The Aviation Transportation and Airports Study Commission was created by Senate Joint Resolution No. 52 of the 1972 General Assembly, and continued by Senate Joint Resolution No. 57 of the 1974 General Assembly.

The Commission was directed to make a broad study of the current and future aviation needs of Virginia, the success of current efforts to meet those needs and the role the state government should play in such efforts.

The Commission is composed of twenty members appointed by the Governor, the Privileges and Elections Committee of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates with one designated by the Chairman of the Commission to Study the Desirability of Acquiring Dulles International and Washington National Airports.

There are three ex-officio members: the Director of State Planning and Community Affairs, the State Commissioner of Taxation, and the State Treasurer. Of the Governor's eight appointees, four represent the general public.

Many of the more important study items turned out to be more complex and controversial than had been anticipated. The Commission membership represented a number of divergent interests whose views were not easily reconciled when it came to specific recommendations. We are reluctant to issue a report with firm majority recommendations, knowing that there are strong minority dissents. We are equally reluctant to issue bland general recommendations to which all members might subscribe. Hence we feel that further study is required and this, then, is an interim report. We expect a final report to be issued by June 30, 1975.

The report is presented in six sections. The first section presents a brief overall summary of the Commission's activities. Sections II through V, explore some of the key issues in more detail, while section VI outlines the full scope of the studies underway.