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              HELICOPTER AIR SERVICE PROGRAM        315

Senator HART. At the moment, yes. Only Los Angeles at the moment.
I am sure that Senator Monroney will read carefully your very strong statement of position.
I am very glad that you came. I appreciate it.
Senator PROXMIRE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE EVERETT McKINLEY DIRKSEN, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Senator DIRKSEN. Mr. Chairman, you have had a good deal of testimony on this subject. I presume the Chicago Helicopter Airways have testified.
Senator MONRONEY. Yes, sir.
Senator DIRKSEN. I see a statement by the Chairman of the CAB on this subject. I want to add, and I will ask now for consent to put this short statement in your record. But in addition, let me interpolate a little.
We built an airfield, O'Hare, for the city of Chicago, and built an eight-lane highway to get to it. Already it is bursting at the seams and they are estimating that they will have 20 million passengers for 1965, and probably 30 million by 1970.
The difficulty arises from the fact that an estimated 50 percent of that vast number are connecting passengers; and that is a terrific number.
They have reactivated the old Midway Airfield, and in addition, we have the lakefront airport on Meigs Field.
So if you have a connection to make you can get a helicopter at Meigs, and in 7 minutes you are at O'Hare. Probably 7 or 8 minutes to get from Midway to O'Hare. I have made that helicopter journey a great many times in order to make a connection.
So that it becomes an almost indispensable thing when you look at the growth of the load factor from the standpoint of the airlines, and the people who have to make these connections. I say indispensable. I don't quite know how you get along because the inconvenience to the travel public would be enormous, especially for those who come from this section of the country and make their connection in Chicago, and then either go Northwest, Southwest, or go due West on one of the Pacific Coast lines. That is the first thing that ought to be kept in mind.
I understand that the CAB has suggested or recommended that instead of phasing this out by the end of 1965 that it be done on a 5-year basis. I believe the helicopter people in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York are quite agreeable to that kind of an arrangement, because by that time this whole interconnection system will have been worked out and it will no longer be necessary to subsidize them in business.
I have only one other thing to add, Mr. Chairman, and that is what, because of their practice and their experience, they have managed to do by way of improvement in helicopter techniques and in helicopter structure. There has been testimony, I think, on that subject, and I would like to insert as a part of my remarks a statement to that effect, showing what they have done and in terms of estimated dollars of what usefulness it has been to our own military.