Karl E. Voelter, CAA Management Section, Airports Branch, 166 West Van Buren Street, Room 1017, Chicago, Ill. Florence Allen Volk, owner and operator, Clearview Airport, Post Office Box 4482, Dallas, Tex. Weldon B. Wade, 126 West Elm Street, Sycamore, Ill. J. R. Wagner, manager, Municipal Airport, Mason City, Iowa. Thomas E. Walsh, manager, Kent County Airport, Grand Rapids, Mich. Milford D. Walston, manager and operator, Civic Memorial Airport, East Alton, Ill. Francis M. Wanless, Illinois Department of Aeronautics, aeronautical inspector, Springfield, Ill. A. L. Wardlaw, director, member of the board of commissioners, Columbia, S. C. Willis H. Warner, 403 Tenth Street, Huntington Beach, Calif. Grove Webster, Purdue Aeronautics Corp., West La Fayette, Ind. Hamilton Webster, manager, Municipal Airport (Dayton), Box 53, Vandalia, Ohio. Robert B. Whelchel, assistant manager, New Orleans Airport, New Orleans, La. Charles S. Whitney, consulting engineer, 724 East Mason Street, Milwaukee, Wis. Billings, Wilson, director of operations, Port of New York Authority, 111 Eighth Avenue, New York, N. Y. Gill Robb Wilson, aviation editor, New York Herald Tribune, New York, N. Y, Douglas C. Wolfe, manager, Chicago Hammond Airport, Lansing, Ill. Louis A. Yates, manager and owner, Yates Field, Route 10, Box 181, San Antonio, Tex. H. A. Youts, manager, Municipal Airport, Shawnee, Okla. Carl J. Amundson, manager, Grand Forks Municipal Airport, Post Office Box 533, Grand Forks, N. Dak. Archie Armstrong, manager, Newark Airport, Newark, N. J. William Robert Ashburn, president and general manager, Alexandria Airport (Hybla Valley), R. F. D. 4, Alexandria, Va. Harold James Baird, commissioner of aviation and public works, Nashville, Tenn. Frank C. Bishop, manager, Napa County Airport, Napa, Calif. Lacy Chandler, general superintendent, Municipal Airport, 105 Decatur Club Building, Decatur, Ill. William Edward Eckenrod, Jr., manager, Municipal Airport (Lovell Field), Chattanooga, Tenn. Frank D. Fogde, manager, Moon Island Airport, Post Office Box 366, Hoquiam, Wash. Richard Furman, director of aviation, Municipal Airport and Victoria Chamber of Commerce, Victoria, Tex. Stanley A. Frame, manager, also Woner Buck's Flight School, Lovell Field, Chattanooga, Tenn. Charles C. Gill, manager, King County Airport (Boeing Field), Seattle, Wash. Richard A. Harding, manager, Santa Barbara Airport, Goleta, Calif. C. L. "Stoney" Henry, manager, Route 3, Russell Field, Fort Worth, Tex. David E. Leigh, manager, Lambert, St. Louis Municipal Airport, St. Louis, Mo. Maj. Gen. Cecil R. Moore, executive director, city airports, Baltimore, Md. Frederick C. Patterson, manager, Fleming Field, South St. Paul, Minn. A. B. Phillips, Tift County Commissioners, Post Office Box 404, State of Georgia, Tifton, Ga. W. Allen Rubottom, manager, Meacham Field, Fort Worth, Tex. Arthur H. Wedge, manager, Baer Field, Fort Wayne, Ind. Harold C. Wright, superintendent, Cumberland Field, Ninth Avenue, North Nashville, Tenn. Francis A. Bolton, superintendent, Port Columbus Airport, Columbus, Ohio. Leonard N. Capuciile, manager, Municipal Airport, Post Office Box 313, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Emory Lee Cox, acting director, board of park commissioners, Municipal Airport, Wichita, Kans. Boris Golenkow, manager, Municipal Airport, Millville, N. J. Robert M. Howard, manager, Theodore Francis Green Airport, Post Office Box 223, Hills Grove, R. I. E. E. Lotrop Aviation Advisory Committee, American Petroleum Industries Committee, 50 West Fiftieth Street, New York, N. Y. C. Edward Straub, manager, Municipal Airport, Wichita, Kans. M. J. Vande Bunete, Michigan Department of Aeronautics, Capital City Airport, Lansing, Mich. C. C. Baker, manager, Cy Vic Airways, Woodward, Iowa. Carl Thomas Blackwell, manager, Municipal Airport, Post Office Box 255, Palestine, Tex. Richard C. Bonhurst, manager, Municipal Airport, Niagara Falls, N. Y. Hart H. Bowman, supervisor, of aviation, Love Field, 210 City Hall, Dallas, Tex. Frank Bringham, manager, Municipal Airport, Devils Lake, N. Dak. Jos. R. Brummet, manager and owner, Jefferson Airfield, Post Office Box 831, Jefferson City, Mo. Leslie A. Bryan, manager, University of Illinois Airport, Urbana, Ill. Dana Lockhart Butchart, manager, Municipal Airport, Hibbing, Minn. John E. Casey, manager, Municipal Airport, Chicago, Ill. Joseph E. Coulter, manager, Max Westheimer Field (University of Oklahoma), Norman, Okla. Howard E. Crush, superintendent, Lunken Airport, Cincinnati, Ohio. Charles D. Daily, assistant commissioner of airports, Municipal Airport, Kansas Woodruff De Silva, manager, Los Angeles Airport, Los Angeles, Calif. Floyd E. Evans, director of aeronautics, State of Michigan, Lansing, Mich. Allen M. Hoffman, manager, James Clements Airport, Bay City, Mich. Frank A. Lane, manager, Municipal Airport, Clarion, Iowa. Arlo W. Mather, owner, Mather Airport, 4538 Ridge Road, Cleveland, Ohio. H. E. Ramsey, Akron-Canton-Massillon Airport, Post Office Box 246, Greentown, Ohio. John B. Randolph, assistant treasurer, Fabick Aircraft Co., Lambert Field, St. Louis, Mo. Wilmot Rhodes, assistant manager, Auburn Opelika Airport, Post Office Box 863, Auburn, Ala. William H. Rogers, Jr., manager, Battle Creek Kellogg Municipal Airport, Post Office Box 37, Battle Creek, Mich. Robert T. St. John, manager, Tri