Evening star., 1950-01-15
Continued From Page CID

I6UlOuS 1OT Ills COul UCoy d44Q PACco-
antry, never was thusly charged
personally, but overconfldent
subordinates. smitten with some
of the characteristics associated
with monopolies, went about their
work in a rather naughty man
ner. This was particularly no
ticeable after the domestic air.
mail contracts were suddenly
Cancelled by the New Deal and
the job of flying the mail was
given to the Army Air Corps for
a while. Pan Americans contracts
were not Cancelled. 1t was not
good public relations to display
such a superior attitude and some
of the opposition Pan American
suffers now from emotional avia-
ton people is traceable to the
days when it operated about the
world on its own terms. Yet no
fault could be found with their
progressiveness in flying equip
ment and operation technique.
and in this respect they were COM
pletely devoid Of the character
istics of a monopoly which Is to
resist improvement In equipment
and service.
Anyway. happy days for Pan
American came to an end when
President Roosevelt signed a bill
known as the Civil Aeronautics
Act of 1898, on June Of that year.
It modernized the original Air
Commerce Act of 1925 which had
given the Government regulatory
powers over civil aviation in all
but airline economic matters.
More by accident than design
there was written into the 1888
Act a provision that there be
competition in foreign and do
mestic air commerce. Since there
already was competition in do
mestic air commerce, the Civil
Aeronautics Board, brought into
being under the 1888 act as the
Interstate Commerce Commission
for the Air, interpreted the sec
ton as a command from Con-
gress to provide competition in
foreign air commerce and quietly
proceeded to carry out that man
date.
Few noticed at the time that the
long-locked door to international
flying was now ajar. One sharp
eyed outfit did. American Export
Lines, the big steamship company
operating to the Mediterranean.
Export decided to augment its
steamer service with air service,
formed American Export Airlines
for the purpose and applied to the
Civil Aeronautics Board for per-
NIT to fly from the United States
to both Portugal and Ireland.
Over Pan Americans bitter oppo-
sition, the CAB awarded "tem-
Fporary" certificates to Export in
July, 1910. Seeing a precedent in
the making, Pan American rushed
into the courts-and lost, but that
didn't stop Mr.. Trippe. Export
Airlines needed mail payments to
help operate transatlantic, just
as Pan American did, and when
the matter of appropriations for
such payments came up in Con-
gress Pan American was there to
convince the appropriations COM
mittees that they should not be
granted--and they were not.
The war had begun in Europe
and Pan American had been flying
passengers across the Atlantic
since June 28, 1899. in its new
Boeing four -engined flying boats,
but more high-speed transporta-
ton was sorely needed by England
and France and so Export Airlines
and it's three big Sikorsky four
engined boats were pressed into
service on special American Gov
ernment contract. Pan American
didn't buck that, but made a note
to watch it and then plunged all
out with its worldwide airline
system on behalf of the Allied
cause.
First it was the 1888 Civil Aero
nautics Act. Then 1t was the
CABS award to American Export
Airlines of temporary certificates
to fly the Atlantic in competition
with Pan American that widened
the crack in the heretofore i'm
pregnable foundation Of Mr..
Trippe's structure.
But it was the war that dealt
the death blow to Mr.. Trippe's
monopoly" as his airline began
to be described when thought
could be given to postwar inter-
national flying opportunities.
Domestic airlines like American,
Branif, Eastern, Northeast, North
west. TWA. United and Western
had been pressed into war service
by the Government to fly to for
eign lands, some over oceans and
others in this hemisphere, with
vital cargo and important people.
Successful in operating land
planes all over Allied territory,
they suddenly awoke to the real
ization: why, this is easy! Let's
do it, too, after the war!" Pan
American suddenly found itself
accused Of perpetrating and per-
petuating the myth that only it,
with its specialized knowledge and
background, could fly the globe.
Other Lines Encouraged
That wasn't quite fair. for the
job was made relatively easy for
the domestics by four-engined
land planes then becoming plent-
iful and with big airports that
appeared overnipht In Africa m