TWO WOMEN MISS DC-6 PLANE

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27395, 7 July 1954, Page 3

TWO WOMEN MISS DC-6 PLANE

Incorrect Time On Tickets

LATE ARRIVAL AT HAREWOOD

A woman from Palmerston North and another from Dunedin, arrived at the overseas air terminal at Harewood yesterday morning, tpo late to board Tasman Airways’ DC-6 plane Arahia for Melbourne. The fault was not theirs. Although the airliner is scheduled to leave Harewood at 10 a.m., their tickets showed the time of the departure as 11 a.m. A middle-aged woman, Mrs D. Swift, of Palmerston North, flew from Palmerston North to Wellington on Monday so that she could catch the early morning aircraft from Paraparaumu to Harewood yesterday morning. To do this she had to be up at 6 a.m. yesterday and be at the airline office in Wellington at 6.40 a.m. Her aircraft reached Harewood at 9.45 a.m., and although she reached the overseas terminal just as passengers were boarding the Arahia, it was too late for formalities to be completed. Mrs Swift was flying to Melbourne to see a sick daughter, who will enter hospital soon. Five minutes before Mrs Swift landed at Harewood from the north, Dr. P. Wilson, an anaesthetist at the Dunedin Public Hospital, arrived at the internal terminal on a National Airways plane from Dunedin. She also was too late to be accepted as a passenger for Melbourne. Dr. Wilson is scheduled to take up a post as assistant director of anaesthesia at the Royal Melbourne Hospital tomorrow. - Passages to Sydney Today Airline officials told the two passengers that they would be able to fly to Sydney on the DC-6 service this morning, but both women expressed annoyance about the hitch in their arrangements. They spent last night in Christchurch, and after reaching Sydney this afternoon they will fly to Melbourne by internal airline. Mrs Swift said she had specially arranged to fly by way of Christchurch so that she could go to Melbourne direct. Dr. Wilson said she had already been delayed for four days by the change in schedules for transTasman services. She could have travelled to Sydney on Saturday, but she had. preferred to delay her departure until yesterday. The two bookings for the crossing I were made by two separate travel l agencies—one a well-known national organisation. When schedules for the new DC-6 services were first announced some weeks ago, it was reported that services for Sydney and Melbourne from Christchurch would leave Harewood at 11 a.m. Shortly before the inaugural service, however, it was announced that aircraft flying to Melbourne would leave at 10 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. A change was also made in the time of arrival of aircraft from Sydney at Harewood. They now arrive at 7.40 a.m. instead of 7.10 a.m., as first announced.

The Christchurch manager of Tasman Airways (Mr F G. Hill) said yesterday that all agents had been notified of these alterations. Official Attitude Explained

“We regret the inconvenience caused to these women.” said Mr Hill, “but as a scheduled airline we must do everything possible to keep to the timetable. The convenience of many people is involved.

“We have the right, under conditions of carriage, to refuse passage to anyone not reporting at the airport in sufficient time to complete all formalities,” said Mr Hill, explaining why the passengers could not be taken aboard, though the Arabia was still parked in front of the terminal building. “Normally, this time is one hour before the scheduled time of departure.”

If the aircraft had been delayed to embark the two passengers, it would have involved the alteration of numerous documents, recalculations of load distribution, and in some circumstahces, it might even have affected the petrol load, said Mr Hill. The Arabia (“The Guided One”) taxied out from the overseas terminal at 10.5 a.m. before beginning her flight to Melbourne. She had 43 passengers aboard.