 The size of this cluster, though not its composition, remained constant through the following decade, until in 1976 the question of "The Decline of the Supplemental Carrier in the United States" appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Small Business.The hearings formed part of an accelerating trend toward deregulation in the commercial aviation industry, which culminated in the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act.In the years following the act's passage the entire structure of federal airline regulation was dismantled, including the CAB.