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EARNINGS For the fiscal year ended September 30, 1953 Bendix Aviation reported earnings of $8.20 per share as compared with $7.22 per share for the previous fiscal year. Earnings of Douglas Aircraft reached a postwar high of $15.50 per share for the fiscal year ended November 30, 1953, as compared with $8.99 in the 1952 fiscal year.

GENERAL At the present time over half of TWA's domestic passenger miles are in the tourist category. Arthur E. Raymond, vice-president of Douglas Aircraft, recently predicted a continuation of the present level of business for the aircraft industry over the next two or three years. J.S. McDonnell, president of the McDonnell Aircraft Corp. predicted that their payroll will increase about 40% over the next 18 months and that new peaks in both sales and net will be reached by June 30, 1955. Commercial carriers will be out of the Pacific airlift by March 31, next, according to Bradley D. Nash, Air Force deputy for civil aviation. Solar Aircraft has called all outstanding preferred stock for redemption on March 22, 1954. It is reported that the experimental flights of first class non-local mail have proven profitable to the Post Office Department. Douglas Aircraft Co. has apparently abandoned attempts to sell the Super DC-3's as a replacement for the Old DC-3's.

[[image - line graph, Dow-Jones Industrial Average (monthly closing), 1935 to 1952]]

[[image - line graph, Lewis Index of Airline Stocks (Monthly Closing), 1935 to 1952]]

The market action of the Lewis Index of airline stock and of the Dow-Jones Industrial Average is shown in the chart above which is plotted on a log. scale to permit direct comparison. It can be noted that the action of the airline index has been poorer than that of the industrials since 1945-46 and more recently since 1951. Nevertheless, the more satisfactory long-term growth trend of the airline index is apparent. At present relative levels the airline index shows the widest lag behind the industrial average since 1948-49 and since before 1940. In the past such a wide spread has been accompanied by increasing support and interest in the market for airline stocks.

REVIEW OF HELICOPTER TRANSPORTATION POTENTIALS AND CURRENT PROBLEMS: 

Before going into the study of New York Airways, it is advisable to review briefly the short history of helicopter transportation to 1954, and to consider the long-range prospects and problems of such transportation media. Such a review previously was undertaken in our May 1, 1952 Aviation Bulletin which discussed the outlook for helicopter manufacturers, and Piasecki Helicopter Corporation in particular.

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