Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc. v. Civil Aeronautics Board (336 U.S. 601)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 18, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 336 U.S. 601 · 69 S. Ct. 756
- Docket
- No. 387
- Argued
- February 8, 1949
- Decided
- April 18, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1948
- Vote
- 6–2
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Burton, Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice Black, Justice Rutledge, Justice Murphy
- Dissenting
- Justice R. H. Jackson (wrote), Justice Frankfurter
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court. The question in this case is whether the Civil Aeronautics Board has authority to fix a new mail rate for air carriers and to make it retroactive for a period in which a final rate previously fixed by the Board was in effect and unchallenged by the initiation of a mail rate proceeding. The answer turns primarily on the meaning of § 406 (a) of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 as amended, 52 Stat. 998, 49 U. S. C. § 486 (a), which empowers the Board to fix and determine the fair and reasonable rates of compensation for the transportation of mail by aircraft and “to make such rates effective from such date as it shall determine to be proper . ...” The Board in an order dated October 26, 1945, fixed a mail rate of 45 cents per mail ton-mile for petitioner. From that date until March 14, 1947, petitioner was paid at that rate for its air carrier services. During that time no action was taken by petitioner or by the government to initiate a change in that rate. On March 14, 1947, petitioner filed a petition with the Board alleging that its mail rate had not been fair and reasonable since January 1, 1946, and requesting the Board to fix a fair and reasonable rate “from and after January 1, 1946.” After hearing, the Board by a divided vote ruled that it had no authority to fix a mail rate for a period prior to March 14, 1947,…
Excerpt of a 21,761-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.