Regulation of Aviation: A Case Study in Reorganization
| Date | 01 May 1942 |
| Published date | 01 May 1942 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271624222100110 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
56
Regulation
of
Aviation:
A
Case
Study
in
Reorganization
By
CHARLES
C.
ROHLFING
CIVIL
aviation
in
the
United
States
has
been
subjected
to
three
diverse
types
of
administrative
regulation:
first,
the
regulatory
activities
of the
Depart-
ment
of
Commerce
under
the
Air
Com-
merce
Act
of
1926;
second,
the
ad-
ministration
of
the
independent
Civil
Aeronautics
Authority
under
the
Civil
Aeronautics
Authority
Act
of
1938;
third,
the
abolition
of
the
Authority
as
an
independent
agency
in
1940
and
the
placing
of
the
reorganized
admin-
istration
under
the
Department
of
Com-
merce.
This
variety
of
approaches
to
the
regulative
problem
in
a
rather short
period
of
time
establishes
the
regulation
of
civil
aviation
as
an
interesting
area
of
inquiry
for
the
student
of
public
ad-
ministration.
It
can
be
regarded
also
as
a
testing
ground
for
the
formula
of
the
President’s
Committee
on
Admin-
istrative
Management.
Under
the
re-
organization
plans
of
1940
the
Civil
Aeronautics
Authority
was
removed
from
the
&dquo;governmental
vacuum&dquo;
out-
side
the
executive
departments
1
and
placed
within
the
Department
of
Com-
merce,
permitting
the
judicial
activities
to
remain
independent
of
the
Depart-
ment
of
Commerce
except
for
purposes
of
administrative
housekeeping.
REGULATIVE
POLICIES
OF
CONGRESS
TOWARD
CIVIL
AVIATION
Prior
to
1926,
Congressional
concern
for
the
aviation
business
was
largely
restricted
to
providing
research
facili-
ties,
such
as
the
National
Advisory
Committee
for
Aeronautics,
and
the
al-
lied
work
of
the
Bureau
of
Standards.
The
Post
Office
Department
also
en-
gaged
in
considerable
promotional
ac-
tivities
in
relation
to
air
mail
and
the
establishment
of
lighted
airways.
In
the
period
from
1920
to
1926
a
number
of
bills
were
introduced
in
Congress
to
provide
for
the
regulation
of
air
com-
merce.
Some
of
these
early
legislative
efforts
proposed
the
creation
of
a
Com-
missioner
of
Air
Navigation
attached
to
the
Department
of
Commerce,
a
sepa-
rate
Department
of
Air
under
the
di-
rection
of
the
War
Department,
and
an
Air
Navigation
Commission
composed
of
representatives
from
the
Departments
of
War,
Agriculture,
State,
Treasury,
Commerce,
and
Post
Office,
and
one
representative
from
the
National
Ad-
visory
Committee
for
Aeronautics.
The
first
bill
that
passed
Congress
was
the
result
of
a
conference
on
the
Merritt-
Parker
bill
of the
House
of
Representa-
tives
and
the
Bingham
bill
of
the
Sen-
ate.2
2
THE
AIR
COMMERCE
ACT
OF
1926
Enacted
on
May
20,
1926,
the
Air
Commerce
Act
of
1926
entrusted
to
the
Department
of
Commerce
the
admin-
istration
and
enforcement
of
the
major
portions
of
the
act.
The
Secretary
of
Commerce
was
authorized
to
register
aircraft,
rate
aircraft
as
to
their
air-
worthiness,
examine
and
rate
airmen
and
air
navigation
facilities,
and
issue,
suspend,
or
revoke
registrations
of
air-
craft
and
airmen.
The
specific
regula-
tions
under
which
the
act
was
to
be
administered
and
interpreted
were
care-
1
President’s
Committee
on
Administrative
Management
(submitted
in
accordance
with
Public
Law
no.
739,
74th
Congress,
2nd
Ses-
sion,
1937),
p.
41.
2
H.R.
4772
and
S.
41,
69th
Congress
were
the
two
compromised
bills
resulting
in
the
Air
Commerce
Act
of
1926.
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