Letter to the Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board on U.S.-China and U.S.-London Air Service

To Chairman Marvin Cohen

I have reviewed the following orders proposed by the Civil Aeronautics Board: United States-London Case

(1981) Docket 37937

United States-People's Republic of China Service Proceeding

Docket 38629

The first of these cases selects Pittsburgh and Baltimore as new "gateway" cities for non-stop air service between the United States and London; the new services will commence in April 1981. This expansion of opportunities for our travelers, our air carriers, and for the geographic areas they serve was made possible by the new agreement my Administration reached in March of this year with the government of Great Britain; the agreement reduced restrictions on air service between our two nations, authorizing the designation of ten new U.S. gateways to London from 1981 to 1985.

The second decision selects Pan American World Airways as the first United States air carrier to provide scheduled commercial air service between the United States and the People's Republic of China. This selection has been made possible by one of the four agreements I signed on September 17, 1980, which together completed the process of normalizing the U.S.P.R.C. relations. Flights will begin later this year. The agreement resumes scheduled air service between our country and mainland China after a gap of 31 years. Under the agreement, a second U.S. carrier will be selected to provide additional U.S.-P.R.C. service in 1982. The route covered by the first carrier will connect New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu, with Beijing and Shanghai, and can include an immediate stop in Japan.

I do not intend to disapprove the Board's orders within the 60 days allowed by statute. In order to preserve the opportunity for interested parties to secure judicial review, I affirm that no foreign policy or national defense reason underlies my actions.

Both these decisions are especially pleasing to me, as I am sure they are to you, since they carry forward policy initiatives for which we have worked together: expanding service and cutting consumer costs through the elimination of anticompetitive regulation, and building a framework for strong and lasting relations between the people of the United States and the people of the People's Republic of China.

Sincerely,

JIMMY CARTER

[The Honorable Marvin S. Cohen, Chairman, Civil Aeronautics Board, Washington, D.C. 20428]