AVIATION: What's Wrong with Jets?

American Airlines' President C. R.

Smith, boss of the biggest U.S. airline,* this week threw cold water on the idea that U.S. domestic carriers will soon adopt jet transports such as the British Comet.

Said Smith: "The time for that is more distant than some are willing to believe." The basic trouble with the Comet, Smith told a transportation conference at Syracuse University, is that its tremendous fuel consumption (10,000 lbs. per hour) cuts down the space left for payload. Other drawbacks: "It is inefficient at low altitude and at reduced power ....

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