AVIATION: A Rescue for Martin

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Baltimore's Glenn L. Martin Co., which has built many of the Navy's search planes, last week was itself the object of a naval rescue party. Although it has more than $400 million of defense orders on its books, Martin does not have enough working capital to keep going. One reason: it was hard hit in the postwar collapse of the airplane industry. Another: it took such heavy losses on its new 4-0-4 transport, which it sold to Eastern Air Lines and TWA at too low a price, that its 1950 net of $3.1 million turned into an estimated 1951 loss of more than $20 million.

Under the rescue plan announced by Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball last week, Martin will get up to $32 million from RFC, Eastern, TWA and a group of banks—notably Manhattan's Chase and Pittsburgh's Mellon. The banks will "bring in new top personnel to strengthen the company's management." But other planemakers thought that "strengthening," whatever that means, might not be enough. What Martin needed, they thought, was a new management.