, 1948-03-15
PAN AMERICAN WORLD Anyways
l35 East. 42nd Street. N. Y.
Civil Aeronautics Board
Washington, D. c.
Dear Sir:

1t has recently come to our attention that Caribbean At
lantic Airlines, Inc. has been publishing in the various papers
in the Virgin Islands the enclosed statement regarding the
proceeding in Docket No. 2246 ct al.
Caribbean Atlantic Airlines' purpose is obviously to in
duce the people Of Croix to withdraw their support for Pan
Americans application to serve that Island. We believe that
the people of st. Crox have ample opportunity to observe the
character and quality Of Pan Americans service to the neigh
boring island Of St. Thomas and that they are capable of max
ing their own decision as to whether they wish to have such
service extended to them, without being bombarded with
such messages" from another carrier.
Quite apart from this, the statements are most arpumenta
tive and could be very misleading to the general public not
having the Boards detailed and expert knowledge Of such
matters. For example, reference is made to Pan Americans
desire to serve st. Croix without restriction. The Board is
well aware Of the. complications which may arise from res
trlctlonS on the type of service which can be offered and has
frequently referred to these complications, such as difficulty
IN scheduling equipment, in its decisions. Considering all Of
the circumstances, it is Pan Americans's judgement that SER
vice to. St. Croix would not be feasible if a restriction were i'm
posed. However, Caribbean Atlantic's statements seek to
make It appear that this decision sprang solely from a desire
to force Caribbean Atlantic out Of business. It is stated
obviously, CaribbeanAtlantic cannot afford to compete with
Pan American, the worlds largest airline, for this local traf-
fic. The inevitable result would be that Caribbean Atlantic
the pioneer in air transportation to ST. Croix, would be forced
out Of business, THIS is PAN AMERICANS ZEAL INTEN-
TON" This is highly misleading, especially. when considered
with the following statements: "All the above facts are taken
from the Official Transcript Of the hearings held in San Juan
in April 1947. They are facts testified by Pan Americans wit
neSSeS or included IN Fan Americans exhibits. They were re-
lied upon by the Examiner in his Report and formed the ba
sis Of his recommendation that Pan Americans proposal be
denied.
Nothing in the Examiners Report or in Pan Americans
evidence shows any intention on Pan Americans part to force
Caribbean Atlantic out of business or that this would inevita-
bly, fnlle# i Pan american were certlf1cated.
Caribbean Atlantics statement also indicates that if Pan
American were authorized to serve st. Croix, there would be
no difference in service between ST. Croix and the United
otates from that now available. In this connection, much is
aHn n rNnn oL4J-f1- --L:. ~ - 2M 49,.
mltted IN the proceeding The Board knows that proposed
schedules are submitted in this tpye Of proceeding only for
the purpose Of indicating a possible service pattern. and they
are not in any way binding upon the carrier. Moreover, re-
CARELESS OF the exact scheduling, there would be a number of
differences in the service to the United States if Pan AmericanJ
were certified. The single responsibility for the travel
through to.destination and the ability to ship cargo under q
single document are some which might be mentioned.