U.S. Business: Two for the SST Race

The U.S. effort to keep its dominance in the world’s aircraft market took an unexpected turn last week. The Administration leaned toward ordering not just one supersonic airliner, but two: long-range and short-range versions.

Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Agency said that sometime this month, it will recommend a winner in the design competition between Lockheed Aircraft Corp. and Boeing Aircraft Co. for the long-range, 1,800-m.p.h. model to be used in overseas flights. President Johnson is expected to make the final decision about Jan. 1. The FAA also ordered a quick investigation of whether either design could be adapted into a medium-size SST that would avoid the sonic boom that may well restrict the larger plane from flying over land routes. For that study, the FAA gave a $65,000 contract to North American Aviation.

As for the possibility of ordering both Lockheed and Boeing to produce a prototype long-range SST, as some airlines have been urging, the Administration figures that it would be too costly in both time and money. The Government’s share of development so far has swelled to $350 million, may well top $1 billion before the first U.S. model goes into service about 1974, three years after the smaller, slower Anglo-French Concorde. U.S. planemakers now argue that further delay in building the U.S. SST could let the European plane grab the market. The stakes are huge, not only for industry but also for the precarious U.S. balance of payments. By Lockheed estimates, the world market for 900 SSTs by 1985 should bring the nation $38.6 billion in foreign trade.