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JULY/AUGUST 2023 AviationWeek.com/ATW
BY THE
NUMBERS
World’s top airlines
Ascending
by fleets, financials
and traffic
CEO INTERVIEW
IndiGo’s Pieter Elbers from the abyss
ANALYSIS Fleets and traffic almost
Why that 2050
net zero goal
totally restored
looks scary The 2023
ATW World
CAPA PERSPECTIVE
Is the travel surge over Airline
or just beginning? Report
IFC2
THE
DEFINE
WHAT WILL
FUTURE OF
AEROSPACE AND
DEFENSE?
Electrification. Advanced, secure networking. Next generation materials.
Hypersonic flight. Artificial intelligence and machine learning. High-energy lasers.
Autonomous, smart sensors. Sixth generation engine technologies. These are
just some of the ways we’re transforming how we connect and protect our world.
Finding answers to the biggest questions is what defines us.
SIAE/ANTHONY GUERRA
FEATURES
COVER STORY
14
2023 WORLD AIRLINE REPORT
Airlines have almost fully restored their fleets;
new orders indicate a shift in growth centers.
by Karen Walker
On The Cover: Boeing 777X demonstration at the Paris Air Show. Photo: SIAE/Anthony Guerra
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4 Editorial 12 Key Routes
Buttigieg: A poor scorecard A selection of 50 new routes SUBSCRIPTIONS
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Buttigieg initially dismissed the role desperately need the revenue.
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he 2021 IATA AGM concluded with a sense of oped and certified in 20 years.
achievement: Much of the world was still in lock- Third, and most important of all, IATA’s 2050 goal
down, yet the meeting was a successful in-per- has not yet succeeded in moving the dial significantly
son event. It was also where the IATA member in terms of getting full-on political, strategic and finan-
airlines made their commitment to being carbon net cial support from the world’s governments. That’s crit-
zero by 2050, which ICAO aligned with a year later ical to addressing the SAF supply gap. Airlines can’t
when governments agreed to an aspirational goal for and shouldn’t diversify into SAF production, but gov-
aviation to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. ernments can incentivize production and use, and
This year’s AGM, in Istanbul in June, with borders turn it into an important economic growth industry for
reopened and most restrictions lifted, saw a record their countries.
attendance and a strong agenda. But when it came None of this is news to the IATA or airline execu-
to that 2050 goal, the mood was far more cautious. tives. In his opening address, director general Willie
Not bleak—the airlines understand how much is at Walsh said governments were accountable to de-
stake with sustainability and that they must address liver a global policy framework to achieve net zero
their forced reliance on fossil fuels. The concern cen- by 2050. “Even though ‘aspirational’ is a qualifier in
ters on the timing: 2050 seems awfully close given LTAG [the ICAO long-term aspirational goal], failure is
what has been achieved since 2021, which is to say not an option,” he said.
quite a lot but nowhere near enough. Walsh stressed that the series of 2050 net zero
The hurdles to being carbon neutral by 2050 are roadmaps IATA has published—laying out the key
multifaceted and were much discussed during the steps necessary to meet the timeline—are not just for
AGM and its adjacent conference. In summary, how- airlines.
ever, it comes down to three problems. First, sustain- “Governments, suppliers and financiers cannot be
able aviation fuel (SAF) development and production spectators to the challenge. We all have skin in the
are nowhere close to the levels needed to meet the game. And each must deliver the products, policies
significant proportion of the 2050 goal that they are or investments needed to decarbonize,” he said.
BIG Ambitions
At the Paris Air Show in June, Indian LCC IndiGo
firmed an order for 500 Airbus A320 family air-
craft, believed to be the largest-ever single aircraft
purchase agreement. The fast-growing airline oper-
ates a fleet of about 300 aircraft and the new order
came on top of existing orders for 480 aircraft to be
delivered before the end of the decade. CEO Pieter
Elbers took the helm at IndiGo in 2022 after a long
career at KLM, where he was also CEO. He did so
as India’s aviation market is growing rapidly, fu-
eled by an expanding middle class. IATA estimates
the market size will swell by 430 million additional
air passenger journeys to and from and within the
country by 2040 compared with 2019. The United
Nations has also projected that India will overtake
China in 2023 to become the world’s most-populous
country, with an estimated total of more than 1.4
billion. IndiGo placed its first order with Airbus in
2005 for 100 A320 family aircraft and placed sub-
sequent orders in 2011, 2014 and 2019. The airline
is now the largest domestic operator in India with a
DAVID CASEY
How different are the European and Indian mar- From my personal perspective, this is a new, won-
kets? Let me take a slightly different angle in my an- derful opportunity and it’s an honor really to take this
swer. The Indian government is clearly on a mission airline to the next level.
to bring forward India, which is important. There is
a strong drive to bring it forward and it is showing. What gives you confidence in the Indian market?
Soon India will be the third-largest economy in the The potential is enormous. There are around 700 to
world. Aviation is seen very much as an integral part 750 aircraft in operation in India for 1.4 billion peo-
of that, like we saw in Europe two decades ago, ple. In China there are around 4,000 aircraft, and 1.4
where aviation has been seen as a force for good, billion people also living there. India has just 0.5 air-
as [former IATA director general] Tony Tyler said, craft per million people, versus 3.1 aircraft per million
and as a new opportunity for jobs, investments, as for China and 15 per million for the European Union.
well as connections between universities, technical We are very confident that the Indian market over
institutes, etc. All these positive things are what we the coming years will continue to expand, and we
saw in Europe, and this is very much live now in In- will continue that steady growth. There are around
dia. Yes, there is complexity. Yes, there is regulation. 140 airports, including very small ones in the coun-
But I also experience a lot of support here and it will try. We fly to 78 airports; actually, to nearly all that
evolve over time. The general mindset here is very can handle airlines. We are expecting to add anoth-
positive. That’s different compared to Europe now. er handful of destinations in India. And the govern-
New Horizons
Three carriers expand
international networks.
