Cord at the Stick

Errett Lobban Cord, automobile salesman, decided in 1924 that he wanted to be a manufacturer. Within a year he was president of Auburn Automobile Co.; within another few months he had 70% of its stock. In the next few years he wriggled, pushed, fought his way to a commanding position in the motor industry.

It was in January 1931 that Mr. Cord entered the air transport business with the announced ambition of heading "the largest passenger and express unit in the world." His first move was the creation of Century Air Lines, providing an outlet for the Stinson planes which he already was building. When Century went out of business last spring, no one who knew Errett Cord believed that that ended his aspirations. On the contrary, Century's nuisance value had given Cord a stock interest in potent Aviation Corp. Last week it looked very much as if Mr. Cord was well on his way toward dominance in U. S. air transport. He had run his Avco ownership up to 1,000,000 of its 2,800,000 shares. His close friends held another 400,000. He was believed to have near-control of its directorate. And he had acquired TransAmerican Airlines Inc., a strong little system in the Great Lakes region which joined handily with Avco's lines at Buffalo.

The open fight between Cord and the Avco management was taken indoors three weeks ago when both sides agreed to elect a new board of directors--five Cord men, five Avco men, five neutrals (TIME, Nov. 28). When the new board was announced last week it was apparent that somewhere in the quarrel the compromise had been changed. There were 16 directors instead of 15 and, though neither side would declare publicly which were its men, guessers thought they recognized at least seven Cord votes. The attempt of Connecticut's ex-Governor John H. Trumbull to muster proxies for an "independent" committee had apparently faded, a meaningless gesture.

Few days later occurred an all-day conference in Mr. Cord's swank apartment at the Waldorf-Astoria. From it leaked rumors that Cord's longtime ally Banker Frank Arthur Vanderlip would displace Banker Robert Lehman as Avco board chairman: that the presidency would be gracefully offered to Avco's Banker William Averell Harriman who would not keep it long as he wants to stay out of aviation, stick to his father's railroading. Then the way would be clear for Cord's loyal Vice President Manning to step into Avco's presidency. Or Mr. Manning might fill the chairmanship of the executive committee, left vacant last week by Avco's Sherman Mills Fairchild who, to everyone's astonishment, was omitted from the board.

But whether or not such spectacular changes were made immediately, it was generally recognized that Mr. Cord's 35% control, plus his bitter determination to win, would eventually overwhelm the proud but weary resistance of the old Avco regime.

If Mr. Cord gets control of Avco--and probably even if he does not--an early result will be to insert his newly acquired TransAmerican Airlines into the Avco airway map. TransAmerican flies between Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland. Buffalo. At present Avco's lines (American Airways) sprawl from New York to Boston, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland. Columbus, etc., but have no ingress to Chicago from the East. The new link would permit them to compete with powerful United Air Lines on the most populous section of the latter's network.

If Avco should then complete its recent attempt to buy Eastern Air Transport, whose lines cover the Atlantic seaboard below New York, its total mileage would be 14,000, its planes would fly some 50,000 mi. daily, by far the largest system in the U. S., and Errett Lobban Cord would be what Avco's first chairman set out to be, the Harriman of the Air.

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