M & R Investment Co. v. Civil Aeronautics Board

Petitioner M & R Investment Company, Inc., doing business as the Dunes Hotel and Casino, at Las Vegas, Nevada, offered and sold “Dunes Magic Carpet Tours” to the general public in the Los Angeles, California area. The “Tours” included “free” air transportation between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The Civil Aeronautics Board, found that the “Tours” constituted “air transportation” (defined in the Federal Aviation Act as “carriage by aircraft of persons * * * as a common carrier for compensation or hire”), 1 and were therefore prohibited by the Act in the absence of authorization from the Board. 2 Petitioners seek review of the Board’s order to cease and desist.

1. In Las Vegas Hacienda, Inc. v. C. A. B., 3 we reviewed the Board’s determination that “Fiesta Flights” between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, which were included “free” as part of “Champagne Tours” sold by another hotel operator, constituted “air transportation.” We sustained the Board’s conclusion because we found substantial evidence in the record that by selling “Champagne Tours” Hacienda was acting as a common carrier by air; i. e., it “was engaged as a regular business in offering air transportation to the general public…