Dale W. Folkman and Judy A. Folkman v. United States of America, Dennis E. Dehne and Connie S. Dehne v. United States

The United States appeals the district court’s judgment that Dale Folkman and Dennis Dehne were entitled to deductions for the costs of traveling between their airline duty posts and Reno, Nevada, where their families lived and where the taxpayers served with the. Nevada Air National Guard, for the tax years 1971 and 1972, and that Folkman could deduct the costs of food and lodging at his airline post during the same years. We reverse.

Folkman, an airline pilot, has been stationed in San Francisco International Airport as an employee of Pan American World Airways since 1966. Folkman flew only infrequently as a pilot with Pan American because of his low seniority. His principal work was that of navigator. This work gave him little opportunity to keep up basic flying skills. To maintain his proficiency as a jet pilot, and to earn extra income, Folkman decided, soon after joining Pan American, to enlist in a military reserve program. The closest Air National Guard unit that had openings for pilots of jet aircraft was located in Reno, Nevada, about 250 miles from San Francisco. As a condition of membership, the Nevada Air National Guard required all pilots to reside in the Reno area.…