BY DAVID CASEY
A
ir Canada is returning to Singapore after
more than 30 years, while Virgin Atlantic is
planning to make its long-awaited debut in
South America and Turkish Airlines is fur-
ther expanding its footprint in North America.
en
AIRLINE REPORT
Back
By Karen Walker
on the A s c
T
he world’s airlines are forecast to post a “Our industry is whack-a-mole. We get hit over
$9.8 billion net profit this year, more than the head over and over and are amazingly resilient
double what had been anticipated just six and always get up. Robustness is about not falling
months earlier as economic and other con- down, so it’s about things like stronger balance
ditions have improved. sheets and less debt,” she said.
Significant factors in the upgrade from This year’s ATW World Airline Report details the
IATA’s December outlook, when it forecast a collec- 2022 full-year financial and traffic numbers for the
tive net profit of $4.7 billion, include China lifting its world’s top 50 airlines, as well as the status of the
COVID-related restrictions in January—six months fleets of the 100 largest carriers as of late April. The
earlier than anticipated—cargo revenues remaining IATA revised outlook shows the improvement that
above pre-pandemic levels even though volumes has already been achieved this year versus 2022
have shrunk, and lower oil prices. as traffic demand surged.
IATA chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen Illustrating the growing confidence in that de-
set out the revised forecast at the 79th IATA AGM mand continuing, the first half of 2023 has seen
in Istanbul in early June. Total revenues are ex- a number of large aircraft orders, many of which
pected to be $803 billion—the first time they will were confirmed at the Paris Air Show in June and
have exceeded $800 billion since 2019—while which included significant orders for new widebod-
operating profit is expected to reach $22.4 billion, ies. That indicates that confidence is also being re-
much improved over the December forecast of stored in demand for long-haul international travel,
$3.2 billion. Costs are expected to grow 8.1% over which was hit harder by the pandemic than short-
2022 to $781 billion. or medium-haul domestic demand.
Some 4.35 billion people are expected to travel Paris ’23 was where India made its mark. LCC
in 2023, close to the 4.54 billion who flew in 2019. IndiGo, now India’s largest domestic airline ahead
For all the big numbers, the industry’s net profit of Air India, firmed an order for 500 Airbus A320
margin will be a very weak 1.2%, far below what most family aircraft. Then Air India firmed orders with Air-
corporations or investors would consider adequate. bus for 140 A320neos and 70 A321neos as well as
Owens Thomsen said the continued financial for 34 A350-1000s and six A350-900s. Air India also
fragility illustrated how the airline industry was re- firmed a deal with Boeing for 190 737 MAXs, 20 787s
silient but not robust. and 10 777Xs with options for 50 737 MAXs and 20
100 STORAGE/
LARGEST
AIRLINE FLEETS
STORAGE/
IN PARKED/ ON IN PARKED/ ON
AIRLINE PARKED NOT ON AIRLINE PARKED NOT ON
SERVICE RESERVE ORDER SERVICE RESERVE ORDER
ORDER ORDER
LEADERS
AREN’T BORN.
THEY’RE
ENGINEERED.
25
LATAM LUFTHANSA
A319-100 27 1 2 1 A319-100 24 8 3
A320-200 116 3 3 2 A320-200 50 4
A320-200neo 16 21 A320-200neo 27 1 2 2 25
A321-200 46 1 1 A321-100 12 8
A321-200neo 69 A321-200 31 1 1 5
767-300ER 10 3 A321-200F 2
767-300F/ER 4 2 A321-200neo 17 22
777-200F/LR 1 A330-300 9 1 1
777-300ER 10 A340-300 14 3
787-8 9 1 A340-600 8 1 8
787-9 17 1 1 6 A350-900 19 1 1 28
TOTAL 255 6 12 4 97 A350-1000 10
A380-800 1 1 12
LION AIR
747-400 6
A330-300 1 3 2
747-400SCD 2
A330-900 1 2 3 2
747-8 17 2
737 MAX 8 200
777-200F/LR 10 1 2
737 MAX 9 3 1
777-8F 7
737 MAX 10 50
777-9 34
737-800 38 3 2
787-9 3 1 1 29
737-900ER 53 1 1 10
CRJ900 28
TOTAL 96 6 10 14 250
E190 7
LOONG AIR TOTAL 286 6 26 38 157
A319-100 1
MALAYSIA AIRLINES
A320-200 28
A330-200 4 1 1
A320-200neo 28 1
A330-200F 3
A321-200neo 10 1
A330-300 14 1
737-300F 3
A330-900 10
TOTAL 70 1 1
A350-900 5 1
LOT POLISH AIRLINES 737 MAX 8 21
737 MAX 8 11 737 MAX 9 4
737-800 4 1 1 737-800 43 2 2
787-8 7 1 ATR72-500 15 1 1 2
787-9 7 ATR72-600 8
Dash 8-400 2 Dash 6-400 3 3
E170 5 1 TOTAL 87 7 6 2 43
E175 10 1 2
MALTA AIR
E190 7 1
737 MAX 8-200 33
E195 14 1
737-800 123 2
TOTAL 65 2 7 2
TOTAL 156 2
O
ver the past three years, half of the year surpassed the 60 The world’s biggest aviation
the aviation industry has million weekly seats level for the markets are clearly awakening
been constantly looking first time since the onset of the from their COVID-19 slumber; Chi-
back to life before the COVID-19 pandemic. na’s borders have re-opened, and
pandemic hit the world. And why The 62 million total for the week India is in the spotlight following
wouldn’t it? The 2000s can be fair- to July 3 was 98.2% of the equiv- large aircraft orders from Air India
ly described as a strong decade alent week in 2019. In the space and LCC IndiGo at the Paris Air
for global aviation, with an addi- of one month (from the start of Show in June (See pg. 46).
