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president of American Airways, represented the carriers; Bernard L. Shientag, a justice of the New York Supreme Court, was the neutral member; and Behncke represented the pilots. The committee labored between three and four months and produced a fact-finding report upon which the National Labor Board based famous Decision No. 83.

Negotiator

Decision No. 83, rendered May 10, 1934, is of greatest significance. It fixed 85 hr. as the monthly limit for airline pilots to fly, as against 140 hr. for first pilots and 160 hr. for co-pilots proposed by the air transport industry in its initial proposed NRA code draft; it fixed salaries for pilots and co-pilots on a formula of hours, miles and base pay which represented a substantial increase over what the carriers had proposed. It was a compromise, for the pilots had wanted to be paid on a mileage basis while the carriers had wanted to pay on an hourly rate.
Before the decision was rendered, however, Behncke had a personal battle to win. He returned from Washington to Chicago - and was abruptly fired by UAL. He asserts union activities were the cause; the carrier says that he was not in touch with it during the Washington proceedings and thus was not available