Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) culminated in a  1970 “sickout” by 3,000 controllers. Although controllers  subsequently gained additional wage and retirement  benefits, another period of tension led to an illegal strike in  August 1981. The government dismissed over 11,000 strike  participants and decertified PATCO. By the spring of 1984,  the FAA ended the last of the special restrictions imposed to  keep the airspace system operating safely during the strike.  Howard Cannon.  [Figure 1-11]  There was stiff opposition to  the bill—from the major airlines who feared free competition,  from labor unions who feared non-union employees, and  from safety advocates who feared that safety would be  sacrificed. Public support was, however, strong enough to  pass the act. The act appeased the major airlines by offering  generous subsidies and pleased workers by offering high  unemployment benefits if they lost their jobs as a result. The  most important effect of the act, whose laws were slowly  phased in, was on the passenger market. For the first time  in 40 years, airlines could enter the market or (from 1981)  expand their routes as they saw fit. Airlines (from 1982)  also had full freedom to set their fares. In 1984, the CAB  was finally abolished since its primary duty of regulating the  airline industry was no longer necessary.  Until 1978, the CAB regulated many areas of commercial  aviation such as fares, routes, and schedules. The Airline  Deregulation Act of 1978, however, removed many of  these controls, thus changing the face of civil aviation in the  United States. After deregulation, unfettered free competition  ushered in a new era in passenger air travel.  The CAB had three main functions: to award routes to  airlines, to limit the entry of air carriers into new markets,  and to regulate fares for passengers. Much of the established  practices of commercial passenger travel within the United  States went back to the policies of Walter Folger Brown, the  United States Postmaster General during the administration  of President Herbert Hoover. Brown had changed the mail  payments system to encourage the manufacture of passenger  aircraft instead of mail-carrying aircraft. His influence  was crucial in awarding contracts and helped create four  major domestic airlines: United, American, Eastern, and  Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA). Similarly,  Brown had also helped give Pan American a monopoly on  international routes.  The push to deregulate, or at least to reform the existing laws  governing passenger carriers, was accelerated by President  Jimmy Carter, who appointed economist and former  professor Alfred Kahn, a vocal supporter of deregulation, to  head the CAB. A second force to deregulate emerged from  abroad. In 1977, Freddie Laker, a British entrepreneur who  owned Laker Airways, created the Skytrain service, which  offered extraordinarily cheap fares for transatlantic flights.  Laker’s offerings coincided with a boom in low-cost domestic  flights as the CAB eased some limitations on charter flights  (i.e., flights offered by companies that do not actually own  planes but leased them from the major airlines). The big air  carriers responded by proposing their own lower fares. For  example, American Airlines, the country’s second largest  airline, obtained CAB approval for “SuperSaver” tickets.  All of these events proved to be favorable for large-scale  deregulation. In November 1977, Congress formally  deregulated air cargo. In late 1978, Congress passed the  Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, legislation that had been  principally authored by Senators Edward Kennedy and  The FAA is empowered by regulations to promote aviation  safety and establish safety standards for civil aviation. The  FAA achieves these objectives under the Code of Federal  Regulations (CFR), which is the codification of the general  and permanent rules published by the executive departments  and agencies of the United States Government. The  regulations are divided into 50 different codes, called Titles,  that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation.  FAA regulations are listed under Title 14, “Aeronautics and  Space,” which encompasses all aspects of civil aviation from  how to earn a pilot’s certificate to maintenance of an aircraft.  Title 14 CFR Chapter 1, Federal Aviation Administration,  is broken down into subchapters A through N as illustrated  in  Figure 1-12.  For the pilot, certain parts of 14 CFR are more relevant  than others. During flight training, it is helpful for the pilot  to become familiar with the parts and subparts that relate  The Role of the FAA  The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)  The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978  Figure 1-11.  President Jimmy Carter signs the Airline Deregulation  Act in late 1978.  1-7 