Travel: Out to the Airport

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As nearly every air traveler knows, it often takes more time to get to and from the airport than the flight itself. Some cities have tried helicopters to ferry passengers from downtown or a suburb out to the airport, but on the whole the service is limited, and so costly that scheduled helicopter lines need federal subsidies.

Last week Los Angeles Airways, Inc., which has been flying seven-passenger piston-engine Sikorsky S-55 helicopters, put into service two new gas turbine Sikorsky S-61Ls, which can carry 28 passengers at 135 m.p.h. (v. 77 m.p.h.). The faster turn-around and the increased seating capacity of the S-61s (there will be four in operation by this summer) will enable the line to carry 150,000 to 200,000 passengers a year at 10¢ per seat mile, as against the old S-55s 40,000 passengers and 17.9¢ per seat mile. It takes three hours of freeway driving to get to the Los Angeles International Airport from San Bernardino. The S-61 will make it in 34 minutes for $8. The passenger flying into Los Angeles from out of town need pay only a $2 surcharge to be helicoptered out to San Bernardino.