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Air America (airline)

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Air America
Company typePrivate
IndustryAirline
Founded1946
FounderClaire Lee Chennault, Whiting Willauer
DefunctJune 30, 1976 (1976-06-30)
FateCeased operations; assets sold to Evergreen International Airlines
Headquarters
United States
Area served
Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Japan, Burma, China
Key people
Vang Pao (supported Hmong forces)
ProductsPassenger and cargo air transport, covert operations support
Number of employees
Over 300 (circa 1970)

Air America was a United States-based airline specializing in both passenger and cargo transport, founded in 1946. From 1950 until 1976, it operated under the secret ownership and management of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), adopting the Air America brand in 1959. The airline played a significant role in supporting clandestine operations throughout Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, with allegations of involvement in drug smuggling activities within Laos.[1][2][3] Its motto was "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, Professionally".[4]

Early history

Initially established in 1946 by ex-military pilot Claire Lee Chennault alongside diplomat Whiting Willauer, the airline began as Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Air Transport, focusing on airlifting supplies into the war-damaged Republic of China. It supported Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist forces during their civil conflict with the communist People's Liberation Army. The first pilots were veterans from Chennault's World War II combat units, known as the Flying Tigers. After the nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan by 1950 following defeat, the airline struggled financially. The CIA took control in August 1950, renaming it Civil Air Transport, and later rebranded it as Air America in 1959. On August 23, 1959, the initial two Air America aircraft arrived in Vientiane, Laos.

The airline operated a varied fleet comprising aircraft such as the Curtiss C-46 Commando, Pilatus PC-6 Porter, de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, and Fairchild C-123 Provider, along with helicopters including the Sikorsky UH-34D, Bell 204B, Bell 205, and Boeing CH-47C Chinook. Its services extended throughout South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan, occasionally undertaking covert flights into Burma and China.

Operations during the Vietnam War

From 1959 to 1962, Air America provided support to US Special Forces involved in training Royal Laotian troops. Beginning in 1962 under Project 404, it assisted US Army attachés stationed at the US embassy in Vientiane. Between 1962 and 1975, Air America executed missions such as inserting and extracting personnel, delivering logistical aid to the Royal Lao Army and Hmong fighters led by Major General Vang Pao, transporting refugees, and conducting aerial reconnaissance that supplied intelligence on Viet Cong operations. Its aircraft bore civilian markings but frequently carried out search and rescue assignments for downed US airmen under Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force command. Notably, pilots flew military aircraft lacking FAA certification during combat missions.

By mid-1970, Air America's fleet encompassed approximately twenty-four twin-engine transport planes, Boeing 727 and 747 jets, nearly two dozen fixed-wing short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft, as well as around thirty helicopters operating across Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. The workforce included over 300 personnel such as pilots, copilots, mechanics, and freight handlers stationed throughout these areas. In that year alone, Air America transported 46 million pounds (21,000 metric tons) of food into Laos; helicopter flight time exceeded four thousand hours monthly.

Air America's clientele ranged widely to include civilians, diplomatic staff, intelligence operatives, refugees, special forces personnel, medical teams, drug enforcement agents, and high-profile individuals like U.S. President Richard Nixon. The airline played an essential role in supplying Hmong militias combating North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao troops by ferrying thousands of tons of provisions—including live animals—and delivering ammunition and weaponry ("hard rice") to allied units.

During the North Vietnamese advance in 1975, helicopters from Air America took part in Operation Frequent Wind, facilitating the evacuation of American civilians alongside South Vietnamese allies. A famous image from this evacuation captures an Air America helicopter evacuating occupants from an apartment at 22 Gia Long Street that housed USAID and CIA personnel.

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Accusations of Drug Trafficking

During the Laotian Civil War, Air America aircraft were occasionally used to transport narcotics, though controversy persists over whether the airline and the CIA were directly involved or simply permitted such activities. The CIA enlisted Hmong fighters to combat the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese forces, many of whom depended on poppy farming as a source of livelihood. According to historian Alfred W. McCoy, following the 1964 fall of the Plain of Jars to the Pathet Lao, Air America remained the sole airline capable of flying opium from isolated poppy-growing regions to the headquarters of Hmong leader Vang Pao at Long Tieng.

Claims have surfaced that Air America gained financially by transporting opium and heroin for Vang Pao or deliberately ignored the involvement of Laotian military personnel in drug trafficking. These allegations are supported by testimonies from former CIA paramilitary operative Anthony Poshepny, ex-Air America pilots, and other war participants, and were depicted in the motion picture Air America. Conversely, aviation historian William M. Leary references public health official Joseph Westermeyer’s assertion that airlines owned by Americans never knowingly carried opium nor profited from it. Historian Curtis Peebles also rejects claims that Air America staff participated in drug transportation.

McCoy characterizes the CIA's engagement as one of passive acceptance or tolerance rather than active involvement:


Post-War Period

Following the 1975 withdrawal from South Vietnam, efforts to sustain operations in Udon Thani, Thailand, were unsuccessful. Air America ceased operations on June 30, 1976, after its operating license was revoked by the Civil Aeronautics Board on January 31, 1974. Its subsidiary, Air Asia, which held all assets, was subsequently purchased by Evergreen International Airlines. The sale generated approximately $20–25 million returned to the U.S. Treasury. Employees were dismissed without formal acknowledgment or benefits, including those with long-standing disabilities or families of personnel killed during service. Some limited compensation was available through worker's compensation insurance mandated under U.S. Air Force contracts; however, accessing these benefits proved challenging. Numerous disabled pilots secured payments only after extended legal disputes under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, with some passing away before receiving adequate settlements. There are reports indicating that accident documentation was altered or withheld by CIA officials seeking to deny responsibility.

