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International Air Transportation Competition Act Statement on Signing S. 1300 Into Law.

February 15, 1980

I am pleased to sign into law S. 1300, the International Air Transportation Competition Act. This law reinforces the policy of my administration to reduce regulation of the airline industry. It will strengthen my hand in assuring American consumers and carriers the benefit of more international flights, from more American cities and regions, with greater flexibility to set fares as low as efficient management and open competition will allow.

Reducing the burden of unnecessary regulation has been one of my major goals as President. We have had particular success in the field of air travel.

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 lifted artificial barriers to competition in the domestic airline industry, saving air passengers over $1.5 billion in its first year. It also provided for termination of the Civil Aeronautics Board, the agency that created and maintained a rigid system of price and entry controls that lasted 40 years.

In the same year, I extended our procompetitive policies to the international sphere by making appropriate use of the authority of United States agencies and by negotiating less restrictive agreements with other nations. Since I initiated this policy, the administration has secured 11 bilateral agreements with foreign governments incorporating the new procompetitive objectives.

This legislation affirms and strengthens our commitment to deregulation. The bill reduces statutory barriers against the entry of individual carriers into new international markets and authorizes carriers to change their fares within a zone of reasonableness without interference from the Civil Aeronautics Board. The bill also authorizes the Board and the President to take quick and effective countermeasures against a foreign government that engages in discriminatory or anticompetitive practices against American carriers or tries to impair their operating rights.

Many people were active in achieving passage of this legislation. I would like particularly to congratulate Chairman Howard Cannon of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Chairman Harold Johnson of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, and Chairman Glenn Anderson of that committee's Aviation Subcommittee, whose knowledge and leadership were key factors in shaping and passing the bill.

Note: As enacted, S. 1300 is Public Law 96192, approved February 15.

Jimmy Carter, International Air Transportation Competition Act Statement on Signing S. 1300 Into Law. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/250148

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