the Economic Regulations of the Board, all amendments thereto, and such other terms, conditions, and limitations as may from time to time be prescribed by the Board; 4. That the application of National Airlines, Inc., in all other respects be and it is denied. The White House, May 23, 1947.—Approved: [s] HARRY S. TRUMAN CERTIFICATE NATIONAL AIRLINES, INC. is hereby authorized, subject to the provisions hereinafter set forth, the provisions of Title IV of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, and the orders, rules, and regulations issued thereunder, to engage in air transportation with respect to persons, property, and mail, as follows: Between the coterminal points Tampa and Miami, Fla., the intermediate point Key West, Fla., and the terminal point Havana, Cuba. The service herein authorized is subject to the following terms, conditions, and limitations: 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this certificate, as amended, the holder shall at all times conduct its operations in accordance with all treaties and agreements between the United States and other countries, and the exercise of the privileges granted by this certificate, as amended, shall be subject to compliance with such treaties and agreements and to any orders of the Board issued pursuant to, or for the purpose of requiring compliance with, such treaties and agree ments. 2. The holder shall render service to and from each of the points named herein, except as temporary suspensions of service may be authorized by the Board, and may begin or terminate, or begin and terminate, trips at points short of terminal points. 3. The holder may continue to serve regularly any point named herein through the airport last regularly used by the holder to serve such point prior to the date of issuance of this certificate, as amended, and may continue to maintain regularly scheduled nonstop service between any two points not consecutively named herein if nonstop service was regularly scheduled by the holder between such points on the date of issuance of this certificate, as amended. Upon compliance with such procedure relating thereto as may be prescribed by the Board, the holder may, in addition to the service hereinabove expressly prescribed, regularly serve a point named herein through any airport convenient thereto, and may render scheduled nonstop service between any two points not consecutively named herein between which such service is authorized hereby. The exercise of the privileges granted by this certificate, as amended, shall be subject to such reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations required by the public interest as may from time to time be prescribed by the Board. This certificate, as amended, shall be effective from the date of approval by the President of the United States. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Civil Aeronautics Board has caused this certificate, as amended, to be executed by its Chairman and the seal of the Board to be affixed hereto, attested by the Secretary of the Board, on the 15th day of May 1947. The White House, May 23, 1947.-Approved: 8 C. A. B.-87 [s] HARRY S. TRUMAN DOCKET NO. 8961 LOS ANGELES HELICOPTER CASE Decided May 20, 1947 Los Angeles Airways, Inc., authorized to engage in air transportation of property and mail for a period of 3 years in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Applications of Southwest Airways Company, Docket No. 896, and of Los Angeles Airways, Inc., Docket No. 1821, except as granted, denied. APPEARANCES: Cornelius H. Sullavan, Jr., for Southwest Airways Company. W. Clifton Stone and Martin J. Burke for Los Angeles Airways, Inc. Frank J. Delany, Solicitor, Post Office Department. James K. Crimmins and Arthur P. Lawler for Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc. Hugh W. Darling for Western Air Lines, Inc. Glen B. Eastburn for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. OPINION BY THE BOARD: This consolidated proceeding concerns the applications of Southwest Airways Company (Southwest), Docket No. 896, and Los Angeles Airways, Inc. (Los Angeles Airways), Docket No. 1821, for authority to provide mail and express service with helicopter aircraft in the metropolitan area of Los Angeles, Calif. Leave to intervene was granted to the Post Office Department, Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc., United Air Lines, Inc., and Western Air Lines, Inc. After due notice to the public and all interested parties a public hearing was held at Los Angeles before Examiner Ferdinand D. Moran, whose report was duly served. Exceptions thereto and briefs in support thereof have been filed, and oral argument has been heard by the Board. The applications here under consideration are governed by section. 401 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended, which provides in part that the Board shall issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing the whole or any part of the transportation covered by the application if it finds that the applicant is fit, willing, and able to perform such transportation and to conform to the provisions of the Act and to the rules, regulations, and requirements of 1 Also included herein is Docket No. 1821. 92 8 C. A. B.