Travel Tourist

When Capital Airlines President J. H. ("Slim") Carmichael introduced domestic air-coach service five years ago, he was merely hunting a way to use idle equipment during the slow night hours. Passengers who were willing to take off in the middle of the night got bargain rates. Other airlines were quick to copy Capital. Started as a sideline, air-coach service is now the tail that wags the wings.

This year, one-fourth of the passenger traffic flying between points in the U.S. will be by air coach, saving 30%. More than half of all transatlantic plane passengers are buying tourist fare tickets at the same saving. To cash in on this boom, United next week will drop six of its twelve regular-fare flights to Honolulu and increase its air-coach flights from four to eight a week.

Actually, air-coach travel is fast becoming second-class service in name only. Instead of awkward night flights, air coaches now operate on daytime schedules, and tourists usually ride in the same equipment used on first-class runs. On air coach DC-6s and Constellations, the only major difference is that an extra row of seats is added so that passengers on the right side ride three abreast. The only important luxuries of first-class travel not available on air coaches are free meals. Domestic coach passengers must buy their food, but meals are now free on overseas air-coach runs, and passengers may buy drinks.

Most airline executives feel that air tourist travel will increase. Some feel that the present standard flights will come to be known as "de luxe," and that air coach will be the "standard" of the future.

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