Business: Ready or Not, Here Comes Jumbo

THE high white contrails of cruising jets are bright symbols of the promise and pleasures of air travel. When the big ships descend into sight and sound, their aspect alters. Their great engines foul the air with noise and noxious fumes; their proliferating numbers crowd the airways with dangerous traffic jams. Each new plane seems to bring more problems than the last. But the newest and largest product of this technological age is built to a different pattern. The Boeing 747, first of the generation of superjets that will dominate the skies in the 1970s, is quieter and cleaner than its predecessors. Its huge capacity will help airlines keep ahead of their expanding roster of passengers. The new planes should alleviate rather than increase the clutter aloft. In the process they will bring new comfort, convenience and economies to ever greater numbers of travelers.

Boeing's 355-ton superjet is 231 ft. 4 in. long—three-quarters the length of a football field, longer than the Wright brothers' first flight. Its 20-ft.-wide cabin is almost twice as broad as the largest passenger plane now in service; it can be fitted with up to 490 seats. More like a small cruise ship than any familiar aircraft, the big plane brings to mind Comedienne Bea Lillie's comment on the Queen Elizabeth: "When does this place get to England?"

If all goes well, the 747 will get to England next week, when Pan American World Airways has scheduled the initial flight of paying passengers from

New York to London. By the end of June, at least 30 superjets should be regularly crossing the Atlantic, the Pacific and the continental U.S. With their remarkable efficiency, they will help hold fares down at a time when everything else is going up.

Risking the Future

For all such benefits, the superjets will create some giant problems all their own. Airport managers nervously await the great clots of passengers that will be disgorged from a single flight. Practically no terminal is prepared. In the first months of 747 service, baggage handling and ground transportation—already overstrained—may be utterly swamped.

Airline managers are equally concerned. The 747 is so costly that its advent has plunged the industry deeply into debt. When one line buys a new generation of aircraft, all feel the urge to follow. At a time when profits are down, credit is expensive and other costs are climbing, the airlines feel that they have no choice but to order the 747s. So far, 28 of them in the U.S. and abroad have ordered 186 of the superjets at around $23 million each. That amounts to a capital outlay of $4.3 billion.*

The initial cost is only the beginning of a new round of expensive investments that the superjets make necessary. Airlines must spend another $2 billion for new facilities and equipment in the next four years, including 54-ton tractors to tow the big planes and new boarding ramps to lift passengers to doors that are 17 ft. off the ground.