Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-03-20
Butler Seeks
Distance Flights
At Friendship
Maryland Senator
And Airline Officials
To Confer This Week

~ SOtIIST Ills w Cen
Immediate shifting of long dis
lance air flights from National
Airport to Baltimore's Friendship
international Airport was recon-
mended yesterday by Senator
Butler. Republican, of Maryland.
He will make the suggestion
formally, he said, when he meets
in the next week or so with Off
Gals of airlines serving both
fields.
Meanwhile, the Washington
Board of Trade scheduled a gen.
eral membership meeting next
Friday at which it will hear a
discussion of the Capitals airport
problems.
The session follows approval
Thursday by President Eisen-
hover of a report ending several
years of endeavors to expand
commercial airport facilities in
the immediate Washington area.
The report suggested temporary
use of Friendship to ease critical
overcrowding of National.
Gen. Arnold to Speak
The Board of Trade meeting,
at 1915 pm. in the Presidential
Room of the Hotel Statler, will
hear an address by Maj. Gen.
Milton w. Arnold (retired), vice
president of the Air Transport
Association, who speaks for the
airlineS involved.
Also, the Board of Trade air
port committee. which met Fri
day to consider the White House
decision, will report tomorrow to
the organizations executive COM
mittee. The Board of Trade has
strongly supported an expansion
of commercial airport facilities
here, and has been among the
strongest hackers of a Federal
plan to build a new airport for
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Ma
tional-at Burke, Va.
In the meantime, the Com
merce Department was attempt
ing to set up conference among
representatives of State and To-
cal governments in the WASH
ington Metropolitan area upon
whom to shift responsibility for
financing a new airport.
Area Leaders Included
Although plans for the parley
have not been completed, de-
partmental spokesman said yes
terday it presumably would in
clude representatives of all the
governments having Jurisdiction
IN the area.
These include Alexandria, Ar
lington County, Fairfax County,
the city of Falls Church, Mont
gomery County, Prince Georges
County and the State govern
ments of Virginia and Maryland.
The District government, which
is a creature of the Congress,
also would be invited, as repre-
sentative of an affected commu-
nifty" Commissioner Samuel
Spencer said yesterday he felt
financing any new airport should
be a Federal responsibility. Apart
from lack of money. he said, the
new airport would be located
outside the District and a large
part of the traffic would be fed
orally generated.
The Federal Government-the
biggest government'in the Wash
ington Metropolitan area-ap-
parently would be represented
only to the same extent that it
would be in any other commu-
nity's efforts to build a new air.
port.
Whether any State or local
government would be interested
in or capable of helping finance
a new airport was doubtful.
Burke Long Opposed
Location of the Burke airport
In Fairfax County has been Wig
orouSly opposed. Area pressure
on Congress, as matter of fact,
blocked appropriations after the
Civil Aeronautics Administration
had bought 1000 of the 1000
acres it wanted for the new field
there.
And, observers pointed out, If
appropriations for Burke could
not be gotten through Congress
in the CAA budget, they couldn't
be gotten through the same law
making body in the Districts
budget.
In the meantime, however,
some support finally developed
in Fairfax County for the Burke
site. The Annandale Business
mems Association Endorsed de-
velopment of an airport there on
the grounds that it would give
the county's economy shot in
the arm.
Celebrating on his suggestions
that airlines shift some of their
long range flights to Friendship,
Senator Butler pointed out that
sin his conference on Thursday
with Gen. Arnold, the time ele-
ment between Washington and
Baltimore was raised as an OBJ
stacle to more extensive use of
Friendship.
Must Work in Concert
"This may have some degree
of validity respecting short
flights but it is most certainly
not valid when applied to distant
hops" he said. "A few minutes
additional time will make no diff
ference to distant passengers.
To remove any possibility of
a competitive disadvantage, he
said, commercial airlines will
have to agree to schedule these
long distance flights into Balti-
more only.
For example," he said, lone
line cannot have a flight direct
from Tolifory,io into VIC el,ivoto