tional 1.8 billion annual passen- June), airlines added 3.8 million India is one of the world’s fast-
gers taking to the air by the end international seats to their sched- est-growing large air transport
of the decade. Annual traffic had ules, with capacity growth positive markets. Before the pandemic,
risen from 2.67 billion in 2010 to across all regions. the size of India’s air travel market
4.46 billion in 2019, and the stable It was a similar story for global tripled in just over a decade. Ac-
operating environment provided scheduled domestic seat capac- cording to data from the Airports
a platform for airlines to deliver a ity, which recovered much faster Authority of India, passengers
stronger collective financial perfor- than international travel because passing through Indian airports
mance (though many remained in of the continuation of restrictive ballooned from 111.8 million in
the red). cross-border travel policies in 2008 to 349.3 million in 2019.
After constantly comparing the many parts of the world. Airlines The Indian market has also re-
weaker performance of 2020, 2021 are still introducing domestic ca- covered from COVID-19. As of
and 2022 with pre-pandemic data pacity, with the Asia-Pacific region, February, scheduled seat capacity
and highlighting the gradual recov- particularly North Asia, responsible in India has been running above
ery of air transportation, now is the for the majority of new capacity. 2019 levels.
time to stop looking back and start China remains the driver of Like China, India has a popula-
looking forward and not lose sight the recent upturn. Scheduled air- tion of over 1 billion, with expand-
of the challenges that lie ahead. line seat capacity in China rose ing middle classes and rapid eco-
As the data in this magazine’s by nearly 2 million weekly seats nomic growth, plus a large and
World Airline Report illustrate (see between the start of June and as yet not fully satisfied domestic
pg. 14), the aviation industry has early July. International capaci- market and citizens with an ap-
made tremendous progress: Do- ty passed 2 million seats in early petite to fly—data show they are
mestic markets are now reporting July for the first time since Feb- increasingly taking advantage of
growth on pre-pandemic levels, ruary 2020, with most of the seat air travel where and when it be-
and heading into the busy northern capacity being added to short- comes available.
summer travel season, internation- haul leisure markets in southeast For now, the US remains the
al demand is back above 90% of Asia. At the same time, domestic world’s largest aviation econo-
pre-COVID levels (based on latest seats in China reached 16.9 mil- my and Airlines for America (A4A)
traffic data from IATA). lion seats, the highest capacity for forecasts US airlines will handle a
CAPA analysis of OAG flight two years. Based on published for- record 256.8 million passengers
schedules shows that global inter- ward schedules, domestic capacity between June 1 and Aug. 31. Pas-
national scheduled seat capacity could peak around early Septem- senger traffic is projected at +0.9%
on offer heading into the second ber at above 17.7 million seats. on 2019 levels, despite airlines op-
100
80
60
40
20
0
2020 2021 2022 2023
Jan-Dec Jan-Dec Jan-Dec Jan-May
Africa Middle East Latin America North America Asia Pacific Europe Global Average
erating around 10% fewer flights. ative retrenchment” of full-service the outlook is mixed. While glob-
Traffic is expected to be up 9.5% carriers away from regional air- al capacity is expected to end the
year-on-year, while scheduled ports and around their major hubs. year at (or even above) 2019 lev-
seats are forecast at 9.6% higher. According to ACI Europe, els, there are signs that pent-up
full-service carriers and LCCs are demand and consumer insensitiv-
WILL THE TRAVEL SURGE END? increasingly moving capacity and ity to airfares from the pandemic
However, behind this strong per- routes “at a record pace,” con- era are starting to unwind.
formance and declarations of centrating on the most profitable For now, consumer confidence
numerous airlines that demand markets. These issues will impact remains high and the willingness
remains quite strong, one glaring “the viability and future prospects to spend on services is elevated.
question remains: When will this of regional airports,” it said. But wider than this, the macro-
thirst for travel born from the pan- Elsewhere, work-from-home economic outlook will be giving
demic be quenched? No defini- trends continue to evolve, given airlines some cause for concern.
tive answer is emerging as airline that more businesses are mandat- Even if the large, developed
executives try to determine the ing more time in the office for em- economies manage to escape a
shape demand will take in 2023 ployees. But consensus is building recession, the outlook for growth
and beyond. that some shifts in work patterns remains well below long-term av-
ACI Europe has warned in a for- are permanent. Outside forces erages. This will have knock-on ef-
mal submission to the European creating constraints in the airline fects in terms of air passenger and
Commission that recovery patterns industry—supply chain bottlenecks air cargo growth.
from COVID-19 are “structurally and infrastructure challenges— The only certainty that exists is
reshaping the European aviation show no signs of improving in the that the narrative could change as
market,” with “relentless” expan- near future. time passes, and as more clear-cut
sion of LCCs and ULCCs and “rel- Looking beyond this summer, patterns materialize.
