straint is suddenly removed from the law, many of the air lines, if not all of them, would immediately attempt to lower the pay and increase the hours of their pilots. We are thoroughly convinced that if this protective measure is removed from the law at this time the results will be disastrous as far as the pilots are concerned, and strike conditions are likely to ensue. In the circumstances, we strongly urge that this committee amend the bill H. R. 5234 as suggested, to the end that the pilots and the industry will be at least as well off as they are now. Thank you. Mr. COLE. Would you be in favor, Mr. Hamilton, adding a provision that sit-down strikes by pilots shall not take place while in the air? Mr. BEHNCKE. The difficulty of a sit-down strike would be that the air pilots would have no place to sit. Now, Mr. Chairman, in regard to the Lea bili, 5234, in addition to what has been said, I would like to point out that in the air-mail law we now have a protective section; and that law which is being amended by this law will remove this protective section which is not included in this bill; so the air pilots will not have the protection they have had for upward of 3 years. The air-mail law gives them protection relative to wages and working hours. That dates back to June of 1934. Now, before we had this protection in the air-mail law we had all sorts of trouble; there was always threatened difficulties and conferences. On September 30, 1933, all of the airlines of the entire United States came within about 30 minutes of being grounded because of the arbitrary wage reductions that the air carriers had imposed on the pilots. But since the enactment of this protective section in the present air-mail law almost all of this trouble has straightened itself out, and we have been getting along very well ever since, and for that reason we feel that this protective section ought to be included in the present law. It has proved to be one of the real stabilizing elements in the industry, and up to the time this section was included in the present air-mail law, the operating companies had gradually forced wages down and pilots' flying hours up. Even since the pilots have been protected under the air-mail law they have been having some trouble with a few operators in their constant efforts to chisel and break the law. In this fight back in 1933-and I have been representing the pilots now for almost 6 years-I lost my job because I was fighting for this pilots' protection-that is, wages and hours-which was back of all of this trouble, and efforts to reduce wages and lengthen hours, all of which was taken care of by the present pilots' section of the airmail law, and that is why the pilots are asking for it in the proposed legislation. In any legislation that is passed they merely ask for the same protection that they now have. In the enactment of any law that is passed we feel that this protective section should be in the law that has control over the economic balance of the industry. It has its proper place there because it prevents the chiseler from coming in and making trouble, and the chiseler always makes the trouble, especially where they come in and try to destroy the established standards. It is necessary to have high standards in the interest of safety. Mr. COLE. Mr. Chairman, may I ask a question? Mr. CROSSER. Mr. Cole. Mr. COLE. Mr. Behncke, it is your claim that the existing air-mail law now provides for wages and hours? Mr. BEHNCKE. Yes. Mr. COLE. Of air-mail pilots? Mr. BEHNCKE. Yes. Mr. COLE. And you say this bill repeals that law? Mr. BEHNCKE. That is right. Mr. COLE. And you want the bill amended so as to take care of just the pilots carrying mail or all pilots subject to provisions of this bill? Mr. BEHNCKE. I think it ought to apply to all air-line pilots whether or not they are carrying mail. I think they ought to be included in this proposed legislation. Mr. COLE. You made the statement, as I understood you, that the existing law is specifically repealed in this bill. Will you point out where that language is? Mr. MARTIN. I believe that is in section 13, is it not? Mr. BEHNCKE. Yes; section 13. Mr. MARTIN. On page 46, line 16? Mr. BEHNCKE. Yes. Mr. MARTIN. That is the section which you referred to? Mr. CROSSER. Are you going to discuss the other bill? Mr. BEHNCKE. Yes. There are just a few other things I would like to say in reference to the Lea bill before I take up that bill. Mr. CROSSER. You do not have a great deal of time; you understand. Mr. BEHNCKE. Before leaving this protective subject I would like to say that the present section 13 of the present air-mail law has been a fine stabilizing element in the industry up to this time because in air-line operation the equipment is more or less standard and uniform, so that when one gets into the matter of operating costs about the only place he can make any change is by reducing wages or increasing hours. When one gets into the question of cheap operation, the present section 13 of the air-mail law comes into effect and provides that the working hours and wages shall be practically uniform, and it has been a very healthy stabilizer for the industry. At this point I would like to tell the committee a little about pilots' working hours. Mr. BULWINKLE. What are the flying hours of pilots? Mr. BEHNCKE. We have in section 13 of the present air-mail law a provision limiting pilots' flying hours to 85 per month. I was about to come to that. Piloting an air transport at speeds of 150 to 200 miles per hour, at various altitudes, sometimes as high as 17,000 feet, is a great nervous strain and very fatiguing, and a tired pilot is not a safe pilot. Flying at high levels in rarefied air, where there is not the proper amount of oxygen, is also very fatiguing. The pilots' working hours must be protected. One hour in the air is easily equal to 2 hours in most any other occupation. In addition, a pilot puts in practically 1 hour on the ground for every hour spent in the air, checking weather, practicing blind flying, studying, badweather delays, and so forth. Computed on this basis a pilot who flies 85 hours in 1 month spends as much energy as he would working AVIATION FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1937 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 a. m., Hon. Clarence Lea (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order, please. Mr. Crowley is here, representing the Post Office Department, and we will be glad to hear from him at this time. STATEMENT OF KARL