CIVIL AERONAUTICS ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1955 TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1955 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION, The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a. m., in room G-16, United States Capitol, Senator A. S. Mike Monroney (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Monroney (presiding), Bible, Schoeppel, and Payne. Professional staff member assigned to this hearing: Edward C. Sweeney, aviation counsel. Senator MONRONEY. The Subcommittee on Civil Aviation will be in order. There will be inserted in the record at this point the bills under consideration, S. 1119, with amendments, by Senator Magnuson, and S. 308, by Senator Bricker. (The bills referred to above are as follows:) 84TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 308 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 11, 1955 Mr. BRICKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce A BILL To amend the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Civil Aeronautics Act of 1955". SEC. 2. Paragraph (2) of section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is further amended by striking out the proviso and inserting a new proviso as follows: "Provided, That (a) the Board may by order relieve air carriers who are not directly engaged in the operation of aircraft in air transportation from the provisions of this Act to the extent and for such periods as may be in the public interest, and (b) That the provisions of title IV of this Act shall not be applicable to any air carrier engaged exclusively in commerce between places within a single State". SEC. 3. Paragraph (3) of section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is hereby stricken and paragraphs numbered (4), (5), and (6) are changed to (3), (4), and (5) respectively. 1 SEC. 4. Paragraph (4) of section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is hereby amended to insert after the phrase "an engine" the phrase "or propulsion device". SEC. 5. Paragraph (5) of section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended to read as follows: '(5) 'Airman' means any individual who engages, as the person in command or as pilot, mechanic, or member of the crew, in the navigation of aircraft while under way; and (except to the extent the Civil Aeronautics Board may otherwise provide with respect to individuals employed outside the United States or mechanics employed by a certificated repair station, by a certificated air carrier in its maintenance or repair shops, or by a manufacturer of aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, or appliances) any individual who is directly in charge of the inspection, maintenance, overhauling, or repair of aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, or appliances; and any individual who serves in the capacity of aircraft dispatcher or air-traffic control-tower operator." SEC. 6. Section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by inserting after paragraph (5) thereof new paragraphs, as follows: "(6) 'Air contractor' means any citizen of the United States who undertakes, whether directly or indirectly, or by lease or any other arrangement, to engage in air contract service: Provided, That the provisions of title IV-A of this Act shall not be applicable to any air contractor engaged exclusively in commerce between places within a single State. "(7) 'Air contract service' means interstate, overseas, or foreign air contract service. 'Interstate air contract service', 'overseas air contract service' and 'foreign air contract service', respectively, mean the carriage under individual contracts or agreements (otherwise than in air transportation) by aircraft of persons or property for compensation or hire in commerce between, respectively, "(a) a place in any State of the United States or the District of Columbia and a place in any other State of the United States or the District of Columbia; or places in the same State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia; "(b) a place in any State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any place in a Territory or possession of the United States; or a place in a Territory or possession of the United States and a place in any other Territory or possession of the United States; and "(c) a place in the United States and any place outside thereof; whether such commerce moves wholly by aircraft or partly by aircraft and partly by other forms of transportation. "(8) ‘Air navigation' means the operation or navigation of aircraft in commerce or otherwise (A) upon any airport in the United States or in the airspace over the United States, or (B) to or from any place in the United States whether or not through the airspace over the United States." SEC. 7. Section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by changing the numbers of paragraphs (7) through (19) to (9) through (21), and by inserting after paragraph (21) a new paragraph as follows: "(22) 'Foreign air contractor' means any person not a citizen of the United States who undertakes, whether directly or indirectly, or by lease or any other arrangement, to engage in foreign air contract service." SEC. 8. Paragraph 15 of section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by striking out subparagraph (a) thereof and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "an individual who is a citizen or national of the United States or one of its possessions, or". SEC. 9. (a) Paragraph 18 of section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "(18) 'Federal airway' means a portion of the navigable airspace of the United States identified by an area on the surface of the earth designated or approved by the Secretary of Commerce as suitable for navigation of aircraft. "(b) The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by striking out the phrase 'civil airway' wherever that term appears and inserting in lieu thereof the phrase 'Federal airway.' SEC. 10. Section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by striking out the two paragraphs defining interstate, overseas, and foreign air transportation, and interstate, overseas, and foreign air commerce and inserting in lieu thereof a new paragraph, as follows: "23. 'Interstate air transportation' 'overseas air transportation,' and "foreign air transportation,' respectively, mean the carriage by aircraft of persons or property as a common carrier for compensation or hire, or the carriage of mail by aircraft, in commerce between, respectively— "(a) a place in any State of the United States or the District of Columbia, and a place in any other State of the United States, or the District of Columbia; or between places in the same State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia; "(b) a place in any State of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and any place in a Territory or possession of the United States; or between a place in a territory or possession of the United States, and a place in any other Territory or possession of the United States; and "(c) a place in the United States and any place outside thereof, whether such commerce moves wholly by aircraft or partly by aircraft and partly by other forms of transportation." SEC. 11. Section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by changing the number of the paragraph defining "landing area" to "(24)" and renumbering the remaining paragraphs of section 1 accordingly. SEC. 12. Section 1 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by striking out paragraph (31) and inserting in lieu thereof a new paragraph as follows: "(31) 'Possessions of the United States' mean "(a) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, notwithstanding the Act of July 3, 1950 (64 Stat. 319), and the Act of July 3, 1952 (66 Stat. 327); "(b) the Canal Zone, but nothing herein shall impair or affect the jurisdiction which has heretofore been, or may hereafter be, granted to the President in respect to air navigation in the Canal Zone; "(c) the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but nothing in this Act shall be construed to imply that the United States claims or exercises sovereignty over such trust territory; and "(d) all other possessions of the United States." SEC. 13. Section 2 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 as amended, is amended by striking out paragraphs (e) and (f) of such section, and inserting in lieu thereof the following new paragraphs: "(e) the regulation of air contract service in such manner as to assure the highest degree of safety therein, to meet the specialized needs of shippers for air contract service and to avoid the impairment of sound economic conditions in air transportation; . "(f) the regulation of air navigation in such manner as to best promote its developmet and assure the highest degree of safety; "(g) the encouragement and development of civil aeronautics; and 66 '(h) the maintenance by the United States of the greatest possible influence at all times in world aviation." SEC. 14. Section 3 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by striking out the phrase “air commerce" and inserting in lieu thereof "air navigation". SEC. 15. Subsection (b) of section 205 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended to read as follows: The Board is authorized to confer with or to hold joint hearings with representaStates, Territories, and possessions, and political subdivisions thereof, in connection with matters relating to the sound development of civil aeronautics. The Board is authorized to confer with or to hold joint hearing with representatives of the several States, Territories, and possessions, and political subdivisions thereof, in connection with any matter arising under this Act within their respective jurisdictions, and to avail itself of the cooperation, services, records, and facilities of such representatives as fully as may be practicable in the administration and enforecemnt of this Act." SEC. 16. The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by inserting after section 310 thereof the following new section: "Airport Aerial Approach Protection Program "SEC. 311. (a) The Secretary of Commerce shall formulate, revise, and keep up to date a nationwide program for the protection of the aerial approaches to airports. In the formulation and revision of such program the Secretary shall cooperate with the States, Territories, and possessions and their political subdivisions, to the maximum extent he finds such cooperation feasible, in order that the legal powers of the States, Territories, and possessions and their political subdivisions may be used in carrying out such parts of the program as properly may call for action by a State, Territory, possession, or political subdivision thereof. "(b) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized, within the limits of available appropriations made by the Congress therefor, to make grants of funds to States, Territories, possessions, and their political subdivisions to enable them to carry out the purposes of the program formulated and revised pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a). Such grants shall be made in accordance with the conditions specified in section 303." SEC. 17. Subsection (e) of section 401 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof a new paragraph as follows: "(3) If any applicant who makes application for a certificate within one hundred and twenty days after the enactment of this section shall show that, during a period beginning on the date sixty days prior to the enactment of this section and ending on the date of its application, it or its predecessor in interest was an air carrier (other than an air carrier furnishing air transportation exclusively by helicopter) continuously furnishing, within the continental limits of the United States, local or feeder transportation consisting of the carriage of persons, property, and mail under a temporary certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Board (except as to interruptions of service over which the applicant or its predecessors in interest have no control), the Board, if it finds "(i) that the applicant is fit, willing, and able to perform such transportation properly and to conform with the provisions of this Act and the rules, regulations, and requirements of the Board hereunder; and "(ii) that such transportation under the applicant's temporary certificate has been required by the public convenience and necessity and is so required at the time of application; shall, unless the service rendered by such applicant for such period was inadequate and inefficient, issue a certificate of unlimited duration authorizing such applicant to provide air transportation between the same terminal and intermediate points with respect to the same classes of traffic and subject to the same terms and conditions which are contained in the applicant's temporary certificate as modified by subsequent Board orders in effect during such period." SEC. 18. Subsection (f) of section 401 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, is amended by striking out the phrase "service to be rendered" in the first sentence thereof and inserting in lieu thereof the following phrase: "type and character of the service to be rendered". SEC. 19. Subsection (h) of section 401 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended is amended by inserting the figure "(1)" at the beginning of the subsection and by inserting at the end thereof the following two paragraphs: "(2) The Board, upon petition or complaint or upon its own initiative, shall by order, entered after notice and hearing, suspend or revoke any certificate authorizing its holder to engage in air transportation if at any time it finds that the holder thereof is not a citizen of the United States: Provided, That the Board whenever it deems such action to be in the public interest, may postpone the effective date of such suspension or revocation for such period of time as it may deem necessary to permit the submission to and approval by the Board, and the consummation, of a plan or plans of reorganization of the holder designed to reestablish its status as a citizen. "(3) The Board, upon petition or complaint, or upon its own initiative, after notice and hearing, may by order require any air carrier to make reasonable extension of its exisiting service if the Board finds (a) that such extension is required by the public convenience and necessity or for the maintenance of cooperative relationships between the United States and any foreign country or otherwise to further national policy; (b) that the expense involved will not impair the ability of such air carrier to perform its duty to the public under its existing certificate or certificates; and (c) such extension will not duplicate an existing service by an air carrier. Any such order shall provide for such amendment of the certificate or certificates held by such air carrier as may be necessary because of such extension: Provided, That if the Board requires any air carrier to extend its service in air transportation otherwise than between points in the continental United States (not including Alaska), it shall issue its order making such requirement only under such conditions as will assure to such carrier reasonable compensation for the service it is so required to perform." |