AS THE GLOBAL TRAVEL MARKET specific, the four majors each averaged $2.4 billion
shut down in the middle of March in loyalty revenue in 2022. JetBlue, by contrast, had
2020, so did consumer spending $391 million in loyalty revenue.
on air travel, while spending on oth- The pandemic years swelled the ranks of airline
er items was resilient, with many of loyalty plans and saw many people gaining status
those purchases made on airline without even stepping onto an aircraft. A number of
co-branded credit cards. airlines reduced their program qualification require-
Banks that sponsor airline credit cards buy points ments and extended members’ status. When pas-
from the airlines, which are then given to their cus- sengers returned to the skies and the industry began
tomers. As passenger revenue plummeted to histor- the recovery process, frequent flyers realized things
ic lows for the airlines, the lone bright spot was the had changed. Getting that free upgrade to first class
loyalty revenue. was not easy. The reality is the laws of supply and
In the initial stages of the COVID crisis, finding demand are impacting the ability to secure a free
sources of liquidity became critical. Passenger levels upgrade. Surging passenger demand, coupled with
declined 90%; financial losses were unprecedent- the constrained supply of seats, has resulted in ex-
ed. The airlines were on the verge of total collapse ceedingly high load factors. There is also a new class
and needed to restructure debt. Historically, aircraft, of passengers, dubbed “premium leisure,” willing to
gates, and other assets have been used as collat- pay for premium seats, further reducing the number
eral for debt structures. But in 2020, for the first of seats available for free upgrades.
time in history, US carriers collateralized the future If large numbers of high-status loyalty members
cash flows of their loyalty programs to raise billions continue to be unable to secure upgrades, there
in loans. Loyalty revenue played an integral part in may be unintentional consequences that should
stabilizing the industry during the peak of the crisis. be monitored. Nancy Harhut, author of the book,
For the four largest US carriers—American Airlines, “Using Behavioral Science in Marketing,” talks
Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Air- about the power of a gift such as an upgrade. Har-
lines—loyalty revenue accounted for 22% of their total hut says that “the occasional gift or perk can help
revenue in the 2020 second quarter. The impressive cement a relationship and motivate the kind of loy-
growth of loyalty revenue can also be seen in the alty marketers seek.” In other words, an upgrade
longer trends. Between 2019 and 2022, loyalty rev- is a powerful tool to secure loyalty and when that
enue grew 28%, compared with other airline revenue reward is minimized, future passenger buying be-
which grew a total of 5%. Today, loyalty revenue has haviors may change.
returned to its previous level of 6% of total revenue. Loyalty programs are a big business and will con-
In today’s environment, airline loyalty revenue has tinue to evolve. Not every passenger will be happy.
become a significant competitive advantage. Airlines are flush with data and can determine the
value of each customer so they can recognize the
OFFSETTING HIGHER COSTS most loyal. They will also need to carefully balance
To maintain proper staffing levels, especially in the pi- how they attract new customers to their loyalty pro-
lot ranks, airlines are negotiating new labor contracts grams while maintaining the quality of rewards to
that will increase costs dramatically. The loyalty rev- long-time frequent flyers.
enue for the majors will soften the impact of the ad-
ditional costs, much more so than for the ultra-LCCs David Dague is a principal and member of the
and hybrid airlines that do not have that luxury. To be Travel & Transportation practice at Arthur D. Little.
NESTE
BY LINDA BLACHLY
W
ith some government tax incentives and al- package of tightening reforms, Neste plans to expand
lowances on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) including the phased removal its Rotterdam refinery
to produce 1.2 million
development and production set to expire of free carbon allowances for tonnes of SAF annually.
in a few years, airlines are calling for more aviation in 2026 under the UK’s
action to extend or improve on those incentives. Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). Airlines are call-
For the first time, SAF has been certified under ing for the extra funds generated to be invested in
the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for decarbonization measures, including increasing the
International Aviation (CORSIA), using two ICAO- availability of SAF.
approved sustainability certification schemes devel- The UK government explained the move in a
oped for this purpose. statement: “This decision is taken in light of evidence
Nine batches of SAF, totaling 1,542 tonnes, have of minimal risk of carbon leakage, meaning ETS avia-
been certified by the International Sustainability & tion emissions are unlikely to be displaced as a re-
Carbon Certification Association and the Roundtable sult of the UK ETS. Instead, aviation businesses need
on Sustainable Biomaterial. They were produced in to buy allowances for every tonne of carbon emitted
China by ECOCHEM, in the Netherlands by Neste under the scheme. To help aircraft operators prepare
and in the US by World Energy. The fuels were pro- for this transition, free allocation entitlement will con-
duced from waste and typically have 75% to 84% tinue as planned in 2024 and 2025 until 2026.”
lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to con- UK airlines are pushing back. Tim Alderslade, CEO
ventional aviation fuels. at UK-registered airlines industry body Airlines UK,
ICAO Council president Salvatore Sciacchitano said, “That money should be invested—as the ETS
said the milestone “shows that CORSIA’s global scheme was originally designed for—into measures
framework for sustainability assessment is robust to support our decarbonization, as is happening
and ready to support the achievement of ICAO’s across the EU.”
goals on climate change.” Alderslade warned that without such measures, UK
But planned rollbacks of some government in- airlines could be put at a competitive disadvantage
centives are concerning airlines in those countries. against airlines in countries that can purchase SAF
The UK government, for example, has announced a more cheaply because of their government incentives.
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She shook her head gravely, almost reprovingly. "Oh, no! The Pottles is
having their feet washed. They tan't tach told." Then, after a moment of
pondering: "Would you like to see the picture, Daddy Merle?"
Before he could answer she had jumped up and disappeared behind the
great beech tree. She had only been gone a moment when out of the
stillness came a small voice: "Tum and see my little house, Daddy Merle!"
It was the voice of An Petronia, but strangely muffled and far away.
Full of curiosity, Merle scrambled to his feet and peered round the tree.
An Petronia was nowhere to be seen. What had become of her? Another
step and the mystery was explained.