-92 the Board thereunder, and that such transportation is required by the public convenience and necessity. The fundamental principles considered in disposing of similar applications are set forth in our prior opinions and need not be repeated here. Embracing some 1,000 square miles, Los Angeles is one of the largest built-up areas in the world. It is approximately the size of the State of Rhode Island, about half the size of Delaware and 15 times larger than the District of Columbia. It is the third largest city in the United States in point of population and has the greatest concentration of population west of Chicago, Ill. As the principal Pacific Coast port Los Angeles leads all other areas on the coast in both industrial and agricultural production and in generating rail, water, and air traffic. By comparison with other large cities Los Angeles has a small downtown section. A major part of its business, trade, and population is centered in such separate communities as Hollywood, the Wilshire District, and West Los Angeles which have retained their original names and characteristics. No other American city embraces so many large distinctive satellite communities. The combined area is roughly circular in shape with a diameter from 30 to 40 miles. Travel from one part of the area to another is generally by private automobile over ordinary thoroughfares with traffic zones at short intervals. Steam railways skirt the eastern and northern boundaries of the city, the main areas being served by a network of electric interurban lines. Motorbus lines operate in both urban and interurban traffic. Los Angeles, unlike most other large cities, has practically no high-speed arterial highways to connect its far-flung satellite communities, and no public transportation comparable to the subways of New York, N. Y., and Philadelphia, Pa., or the elevated railway of Chicago. Southwest has applied for a temporary or permanent certificate authorizing scheduled air transportation to provide collection and distribution of mail and express over four linear routes totaling 155.6 miles, radiating out of the Los Angeles Municipal Airport to 23 post offices in the area, together with a shuttle route extending 12 miles from the airport to the roof of the Post Office Terminal Annex Building in downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles Airways seeks a similar certificate authorizing service over four linear routes and one shuttle route totaling 235 miles, radiating from the Los Angeles Municipal Airport to 43 communities in the area. Prior to the hearing the Post Office Department, with the cooperation of the War Department, conducted an experimental helicopter mail service in the Los Angeles area. This experiment demonstrated to the Department the desirability of a temporary helicopter service for that area. As a result of the experience gained the Post Office Department recommends a temporary certificate authorizing scheduled air transportation to provide collections and deliveries of mail over 3 circular routes totaling approximately 200 miles, radiating out of the Los Angeles Municipal Airport to 30 post offices in the Los Angeles area. 2 Delta Air, et al., Service to Atlanta and Birmingham, 2 C. A. B. 447 (1941); Braniff Air., Houston-Memphis-Louisville Route, 2 C. A. B. 353 (1940); Trans-Southern Air., et al., Amarillo-Oklahoma City Op., 2 C. A. B. 250 (1940) and cases cited therein. Studies made by the Post Office Department demonstrate that present air transport facilities speed the journey of air mail to Los Angeles through intermediate stages but that in many instances the slowness of local surface transportation in that city to and from the airport detracts from or even destroys the benefits afforded by flights from distant cities. Mail moving between the airport and the post offices in the area goes first to the downtown Post Office Terminal Annex Building and from there by surface transport to various stations for further distribution. Likewise, outbound mail from the area is funneled through these stations to the Terminal Annex for dispatch to the airport. Depending upon the distance the mail has to travel and available public surface transportation schedules, the time required for these operations varies from 3 to 6 hours or more. Distribution of mail from the airport would be impracticable since it would duplicate the functions of the Terminal Annex and involve additional time, help, and space. Time saved in the distribution of air mail is of particular importance to Los Angeles by reason of the difference of 1 to 3 hours in Pacific standard time from the other time zones extending eastward across the country. Most of the air mail from points west of the Mississippi River arrives in the early morning but cannot go through the existing ground distributing system and reach its destination by the beginning of the business day. Afternoon deliveries can be made at many points but at numerous stations the mail is not delivered until the following morning. Mail coming from east of the Mississippi generally arrives at Los Angeles later in the day and does not reach its destination until the following day. By helicopter all of this inbound mail would be delivered the day it arrives. The major time savings in the transit of inbound mail would be effected by synchronizing the helicopter schedules with letter-carrier departures from the various post offices, which at present precede the arrival of mail transported by surface carriers. In this way 412 to 1912 hours' transit time would be saved on weekdays and 24 hours over weekends and holidays. The time saved represents the delay which inbound air mail would otherwise suffer while awaiting letter-carrier departures for delivery to the addressee. Points on the outskirts of Los Angeles have little or no prospect that their outbound air mail, dispatched in the normal course of business, will be delivered the following day in cities east of the Mississippi. Mail collection by helicopter would provide a means of eliminating surface delay in the air mail journey and greatly extend the geographical range within which next-day deliveries of outbound mail could be expected. The Post Office Department takes the position that its proposed circular routes offer advantages which would not be afforded by the linear routes proposed by the applicants and that maximum efficiency would be achieved in initial operations. It contends that its routes and schedules are designed better to make specific morning and afternoon letter-carrier deliveries and to make collections of mail in the evening for dispatch to the airport. In support of its proposal the Department submitted an exhibit to show that on the basis of three trips daily according to mileage, volume of mail generated, and the class and total offices to be served, its routes would provide a more |