The Civil Aeronautics Board was created by the Civil Aviation Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 973), and as continued by the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (72 Stat. 731). The Board was made up of five members appointed by the President for staggered six-year terms. Each year, the President designates one member as Chairman.
The Civil Aeronautics Board has general responsibility for the encouragement and development of civil aviation. Some of its functions include the authorization of carriers to to engage in interstate and foreign transportation, and oversight both over fares charged for air transportation and over all proposed airline mergers. The decisions of the CAB are final except in those cases involving an airline's international operations, which must be approved by the President.
The file FG 88 contains correspondence and memoranda regarding the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). Principal correspondents include the President, John Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President, Peter Flanigan, Assistant to the President, David Gunning, Staff Assistant to the President, and Secor Browne, Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board from October, 1969 to March, 1974.
The Executive folders of FG 88 contain chiefly White House internal memoranda and correspondence with the Civil Aeronautics Board regarding issues under the jurisdiction of the CAB. These include the awarding of routes and general appointments to the Civil Aeronautics Board, interspersed among a large amount of administrative material (transmittal of CAB decisions to the President, etc.). The General folders contain letters from the general public which deal with subjects similar to those found in the Executive folders: recommendations for appointments to the Civil Aeronautics Board, comments on decisions of the CAB, and requests for White House intervention in cases before the CAB.
On the folders, the terms Executive and General are used in the titles to indicate separation of documents according to source and handling. "Executive" items include communication among national, foreign, and state and local governments and their agencies, members of Congress, and selected prominent correspondents. "General" designates communications between Government officials and private citizens, institutions, and private interest groups. Where "/A" follows a numeric file designation, it indicates files relating to appointments, nominations, and resignations within that organization.
Some of the files related to FG 88 include:
White House Central Files: Subject Files
CA Civil Aviation
CO Countries
FG 25-5 Department of Transportation: Federal Aviation Administration
White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files
- Peter M. Flanigan
FG 88
This category contains letters and memoranda relating to the Civil Aeronautics Board. Documents include transmittal letters for monthly reports of activities of the CAB (the primary file designation for the reports is only occasionally FG 88, however); memoranda regarding various international disputes, most notably landing rights in New York for Iceland Air; and memoranda regarding appointments to vacancies on the Board.
FG 88/A
This sub-category contains Executive Orders; transmittal letters; and other documents relating to the appointments, nominations, and resignations within the Civil Aeronautics Board.
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