‘N.A.C. Should Not Be Guinea Pig’

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30983, 12 February 1966, Page 1

‘N.A.C. Should Not Be Guinea Pig’

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 11. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) said today that under no circumstances should the National Airways Corporation be permitted to become a manufacturers’ guinea pig—even a computerised guinea pig.

Commenting on N.A.C.’s replacement of its Viscount airliners with one of three shorthaul jet alternatives, he said:

"Unless there are significant technical and practical factors, there are good grounds for exercising preference for a British product.” (The three jets being considered by N.A.C. and the Government are the British Airways Corporation BAC 1-11, the American Boeing 737, and the American Douglas DC9.) Mr Kirk said the choice of an aircraft replacement for N.A.C. was one which could only be made after fair and careful consideration of cost and performance in the light of requirements. “There are the strongest reasons for insistence on an airline such as NA.C. choosing aircraft tested and proven in service,” he said. “The fact that, at its static display at the opening of the new Auckland airport at Mangere, N.A.C. exhibited a model

of the Boeing 737 in the corporation’s colour scheme, is not the best evidence of an open mind.”