Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Alaska Airlines, Inc.

Northwest Airlines, Inc., instituted a suit for declaratory .relief against Alaska Airlines, Inc. In this opinion the parties will be called “Northwest” and “Alaska”. The suit was brought under the authority of 28 U.S.C. § 2201 , and “Northwest” appeals from an adverse judgment.

The District Court, in its reported opinion, 228 F.Supp. 322 (D. Alaska 1964), fully recites the controlling facts, and the elaborate recitation is quoted in the footnote below.

It appears that in 1955 the island of Shemya, now a part of the State of Alaska, was owned by, and under the jurisdiction of, the United States of America. On the island there was an airfield administered by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. On September BO, 1955, the United States, acting through the Administrator of the Administration, leased the facility to “Northwest”. • The lease recited, “WHEREAS, it is considered to be in the public interest that said air navigation facilities at Shemya be available to the aeronautical public on a nondiscriminatory basis: * * * ”, and it specifically required that “(d) Lessee shall furnish all available services at Shemya to the aeronautical public at fair and reasonable prices * * *…