than the fleet shortage is the immediate shortage of trained personnel.

Owing to the high standard demanded of its staff, trained pilots have hitherto been recruited from Royal Air Force.

Conditions now so abnormal and restricted, it is stated that they make recruiting of pilots from the R.A.F. virtually impossible.

In addition, there are urgent demands for R.A.F. men from private flying schools with the result that Imperial is confronted with formidable difficulties in maintaining a staff that is wholly or even partially trained.

Furthermore, owing to its preoccupation with defense problems, Air Ministry is unable at the present time to render to civil aviation the assistance and encouragement which obviously it needs and which the secretary of state wished to give it.

Accidents Cut Fleet
The company's statement then refers to the "singularly unfortunate series of losses to Imperial aircraft in 1939."

The most recent of these occurred in June when the flying boat Connemara was destroyed by fire at Hythe.

These accidents, the management continues, "serious at any time, have naturally accentuated the present fleet shortage."

As soon as the American engines are delivered they will be fitted to Empire aircraft.

It is hoped that by next summer a fleet of these aircraft will be in commission.

Plans are already in hand for having and developing a joint Imperial and British Airways school to meet the expanding need of pilots, navigators, engineers and radio operators.

All new personnel in Britain's civil air industry will pass through this school and even those with experience will return to the school from time to time for "refresher" courses.

The statement ends: "Imperial Airways have made known to the Air Ministry their urgent fleet requirements.

They now await the ministry's decision.

In the meantime they are consolidating their present position.

The process of consolidation has several unfortunate consequences among them the curtailment of..."