Cinderella in Chains

IN our January issue at the beginning of this year we criticized the Government's civil aviation policy on the ground of the delay it would cause before it could achieve legislative authority. Believing at the time that we were perhaps being unduly, pessimistic, we ventured the forecast that it would be “well into February” before statutory powers would be obtained to set up the new organization. In the outcome, the position is considerably worse. The Civil Aviation Bill was not presented for its second reading in the House of Commons till May 2 and is unlikely to go on to the Statute Book before July 1. This is to bring into force proposals which were outlined by LORD WINSTER in the House of Lords—and which the Bill puts into effect unaltered—on November 1, 1945. As a symptom of the drive and energy which may be expected from State‐owned British Air Transport this is not impressive—a delay of six months in taking the first step towards inaugurating a regime which itself was based on an organization announced by the previous Government, fourteen months ago, in March, 1945.