Word: franco
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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There is good reason for the Franco-British concern. Sales of Concordes, which cost some $60 million apiece, have been disappointingly slow. Financially strapped U.S. airlines withdrew their options to purchase the planes three years ago, and only Iran and China have expressed interest in buying any of the three planes remaining unsold out of the initial production run of 16 (the British and French...
Added Cost. Regular North Atlantic flights might help the Franco-British team to sell its planes. But they are unlikely to generate enough orders to repay the huge investment in the Concorde. A leading British aerospace writer estimates that 130 must be sold before the two countries can make back their development costs. A major reason for the dim sales prospects is the Concorde's operating cost. The plane seats a maximum of 140 passengers (v. an average of 370 in the 747) and burns two to three times as much fuel per seat mile as subsonic planes...
...prove to be an environmental mistake and an economic disaster. But it may also prove to be relatively harmless and convenient, and a first step toward a new era in flight. The best way to decide whether it is a boon or a bane is to grant the Franco-British request for limited service...
...subway strike was the most dramatic example so far of the growing militancy of Spanish labor since the death of Francisco Franco in November. And labor unrest is compounding the economic woes the new King and his government have inherited from the dictator. After spectacular gains in the 1960s and early '70s, Spain's economy is now afflicted by a 15% inflation rate and rising unemployment. To bring about a recovery, the new government must walk a wobbly tightrope between the forces of left and right...
Part of the trouble came about because Franco in his last years did not live up to his parsimonious image. Eager to avoid social unrest, the dictator's economic counselors allowed officially sanctioned unions (sindicatos) to win wage increases-30% in 1974 and 28% in 1975-that far exceeded government guidelines. Spain's new Finance Minister, Juan Miguel Villar Mir, recently confessed to the Spanish Parliament, "In 1975 we created our inflation entirely by ourselves...