August 17, 1970

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Air Transport

Eastern Strives to Curtail Baggage Losses

Miami—Eastern Airlines has launched a detailed, in-depth program to reduce the approximately $3.8-million losses from improperly handled baggage that it has suffered in each of the last two years. Not only is Eastern management concerned with the payments attributed to lost, delayed, damaged or other mistreated baggage.

By Harold D. Watkins12 min

Air Transport

Competition Slows National Traffic Return

Miami—Abundance of competition on U.S. airline routes is a major factor in the struggle of National Airlines to regain traffic lost during the 117-day shutdown caused by a strike of its clerical, reservation and station personnel (AW&ST June 1, p. 30).

Avionics

New Gunsight Concept Evaluated

Los Angeles—New concept in airborne gunsights intended to increase the combat effectiveness of fighters in air-to-air combat by returning to the pilot the responsibility for making predictive judgments about target behavior now made by computers in lead-computing optical sights is being evaluated by the Air Force and Navy.

By Barry Miller6 min

Management

Industry Group Asks Procurement Changes

Washington—Broad-based aerospace industry group is recommending a series of sweeping changes in Pentagon procurement practices designed to “eliminate the growing mistrust between the military, industry and Congress.” Its findings, made after a 10-month-long study, lay much of the blame for the current public distrust of the defense industry and the Pentagon, as well as the cross-fire blame between the two, on past mistakes by the three major participants in the military procurement procedure—the industry itself, the Pentagon and Congress.

By Cecil Brownlow5 min

Avionics

Computer Tests Jet Engine Fuel Controls

Computerized automatic test system designed to check and calibrate turbojet engine fuel controls with improved speed and accuracy is being developed for the Air Force by RCA Corp.’s Aerospace Systems Div., Burlington, Mass., under a $1.9-million contract.

By Kenneth J. Stein5 min

Editorial

Standards Or Straitjacket?

On the subject of Uniform Cost Accounting Standards, I’m not sure there is an industry cause as distinct from a government cause. Accountants of goodwill are opposed to the least expensive accounting system and a maximum laissez-faire approach which results in inaccurate and unfair cost accounting as much as they oppose the most expensive and most freedom-restricting cost standards which theoretically produce idealistically perfect cost accounting for 20 out of 2,000 defense contractors, a costly mishmash for another 1,000 contractors, and no material change in the over-all distribution of costs to cost objectives.

August 101970

August 241970

August 17, 1970

August 17, 1970