Constitutional Law: Commerce Clause: State Taxation of Interstate Air Carriers

Plaintiff, an interstate air carrier, was incorporated in Delaware, and the home port of its planes was in Minnesota. It conducted regularly scheduled flights in and between twelve states. No landings were ever made in Delaware. Nebraska, one of the states in which landings were made by plaintiff, levied an ad valorem tax on a proportion of the Hight equipment of the plaintiff measured by the proportion of the total use of the equipment that was attributable to Nebraska. Plaintiff contended that the commerce clause of the United States Constitution precluded Nebraska from imposing any tax whatever upon such Hight equipment used in interstate commerce. In an original action for a declaratory judgment, held, the tax is valid. Mid-Continent Airlines, Inc. v. Nebraska State Board of Equalization and Assessment, 157 Neb. 425, 59 N.W. (2d) 746 (1953).