Saigon's Squeeze Play

Pan American World Airways operates 32 weekly commercial cargo and passenger flights to Saigon. In addition, Pan Am assigns up to 20 jets a month to the U.S. Military Airlift Command for South Viet Nam duty-- at less than half the rates it would receive for similar commercial service. The carrier's right to land commercial flights at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airport depends on an annual permit -- and the last one expired last Dec. 31. Two days later, Vietnamese authorities refused landing clearance to a Pan Am commercial flight, changed their minds only after urgent and angry protests from the U.S. embassy. Even then, sweat-soaked passengers were kept aboard two hours. Next day the same thing happened to the same plane on its return trip to Saigon from Singapore.

Behind the harrying is an effort by South Viet Nam to get a bigger piece of the lucrative Southeast Asia air traffic -- and perhaps a new jet or two for its national airline, which presently flies a single Caravelle jet and 36 piston aircraft, most of which are either obsolete or in for repairs.

South Viet Nam agreed in January to halt its harassment pending negotiations with U.S. officials. Initially, the talks started, then stalled, resumed two weeks ago, but got nowhere. Confessed U.S.

Embassy Negotiator Lewis Townsend at one point: "I'm not sure we're even on the same wave length." Last week Pan Am Chairman Juan T. Trippe and President Harold Gray succeeded in ironing out some of the problems, assigned a team of experts to explore possible technical assistance for Air Viet Nam.

There is a strong probability that Pan Am will also help Air Viet Nam get financing for a Boeing 727 jet.

In the meantime, the two governments have suspended their talks until the airlines reach agreement. At that point, U.S. officials will be mired deep in an even stickier problem. The Saigon government is also demanding -- incredibly--payments of premiums (in all probability fat landing fees) by Military Airlift Command contract carriers such as Slick, Continental and World Airways, hauling war cargoes and personnel. It goes without saying that U.S. officials feel that a Flying Tiger CL-44 carrying military cargo should no more have to pay a landing fee to Saigon than an F-4 Phantom returning from an air strike against the Viet Cong.

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