OCR Text |
Show r TBBIf 1 0117 THEN: On December 17, 1903, 75 yeari ago, the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers occurred at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Caro-lina. From that takeoff the 12 second flight was about the length of a modern-day jet air transportation has become a vital part of our nation's life. It has contributed con-tributed to the country's growth, to its defense and to a better quality of life for all its citizens. u NOW: Each day in 1978, some 700,000 passengers will use the nation's airlines for business or pleasure travel. They will account for 80 percent of all the miles traveled on intercity public transportation and 93 percent per-cent of travel abroad. According Ac-cording to the Air Transport Association of America, the U.S. scheduled airlines in 1977 carried 240 million passengers, moved 6.4 billion bil-lion tons of freight and mail, including nine out of 10 first-class letters between cities, and used less fuel than in 1973 while carrying 38 million more passengers. |