Page 47 - Planning and Design of Airports

The Natur e of Civil Aviation and Airports 25

no regulation by states or local authorities. Thus, the federal govern-
ment bears virtually complete responsibility for the promotion and
supervision of the industry in the public interest. The military inter-
est and the entire national defense concept are also intimately related
to aviation.
Recognizing that the demands on the federal government in the
years ahead would be substantial, the director of the Bureau of the
Budget requested a review of aviation-facilities problems in 1955. A
report was issued later that year recommending that a study of “long-
range needs for aviation facilities and aids be undertaken” and that
such a study be made under the direction of an individual of national
reputation.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower accepted these recommenda-
tions and appointed Edward P. Curtis as his Special Assistant for
Aviation Matters in 1957. Curtis was charged with the responsibility
of preparing a comprehensive aviation-facilities plan which would
“provide the basis for the timely installation of technically adequate
aids, for optimum coordination of the efforts of the civil and military
departments, and for effective participation by state and local author-
ities and the aircraft operators in meeting facilities requirements.”
Curtis completed his report and submitted it to the President. In this
report Curtis stated that “it has become evident that the fundamental
reason for our previous failures lies with the inability of our govern-
mental organizations to keep pace with the tremendous growth in
private, commercial, and military aviation which has occurred in the
last 20 years.” Curtis recommended the consolidation of all aviation
functions, other than military, into one independent agency responsi-
ble only to the President. However, the report recognized that to
“develop new management structures and policy, to coordinate pro-
posals within the executive branch and to obtain legislation imple-
menting a new permanent organization might be as long as 2 or
3 years.” The most urgent matter requiring attention was in the area
of air traffic control. The collision of two aircraft over the Grand
Canyon in 1956 provided the impetus for rapid legislative action for
remedying midair collisions. Curtis recommended that, as an interim
measure, there be created an Airways Modernization Board whose
function was to “develop, modify, test, and evaluate systems, proce-
dures, facilities, and devices, as well as define the performance char-
acteristics thereof, to meet the needs for safe and efficient navigation
and traffic control of all civil and military aviation except for those
needs of military agencies which are peculiar to air warfare and pri-
marily of military concern, and select such systems, procedures, facil-
ities, and devices which will best serve such needs and will promote
maximum coordination of air traffic control and air defense systems.”
The board was to consist of the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary
of Defense, and an independent chairman.