Evening star., 1955-07-24
More Money
For Airwuys
Held Needed
By VERA CHASER


atiye Peter r. Mack, Demo-
crat Of Illinois. member Of the
House Interstate and Foreign
Commerce Committee and Q
licensed commercial pilot, sub
scribes to this belief.
Most people don't realize
that we have q highway sys-
tenn in the sky. one that wen
have to expand continuously
to accommodate the heavier
loads on the airways.
Mr.. Mack was referring to
the Federal Always System, q
75.000-mile network Of sky
lanes. linking 165 cities. oper-
ated by the Civil Aeronautics
Administration.
"All airplane traffic-mili-
tary, private and scheduled
moves over the Federal air.
ways. It's growing by leaps
and bounds. We're faced with
problems brought on by faster
and more numerous aircraft"
he stated.
According to CAA, the Fed
eral Government provides the
eirways because of the inter-
state character Of air trans
port operations, the military
services need for q modern
ahways system and because
an integrated airways system
with nationwide uniform
practice and procedures ap-
pears to be q prerequisite for
the safe and efncient opera
tion Of aircraft"
Airlanes are 10 miles wide,
divided vertically into levels
at 1.0o0-foot separations. In
addition, the system includes
en-route aids and terminal
facilities. 3
Use Of the airways, its COM
munications and navigation
aids is free, on q first-come,
frst-served basis. However, all
aircraft must obey flight rules
for visual" and instrument"
weather.
Valued roughly at $85 mil
lion. the domestic Federal
Always System is a vital COM
ponent Of the Nations defense
structure. Military traffic has
priority on the airways and the
military may commander the
entire system in an emergency.
In fiscal 1852 the system
cost CAA roughly $75.6 mill
lion to operate and maintain,
. figure which has remained
fairly stable since then. 1t Is
this sum which Representa-
tive Mack believes could be
increased.
Mr.. Mack supports his claim
that our problems stem from
increased numbers Of planes
and higher speeds as follows:
. Since 1916. there has been
at least a so per cent increase
in aircraft speed.
. CAA fixed postings (reports
of en-route aircraft over a spe-
cif1ed point) jumped more
than 8 million in the space Of
two years.
Currently the population of
the skies consists Of some 59.-
900 active general aircraft,
about 1000 domestic scheduled
passenger and cargo liners, the
irregular carrier, and heavy
military traffic. Army. Navy.
Coast Guard and Air Force
planes use the airways for tao
tical and transport flying.
Traffic on the airways falls
into the following proportions:
Military 80 per cent, civil air.
craft 20 per cent, scheduled
cir carriers 80 per cent.
The jampacked highways Of
the sky have brought demands
for greater speed in traffic con-
troll, takeoffs and landings.
Bottlenecks at high-denSity
traffic centers, such as New
York. Washington. Chicago
and Los Angeles. frequently
back up over the entire system.
TRAFFIC limitations have be-
come substantial and instru-
ment capacity at some airports
Is being squeezed.
"AirwayS improvement is
more important than surface
highway improvement because
you can't compromise with it,"
Mr.. Mack declared. when
roads are poor and conditions
crowded, cars simply slow
down. On the airways. it's i'm
possible to adjust. You can
accommodate your traffic-or
else"
Representative Mack. the
Civil Aeronautics AdminiStra-
ton and the Air Transport AS
sociation are unanimous in de-
claring that these airways
problems have no connection
with safety. The record Of the
Federal airways system on that
score, they say. is unchal-
lenged. The question. rather.
Is one Of efficiency. They list
airways needs as:
/. More personnel.
.. More direct pilot-to-con-
trolled communications "a sig
able amount Of current COM
munication is indirect).
3. Expanded use Of radar
(only the largest airports, such
as Washington and New York.
have II now.
4. Rapid data-transferring
equipment to replace outmoded
pencil-and-paper methods In
control towers.
S. In certain cases electronic
memory boards"
For the past seven years
technical aviation study
groups have been recommend
ing control Of all traffic ct all
times and in all weather as a
means Of increasing airways'
Aono Nifv