Word: lufthansa
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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State-owned Lufthansa prefers to or der proven U.S. and British planes. The industry, which used to be a government-directed monopoly, has also suffered from its postwar breakup into seven independent and fiercely competitive companies, none of which is strong enough alone to finance major developments. And the situation has not been helped by the refusal of the old-time individualistic planemakers to accept the modern concept of team design; the traditionalists believe, as does Pioneer Designer Willy Messerschmitt, now 65, that "the old hares can do the job better...
...Union" of four of Western Europe's biggest airlines was finally cleared for takeoff. At the urging of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, a reluctant Charles de Gaulle gave Air France the green light to begin negotiating final terms with its proposed partners: Germany's Lufthansa, Belgium's Sabena and Italy's Alitalia. When Air Union at last comes into existence, it will boast more aircraft (322) than Pan Am (123) and TWA (160) combined and will fly an estimated 350,000 route miles, v. 93,000 for the two U.S. overseas giants...
...four member airlines will retain their own names, their separate flight operations and maintenance facilities. But they will pool their finances, dividing up all earnings according to a formula that reflects both present shares of traffic and growth records. Initially Air France will get 34% of the take, Lufthansa 30%, Alitalia 26% and Sabena 10%. Sales organizations will be combined, and each Air Union line will pass on to one of its partners any business it cannot handle itself. An executive committee will coordinate routes and timetables to eliminate costly overlapping service. Eventually the Air Union members expect...
...Europe as in the U.S., the jet age is a convenience to passengers and a financial headache to the airlines. Between the high costs of the switchover to jets and the bitter competition for passengers to fill the bigger jets. West Germany's Lufthansa last year lost about $25 million, Scandinavia's SAS about $17 million, and Britain's BOAC at least $28 million. Latest victim of the jet squeeze: The Netherlands' KLM, one of Europe's few privately managed airlines, and long among its most profitable...
Though Van der Beugel will probably get the money, his appeal is KLM's biggest break yet with its tradition of stubborn independence. An even greater break may be in the making. Four years ago, the principal Common Market airlines-Lufthansa, Air France, Alitalia and Belgium's Sabena-began to discuss pooling of their resources in a European Air Union in order to compete more effectively with Pan Am, TWA, and other international lines. KLM walked out after the first meetings in disgust at its proposed share of the combined revenues. But Dutch parliamentarians are unlikely...