800.796/6–2444
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Aviation Division (Morgan)
| Participants: | Mr. Gore-Booth, British Embassy |
| Mr. McLean, British Embassy | |
| Mr. Morgan, AD |
Mr. Gore-Booth called at his request and left a message for Mr. Berle from Lord Beaverbrook,41 which I immediately sent on to A–B.42 He also brought in Mr. McLean, recently arrived at the British Embassy, to introduce him.
We fell into a general discussion of the aviation situation, and Mr. Gore-Booth, referring to the recent press release of the Civil Aeronautics Board, asked whether we proposed in the near future to commence negotiations looking to the obtaining of landing rights necessary to carry out that program. I told him I thought we should do so and would probably be approaching his Government some time soon on the subject. He asked whether I did not think that these questions would have to wait until a multilateral convention had been agreed upon and an international body established. I told him we felt that bilateral agreements concerning air transport could and properly should be concluded before the general international agreement on air navigation.
He then asked how rights could be granted without knowing what the authority of the international body was to be. I told him this seemed to be very simple, that in the United States for example we had set up an elaborate network of air services under various laws and authorities between 1930 and 1938 and when in 1938 the Civil Aeronautics Act had been enacted and the CAB created, these airlines naturally came under the provisions of that law and the authority of that body.
International post-war air transport could and in fact must be put into operation as soon as possible, and whenever a multilateral convention went into effect and an international body was set up, international aviation would be governed by whatever the provisions and authorities might be that were set up by the convention. I pointed out that with the best will in the world on all sides it would be impossible to hold an international conference, draw up a multilateral agreement, have it ratified by a substantial number of nations, and create the international authority and get it working, for a comparatively long period of time. It hardly seemed reasonable to hold up all commercial aviation during that period.
[Page 499]Mr. Gore-Booth said he agreed in principle but reminded me that his Government had definitely expressed itself as favoring the operation of international air carriers only under license by an international authority. I said, of course, that was a point on which this Government did not agree and was subject to further discussion. I felt sure some agreement would finally be reached, and in the meantime it seemed desirable to proceed on the basis of the existing situation.
Mr. Gore-Booth said that this was simply perpetuating after the war a system which existed before the war. I said I thought the situation would be considerably improved after the war through a greater understanding on all sides of aviation problems, and it did not seem to me that just because a system was in effect before the war it was necessarily inappropriate for use after the war.
Mr. Gore-Booth then said that in his personal opinion, and he emphasized that he had no indication from his Government, he thought that a request for route permits and landing rights from us touching British territory would be answered to the effect that these rights could only be granted on a temporary basis until such time as an international authority was set up, when the whole question would have to be reconsidered in the light of what authority the international body might have. I pointed out to him that this would be very unfair to the carriers, that any company inaugurating commercial services over long distances would have to make a very heavy capital investment, create an extensive organization, and spend a great deal of money on publicity for trade promotion. It was hardly reasonable to expect them to do this if they could not be assured of having rights to continue this operation more than a short period of perhaps a year or two.
Mr. Gore-Booth admitted that this would be very unfair to the companies concerned. He thought the best solution would be to delay matters until real assurances could be given them of a reasonably long tenure of their rights.