Between two of the buttresslike roots on the other side of the ancient
beech was a dark fissure extending from the ground upward for three or
four feet and just wide enough to form a doorway for little An Petronia. A
practical woodman viewing the hollow tree that An Petronia called her
"little house" would have had no thought beyond the loss of so many cubic
feet of good timber and whether the tree was worth chopping down. To the
gentle curate waiting in the green silence, here was a magic door through
which at any moment might issue a laughing faun or a wistful dryad. As for
Brother Beech, after all the only one vitally concerned, there was no tree
specialist to tell him (for a substantial consideration) that he had only a very
few years more to live and must avoid strong sunshine as much as possible
and give up rain in excess, and above all be careful not to expose himself
unnecessarily to the September blasts. And so the reckless little leaves in
their gold-green finery laughed and sang and danced and feasted summer
after summer just as if they were going to live forever and there were no
such things as September gales.
From the inside of the tree came small, whispery, squirrel-like noises,
and presently through the moss-rimmed opening stretched the hand of An
Petronia, holding out a faded green, oblong package, bulging with papers
and tied with white tape.
"Please, Daddy Merle, will you hold it for me?"
An Petronia's novel! It so happened that this was the first time Merle
had beheld the little novelist's autograph. "What a funny way to spell
Anne!" he said half-aloud.
"That's the way I always spell it, Daddy Merle." He started at the sound
of An Petronia's voice. He had not heard her as she slipped out of the tree.
Now she was standing close beside him and in her hands was something
small wrapped in white tissue paper.
There was a timid challenge in the child's voice, the first hint of the
future conflict between artist and critic.
"'An' is the very first word in my spelling-book," she hurried on, "A N
—an. It's the same name, Daddy Merle, only in the speller it's An Apple
and I'm An Pottle."
"My dear," he said, and if the truth must be told there was a hint of rain
in the curate's own eyes, "An is your very own name and the way you spell
it is the sweetest and dearest way in all the world, and you must never spell
it any other way," which was the first, last and only concession to the "Dire
Heresy of Spelling Reform" ever made by the Reverend Horatio Merle.
They were seated once more on the soft moss by the side of the four
evangelists, who greeted them with undiminished apostolic serenity. An
Petronia had undone the tape that bound her portfolio and was turning over
the contents, pieces of paper in various sizes, from half sheets of note to
torn scraps of wrapping paper, covered on both sides with the large,
irregular handwriting of the budding novelist. By her side sat the curate, his
gray head bent over the picture which An Petronia, after unfolding its tissue
paper wrappings, had with heroically suppressed misgivings intrusted to his
hands. It was her most precious possession, a photograph in a tarnished gilt
frame from a painting of Christ washing the feet of the apostles. Below the
picture was printed a text from the Gospel of Saint John, xiii., 15:
The curate stared at the familiar words. Once he had preached a sermon
from that very text. He smiled sadly as he recalled that sermon.
"You would have said it just the same, Horatio!" Harriet had declared in
a burst of indignant tears as she crumpled up the rector's letter accepting
Horatio's resignation. Perhaps he would—who knows?
And now, in the afternoon silence of the woods, the curate pondered on
the fate that had seemed to shape his ends so unprofitably. Was there ever
anyone in the world less fitted to be a clergyman than he?
Why has the silence of the summer woods been so often likened to the
silence of a cathedral? They have nothing in common. The silence of the
cathedral is the silence of great stones frozen together by Fear. The silence
of the woods is the stillness of innumerable sounds blended, as all the
colors of the rainbow are blended, into the white light which is invisible.
"Do they look as if they were acting a play, these holy men that I have
painted? Has the spirit of Christianity so changed that the sacred commands
of the Master must be explained away with strange words? Has the flock
strayed so far that the shepherd's crook has come to be only a symbol and
the shears of the shearer a metaphor and the sheepfold a figure of speech?
Have I painted my picture in vain?"
And now the printed words of the text before him seemed to speak
aloud, to call to him:
And then a great resolve formed itself in the heart of Horatio Merle. He
would take Hiram Baxter at his word, he would tell him he wanted to work.
He was willing to do anything so long as it was work, so long as it was
helpful. He had been blind, and in his blindness he had tried to lead others
as blind as himself.
"I have lost my way," he said aloud. He had risen to his feet and stood
with head bowed and hands extended in an attitude that would have been
theatrical if it had not been so utterly unconscious.
"You isn't losted, Daddy Merle." He felt the clasp of her little hand.
"Tum with me, I know the way."
Together they walked through the high ferns, in some places over An
Petronia's head, and through dim, winding woodland passages and secret
stairways of mossy rocks behind the tapestry of ivy and convolvulus known
only to An Petronia, until they came out on the Millbrook lane just in time
to see the last flicker of sunlight through the hawthorn hedge.
CHAPTER XVI
The night before the departure of the Baxters for Brighton the spectacle
of a huge pile of packed boxes and the report that the family were fleeing
from the doomed mansion, never to return, had caused a fresh outbreak of
hysterical panic among the remaining servants. And scarcely was the car
out of sight bearing the Baxter party to the station when a deputation from
the servants' hall, hatted, coated and handbagged and headed by Parker,
waited on Mrs. Merle, as the senior representative of the family, and told
her that they were very sorry, but nothing would induce them to spend
another hour in the house. Only out of consideration for poor Mrs. Baxter
had they remained until her departure.
For the first time in her life Harriet, confronted by an emergency, totally
lost the power of speech. When at length she recovered her breath and
words were ready to flow, she found herself alone; the deputation had left
the room, closing the door quietly behind itself.
As Harriet put up the receiver, she heard the diminishing hish of wheels
on the damp gravel outside. The sound died away and a sudden quiet came
upon Ipping House, a stillness that smote Harriet's nerves like the stillness
that awakens the passengers on an ocean liner when the engines stop
working in the night. To tell the truth, the situation was much the same, for
with the exception of Anton, the chauffeur, Hester, the new sewing girl, and
Mrs. Pottle at the lodge, there was not a single servant left at Ipping House.
