Venezuela Bans Two U.S. Airlines

Venezuela has prohibited Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines from flying into this South American nation and is restricting American Airlines, said Francisco Plaz, the president of the National Aviation Institute. The ban is scheduled to take effect on March 1.

Speaking late Thursday, Plaz said that the measure was taken because the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, had established a similar ban on commercial jets registered in Venezuela 10 years ago due to safety violations.

A spokeswoman for the Venezuelan Association of Airlines, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to be quoted by name, told The Associated Press the three U.S.-based airlines received notification of the ban on Thursday and would meet soon with Venezuelan aviation officials to discuss the measure.

In 1996, the FAA ruled that Venezuela must tighten its airline safety procedures and downgraded its civil aviation authority to Category II, restricting flights because Venezuela allegedly didn't meet international safety standards. Venezuelan officials say they have improved safety standards since then.

"We have exhausted all avenues with the U.S. aeronautical authority," Venezuela's National Aviation Institute said in a statement issued Thursday. "We have been forced to reduce the frequency of flights of U.S. airline companies from the U.S."

U.S. aviation authorities have "failed to give Venezuelan airlines the rights they deserve under bilateral agreements," the statement added.

Delta spokesman John Kennedy said the three U.S. airlines were discussing the ban with U.S. authorities. "We're very disappointed by this unilateral action by the Venezuelan government and we are working closely with the U.S. Departments of State and Transportation as well as our peer carriers who received similar notice to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," Kennedy said.

State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said that "we were not notified in advance" of Venezuela's proposed action and "anything like this violates agreements dating from 1953." He said such a violation by Venezuela would be "unilateral, unjustified and unwarranted."

As for the U.S. options in this predicament, Ereli explained he didn't know what the "technical next steps would be."