A strong appeal for the development of civil turboprops in the United States was made recently by Mr. C. R. Smith, president of American Airlines. In a lecture entitled The Turbine Engine and Air Transportation, delivered at Syracuse University, Mr. Smith asserted that "...it seems to me to be the course of good judgement to defer adoption of the turbojet airplane until some time later. In the meantime we should accelerate as rapidly as possible the development of turboprop engines of suitable size and power." His case against immediate adoption of turbojets by the American air-transport industry was summed up in the following sentences: "We are, all of us, still intrigued by the glamour of the turbojet airplane. But neither we nor you [the passenger] can now afford it."
Source: Flight International