The Nome Nugget

NON-SCHEDULED AIRLINES GET BACKING FROM CONGRESSMEN AT HEARING ON C.A.B. POLICIES

WASHINGTON (AP) Oswald Ryan, chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), was told Friday the board should consider liberalizing its regulation on non-scheduled airlines, particularly those serving such isolated areas as Alaska.

Rep. Wolverton (R-NJ), chairman of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, said he is convinced "there is something in the law that needs correction to prevent the irregular airlines from being put out of business."

Rep. Pelly (R-Wash) said that shippers in his district are "up in arms over the loss of the irregular air service," particularly between the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

Wolverton, presiding at a hearing on the CAB functions and policies, also read into the record a supporting letter which Alaska's Delegate Bartlett wrote to Ryan January 17.

Bartlett said the majority of Alaskans, as close to unanimity as it is possible for them to come, have urged that Air Transport Associates (ATA) a non-scheduled airline, not be put out of business.

Pelly said it is possible to buy fresh milk in Fairbanks for 80 cents a quart, but you wouldn't be able to get any milk at all if it wasn't for the irregulars.

He added that it may be that new legislation is needed to "set a pattern for the irregular airlines more in keeping with 1953 than with 1938."

Wolverton said, with reference to ATA, that it is unfair, after an airline has pioneered a route and made a success of it, to close it out entirely because it is interfering with a certified airline.

Ryan said that the freight rates of the certified airlines in Alaska are comparable to those of the non-scheduled carriers. He added that the certified airlines are providing adequate service, and that a good deal of misinformation, some of it "inspired propaganda," has been spread about irregular services in the Alaska area.

He said that if there is to be a change of policy, it should be made by Congress in order to relieve the board of its responsibilities under the present law.