Veterans who served as Air America pilots continue to advocate for improved pension entitlements.

Aircraft Fleet

Throughout its existence, Air America operated a varied fleet predominantly featuring aircraft with STOL capabilities. Aircraft frequently transitioned between Air America, Boun Oum Airways, Continental Air Services, Inc, and units of the United States Air Force. Both USAF and United States Army Aviation units regularly provided aircraft for specific assignments. Typically, Air America registered its planes in Taiwan but flew within Laos without using the B- nationality prefix. Some U.S. military aircraft displayed civil markings adapted from their military serial numbers.

Fixed-Wing Aircraft

Rotary-Wing Aircraft

Air Asia

Air Asia, fully owned by Air America, delivered technical support, management expertise, and equipment services for Civil Air Transport. Its headquarters are located in Taipei, with principal operations based at the facilities in Tainan, Taiwan, currently functioning out of the premises at Tainan Airport. It remains the sole remaining entity from the former Pacific Corporation and, as of December 2022, is under the ownership of the Taiwan Aerospace Corporation, having severed ties with the former association to the Central Intelligence Agency.

Airline Operations in the 1980s

During the 1980s, an airline headquartered in Los Angeles, previously operating under the name Total Air, resurrected the Air America brand. This carrier utilized wide-body Lockheed L-1011 TriStar aircraft to provide scheduled flights linking Baltimore (BWI), Detroit (DTW), Honolulu (HNL), London Gatwick (LGW), and Los Angeles (LAX).

Notable Accidents and Incidents

  • May 5, 1954: A CAT-operated C-119 was downed by ground fire in Laos; pilot James B. McGovern Jr. and crew member Wallace Buford lost their lives; McGovern's remains were identified in 2006.
  • September 5, 1963: A C-46 sustained ground fire near Tchepone, Laos; three crew members were killed while several survivors were taken prisoner by Pathet Lao forces.
  • August 20, 1965: A UH-34 Sikorsky helicopter crashed into the Mekong River; three crew escaped but four passengers drowned, including CIA operatives Edward Johnson and Louis O'Jibway.
  • September 27, 1965: Beechcraft C-45 N9574Z was shot down close to Bao Trai Airstrip in Vietnam; pilot John Lerdo Oyer and passenger Jack Wells perished.
  • October 12, 1965: UH-34 crashed during takeoff near Saravane, Laos; pilot Capt. Richard H. Liebert, co-pilot Franklin D. Smith, along with two USAID passengers died.
  • January 12, 1968: Bell UH-1D helicopter piloted by Ted Moore successfully shot down an An-2 biplane during the Battle of Lima Site 85.
  • January 16, 1969: Douglas C-47A "949" crashed at Hai Van Pass in South Vietnam; all twelve aboard were killed.
  • February 22, 1970: An H34 helicopter came under fire near Xieng Khousang airfield in Laos; pilot R.C. Maerkl was killed while co-pilot John Ford managed a safe landing.
  • December 27, 1971: A C-123K on a resupply mission went missing northeast of Sayaboury, Laos; remains of three crew members were recovered between 2018 and 2019.
  • Spring of 1972: A C-7A Caribou transporting Nationalist Lao troops experienced dual engine failure on approach; pilots sustained serious injuries; sabotage was suspected.
  • December 29, 1973: Douglas C-53D EM-3 overran the runway at Dalat Airport in South Vietnam; due to land mines, the aircraft was irreparably damaged but all nine onboard survived.
  • April 29, 1975: Douglas VC-47A crashed upon landing at U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield in Thailand after departing from Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

See also

References

Further reading

  • Cockburn, Alexander & St. Clair, Jeffrey. Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press. (Verso, 1998)
  • Conboy, Kenneth & Morrison, James. Alternate Airlines: CIA Civil Airlift Contracts in Laos. Air Enthusiast No. 83 September–October 1999, pp. 2–5.
  • Conboy, Kenneth & Morrison, James. Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos. Boulder CO: Paladin Press, 1995.
  • Dale Scott, Peter. Drugs, Oil, and War: The United States in Afghanistan, Columbia and Indochina (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003)
  • Leary, William M. Perilous Missions: Civil Air Transport and CIA Covert Operations in Asia. (University of Alabama Press, 1984)
  • Love, Terry. Wings of Air America: A Photo History (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1998)
  • Parker, James E. Jr. Covert Ops: The CIA's Secret War in Laos (St Martin's Press, 1995)
  • Robbins, Christopher. Air America (Corgi, 1988)
  • Robbins, Christopher. Air America: The True Story of the C.I.A.'s Mercenary Fliers in Covert Operations from Pre-war China to Present Day Nicaragua (Corgi; New edition 1991)
  • Robbins, Christopher. The Ravens: Pilots of the Secret War of Laos (Asia Books Co., 2000)
  • Vietnam Magazine, August 2006
  • Honor Denied: The Truth about Air America and the CIA by Allen Cates (iUniverse)
  • Air America in Laos by Stephen I. Nichols (Amazon)
  • (CAT Association)
  • Flight: An Air America Pilot's Story of Adventure, Descent, and Redemption by Neil Graham Hansen & Luann Grosscup (Amazon)

External links

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Robbins 1985 94
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Air America and Drugs in Laos
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Heroin 2003, p. 385
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Robbins2005
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