City Airport, Post Office Box 702, Johnson City, Tenn. Robert G. G. Sessler, manager and owner, Beckley-Mt. Hope Municipal Airport (Scott Field), Beckley, W. Va. Dudley Steele, 1626 Long Beach Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif. Harold D. Swank, manager, Scranton Airport, RFD 1, Clarks Summit, Pa. Mrs. Mabel K. Wilson, manager, Wilson Airport, Schiller Park, Ill. Walter Wright, superintendent of parks, recreation and aviation, room 1003, City Hall, Chicago, Ill. Mr. Nuss. Since you bring up the question of the soft-drink stand, that is about all we have in Reading. We have a small restaurant. That is the only nonflying income that we have on that airport. Since this morning the term "monopoly" was used; if there is any type of airport in which there is a monopoly, it is the airports such as the size of Reading or your own smaller airports up in your country. I point out this one fact, and what I mean by monopoly, the air line has a monopoly. For instance, TWA serves the city of Reading, and they have served it since August 1, 1941, and since that time there have been other air lines that have filed to serve our city. TWA, I venture to say, have spent $5,000 to $10,000 in exhibits and legal fees to impress the board that the city of Reading does not need any more east-west service. Eastern Airlines in the Middle Atlantic case was an applicant to serve the city of Allentown and Reading and Lancaster and Baltimore on what we termed the inland route from Boston to Washington. There again the opposing air lines spent all of the money that they could possibly spare in proving to the board that the city of Reading and Allentown and Harrisburg do not need any more air-line service. They have the monopoly. If there is a monopoly, the monopoly is in these smaller communities. We have the air transportation if they will give it to us. An official of TWA told me that they would always oppose any application that is filed with the Board for additional service. Mr. HALE. Thank you very much, Mr. Nuss. Mr. HALE. Mr. J. Victor Dallin, of the Department of Public Works of Philadelphia, is the next witness. STATEMENT OF J. VICTOR DALLIN, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Mr. DALLIN. Mr. Chairman, there has been so much said here today which I subscribe to, and I do not want to repeat the things that have been said. I would just like to specifically say that in addition to being against the bill, we would like to specifically bring out two things. One is the gasoline, and the other is the restaurants. The airport restaurant is by and large the one concession that every one uses, and it is a great producer of revenue if it is properly supported. I think if the air lines avoid using that restaurant, it will bring about a very difficult situation in this respect, that the State and the city are both interested by law in sanitation, and I do not know how the food would be properly inspected if it is brought in and not handled directly through the concessionaire on the field. Another thing is this: The concessionaire is subject to seasonal and local weather fluctuations, and it is very difficult to profitably operate a restaurant 365 days unless it is supported by the air lines. I submit that if the restaurant is not satisfactory, the air lines would have a natural grievance, but I feel that the CAA and ourselves can see to it that complaints along that nature would be properly corrected by the elimination of the concessionaire and the introduction of someone else, which could certainly be done if the food service is unsatisfactory. Now, with regard to the gasoline, right now at our airport the gasoline situation is the most dangerous, unsatisfactory thing that I have ever seen, and it can only be corrected by some drastic changes in that facility. Much has been said here about commingling. As a matter of fact, we have worked out a plan which does not exactly commingle, but it can be at the pleasure of the individual air line. The oil companies have supported such a plan, where the individual air line would have and control tanks which would service bis number of gates directly either by ramp refueling method or by the use of trucks. The air lines themselves have recommended that they be eliminated from the ramp. The Air Transport Association strongly recommended the elimination of ramp equipment. However, the oil companies do not feel that in many cases the complete elimination of truck tenders is practicable, due to the lack of volume in some of the smaller airports, of which ours happens to be one, but I do feel that if the air lines will eliminate the suspicion that they have about this particular operation, it can be operated equitably. Furthermore, we get a, relatively speaking, higher landing fee from the nonscheduled air lines, and he, in turn, is now paying us 2 cents per gallon. I can tell you from experience that if we are making anything, it is less than half of a cent per gallon with the nonscheduled operator. However, he complains bitterly that he, without Government subsidy, has to pay us 2 cents a gallon and the air lines pay nothing. Our only satisfactory reply to that complaint of his is that the scheduled air line carries the mail and under the present leases we cannot interfere with the present arrangement. However, we do feel, and I speak as a friend of