from Tom Nichols
The United Patternworkers Journal of April carried an interesting item about the position of the U.S. aixcraft industry;
The U.S. aircraft industry can no longer so easily maintain the leading position which it has held in the world market for commercial aircraft over the last ten years. Exports of American commercial planes and parts have dropped sharply: in 1960 they totalled about 560 million dollars, in 1963 they were estimated at 200 million dollars, By contrast it is likely that airplane imports into the U.S. will soon rise substantially, putting a heavy strain on the nation's balance of payments position.
Even the largest American aircraft companies realise that the development and construction of a new aircraft type is now often outside the financial ability of a single company, It is in fact some considerable time since a commercial plane manufacturer made any appreciable profit on a single model, The number of manufacturers is too large for the relatively small world market. Also, the introduction of the jet in air transport has further reduced the market, since higher speeds mean fewer aircraft are needed. The large American plane makers are no longer prepared to embark on the development of new jet transports without the support of government orders. Thus, for example, The Douglas Aircraft Corporation hesitated for some time before deciding to continue with the development .of an aircraft to compete with the British-built BAC-lll, This plane, the DC-9, will cost about 3 million dollars to build, while the BAC-111 is said to have cost 500,000 dollars less. Orders worth 50 million dollars have already been received for the DC-9, most of them from American domestic airlines.
However, the flow of orders for;these new types is not so great that a steady stream of business can be expected. Many airlines still have too vivid memories of the excess transport capacity which resulted from overeager buying of 'first-generation'! jets to hurl themselves blindly now into the purchase of medium-range jet transport aircraft. The market for this type of plane is generally estimated to be 450 at minimum, and about 1,000 at maximum. The competition, moreover, is not confined to that between the BAC-111 and the DC-9. On certain routes, the French short-to-medium range Caravelle is a rival to the American Boeing 727.
By and large, the American aircraft industry has fallen slightly behind that of Europe in the construction of commercial jet airplanes, This is also true of supersonic jet construction, but the enormous capacity of the American industry should ensure its ability to compete, once the decision to make up the leeway has been taken.
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