Brief: Air tour operators lose rulings

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998 | 2:11 a.m.

The U.S. District Court in Phoenix upheld the National Park Service's right to charge the air-tour industry $25 per flight over the Canyon, just as it charges fees for backpackers, river runners and other tourists.

Additionally, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the government's goal of restoring natural quiet to the national park and approved the methods federal agencies use to measure aircraft noise.

The decisions presumably will help the Federal Aviation Administration finalize rules by Jan. 31 that will nearly double the flight-free zones over the Canyon and are expected to encourage the use of quieter aircraft.

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