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99    HELICOPTER AIR SERVICE PROGRAM

Expecting the airlines to pick up the remaining subsidy would in my opinion destroy the value of the experiment. Inevitably helicopter service would then be developed solely as an adjunct to airline schedules rather than a potential tool in helping to solve the critical problem of urban transport strangulation, where I believe the brightest future for the helicopter lies.

One important question will have to be settled by this committee to its own satisfaction as it was settled by the Civil Aeronautics Board to its satisfaction. Claims are made that the San Francisco helicopter company operates without subsidy and that others could too.

In reply it is said that the San Francisco operation is not economically self-sufficient and that very significant cost differences, at least partly the result of differences in Government regulation, account for the differences in operating costs.
I happen to be and admirer of the San Francisco operation. I use it whenever I can and I have always found the service good. In my view, it is in the public interest to keep the San Francisco operation going and also to keep up the other three.

The facts will speak for themselves on this important subject. The San Francisco company's own reports filed with the CAB appear to show substantial losses and not profits.

One set of differences between San Francisco and the other operators stems from the simple fact that San Francisco began further up the learning curve than the others. It started 3 1/2 years ago, taking advantage, as it should have done, of the expensive pioneering of the other operators.

Another major difference is cited. Until very recently, all of its aircraft were under 12,500 pounds, and at these weights the FAA requires only one pilot. The other operators use machines above these weights and have two pilots. Obviously, there is a great difference in cost between operation a machine with only one pilot and with two.
 
The geographical accident of the position of Oakland and San Francisco airports is of great importance to the San Francisco helicopter company. By using helicopter service, airlines are able to give Oakland excellent frequency of service without having the expense of operating duplicate schedules out of Oakland and San Francisco.

These and other objective facts on the differences in the San Francisco operation will be a matter of record before the end of the hearing and will form an adequate basis for a judgement on the matter. We believe the facts justify continued support of the three present subsidized companies.

Let me now turn to another important consideration, the contribution of the helicopter to the balance payments.

The United States does not have a monopoly on the manufacture of helicopters needed to fill military, industrial, and local transportation needs throughout the world. But we do have the machines which are most nearly economically self-sufficient in regularly scheduled operations.

Once the capability for economic self-sufficiency is proven, it is not unreasonable to suppose that countries throughout the world which are today plagued by urban congestion will be most interested.