"What will Horatio say?" thought Harriet.
"Horatio! Have you heard a single word I've been telling you?"
"Yes, my dear."
Horatio was removing his galoshes, muddy from a long walk. This
operation had to be performed standing, as the only two chairs in the room
were occupied, one by the agitated Harriet, the other by the slumbering
Martin Luther.
As the curate looked up, clasping one foot in his two hands and hopping
absurdly on the other to keep his balance, he resembled some fantastic bird
of the crane family. At any other time Harriet might have smiled; now she
was too angry. Her white pompadour bristled and her eyes blinked rapidly
as if making ready to leap at him.
Only by shutting her lips tightly and gripping the arms of her chair did
Harriet restrain herself from violent interruption. When she spoke it was an
explosion.
"Horatio! are you crazy? Don't you understand? There isn't a servant in
this house. There's no one to cook our luncheon, and, if there were, there is
no one to serve it, no one to do anything, and you stand there and talk about
aeroplanes!"
Seating himself in the cushionless chair, Horatio leaned his head against
its tall straight back. "No one to serve, no one to do anything." He was
echoing Harriet's words; his eyes were resting on hers, yet his thoughts
were far away, fixed on something invisible to Harriet, a faded picture in a
tarnished gilt frame.
There was a look in her husband's face that carried Harriet's thoughts far
away from the present, back to the first time she had seen that look and
believed that Horatio was different from any other man, believed that, with
her at his side, he was destined to do great things and to help make the
world a wonderful place. And what had he done? What had she done? Who
was to blame for the failure, for the poverty, for the pitiful dependence? She
wondered what was to become of them. How could they stay on here after
the way Cousin Hiram had talked? To be sure, Cousin Eleanor had been
kindness itself. She had kissed her quite tearfully that morning and hoped
she and Horatio would stay with them as long as they kept the house open.
She had even hinted at their visiting them in New York.
The sound of a motor below coming round the drive brought Harriet to
her feet. She ran to the window.
"It's Cousin Robert and Kate Clendennin," she exclaimed. "They ought
to have been back hours ago. Robert will make everything all right. I will
speak to him at once about getting servants."
She moved quickly and was already half out of the room when the
sound of Horatio's voice halted her like an electric shock.
"Harriet!"
There was a tone in Horatio's voice that drew Harriet back into the room
as if by physical force.
"What is it, Horatio? You frightened me." She pressed the palm of her
hand against her side.
He was standing before her; and the pinkness had gone out of his face.
He took her hand and led her gently back to the chair.
"Sit down, Harriet." He seated himself in the other chair. "I'm sorry I
frightened you, love, but you must not speak to Robert Baxter about the
servants."
"Harriet," he went on at last, "I implore you not to speak to Mr. Baxter. I
beseech you to do nothing in this matter."
"But Horatio!"
"I mean it, Harriet. What has happened in this house to-day is an answer
to my prayer."
"You're going mad, Horatio!" She tried to rise, but he drew her gently
back.
"If you do anything, Harriet, if you do not leave things as they are now
in this house, it will be as if Christ came to the door and you slammed the
door in His face."
He was terribly in earnest, his voice was steady and his blue eyes met
hers calmly; in them shone a light she had loved him for in the long gone
days—a light that rarely visited them now.
"Do you mean," she asked at length, "that you want us to do without
any servants?"
"Harriet, do you remember the happiest year of our life, when we had
no servant at all except the charwoman who came once a week, when you
made the beds and the bread and washed the dishes and I dried them, when
you were the cook and four housemaids in one and I was the butler and the
footman and the man of all work? I opened the bottle of wine when we had
one; I made the fires, except when the coal bill was overdue and there
weren't any fires to make; I was the boots, too, and I cleaned the knives and
polished our two or three bits of silver. And, when I'd nothing else to do, I
wrote my sermons."
The color came into Harriet's face and her eyes shone at the
recollection.
"You generally composed your sermon on the way to church. How you
used to frighten me, Horatio! I thought every service would be your last!
Do you remember the first time I locked you up on a Saturday morning to
write your sermon?" she added, smiling.
"You can laugh about it now, but it was no laughing matter at the time,"
said Horatio. "I made up my mind I would open the Bible at random and
take the first text my eye fell upon—and what a text it was! 'Can'st thou
draw out leviathan with an hook?' Do you remember?"
"It was the best sermon you ever wrote," said Harriet, warming to the
remembrance, "though perhaps, dear, it was a mistake to dwell on the
impossibility of a whale's swallowing anything larger than a sardine."
Horatio puckered his face into a frown. "He informed me, Harriet, that
it was the business of a curate to preach the Gospel and not to lecture on
natural history."
The curate rose and held out his hand. "Come on, Harriet." He drew her
to him and put his arm round her affectionately. "Let's play we're back in
the old stone cottage at Chale, and you go down into the larder and see if
there's anything for lunch and I'll go into the dining-room and lay the
cloth."
For answer Harriet, conscious of the moisture in her eyes, gave Horatio
a swift sidelong peck which was to a kiss what the shorthand symbol is to a
written word, and, together, they descended the echoing stairs of the
deserted house.
In the meantime Robert Baxter and Kate Clendennin, returning from the
railway station by what the Reverend Horatio Merle might have called a
short cut of about twenty miles, took no account of the flight of time. Now
they raced madly down a narrow lane whose hawthorn hedges interlaced
thickly overhead. Now, as the road passed between thrush-haunted woods,
they went very slowly, sometimes standing still for minutes at a time to
listen to the notes of the wood birds. Once when a spotted fawn trotted out
of the thicket and ambled in front of the motor, they went at half speed for
nearly a mile before the frightened creature decided to take to the woods
again.