the air lines, and I have always been a friend of the air lines, I really feel that the air lines ought to approach this thing a little more realistically than they have, and I am sorry to see Mr. Ramspeck take the stand that he did this morning against some satisfactory refueling problem, because it is dangerous, it is unsatisfactory, and I am sure that everyone in the airlines will admit that we must do something. Now the question arises: The oil companies alone unless they have a monopoly will not do something, and the lines alone will not do something and it falls upon the cities themselves to work out some plan. We think that we have worked out a plan, and we wish to assure the air lines that there will be nothing unjust about its operation. We would like to get back our money, plus interest on our money, and some fair return; but there seems to be an unnecessary fear about anything that would improve the present unsatisfactory arrangement. That is all that I have to say. Mr. HESELTON. How many airports do you have, more than one? Mr. DALLIN. We have two. Mr. HESELTON. How much investment is there in those airports from municipal and State fund sources? Mr. DALLIN. We are spending $15,000,000. Most of it is going on one, and we have spent about $5,500,000 previously. We will have an expenditure of about $21,500,000. Mr. HESELTON. Do you issue city bonds? Mr. DALLIN. $10,000,000 is bonded. Mr. HESELTON. Áre you running a deficit? Mr. DALLIN. Yes, sir. We are running about $150,000 a year deficit on the two airports. Mr. HESELTON. That is made up by appropriations of the city of Philadelphia? Mr. DALLIN. The city council. Mr. HESELTON. Does the State contribute anything? Mr. DALLIN. The State is contributing to the airport improvement program. At the present time even our gasoline facilities do not, the people who own it do not even pay ground rent. Mr. HESELTON. Have you had any occasion to negotiate with the air lines an alternate agreement that would make up the deficit on a landing-fee basis? Mr. DALLIN. Our leases are in effect until June 1, 1940, and 1950, and therefore they cannot be changed. Mr. HESELTON. You have not had occasion to talk to them about this? Mr. DALLIN. No, sir. Mr. HESELTON. Í think that that is all, Mr. Chairman. Mr. HALE. Thank you very much, Mr. Dallin. That concludes the list of witnesses except for Mr. Lee, the Acting Administrator of the Civil Aeronautics Administration. Are there any representatives of other airports here who wish to be. heard? If not, the committee will hear from Mr. Lee. STATEMENT OF FREDERICK B. LEE, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CIVIL AERONAUTICS ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, ACCOMPANIED BY JOHN M. HUNTER, JR., CHIEF OF THE AIRPORT DIVISION OF THE OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL, CIVIL AERONAUTICS ADMINISTRATION Mr. LEE. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, my name is Frederick B. Lee, Acting Administrator of Civil Aeronautics. I am pleased to hgve the opportunity to appear before you today and express my views on H. R. 6180. The Civil Aeronautics Administration is opposed to the enactment of the bill for the reasons which I will outline to the committee. The existing regulations of the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics for administering the Federal Airport Act, part 550 of the Civil Aeronautics Administration regulations, cover substantially the same area of regulation as is contemplated by H. R. 6180. Here I would like to ask permission to include in the record an excerpt from part 550 of the regulations referred to, namely paragraph 4 of part III of the form of project application. Mr. HALE. It will be included in the record at this point. (It is as follows:) 4. The sponsor agrees that it will operate the airport for the use and benefit of the public, on fair and reasonable terms and without unjust discrimination. In furtherance of this covenant (but without limiting its general applicability and effect), the sponsor specifically covenants and agrees: (a) That in any agreement, contract, lease or other arrangement under which a right or privilege at the airport is granted to any person, firm, or corporation to render any service or furnish any parts, materials, or supplies (including the sale thereof) essential to the operation of aircraft at the airport, the sponsor will insert and enforce provisions requiring the contractor: (1) To furnish good, prompt, and efficient service 1 adequate to meet all the demands for its service at the airport, 1 (2) To furnish said service on a fair, equal and nondiscriminatory basis to all users thereof, and (3) To charge fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory prices for each unit of sale or service: Provided, That the contractor may be allowed to make reasonable and nondiscriminatory discounts, rebates, or other similar types of price reductions to volume purchasers. (b) That it will not exercise or grant any right or privilege which would operate to prevent any person, firm, or corporation operating aircraft on the Airport from: (1) Performing any service1 on its own aircraft with its own employees (in 1 As used in these subsections the word "service" shall include furnishing of parts, materials, and supplies (including sale thereof) as well as furnishing of service. |