of entry and primarily at Buffalo, there is no space on the airport anywhere near existing terminal facilities and ramp areas for any such facilities.

In addition to Allegheny's thirteen daily trips at Buffalo from Toronto, Eastern Airlines provides six daily similar flights from Toronto, all continuing on to major points on the Eastern system. The Buffalo airport is operated by the Niagara Frontier Port Authority. Mr. Arthur Fallon, Executive Director of the Authority has authorized me to state that there is no way existing facilities could adequately accommodate Customs clearance at the Buffalo airport, and obviously no way that such a facility could be provided by March 31 of 1973. He further states that existing terminal facilities, and major industrial plants such as the Westinghouse plant adjacent to these terminal facilities, are so located that no further encroachment of structures or needed ramp space to service a Customs clearance operation can be made toward the primary instrument runway. Thus no usable space is available.

There is no conceivable way that essential facilities (already available for preclearance and being paid for by Allegheny and other airlines in Toronto and Montreal) could be provided at Allegheny's airports of entry in 1973. As a result, Allegheny's current Canadian operations would necessarily be drastically curtailed, and possibly eliminated completely at certain of these ports of entry, if the termination of preclearance services is made effective, as is now programmed to occur, on March 31, 1973. If airport space were available and construction of facilities could be commenced in 1973, the cost of paying for such facilities by Allegheny, and necessarily passed on to the customer, would probably be prohibitive at many points. The result of this, of course, would be a discontinuance of Canadian services from these points and the loss to the public of convenient air transportation to the many major cities benefiting from the existing services.

Our current volume of 415,000 Toronto and Montreal passengers would be forced to go back to the private automobile.

Of course, many

would use other means of communication and the American public would simply lose a valued transportation service. To a significant degree Canadian carriers would be the beneficiaries of this loss of services now being provided by the U. S. Flag carriers. The balance strived for in the bilateral route agreement with Cana da would be upset adversely to the interests of the U. S. Flag carriers, and the adverse balance of payment problem would be increased.

Even if adequate facilities are made available sometime

in the future, and even if the cost of these facilities did not become a burden on Allegheny and its passengers, loss of preclearance at Toronto and Montreal would have a catastrophic effect on the quality of service that we could render. Allegheny's services would have to be drastically reduced because of the other added costs involved. For instance, additional personnel at the ports of entry and other additional operating costs are estimated at $263,000 annually. The biggest single increase in costs would be the requirement for additional aircraft to provide existing services to take the place of aircraft time lost on the ground during a Customs inspection at the port of entry. This is now done in

Three

Toronto and Montreal with no loss of aircraft utilization. new jet aircraft at five million dollars each would be required to continue existing frequencies of service. Because Allegheny's Canadian services do not have this kind of profitability, we would necessarily drastically reduce these services. Thus, even though facilities were available, Allegheny's services would be substantially reduced to the inconvenience of the travelling public.

Finally, the usefulness of the services would be so lessened as to decimate existing traffic levels. The Allegheny passenger from Toronto and Montreal after a flight of twenty to thirty minutes to the U. S. airport of entry would have to deplane, his baggage would have to be off-loaded, he and his baggage would

For

go through Customs inspection, and then he would finally reboard his flight after an hour's delay for his ultimate destination. most of Allegheny's passengers this continuing flight would be a flight of forty minutes to one hour in duration. Let me give you examples of typical flights:

1. Flight 717, Toronto to Pittsburgh through the Buffalo
airport of entry, now leaving Toronto at 4:15 p.m. and
arriving Pittsburgh at 5:50 p.m., would not arrive Pitts-
burgh until 6:50 p.m., an increase in elapsed time of 64%.
2. Flight 475, Montreal to Albany, N. Y. through the

Burlington, Vermont airport of entry, now leaving Montreal
at 5:30 p.m. and arriving at Albany at 6:49 p.m., would
not arrive Albany until 7:49 p.m., an increase in elapsed
time of 76%.

3. Flight 430, Toronto to Hartford, Conn. through the Rochester,
N. Y. airport of entry, now leaving Toronto at 11:30 a.m.
and arriving at Hartford at 1:04 p.m., would not arrive
Hartford until 2:04 p.m., an increase in elapsed time of
64%.

The overall time of the journey from Toronto or Montreal to the ultimate destination would be increased sixty-three percent for most of Allegheny's passengers. The present convenience of service would be lost and U. S. and Canadian businessmen would severely restrict their use of the service.

Thus, in conclusion, facilities cannot be available in 1973; when available they would be too costly for Allegheny and the short-haul traveler on the Allegheny system; and finally, even if provided sometime in the future, the quality of service would be so lessened to decimate traffic flows that are in the interest of our business travelers and the commerce of the United States.

Thank you very much.

PROBLEMS TO PUBLIC ON LOSS OF PRECLEARANCE

Mr. CARVER. Mr. Chairman, I did wish to put in remarks supplemental to those put in by the Air Transport Association representing Allegheny Airlines as well as the rest of the industry.

This is because of the rather unique operations of Allegheney across the Canadian border and because of your inquiries with respect to the problems which would be caused primarily to the traveling public by the loss of preclearance.

If I may refer to this chart, Allegheny operates 19 daily trips out of Toronto and Montreal into the United States. Those trips come through four different ports of entry where, by the Canadian bilateral route agreement and CAB authorities, we are forced to stop. Those ports of entry are Erie, Pa., from Toronto; Buffalo, N.Y., from Toronto; Rochester, N.Y., from Toronto; and Burlington, Vt., from Montreal.

All those trips flow through the ports of entry. The primary service, valuable service, Allegheny provides for the public is not service between these important Canadian terminals and those ports of entry, but the beyond services to the major communities making up a piece of the Allegheny system.

Senator MONTOYA. Why are you forced to stop at those places? Mr. CARVER. By both Civil Aeronautics Board authority and by the agreement between the United States and Canada.

Senator MONTOYA. For what purpose do you stop?

Mr. CARVER. Initially the Buffalo-Toronto service was to provide basically Toronto-Buffalo service. But today 80 percent of our traffic between Toronto, Montreal, and Canada flows through these ports of entry.

Senator MONTOYA. Do I understand you do not have preclearance from those places to the United States?

Mr. CARVER. Yes, sir; for all of our traffic from Toronto and Montreal. But our route authority goes from Toronto to these three ports and from Montreal to this port, Burlington, and we are not allowed to overfly those ports either by the Civil Aeronautics Board or the Canadian Government.

Senator MONTOYA. But that is not a matter of preclearance. That is a matter for you to take up with the two governments in a certification hearing.

Mr. CARVER. Right, sir. But let me put this in perspective, the scope of what we are talking about. Today we are carrying passengers at the rate of 350,000 per year between Montreal and Toronto and these points. Eighty percent of them flow over these points of entry. So we have 330-odd thousand pasengers flowing over these ports of entry. If preclearance is lost, customs facilities would have to be provided at these points. There are no adequate facilities today.

In the Toronto-Buffalo market, the highest volume market, besides Allegheny's 13 daily flights there are also six Eastern Air Lines flights, all of which would descend on Buffalo where no facilities exist and, in fact, as far as Buffalo is concerned

Senator MONTOYA. I get your point now.

Mr. CARVER (Continuing). Where no space is available.