National Security and Deregulation of Airlines SECTION I

INTRODUCTION

This research examines United States (US) national security, as it may be affected by the impact on strategic mobilityof the deregulation of the transportation industry, with a specific focus on the effects of deregulation in the air transportation industry on the Civil Air Reserve Fleet (CRAF). The topic is examined through (1) a definition of CRAF, and an explanation of its role in strategic mobility, (2) an examination of the deregulation of the air transportation industry in the US, (3) the effects of deregulation, and (4) an assessment of the impact of the effects of deregulation on the CRAF andstrategic mobility.

CRAF, AND ITS STRATEGIC MOBILITY ROLE

The CRAF is a creation of the national airlift policy, which forges a common bond between the US government, as represented by the Department of Defense (DOD), and the civil aviation industry, as represented by individual participating air carriers (Cohoon, 1989). Through contractural arrangements between DOD and individual air transportation carriers, "a fleet of preidentified civil passenger and cargo aircraft" is "committed to supporting military strategic airlift requirements in emergenices" (Cohoon, 1989, 10).

The CRAF includes "almost all of the widebodied jets operated by domestic U.S. airlines and roughly 170 commercial cargo planes" (Cohoon, 1989, 10).

. . .
ler airlines out of the industry, and (4) eventually raise prices in the mediumhaul markets (Meyer, and Oster, 1981). The expressed fear of some of the larger airlines was that deregulation would ultimately result in (1) an oligopolistic airline industry in the United States, which (2) would be far less competitive than that which existed in the mid1970s (Meyer, and Oster, 1981). Airline industry executives opposing deregulation lauded the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for creating a cohesive and an effective national air transportation system, and urged the board to retain the system in its existing form (Meyer, and Oster, 1981). The appointment of John Robson as CAB chairman in 1975, however, proved to be a turningpoint in the move toward regulatory reform in the airline industry. While professing neither support for or opposition to deregulation, 8Robson was willing to experiment with the introduction of laissezfaire policies into the regulation of the industry. Under Robson's leadership, the CAB either permitted competition for the first time or increased competition on what had in the past been either monopoly or nearmonopoly routes. These relatively small changes were viewed as revolutionary in the context of
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Meyer Oster, American TWA, Commerce Act, Meyer Oste, Defense DOD, CRAF American, Robson CAB, Pan Americanand, CAB Lederer, Watergate Scandal, airline companies, airline industry, meyer oster, air transportation, meyer oster 1981, oster 1981, cohoon 1989, strategic mobility, deregulation air, air transport, air transport industry, federal government, air transportation industry, percent market share, moskowitz katz levering,
Approximate Word count = 3373
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)

More Essays on National Security and Deregulation of Airlines SECTION I