Order Suspending Certain Air Service to and From Haiti

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[Docket 49547; Order 94-6-28]

Order Suspending Certain Air Service to and From Haiti

SUMMARY: We are publishing the order in its entirety as an appendix to

this document.

DATES: Issued in Washington, DC, June 17, 1994.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 20, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Bloch, U.S. Department of

Transportation, Office of the Assistant General Counsel for

International Law, Room 10105, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington,

D.C. 20590. (202) 366-9183.

Patrick V. Murphy,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.

Order

By this order, we amend all certificates, permits, and exemptions

necessary to suspend regularly scheduled commercial passenger flights

of U.S. and Haitian air carriers between the U.S. and Haiti.

In Order 94-5-18, issued May 11, 1994, we found that the public

interest required the regulatory prohibition of charter passenger and

scheduled and charter all-cargo air services between the United States

and Haiti except those flights that may be permitted pursuant to an

Executive Order.1 By Memorandum for the Secretary of

Transportation issued on June 10, 1994, the President determined that

it is in the essential foreign policy interests of the United States

that additional action be taken regarding air transportation to Haiti,

including the suspension of regularly scheduled commercial passenger

flights of U.S. and Haitian air carriers between the U.S. and Haiti.

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\1\ Our order was issued pursuant to Executive Order 12914,

issued May 7, 1994, wherein the President ordered that certain

economic sanctions be imposed against Haiti, including the

suspension of certain air services operated between the United

States and Haiti, in order to take additional steps with respect to

the actions and policies of the de facto regime in Haiti beyond

those steps taken in Executive Orders 12775, 12779, 12853 and 12872.

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In light of the President's memorandum, we tentatively found in

Order 94-6-21, issued on June 13, 1994, that the public interest

required the regulatory prohibition of scheduled passenger air services

of U.S. and Haitian air carriers between the United States and Haiti

except those flights that may be permitted pursuant to the June 10,

1994, Presidential Memorandum.

In that order we proposed to add the following conditions to all

U.S. air carrier certificates, all section 402 permits held by Haitian

air carriers, and all exemptions held by U.S. and Haitian air carriers

(these requirements would apply to indirect as well as direct air

carriers):

Effective 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time on June 24, 1994, and

until further order of the Department, the holder and its agents may

not engage in scheduled passenger air transportation which includes a

stop in Haiti.

As we stated in Order 94-6-21, under section 401(g) of the Act, the

Department may alter, amend, modify or suspend any certificate if

required by the public convenience and necessity. Section 401(e)(1)

provides that the Department shall attach to the privileges granted by

the certificate ``such reasonable terms, conditions, and limitations as

the public interest may require.'' Section 402 of the Act provides that

the permits of foreign air carriers may be conditioned, amended or

suspended if the Department determines that such an action would be in

the public interest. Exemptions granted by the Department are granted

subject to the public interest and may be amended, modified or revoked

at any time without a hearing. In view of the foreign policy concerns

present, we tentatively found that this proposed action is required by

both the public interest and the public convenience and necessity.

Comments in response to this order were required to be filed with

the Department no later than 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 15, 1994. No

comments were filed. Accordingly, we have decided to make final the

tentative findings and conclusions in Order 94-6-21.

Accordingly

1. All U.S. air carrier certificates, all section 402 permits held

by Haitian air carriers, and all exemptions held by U.S. and Haitian

air carriers are hereby amended to add the following condition:

Effective 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time on June 24, 1994, and

until further order of the Department, the holder and its agents may

not engage in scheduled passenger air transportation which includes a

stop in Haiti.

2. Effective 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time on June 24, 1994,

and until further order of the Department, no indirect air carrier may

engage in scheduled passenger air transportation which includes a stop

in Haiti;

3. Unless disapproved by the President of the United States under

section 801 of the Federal Aviation Act, this order and the certificate

and permit amendments contained herein shall become effective on the

61st day after its submission for section 801 review or upon date of

receipt of advice from the President or his designee under Executive

Order 12597 and implementing regulations that the President does not

intend to disapprove the Department's order under that section,

whichever occurs earlier;2

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\2\ This order was submitted for section 801 review on June 17,

1994. On June 20, 1994, we received notification that the

President's designee under Executive Order 12597 and implementing

regulations did not intend to disapprove the Department's order.

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4. We shall serve a copy of this order upon all U.S. and Haitian

air carriers holding certificates of public convenience and necessity,

foreign air carrier permits, or exemption authority, the Air Transport

Association, the National Air Carrier Association, the International

Air Transport Association, the American Society of Travel Agents, the

Association of Retail Travel Agents, the Air Freight Association, the

Ambassador of the Republic of Haiti in Washington, D.C., the Federal

Aviation Administration, and the United States Department of State; and

5. We will publish this order in the Federal Register.

Patrick V. Murphy,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.

[FR Doc. 94-15375 Filed 6-23-94; 8:45 am]

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