The Wrangell sentinel., 1940-07-12
AIR MAIL


 Aeronautics Authority on the ques- tion of granting a certificate of convenience and necessity to air plane operators to carry mail and passengers over the route between Ketchikan and Juneau, As revealed thus far, there are two applications, one by Pan-American which oper- ates the Clipper service and one Jointly by Pilots Herb Munter of Ketchikan, Shell Simmons and Alex Holden of Juneau, the latter two operating Alaska Air Transport and Marine Airways out of Juneau, Munter is an independent operator out of Ketchikan.
 Pan-Ameriean wants the certifi- cate to complete it's link on it's planned "girdle the globe" route. It's already across both oceans, across the country and north to Nome, with the single exception of the Ketchikan-Juneau link. Un- doubtedly, if peace ever comes to Asia and Europe, it will one day have a sure-enough air route around the world.
 Airplane operators Munter, Sim mons and Holden want the certifi- cate because they are fearful of be- ing crowded out of much lucrative business by advancing Pan-Ameri- can, at the same time trying to broaden their activities in South cast Alaska Simmons and Holden recently centered their operations in Juneau under a joint setup, and, ambitious, see possibilities of mon opolizing the Southeast Alaska air plane business if they can keep Pan- American out of the picture, good piece of business strategy on their part. and laudable from the point of free enterprise.
 Juneau and Ketchikan Chambers of Commerce have gotten themselves in quite a dither over the situation. When Pan-American's Clipper first came up with passengers and mail for Ketchikan and Juneau, the boys found out that Pan couldn't pickup at Ketchikan for Juneau and vtca versa. It is limited to through ser vice from Seattle to Juneau with a stop at Ketchikan both ways. Ju- neau Chamber immediately got back of the idea to get Pan the right tC handle a Ketchikan-Juneau business and went on record to that effect Meantime, local operators in the two cities had seen the possibilities foI shuttle service and got busy. A lit tie good pressure lobbying and both the Juneau and Ketchikan Chambers reversed their positions and began pleading for the local operators. Jul neau, at last reports, was still stand ing pat, while Ketchikan Chamber ties early this week reversed agaiI and decided to take their origina position, protesting against the gov ernment ruling which banned th' carrying of local mail and passen gers by Pan-American between Ketchikan and Juneau.
 While the battle reached feVe heat, Wrangell and Petersburg wer being pushed to get on the local op erators' band wagon as against Pal American. Heads of the Wrangel and Petersburg Chambers got to gether, viewed their own position in the scheme of things, and, wise ly, went on record urging the ex tension of air mail from Ketchika to Wrangell and Petersblrg, with out concern as to who carries it.
 Wrangell and Petersburg are de pend on a local airplane for ai traffic between the two towns an through this district. It is essentis to the business activity of thes communities. It is necessary in tn modern scheme of things to have a airplane immediately vai1a b l. Forced competition from outsid could cut volume of air business the point where a local operate couldn't survive with the result tha Wrangell and Petersburg would dependent on other towns for ail plane service. Thus, business leat CTS of these two communities too the logical position of urging al mail from the States, but not : the cost of jeopardizing local ai plane service with forced compet tion.
 Upshot, CAA ultimately will gral certificate over the Southea route. Whoever gets 1t, Wrange and Petersburg are on record askir that they be served. And they shou be with combine population their district of around $500 peopl who are just as much entitled to a mail as any other community