In the last four or five days Kate had seen a good deal of Bob, since her
confession to Lionel on the Millbrook links, and she had not over-estimated
her powers. Each day he sought her company more eagerly, and while at
first she had, without appearing to do so, given him opportunities, now, as
far as could be, with a young man who had to give a part of his time to
business in London, his movements had come to be coincidental with her
own.
But Kate knew that the time had come when she must, to put it baldly,
either take him or leave him. She had told Lionel that she was going to
marry Robert Baxter. That, however, was several days ago. Then her
decision was not irrevocable. Now, as she sat beside Robert Baxter in the
motor, Kate realized that any day, any hour, any moment it might become
irrevocable.
She spoke suddenly. "We'd better be hurrying," she said. "It's getting
late. I'm getting hungry, aren't you?"
On the way home Kate kept him busy with the high speed lever,
declaring that if they weren't back inside of half an hour she would certainly
starve to death. In less than ten minutes Bob had passed the golf links, and
in three minutes more they were whizzing through the lodge gates.
They passed into the library. Kate pulled a bell, once, twice, and once
again. No one answered.
Bob took out his cigarette case, and Kate seated herself on the dresser,
with her feet on a chair.
"We're marooned!" she said; the words came out of a violet smoke-
cloud.
"Looks like it," said Bob as he lighted his cigarette from hers.
"I say, can you cook?" asked the voice from the cloud.
"Well, I'll thank you not to." Kate volplaned from her perch on the
dresser. "Let's see what there is. There's sure to be something cold, and, if
there are eggs enough, I'll make an omelette a mile wide."
There were cold meats of various kinds, also cold boiled potatoes.
These Kate cut up and placed in a frying pan, while Bob made a fire in the
range, and, under Kate's direction, put the plates and dishes for the omelette
and the potatoes in the oven to warm.
When everything was ready, Kate sent Bob upstairs to set the table and
ring the gong for luncheon. As he hurried through the servants' corridor he
met Mrs. Merle.
"Oh, Mr. Baxter!" she cried. "Did you ever see anything like it! I am
just going down to see if I can find anything for lunch."
Bob smiled sweetly as he held the door open and ushered Mrs. Merle
into the kitchen.
"Well, I never!" exclaimed Harriet when she had recovered from the
first shock of surprise at seeing Kate. "If I'd known sooner I might have
been some help. My husband is laying the cloth."
Bob led the way with a large tray on which were a cold ham and a
platter of sliced cold chicken. Kate carried the omelette and a "sweet" she
had made at the last minute of fried bread and strawberry jam. Mrs. Merle
brought up the rear with the dish of fried potatoes and a jar of potted
shrimps.
Horatio had just finished setting the table when the procession of three
entered the dining room. His back was turned. He was making a last round,
massaging with gentle finger tips the few remaining wrinkles in the white
cloth.
Perhaps they didn't know it. Perhaps they thought it was all a joke. But
he knew better. It was part of the Great Design, just as the departure of the
frightened servants were part of the same Design.
Here they came, laughing, joking, but all lending a hand, all serving.
Some one was crying: "Hooray for the new butler! Speech! Speech!" It was
Lionel Fitz-Brown. Returning from a ramble on the moor at the last minute,
he had seen what was up, and, not wishing to be out of it, had dashed into
the kitchen garden and returned, the flushed and joyous bearer of an
egregious lettuce on a lordly dish.
All tongues were loosed now as they followed each other into the dining
room and deposited their viands on the table.
There was a sudden hush. All were seated but Harriet and Horatio.
Harriet went quickly to her accustomed place and sat down. Only the
Reverend Horatio Merle remained standing. The curate had always said
grace at Ipping House, sounding forth the stereotyped words with a certain
glib solemnity as if he was repeating a worn out social formula. Now on his
lowered face there was a deep reverence, and his clasped hands were joined
in real supplication.
"For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly
thankful." There was a tremor in his voice, but it held out to the end.
With still lowered head Horatio moved to the head of the table, and,
standing by the side of Mr. Robert Baxter, lifted the cover from Kate
Clendennin's omelette and placed it on the sideboard.
CHAPTER XVII
Long established usage on desert islands has ordered that the first duty
of the shipwrecked, after locating the crystal spring and ascertaining that
the cocoanuts are ripe and the mango (or bread fruit tree) abounds, is to
signal for help. Accordingly, at this first meal after the desolation of Ipping
House the sole topic of conversation concerned ways and means of
obtaining new servants without delay. But the Merles took no part in the
discussion.
From the outset the Reverend Horatio's domestic ministrations had been
accepted, in the picnickian spirit of the occasion, as the whim of an
eccentric parson and quickly forgotten by all but Harriet in the absorbing
topic of the moment.
Harriet watched him now as he moved quietly to and fro, carrying the
large silver platter, bending gravely as he held it in turn for each of the
chatterers at the table. "Heathens" she reflected bitterly. "They are raging
about menials, heedless that they are being served by an angel!"
A rare partisan was Harriet Merle. With her on his side, Horatio might
well liken himself to a hero of old armed with an invincible spear. Harriet
gloried in opposition, and it was only when opposing forces were equal that
there was any doubt in her husband's mind which side she would take. At
such times something totally unexpected, weighing with the infinitesimal
preponderance of a hair, would sway the balance. So it had been this
morning when Horatio had spoken of long ago days and the look of long
ago had shone in Horatio's eyes.
