Island Airlines, Inc. v. CAB, 19157.
| Decision Date | 24 April 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 19157.,19157. |
| Citation | 331 F.2d 207 |
| Parties | ISLAND AIRLINES, INC., Appellant, v. CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Robertson, Castle & Anthony, and Frank D. Padgett, Honolulu, Hawaii, for appellant.
John W. Douglas, Asst. Atty. Gen., Herman T. F. Lum, U. S. Atty., Morton Hollander and Barbara W. Deutsch, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., and John H. Wanner, Gen. Counsel, Civil Aeronautics Board, Washington, D. C., for appellee.
Bert T. Kobayashi, Atty. Gen., for State of Hawaii, Arthur S. K. Fong, Deputy Atty. Gen., Honolulu, Hawaii, on behalf of amicus curiae State of Hawaii.
Before CHAMBERS, KOELSCH and BROWNING, Circuit Judges.
The people of the State of Hawaii live on six major islands: Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Hawaii, Molokai, and Lanai. All are separated by open sea.
For awhile, prior to May, 1963, Island Airlines operated among the Hawaiian Islands, indicated above, under authority of the State of Hawaii, but without a federal certificate of convenience and necessity from the appellee, Civil Aeronautics Board. Then the board sought and obtained a permanent injunction from the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii closing down the Island company's inter-island operations because there was no federal certificate.
At the root of the problem is, where is the boundary or boundaries of the State of Hawaii? Are the intervening open seas and the floors thereof within the territorial boundaries of Hawaii? Only by implication could we conclude that in entering its injunction decree, the trial court has ruled on this basic question. If it has so ruled, then it should be said it has ruled there is no legal physical connection (contiguity) between island and island among the islands. At this point it should be said there is no showing that the Civil Aeronautics Board's position has anything to do with safety — a function of the Federal Aviation Authority. The sweep of the decree in its present form, in our judgment, probably could only be sustained on the basis that the intervening seas (less offshore limits) are no part of the State of Hawaii.
If the foregoing premise be accepted, then we may be face to face with a constitutional question of equal protection of the laws, something traditionally avoided by the courts, if there be a non-constitutional basis for decision.
Under all the circumstances, this court holds that the district court should rule...
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Island Airlines, Inc. v. CAB
...decree, and enter new findings and a decree, determining what the boundaries of the State of Hawaii are. Island Airlines, Inc. v. Civil Aeronautics Board, 331 F.2d 207 (9th Cir. 1964). After remand, the judgment was vacated; the two competing airlines (Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines) were perm......
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CAB v. Island Airlines, Inc.
...State of Hawaii, amicus curiae. PENCE, Chief Judge. Foreword On April 24, 1964 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 331 F.2d 207, remanded this case to this court with instructions that this court should rule expressly on the boundary or boundaries of the State of Hawai......
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Island Airlines, Incorporated v. CAB
...determine whether the intervening open seas between the various Hawaiian Islands were within the territorial boundaries of Hawaii. 331 F.2d 207 (9th Cir. 1964). On remand, the district court found that the channels between the islands were not within the boundaries of the State, that flight......
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City of Dallas, Texas v. Southwest Airlines Co., 73-2478.
...v. California, 42 Cal.2d 621, 268 P.2d 723 (1954), cert. denied, 348 U.S. 859, 75 S.Ct. 87, 99 L.Ed. 677; see Island Airlines, Inc. v. C.A.B., 331 F.2d 207 (9th Cir. 1964); Island Airlines, Inc. v. C.A.B., 363 F.2d 120 (9th Cir. 1966); Comment, 47 Texas L.Rev. 275 Our Brethren of the Distri......