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Slow progress is being made in correcting one aspect of this problem at certain major terminals. Mohawk has worked with FAA regional offices to secure permission to take off from mid-points of long runways designed for jets. This has been helpful at Idlewild and is also being implemented at Newark and Syracuse.

Little progress has been made in the air, to balance proportionately the inconvenience to the short-haul versus long-haul passenger. It is of major economic concert to him through a saving of time, and a major economic concern to the air carrier since the proportionate extra operating expense is staggering.

More than 40% of Mohawk's flights operate under instrument flight rules. To reduce the amount of time involved in the average segment delay by just one minute would save Mohawk $130,000 per year in operating expenses. It has been estimated that Mohawk's subsidy could be cut in half if our flights were given air traffic control clearance in proportion to their scheduled operation.

Problem No. 3 Is a third level of air carrier necessary to provide air service to cities with marginal traffic demands?

Air service to cities with marginal traffic potential has been a recognized problem since the late 1940's, primarily with the advent of post-war to which the term marginal could be applied has changed as the air transportation complex has evolved. 

As early as 1950, Mohawk fore saw the inevitability of transfer to the local carriers of what were marginal traffic points to trunk airlines. Utica-Rome, White Plains, and Elmira-Corning, each marginal to a trunk airline, are medium to prime traffic producers for Mohawk because we are specialists in providing the short and medium-haul air service the vast majority of their citizens require. As a result of the frequency of flights, a prime requisite of a service designed for commuters, we also provide a wider variety of connecting services for those travelers with that requirement than can the long-haul airline.

Interestingly enough, at the 41 points where trunk airlines have been replaced exclusively by regional carriers like Mohawk there has been a 62% increase in traffic on the average during the first full calendar year of service. Ability of the regional carriers to adapt themselves to the air travel needs of the communities--needs primarily short and medium haul in nature--is the obvious reason for this.

The largest such transfer to date has just occurred with the transfer to Mohawk by Easter Air Lines of operating authority to Watertown, Massena, Plattsburgh, Saranac/Lake Placid, Glens Falls and Albany in New York State, and Burlington and Rutland in Vermont. This includes the Albany-New York City market of 150,000 passengers per year.

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