AVIATION: Behind the Jet Delays

From Seattle last week, the first of the new Boeing intercontinental jet transports, the 707-320, whipped over the top of the world to Rome in n hr. 6 min., breaking the 4,225-mile nonstop commercial record claimed by the Russians with their TU-114. For overseas jet passengers, the new plane’s 5,830-mile flight means an eventual end to the stopoffs now necessary on many transatlantic jet hops with the 707-120, which was not designed as a truly intercontinental plane. Delivery of the new model will begin in July—and for the airlines it cannot come too soon. Jet travel has caught on so well that the jets are operating at 95% of capacity even before the peak tourist season.

Just as pleasing to the airlines as this public response is that they have put the jets in the air with less trouble than they have had with many a prop plane. Says Sam Miller, Pan American’s Atlantic Division chief pilot, who has made 82 crossings in the 707: “This plane has had fewer mechanical problems than any other new plane in the postwar era.” The adjustments of the plane’s shakedown period have inevitably led to delayed flights and late arrivals. But the grind on passengers’ nerves has not been so much the fault of the 707 as of the airlines’ frequent failure to explain the trouble to inconvenienced, irritated and wondering passengers.

Seagull Hash. Most of the troubles have been minor—but bothersome. A major cause of delayed flights for both American Airlines and Pan American Airways is the autopilot system, which temperamentally gets out of kilter with the least flaw in a soldered wire, a spring or a clip. The airlines have had to delay flights because of trouble with the water-injection system used to boost takeoffs, bugs in the air-conditioning and pressurization system, even burnt-out lights over the passenger seats. On one occasion an American jet sat on the ground for several hours waiting for a replacement for a burnt-out taillight. Other gremlins: leaking brake fluid, inaccurate fuel-tank gauges, cracked cockpit windows.

One of the airlines’ major fears has turned out to be groundless. The military had warned the lines that one of the biggest dangers would be sucking objects into the jet intake, especially on takeoff. So far neither Pan American. Trans World Airlines nor National Airlines has had a single case of engine damage either from nuts and bolts picked up on the runway or from birds in the air. American has had only one case—and it ended happily. Taking off from New York’s Idlewild Airport, an American 707 on a training flight plowed through a flock of seagulls, drawing two or three into one engine. Compressors and guide veins got bent, but the plane continued its 4½-hour flight without any engine trouble. Unlike the postwar prop planes, the 707 has given the airlines no serious engine problems.

Integration in the Air. Air traffic control is one of the most frequent causes of delays—and one that the passenger is least likely to understand. Flying at heights formerly used by only the military, jets on transcontinental runs are limited to three superskyways to keep them separated from other planes. The airlines welcome such restrictions in the interests of safety, but it costs them time and extra fuel.

Jets are often detoured around heavy-traffic areas before getting on course; many pilots have to make six changes of heading before getting their route—and then the altitude or route is often changed from the one originally cleared. American Airlines found that 30% of its flights in the first two months of operation were delayed more than ten minutes and 20% more than 20 minutes by such requirements. But the jets have had less trouble than anyone expected at the tricky job of integrating with prop-plane patterns. And even the routing problem may soon be solved: the Federal Aviation Agency is working on better equipment and new pattern and routing procedures that may give all of the safety without any of the delay.