AVIATION: Ceiling: Below Zero

U.S. airlines, which have had their fill of bad news lately, gulped a few more swallows last week. They came from United Air Lines President William Allan Patterson. Said he: “All airlines (with the possible exception of Eastern) will lose money in the last quarter of 1946.”

Up Fares. Patterson said that air travel is falling off* while operating costs are going up. United’s load factor (percentage of seats filled) had dropped 4% in three weeks. Patterson was sure that it would drop even more sharply when winter weather disrupts airline schedules. And air lanes have become so crowded that United has decided to cancel flights this winter 200 miles ahead of destinations where more than ten planes are “stacked up” waiting to land. This, Patterson admitted, will result in the poorest flying record in years. At the same time, operating costs have risen so much that United now has to fill 80% of its seats to break even (65% was enough before the war). Said Patterson: perhaps airlines will have to raise fares to get out of the red.

* But there was no falling off in east-to-west transatlantic travel. The backlog in Britain of Pan American and American Overseas Airlines is so.big that passengers without influence cannot book a seat for New York till the end of next February. The jam on British airlines is equally great. When passengers are bumped off planes, they frequently squat in British air terminals for days & nights until they get a plane seat.