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144 HELICOPTER AIR SERVICE PROGRAM first air-express-by-helicopter service was inaugurated, followed by passenger service on November 22, 1954, using this sturdy and economical aircraft, the first helicopter certificated for scheduled passenger transportation. On July 28, 1958, the Civil Aeronautics Board renewed LAA's Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity through December 31, 1964, stating as follows: "Continuation of helicopter service in Los Angeles metropolitan area for a further experimental period found required by needs of the national defense and commerce of the United States. LAA has provided substantial pubic benefits and its record of achievement as a certificated helicopter operator, Despite lack of adequate equipment, has been outstanding; it has greatly aided civil and national defense, benefited the postal service contributed materially to the technical advancement and economic development of rotary-wing aircraft as a feasible and accepted means of air transportation, and has convenienced a comparatively large volume of traffic" (27 CAB 36). [Emphasis added.] These four words by the CAB——"lack of adequate equipment"——point up the major problem over the years, and must be recognized as having a significant bearing on the anticipated progress of the certificated helicopter carriers and their efforts toward self-sufficiency. When Sikorsky and Vertol announced their twin-turbine plans in 1955, the curtain went down on an era. LAA had been preparing for this for some time, and in 1957 a holding action was begun on our S-55 fleet. All steps were taken to prepare our company for the turbine age. This was climaxed in 1960 by integrating into service, for a period of about 1 year, a Sikorsky S-62 single-turbine-powered amphibian, and finally, on March 1, 1962, the S-61——the world's first twin-engine, turbine-powered, 28-passenger helicopter——was placed into scheduled service. During the 17-year period from 1947 through 1964, LAA chalked up impressive performances. The record show 8,567,466 revenue miles flown, 82,523,174 pounds of mail and 25,866,661 pounds of express carried during that period, and 673,570 passengers carried from the start of passenger service in 1954 until the end of 1964. NATURE OF SERVICE On March 1, 1965, LAA completed 3 years of operation with twin-turbine, 28-passenger helicopters, and 17,730 turbine flight-hours without incident. During the period, 487,915 passengers, 9,283,164 pounds of express, and 13,507,360 pounds of mail were carried. LAA can best be classed as a generative short-haul feeder, serving over 7 million people and the commerce of most of Southern California from one major air terminal. This has a beneficial effect of the efficiency of the Nation' trunk system, as well as that of the Los Angeles Airport. The configuration of LAA is dictated by the unique topography of southern California. Feeding traffic largely through the one gateway of Los Angeles Internationl [[International]] Airport, we serve the four counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino. This area, incidentally, is larger than the four New England States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire combined. The average journey of each LAA passenger is in excess of 40 miles, as compared with 20 and 18 miles in the New York and San Francisco areas, respectively. This is also true with respect to mail and express hauls. The mission of LAA is unique in that the helicopter is the only type of aircraft in existence which has the flexibility to adapt itself to our explosive industrial and population growth, which appears to have no end in sight. The rapid growth in our area, combined with reequipment by trunk carriers with larger and faster long-haul aircraft, has, over the years, virtually eliminated the common-carrier type of satellite airport in Southern California.
