The Daily Alaska empire., 1946-10-31
CAB HEARING ON
 AACC APPLICATION
 IS ENDED TODAY

| (OnCluOllR Alaska Airplane Charter Company S
 duplication to fly charter trips within a 250 mile area of Juneau Iplus regular service between Sitka
 and Pelican and Sitka and Ket-
 chikan, Ellis Airlines, who with Alaska Coastal Airlines and Peters
 burg Air Service, is protesting the application, today presented a sta itistical report showing a lack ot traffic in the areas for which the authorization is applied.
 Read by Norman Gerde of Ellis
 Airlines, who was recalled to the ; witness stand by his counsel, Will fred Stump, at practically the last moment of the three-day hearing, the report showed that on north
 bound trips between Ketchikan and Sitka during a four month period .only 72 passengers were flown, land approximately 20 percent of
 those stopped at way points be-
 tween the two cities.
 Much of the testimony offered ny counsel for the intervening com panies has been directed toward
 showing by census reports. eye witness accounts and experience
 that there is not traffic to warrant
 the Charter Company's authoriza- ton of a route.
 Through questioning of witnesses
 and several instances of cross ex- animation, MT. Hellenthal brought out that trollers and other fisher linen in small populated places were
 not included in the census report, ;but nevertheless were justified in
 their requests for air service.
 Mrs. Bernice Folger, accountant
 for the Petersburg Air Service, testified that, her company had loperated at a loss to the less popu- Hated Southeast Alaska communl-
 ties during certain months. Asked by Hellenthal ii her com ipany had ever worked toward ex- banding service to Sitka, she said it had not.
 Economy Issue
 After repeated attempts to get into the record alleged evidence that CAB approval of Alaska Air \ plane Charter Company's applica- l ton to fly Southeast Alaska char ter trips and regular service to Sitka would materially affect and damage present economy of Alaska Coastal Airline's flights, Norman , Banfield, counsel for the latter company, was allowed full stipula- tion of the fact that the three airlines protesting the applicant company's case have a mutual agreement" whereby planes belong ling to Petersburg Air Service, All ;aska Coastal Airlines, and Ellis T Airlines use facilities, repair ser vices, and in the case of Peters 1, burg Air and Alaska Coastal, the l same ticket agents.
 When Banfield was explaining this information, and the reasons why he considered it important, in an off-the-record statement to Exam liner Raymond w. Slough, appli- cant counsel, John Hellenthal in
 terrupted with "I1l gladly stipulate MT. Banfield's entire statement tor :! the record"
 !; After this had been done in full
 detail, MT. Stump asked to stipu- Hate limitations to this statement. l He said the mutual agreement had been approved by the Board 7 and the cooperative plan had a l written contract and was done on- | lIy to insure the most economical
 service possible.
 , \. Benecke Examined l In an earlier session MT Hellen- , thai during cross examination of Ben Benecke, AGA bookkeeper, had r drawn from Benecke the state } ment that AGA had always in , tended to go into Sitka on full
 scale charter operation" The s counsel had followed the witness , statement with, "and because of that you feel your company is en- titled to a monopoly of this route?' F MT. Stump objected and the ob- lection was sustained.
 Hellenthals cryptic comment had I followed Benecke's testimony that I AGA now had Sitka pilot in that
 city for special charter service. f Asked when. the plane had been !, stationed there. Benecke answered : that the service had been inaugur- , ated in June, 1946
 . This had nothing to do with ' the Alaska Airplane Charter Con- pany's application for this route just prior to that date" Benecke r. said it had not. The date of the Q AACC application for this right $ was Oct. 1945.
 Stockholders
 e One of the more surprising de- Q velopments of the hearing was that l Tom White, Vice-President of the
 Alaska Airplane Charter Company : owns 4550 shares of the company
 while President Dean Goodwin