HL Deb 15 March 1949 vol 161 cc302-5

2.38 p.m.

VISCOUNT SWINTON

My Lords, I beg to ask His Majesty's Government the further Question of which I have given them private Notice—Whether they have any statement to make about the future of British South American Airways.

THE MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION (LORD PAKENHAM)

My Lords, the decision which I announced in this House on March 1, that The Tudor IV aircraft should not continue to be used for carrying passengers, raises very serious problems for B.S.A.A. That Corporation had five Tudor IV's in use, and were looking forward to operating a fleet of nineteen by the late summer. Without the Tudor IV's they have only Yorks, which are not competitive with modern aircraft. To find the means of keeping the B.S.A.A. routes in operation, the obvious course was to turn to B.O.A.C. Since B.O.A.C. also operate long-range aircraft, and their routes to some extent overlap or converge with those of B.S.A.A., a complete merger, in addition to achieving the maximum economy and efficiency in other directions, should enable the main services of both Corporations to be organised with the minimum number of aircraft. The Government have therefore decided to recommend to Parliament a complete merger of the two Corporations. The Boards of both Corporations agree that this is the right course.

The amalgamation will not mean that the smaller Corporation will simply be swallowed up by the larger. I consider that B.S.A.A. during their short existence have exhibited certain qualities which must on no account be lost. They have developed a most valuable team spirit and collective loyalty of their own. The two Corporations will be brought together in a way which secures that the experience of B.S.A.A. will be used to the full. Any staff redundancies resulting from the merger will be shared fairly between the two Corporations and in accordance with National Joint Council procedure. On the other hand—and I would like to stress this fact—redundancies arising from the internal reorganisation of B.O.A.C. which is now in progress will be restricted in effect to B.O.A.C. personnel. I intend that, under the Chairman of B.O.A.C. (Sir Harold Hartley and, after the end of June, Sir Miles Thomas), the present Chairman of B.S.A.A. (Mr. Booth) and the present Chief Executive of B.O.A.C. (Mr. Whitney Straight) shall become equal joint Deputy Chairmen.

The necessary legislation to bring this amalgamation into effect will be laid before Parliament as soon as possible. Meanwhile, to help in securing the best utilisation of the available aircraft along the two Corporations' routes, I am immediately appointing the Chairman of B.S.A.A. to be a member of the Board of B.O.A.C. Proposals for dealing with the deficiency in the combined fleets of the Corporations are still under consideration. I appreciate that the House will wish to examine thoroughly the implications of what I have just said and the Bill required to give effect to the proposed amalgamation. I hope, however, that I may be permitted to-day to express my conviction that in embarking on this course we are not merely making a virtue of necessity but taking a step which should enable the staffs of both Corporations to do even better work than in the past, and which should prove of lasting benefit to British civil aviation.

VISCOUNT SWINTON

My Lords, we shall of course defer any questions upon the legislation which the noble Lord has announced until the terms of that legislation are before us, but arising from the noble Lord's answer I would like to ask two questions. He has told us that he is now appointing the Chairman of B.S.A.A. to be a representative on the Board of B.O.A.C. Can he tell us whether he contemplates anticipating the legislation, about which he has spoken, by administrative amalgamations of the staffs? It appears to me that that is a matter which should follow, and not precede, Parliament's approval of that legislation. In the second place, can the noble Lord say what steps it will be possible to take to ensure that the services to South America continue?

LORD PAKENHAM

My Lords if I may deal with the second question first, the steps which have been taken recently will continue in operation. Perhaps the noble Viscount will allow me to circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT an account of what is in fact being done at the present time in the direction he mentions. As regards the first question, I entirely appreciate the point that the noble Viscount has raised, and I can assure him that we shall desire to act in any way that will seem proper to any important section of opinion, including noble Lords opposite. Subject to that, we wish to push on as fast as possible.

The account referred to by the Minister is appended:

The following are the services which B.S.A.A. are at present operating:

  1. (1) On the East Coast route to South America, the schedules to and from Buenos Aires are maintained unchanged. The once-weekly service to Rio de Janeiro only is being flown on an occasional basis. The extension across the Andes from Buenos Aires to Santiago and return has been discontinued.
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  2. (2) The service previously operated via the Caribbean down the West Coast of South America is now maintained on a fortnightly instead of as previously on a weekly basis.
  3. (3) On services to the Caribbean area passengers are carried from the U.K. to Bermuda via New York by B.O.A.C., B.S.A.A, operating onwards from Bermuda at the same frequency as before.
  4. (4) Local Caribbean services are being maintained on a slightly reduced basis by readjust vent of frequencies. The only service cancelled is that from Nassau to Kingston and back.
  5. (5) A freighter service is being operated on an ad hoc basis by two Lancasters flying U.K.-Dakar-Natal-Trinidad.