Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Volume V, Microfiche Supplement, American Republics

CO–14. Letter from the Vice Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board (Gurney) to the Secretary of State¹

Washington, November 14, 1958

Dear Mr. Secretary:

Reference is made to a letter dated November 4, 1958 from Mr. H. Gardner Ainsworth requesting that, in view of the facts set forth therein, the Board expedite consideration of the pending application of AVIANCA for a foreign air carrier permit.²

The Board is convinced that the concern of the Colombian Congress regarding this case is due to a misunderstanding of the nature of the action being taken, and that such misunderstanding has been fostered by AVIANCA. A full explanation of the Board’s position was set forth in an instruction to the Embassy early this year (No. A-139 dated February 14, 1958),³ and it is recommended that the Embassy be requested to reiterate to the Colombians the points made therein.

The Board has done its utmost to expedite this case. The prehearing conference on AVIANCA’s application was held on August 8, 1957, at which time counsel for AVIANCA requested deferral of further proceedings to enable AVIANCA to obtain from the Department of State a legal interpretation of Article 4 of the United States-Colombia Air Transport Agreement.⁴ Thereafter, notes were exchanged between the United States and Colombia relating to the Board’s action in the light of the provisions of Article 4 and the commitments made during the negotiation of the Agreement. In February 1958 upon the representations of Ambassador Bonsal, it was agreed that, in order to expedite the case, the Board would dispense with the usual hearing on the application and would enter into a stipulation with AVIANCA with respect to the facts which would have been covered in the hearing. The Board staff made repeated efforts to obtain from AVIANCA counsel an agreement to discuss the nature of the evidence to be submitted but the latter appeared most reluctant to cooperate. However, the matters on which information was to be furnished by AVIANCA were finally agreed and in May 1958 a list of the questions to be answered was forwarded to AVIANCA counsel. Two months later, on July 9, 1958, AVIANCA submitted documents purporting to be responsive to this questionnaire. Shortly thereafter, the Bureau Counsel who had been handling this case resigned from the Board and a new Bureau Counsel had to be assigned. Due to shortage of personnel, the vacation period, and press of other matters, the new Bureau Counsel was not able to review the AVIANCA submission until October. On October 27, 1958, AVIANCA counsel was notified that the AVIANCA submission did not respond adequately to the questionnaire and he was requested to file the necessary additional information at the earliest possible date. As of November 13 AVIANCA had still not supplied this information.

You may be assured that the Board has no intention of delaying completion of this case until the Colombian Congress has ratified the Agreement. As soon as AVIANCA submits the information necessary for the Board to reach a decision on the application, the processing of such data within the Board will be expedited.

Sincerely Yours,

Gurney
Vice Chairman

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.2194/11–1458. Official Use Only.
2. A copy of the referenced letter is attached to Department of State instruction A–108, November 20, 1958, not printed. (611.2194/10–2758)
3. Not found.
4. Apparent reference to the Air Transport Agreement and related exchanges of notes, signed at Bogotá, October 24, 1956, and entered into force provisionally, January 1, 1957.