The Civil Aviation Council ( CAB ) is the now-abolished agency of the US Federal Government that regulates the aviation industry in the country, including the management of regular domestic commercial air traffic, as well as accident investigation. The headquarters was located in Washington , DC.
Content
History
Education
In 1936, several leading airlines in the United States formed the Air Transport Association ( Eng. Air Transport Association ), the purpose of which was to solve issues that each airline alone could not solve [1] . At that time, the country was in the midst of the Great Depression , when in conditions of fierce competition, various companies were forced to reduce the cost of services, sometimes even below cost. There was a critical situation for airlines, since in such a struggle many of them could be closed. It was required to create a central authority that would eliminate this competition. In turn, the government regarded civil aviation primarily as a reserve of defense, and only then as part of the economy [2] .
On June 23, 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law on civil aviation, according to which the Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA ) was created, which replaced several departments at once [3] :
- Air Trade Council (Bureau of Air Commerce, 1934-1938)
- Bureau of Air Mail
- Interstate Commerce Commission (1934-1938)
On June 30, 1940, a new law came into force, according to which the Civil Aviation Administration was reorganized: the Civil Aviation Administration ( Civil Aeronautics Administration ) was separated from it, but the Aviation Security Board ( Air Safety Board , 1938-40) was absorbed; thereafter, the Civil Aviation Authority was renamed the Civil Aviation Council [3] .
Functions
From the activities of CAB can distinguish three main functions [2] :
- He determined the routes of the airlines and schedules, after which he assigned these airlines to the airlines.
- Regulated tariffs on each airline.
- Anti-trust regulation: certification of carriers entering the market; promotion or prohibition of airline competition in new markets; regulation of market monopolization so that no airline dominates; exclusion of destructive competition; restrictions on airline bankruptcy and merger; subsidizing unprofitable routes; regulation of the quality of passenger service.
At the same time, there was no dominant market in the air transportation market, and for CAB all airlines were on an equal footing, including even very small ones. For flights between states, airlines received a certificate for flights on the airline, which indicated the route, type of aircraft, frequency of flights and fares. That is, the air carrier could not even arbitrarily change the type of aircraft serving this route. Flights on unprofitable routes were also forbidden to be stopped, and state subsidies were introduced to cover losses from them. The airline could not even leave the market, because after the bankruptcy it had only one way out - a merger with another, larger airline [2] .
In 1958, part of the functions was taken over by the US Federal Aviation Administration that was created that year, which replaced the ineffective Civil Aviation Administration. On April 1, 1967, the National Council for Transport Safety was organized, which took over the functions of investigating aircraft accidents.
Abolition
CAB tight tariff regulation has often been criticized. Tickets for interstate flights were more expensive than for flights within states, but of the same length. Airlines could not change tariffs or flight routes, and therefore were forced to entice passengers with better service and higher advertising costs, which increased the cost of transportation. In addition, the tariffs for transportation were set based on the calculation of aircraft occupancy by 55% and profit of 12%, which is why ticket prices were high, despite the fact that aircraft were often often 70 or even 80% filled. The 1973 oil crisis , which led to an increase in aviation fuel prices, led the US Congress to conclude that CAB is holding back the free air transportation market, and therefore deregulation is required [2] .
President Gerald Ford supported the idea of deregulation, but the management of many major airlines, especially American Airlines , opposed. However, in 1975, Ford introduced a deregulation bill to Congress, after which the latter appointed John Robson as the head of the CAB. The new head of the Council lifted the moratorium on the opening of new routes, as well as the rules for limiting the carrying capacity. However, such decisions as liberalization of tariffs and the entry of new carriers into the market, however, John Robson did not dare [2] .
In 1977, the head of the CAB was the famous economist and son of Russian emigrants Alfred Edward Kahn, who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter . He becomes the author of the deregulation law, which Jimmy Carter signs on October 24, 1978 [2] [3] .
The deregulation process took 6 years, and on January 1, 1985, the Civil Aviation Council officially ceased operations. Its functions were taken over by the Ministry of Justice , the Postal Service and the Ministry of Transport [3] .
Notes
- ↑ AEWT. After 75 years, “ATA” was renamed “A4A” . Air Transport Review (October 14, 2012). Date of treatment January 23, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Freiman, Alevtin Problems of deregulation of the aviation industry, foreign experience . Air Transport Review (October 28, 2011). Date of treatment January 23, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Records of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB ) . National Archives and Records Administration. Date of treatment January 23, 2016.
Links
- Investigations of Aircraft Accidents 1934-1965 (English) . National Transportation Library. Date of appeal April 20, 2018.