Evening star., 1950-05-19
! Trade Board Scorns
Field Near Baltimore
AT Airport Hearing

Congressional hearings were to
be resumed today on a second
District area public airport, after
a Washington Board of Trade
attack yesterday on a plea by Bal
timore's Mayor D'Alesandro in be-
half Of the new Friendship Church
(Md.) field.
Rufus c. Phillips, jr., head of
the Trade Boards aviation group,
told the House Interstate and For
eign Commerce Committee the
SIS million Friendship terminal,
due to open next month, is too
far away to serve Washington. He
charged 1t is the result of bad
planning" and over-optimism.
Earlier, Mr.. D'Alesandro urged
the committee to abandon the
plan for another District area air
port. In a statement read by
Maj. Gen. Donald H. Connolly,
Baltimore's aviation department
chief. the Mayor said Friendship
would be. more than adequate to
handle any surplus traffic from
the Capital.
He asserted the new field was
undertaken with the understand
ing it would serve the combined
Washington Baltimore area, and
that his city would face heavy
financial losses If a third major
airport were constructed.
Time Issue Raised.
Mr.. Phillips reply to this testi-
mony was sharp.
Il see no reason why the Fed
eral Government should pull Bal
timore's chestnuts out of the fire, "
he said.
Mr.. D'Alesandro and Mr.. Phil
lips each made a point of the
time it would take to drive be-
tween Friendship and Washing
ton.
The Mayor said the limousine
time from the District line to the
airport is IS minutes. MIR. Phil
lips said the fastest time made
In Trade Board trials from the
center of the city was SIS minutes.
That was in rmid-afternoon. He
added that. in six tests made dur
ing the evening rush hour, the
best time was. one hour and IS
minutes.
Tax Loss Cited.
The committee also heard a
plea yesterday from G. Wallace
Carper, chairman Of the Fairfax
County (Va.) Board of Super
viSors. Mr.. Carper testified he was
not opposing construction of the
new airport in his county, but
wanted the legislation amended
to provide:
!. Payments in lieu of taxes.
He said the county would lose
some $l50,000 a year in property
levies if $500 acres were taken
for the terminal.
2. Opportunity for local express
sion of views as to site selection.
3. Disclosure by the Civil Aero
nautics Administration of the ac-
tual areas that have been selected
as site location.
MIR. Carper pointed out it Is
generally understood the CAA has
its eyes on three places in Fair
fax County-Annandale, Fairfax
and Chantilly. These reports
have already resulted in a small
land boom out there, he declared.
Fears Financial Chaos.
AS to the payment in lieu of
taxes, Mr.. Carper said:
THE situation relating to Fed
eral impacts is bad enough in
Fairfax County. If no indemnif1-
cation Is offered to the county
for this potential impact, our
finances will be in a state of
chaos"
The first witness at yesterdays
hearing was Brig. Gen. Milton w.
Arnold. vice president of the Air
Transport Association of Amer
lea. He told the committee ST.
1875 passengers had been delayed
1888 hours on flights to and from
National Airport In three month
period last year.
Calling Washington the biggest
"bottleneck Of the 26 major air
traffic centers in the United