counter prices, there are certain obvious limitations on both their current flight experience and their immediate availability in the event of emergency as compared to the regular forces.

And further consideration must be given to the approximately 1,000 mechanics and approximately 1,000 other skilled personnel in the employ of the local carriers and on whose availability I have not even tried to put a price tag. Likewise unpriceable from a defense standpoint are the airports and operating bases, with their trained personnel, from which the local carriers fly, but certainly their availability in event of emergency is of great value.

Although it is admittedly not possible to convert the 161 aircraft, the 430 flight crews, the 1,000 mechanics, the 1,000 other skilled personnel, and the bases of the feeders into direct dollars of defense value, I submit that the element of our country's total airpower represented by the state of availability of both the equipment and the personnel is a multimillion dollar defense asset which must be considered as a setoff in relation to the subsidy paid to the feeders.

Compared to trunk carriers in 1938: The following chart lists 10 important traffic and revenue figures for the domestic trunk air carriers for 1938, the year in which the domestic trunks received their "grandfather" rights, analogous to those which S. 651 would confer on local carriers, and shows the relative positions of the trunks as of that date compared with the local service carriers a year ago and again today.

The chart above referred to is as follows:)

American Airlines, Inc., Braniff Airways, Chicago & Southern Air Lines, Colonial Airlines, Continental Air Lines, Delta Air Corp., Eastern Air Lines, Inland Airlines, Mid-Continent Airlines, National Airlines, Northeast Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Pennsylvania-Central Airlines Corp., Transcontinental & Western Air, United Air Lines Transport Corp., Western Air Lines, Inc.

2 American Airlines, Inc., Eastern Air Lines, Transcontinental & Western Air, United Air Lines Transport Corp.

12 months ending 3d quarter.

Mr. FLOBERG. Now I will leave that chart for the record, gentlemen, but I call to your attention the sixth item on the chart, the number of revenue passengers which the local airlines carried in 1954, 2,423,390, compared to the number carried in 1953, 1,998,128, compared to the passengers that all of the domestic carriers carried in 1938, 1,168,489. I also call the fifth item to your attention, revenue-miles flown, 48.446,581, compared to all domestic carriers in 1938, 68,543,355. Í call your attention to the second item, the nonmail revenue of the local carriers as compared to the nonmail revenue of the trunks in 1938. I now only submit that these figures eloquently show the readiness of the local airlines for permanent certification, as compared to the

readiness of the trunks in 1938, but I suggest that the comparison is so favorable to the local airlines that an argument that they are not now ready for permanent certification can only be interpreted as i reproach to the Congress for the action it took in 1938 with respec to the trunks.

One of the arguments advanced last year in opposition to the prir ciple of permanent certification was that such certification woul interfere with the development and improvement of the local carrier routes. Certainly all the local carriers are anxious to improve ar develop their routes, and it may be assumed that over a period of tim there will be modifications and improvements (although some rece decisions of the Board inspire doubt that it may be relied upon improve the route structures of the feeders without further speci instruction from the Congress).

This subject, however, seems to me to be totally unrelated to t matter of permanent certification. I believe that section 401 (h) the Civil Aeronautics Act, which gives the Board the power to "alt amend, modify, or suspend any such certificate, in whole or in par includes all the power necessary for route development. Just demonstrate that the granting of permanent certificates to the tru carriers in 1938 had no inhibitory effect on the development of th routes, I wish to refer at this point to two charts, one showing · trunk routes as they currently exist, and the other showing them they were in 1938 when the trunk carriers received their "grandfath certificates.

(The charts above referred to are herewith inserted.)

Mr. FLOBERG. And gentlemen, this black chart is the routes as tl currently exist in the United States. On the red overlay are routes as they existed in 1938. That means every place there is a bl line not covered by a red line, there is a new route not existing 1938. Every red line where there is not a black line indicates a ro in 1938 that does not presently exist.

The recent CAB report: You gentlemen are familiar with the letter dated December 17, 1954, which the Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board addressed to the chairman of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee on the subject of permanent certification of the local airlines. You likewise are familiar with the enclosures to that letter and with the inferences and conclusions which the Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board sought to have you draw from the enclosures.

There are a great many fallacies in the 15 measuring sticks which the Board employed, but a major weakness is that 1954 figures. and the tremendous improvements of the local carriers represented by those figures, were not available to the Board at the time the letter was written. I have, however, taken, for whatever they are worth. the very measuring sticks which the Board used and have modernized them for the 14 carriers by incorporating 1954 statistics.

I emphasize that some of these 1954 figures are preliminary and that there undoubtedly will be some adjustments on the basis of the fina figures; they are, however, the best modern figures available, and the adjustments will not materially alter them except in certain individual items. The improvement which they reflect is little short of amazing Gentlemen, if I may interrupt myself here for a moment, I would like to point out a couple of things here. One is that in 1938 wher the trunklines were permanently certificated, they didn't have