A. CROWLEY, SOLICITOR, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I want to file with the committee a letter of the Postmaster General, dated March 11, 1937, addressed to Senator Wheeler. I think it might save time to file this copy of the letter, because it is a report on Senate bill 2, which is the identical bill that is being considered here now, H. R. 5234. This report was made by the Postmaster General. The CHAIRMAN. Very well; that may be included in the proceedings. I suppose in that connection it might be well for the record to show that the identical bill of the House is a substitute bill for S. 2. Mr. CROWLEY. That is what I understand. I am going to discuss the present bill, the substitute bill, rather than the various other bills that have been introduced, and attempt to follow about the same. (The letter referred to is as follows:) Hon. BURTON K. WHEELER, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, Chairman, Committee on Interstate Commerce, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR: On March 3 a report was submitted to you covering the views of this Department on S. 2. On the same date an amendment was offered to S. 2 in the nature of a substitute. This amendment seems to be identical with H. R. 5234 which was introduced in the House of Representatives on March 2, 1937, and in view of the numerous changes made in S. 2 by the amendment it is deemed necessary to make an additional report. Both the foreign and domestic air-mail service of the United States were established by the Post Office Department, and the foreign air-mail service is now being operated under the full jurisdiction of the Post Office Department. The Post Office Department lets contracts for both the foreign and domestic air-mail services. In the case of the domestic air-mail service the Interstate Commerce Commission has full power and authority to fix air-mail rates and exercise other quasi-judicial functions for the regulation of air-mail contracts. These functions will be discussed in detail hereafter. The Bureau of Air Commerce, under the Department of Commerce, has judisdiction over airports, over the airways, and operations involving safety. The bill under discussion would repeal various sections of the existing law which provides safeguards for the protection of the public, and would transfer to the Interstate Commerce Commission all of the powers, duties, and responsibilities at present held and exercised by the Post Office Department over foreign and domestic air-mail lines. Another bill (S. 1760) would transfer all functions of the Bureau of Air Commerce of the Commerce Department to the Interstate Commerce Commission, thus placing the administration of laws concerning the operation of airtransport lines, including all the regulatory rate making, safety provisions, establishment of air lines and fixing of schedules thereon, in the hands of the Bureau of Air Mail of the Interstate Commerce Commission. A similar bill (S. 3420) was introduced in the Senate in 1935, and on January 13, 1936, I made a report to your committee recommending that that bill be not passed and stating that it was not desirable to change the existing air-mail laws in any material respect. I adhere to the views expressed in that report and again expressed them in my report to you on March 3, 1937. It is my opinion that the present air-mail laws are sound and that a few amendments to clarify certain sections is all that is necessary. I have proposed certain amendments to the domestic air-mail law and these are now pending for consideration by the House Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads in H. R. 4732. I am now considering whether it is advisable for the Department to recommend one or two amendments in the present foreign airmail act so as to enable the Department to meet new conditions which could not be foreseen at the time the law was passed. It is my belief that if the transportation of air mail and the payment of compensation therefor by the Post Office Department is to be considered a factor in the continuance of air-mail service in this country, the Post Office Department should be allowed to continue to establish necessary air-mail lines, and that such lines should be operated under the jurisdiction of the Post Office Department. Similar jurisdiction over the foreign air-mail lines should be vested in the Department. Unless the Post Office Department has the authority to set up the air-mail routes, prescribe the stops, and fix the schedules on such routes, the usefulness of these lines insofar as the expeditious transfer of the mails is concerned would, without doubt, be minimized. It seems appropriate that previous legislation and the reasons therefor be considered in discussing S. 2, and also it might be appropriate to refer to the development of aviation while the air-mail lines have been operated under the jurisdiction of the Post Office Department. The present air-mail laws, particularly the domestic air-mail law, are natural developments from years of intense study by the Post Office Department and investigations held by the Post Office Committees of both the Senate and the House. The present air-mail law was passed upon the recommendations of these committees, and not at the behest of the Post Office Department or of the air-mail contractors. The remarkable development of aviation in the United States to a point where it is generally conceded to excel the aviation of any other nation in the world would seem to prove that the judgment of these committees was sound and that the transfer of the normal functions of the Post Office Department to another branch of the Government would be an experiment which, in my opinion, should not be undertaken at the risk of impairing the Air Mail Service. It should be borne in mind that the air-mail services are open to all the people of the country and are used by millions of them, while the passenger and express services of the airlines serve a much smaller number. The Post Office Department is conducting the Air Mail Service in as an efficient manner as possible and undertaking, as far as lies within its power, to limit the burden of the taxpayers. RESULTS UNDER PRESENT SYSTEM All of the present domestic air-mail contracts have been let under the domestic Air Mail Act of 1934 and the amendments thereto. This law radically changed the methods of administration of the air-mail service. Under it Air Mail Service has grown and expanded to where it now serves most of the principal cities of the country and all of the States except one-Delaware-which is |