Douglas B. Harris

Excerpt from the Civil Aeronautics Act

[T]he [Civil Aeronautics] Authority shall consider the following ... as being in the public interest ... the encouragement and development of an air-transportation system properly adapted to the present and future needs of the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States, of the Postal Service, and of the national defense ... [and] the regulation of air commerce in such manner as to best promote its development and safety...

The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 (CAA) (PL 75-706, 52 Stat. 973) created a Civil Aeronautics Authority, later called the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), to centralize commercial and safety regulation of civil air travel. In addition to the five-member "Authority," the...