§ The Earl of KimberleyMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will confirm that punctuality figures for British Airways' operations for 1980 have considerably improved compared with those for previous years.
§ Lord LyellMy Lords, I am happy to be able to confirm that British Airways' punctuality figures for 1980 operations were indeed a considerable improvement upon those of previous years. One example which might interest the House is that in the summer of 1979, 55 per cent. of the departures on North Atlantic services left within 15 minutes of schedule but that in the summer of 1980 the figure was up to 74 per cent. The general pattern of improvement was the same for all the airline's route divisions.
§ The Earl of KimberleyMy Lords, while thanking my noble friend for that very satisfactory Answer, may I ask whether he would not agree that this might be an opportunity to congratulate the management and the entire staff of British Airways for succeeding at last? Can he also say whether the figures for some of the American carriers are below or above those of British Airways?
§ Lord LyellMy Lords, I am sure that the management and staff of British Airways will be very grateful for the comments of my noble friend. I shall do my utmost to see that they are passed on to the management and staff, where that is possible. My noble friend has also asked me for statistics and figures relating to American airlines and carriers in order to compare them with British Airways' figures. In a recent survey, in at least two respects British Airways compared very favourably with all the transatlantic carriers, especially in the field of technical developments and safety.
§ Lord GisboroughMy Lords, while we welcome this improvement, can my noble friend say why the figures are still below those of 1974, despite what must have been a certain amount of modernisation and updating of equipment?
§ Lord LyellMy Lords, the answer to my noble friend's question lies in at least four different fields. I wonder whether he will be satisfied if I write to him on the subject.
§ Lord Wells-PestellMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord the Minister whether the House is to understand that the Government will claim this improvement to be a success of their policy?
§ Lord LyellMy Lords, I am reminded of the biblical term that one should render unto God what is due to God and unto Caesar what is due to Caesar. We should render tribute to the management of British Airways for such improvements as have been carried out.