July 8, 1975

CAB formally proposes experiment that would permit existing or new airlines to enter into or withdraw from competition on selected routes without bd's permission; suggests that plan be tried on 2 or more routes (more than 750 mi) and 4 or 5 short-haul routes (under 750 mi) as well as routes to little-used airports on periphery of some cities (M)

Intelligence sources rept members of Cong, 2 former Vice Presidents and other pols flew aboard chartered flights of Fairways Corp, Washington-based airline, unaware that carrier was owned and operated by CIA; pols reptdly were unaware that most of airline's employes were CIA operatives; carrier reptdly was created by CIA more than 20 yrs ago to act as an 'executive airline' for agency's officials and to carry out secret domestic missions where commercial or other charter carriers would jeopardize secrecy; sources rept airline often flew to secret location in NC that agency maintains to care for its operatives experiencing emotional problems, and made flights to secret training base at Camp Peary, Va, as well as to other secret locations across US; airline reptdly covered its status as CIA 'proprietary' airline by posing as private air charter co and ferrying regular air charter passengers; intelligence sources rept airline's patronage of pol figures stretched back into '50s; say it transported late Lyndon Johnson, Robert and John F Kennedy as well as Sen Hubert Humphrey; say many pol figures were unaware they had been flown on Fairways since billing for flight was done by Page Airways, well-established non-CIA charter service that also operates out of Washington; sources confirm that airline had unwittingly been chartered by Dem Natl Com and Dem Senatorial Campaign Com, and that bulk of its employes were CIA operatives at regular Govt salary levels; airline pres Charles W Bing denies CIA ownership, but admits carrier has contract with USN and often transports mil personnel who might be connected with CIA; refuses to rule out possibility that agency is involved in USN contract; acknowledges airline carried pol figures but denies that such travel was in any way linked to CIA; says he never was asked to eavesdrop on passenger or otherwise compromise their privacy; Sen Select Corn's investigation of Fairways noted (L)

AMA exec vp Dr James H Sammons wrote Jan 28 lr to state and county officials of AMA minimizing questions raised in AMA Journal about safety of widely used diabetes drug; permitted 1,100 salesmen of Upjohn Co to use his lr in sales talks, a violation of AMA policy; details of lr's distribution are disclosed as FDA publishes proposed rule requiring new label for drug stating that it might lead to death from heart disease; Sammons's lr said Feb 10 journal article by Biometric Soc supported earlier study critical of such drugs; reptd that journal ed, written by Dr Thomas Chalmers, alleged that drug might be associated with some 10,000 to 15,000 unnecessary deaths a yr in US; said there was scientific opinion contrary to such findings (M)

Damage and casualties are surprisingly light for large-scale operation when Israel attacked Palestinian camps and villages in southern Lebanon by land, sea and air on July 7; main target was Rashidiyah refugee camp, south of Tyre, where landing party came ashore under cover of bombardment from Israeli naval craft firing missiles; Palestinian press agency Wafa says 4 guerrillas were killed and 7 wounded in fighting on beach with Israeli raiding force said to exceed 100 men; says civilian casualties at Rashidiyah camp were 4 dead and 7 injured; says that at 1 village about 5 miles north of Tyre, 1 Palestinian man and 4 children were killed as at least 50 rockets were fired by Israeli planes; says 1 Israeli Skyhawk was hit by AA rocket and went down in flames; says search party has found wreckage and is looking for pilot; guerrilla comdrs display rubber boat that they say was captured from Israeli landing party on beach; Lebanese army batteries opened fire on Israeli boats and were reptdly shelled from Israeli artillery positions across border; Lebanese Defense Min communique says border area was shelled intermittently all night by Israeli guns; says 1 women was killed and 2 were wounded by artillery round; Lebanese Premier Rashid Karami says that cooperation between Lebanese army and guerrillas 'foiled the Israeli attempt to land troops on the Tyre coast'; Foreign Min Philip Takla instructs Lebanese delegation at UN to present complaint to Security Council against Israeli attack, but does not ask for council meeting; Israeli attack was expected since explosion set by General Command of the Palestinian Revolution in Jerulasem on July 4 killed 13 people; illus; map (M)

New Fed hway program outlined by Pres Ford proposes Fed Govt stop collecting 4th cent of gasoline taxes in each state that increases its own gasoline tax by 1c or more by Sept 30; in effect, if all states met requirement, $1-billion of gasoline revenues would be transferred to states to be used for any purpose, but states would be encouraged to use funds for transportation; Ford illus (S)