As Horatio stood, with his back to the room, occupied with things on
the sideboard, there was to Harriet something solemnly familiar about his
attitude, his quiet movements. Nor was the good churchwoman shocked
when she realized what it recalled to her mind. It was but an added proof, if
such were needed, that to Horatio this was indeed a ritual, and no common
service he was performing.
At last, it seemed an age to Harriet, every one had been served. The
Spanish omelette, a martyr to its own perfection was no more. Robert
Baxter, after paying the highest compliment possible for a mere man to pay
to a Spanish omelette, rose from the table and, deputing the countess to act
with Mrs. Merle in the matter of engaging servants, excused himself on the
plea of letters that must catch the afternoon post.
Kate had lighted a cigarette and was leaning back in her chair watching
the sinuous veil dance of the dissolving vapor. Lionel's whole being was
concentrated on the ordeal by fire of a perfecto bequeathed to him by the
departing Robert.
Lionel pushed back his chair and strode out of the room. Some minutes
passed before he returned, entering by the French window from the
conservatory. He looked flustered.
"That's the first thing I thought of. He hadn't two minutes' start of me,
and I ran all round the house."
"Yes, I went there twice. No one has been through the gate since this
morning. By the way," he added, "Mrs. Pottle says she'll come around and
see what she can do to help, she and that girl she has there, jolly looking
girl,—eyes like a—like a fox terrier——" He stopped abruptly. Kate and
Harriet had not waited for particulars about the Storm girl's eyes—the one
was speeding toward the kitchen, the other was already half way up stairs.
"Horatio never went out like that without speaking to me," lamented
Harriet.
The afternoon hours dragged by and when dinner time came Horatio
was still absent. The long oak dining table had been reduced to the
comparatively small circle of its primordial unit. The curtains had not been
drawn and, through the tall windows at the end of the room, the ghost of the
departed day stared solemnly at the candles that were usurping its place.
But the candles only shrugged their flames superciliously—their silver
candelabra had once belonged to Charles I. "Anyway," they reflected, "it's
better to be a live candle than a dead sun!" A remark which, to be strictly
truthful, was not original, having been handed down in the candle family
for generations.
The continued absence of the beloved curate cast a damper on the spirits
of the diners and made conversation a burden. Even the all important
servant question was for the time being forgotten.
"I don't see why we're worrying so," said Kate, after a longer pause than
usual. "He's probably lost his way in the woods and is trying to find his way
home by that ridiculous compass on his watch chain; he showed it to me
once." She smiled at the recollection. "It has no more sense of direction
than poor, dear Mr. Merle himself has. I give you my word the wretched
thing never pointed twice to the same place. The dear man likes nothing
better than to get lost in the woods. He told me so himself," she added, but
her voice belied the optimism of her words.
"By Jove, Kate!" cried Lionel, eager to change the subject, "is that the
thing you were making when you chucked me out of the kitchen this
afternoon?"
Kate was assaulting the quaking monument with a desperate spoon. "It's
Mr. Merle's favorite pudding," she said shortly.
Lionel subsided. What was the use? No matter what topic was started, it
invariably led to Merle.
The fate of the chocolate blanc-mange hung in the balance for a brief
moment. If to eat it would seem to be a slight to the curate, to leave it would
be a slight to the countess. The outcome was a compromise in which the
honors and the blanc-mange were evenly divided.
Hester was glad when the meal drew to a close. Waiting on the table had
been a nerve racking experience for her. Only the thought that she might
pick up some chance clue as to the golf bag's whereabouts had nerved her to
the undertaking.
Now it was over and nothing had come of it—not a single word about
golf or golf bags. All the talk had been about the old parson who was late
for dinner. Probably he had fallen into another mole trap or caught his
whiskers in a bramble bush!
"A golf bag is a funny thing for a secretary to be carting about," Robert
Baxter was saying, "but there it was, and the day Mother borrowed it——"
He drained his cup quickly and put it down. It was coming out in
exasperating driblets like a magazine story and Hester, suddenly busy at the
sideboard, waited breathlessly for the next instalment.
"I heard Miss Thompson call out to him from the motor," went on
Lionel, "just as they were starting this morning, that if he cared to get her
golf bag he could use the clubs all he wanted."
There was another maddening pause. Hester had reached the limit of her
endurance; she couldn't go on rearranging the silver on the sideboard
forever. She had an insane impulse to shriek. Then, suddenly, the suspense
was over. Robert supplied the missing link.
"Cousin Horatio could hardly get lost on his way to the club house," he
reflected, pushing back his chair as Kate started to rise, "but I'll run round in
the car and inquire if he was there this afternoon. Why don't you have a
look round the lake?" he turned to Lionel.
They passed into the hall and out through the front door. It was almost
dark. Through the moist, warm air came the scent of pale night flowers
dimly white against the dark ivy.
"I must be off," said Bob, "or the golf club will be shut. Any one want
to go along?"
"I don't think Mrs. Merle should be left alone," said Kate. "I'll try to
make her eat something."
Bob started toward the garage as the other two re-entered the dark
house. None of the hall lamps had been lighted. In the dining room the
candles were burning low, their impish flames casting jerky shadows on the
disordered table. The empty chairs, pushed back, had the unquiet stillness
of arrested movement. Kate shivered.
On the table was the depressing litter of stained coffee cups, together
with sundry plates and glasses overlooked by Hester. The countess began
gathering the plates and cups together and piling them on the sideboard.
Lionel watched her in silence. Now only the cloth remained.
Lionel obeyed and together they folded it into its original creases.
The countess was leaving the room to "rout out Mrs. Merle," as she
expressed it. She stopped short and came back to Lionel. There was a look
on her face that startled him.
"No," she said at length, "I haven't telephoned. I haven't done a thing
about it, and what's more, Lionel, I don't believe I will."