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Air America

Operator Identification

  March 1959 to June 1976

  United States of America

TYPE: Airline

IATA/ICAO CODES: -- / ---

HEADQUARTERS: Taipei, Taiwan

FORMER NAME: CAT (Civil Air Transport)

SUBSEQUENT NAME: Evergreen International Airlines (through assets purchase)

Air america

Operator History

Air America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pacific Corporation, was formed in March 1959 as a spin-off of CAT (Civil Air Transport), the Taiwainese airline founded by Chennault and Willauer and operating since 1950 as a CIA-front company. Air America operated a large fleet of aircraft including Commandos, Pilatus Porters, Caribous, Hercules, Providers and helicopters throughout Southeast Asia. Bases included Thailand, Laos, South Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan. Secret missions were occasionally flown into Burma and China.

During the various conflicts in the regions, and most particularly the Vietnam War, Air America provided direct and indirect support to US Special Forces and armies of allied nations, mainly Laos & South Vietnam. It inserted and extracted US personnel, provided logistical support to the Royal Lao Army, the Hmong Army and combatant Thai volunteer forces, transported refugees, and flew photo reconnaissance missions. Its civilian-marked craft were frequently used, under the control of the USAF, to launch search and rescue missions for US pilots downed throughout Southeast Asia. Other missions included flying diplomats, spies, refugees, commandos, sabotage teams, doctors, war casualties, drug enforcement officers, and even visiting VIPs. Following the widespread application of Agent Orange to Vietnamese farmland, Air America acted againgst the disruption in local food production by air-dropping thousands of tons of food, including rice, live chickens, pigs, water buffalos, and cattle. To meet the logistical demands for the war itself, Air America pilots also flew thousands of flights transporting and air-dropping ammunition and weapons to friendly forces.

When the North Vietnamese Army overran South Vietnam in 1975, Air America helicopters participated in the evacuation of US civilians and South Vietnamese people associated with the Saigon regime. After pulling out of South Vietnam that same year, Air America attempted to keep a presence in Thailand. However this fell through and Air America was dissolved on 30 June 1976. Air Asia, the company that held all of the Air America assets, was later purchased by Evergreen International Airlines.

Commando Operations

March 1959* to July 1975*

Air America inherited a large number of Commandos from CAT when it was formed. At that time, much of Air America’s operations was still concentrated in Japan and Taiwan. However, in the fall of 1960, 4 Air America Commandos were transferred to Central America to fly arms and supplies to anti-Castro guerrillas in Cuba, but only two of them plus one replacement aircraft returned the following year. At about the same time it became evident that Communist support to Neutralist and Pathet Lao forces in Laos made it necessary to strengthen the pro-Western forces in that country. Thence, an endless stream of Air America Commandos started moving thousands of tons of arms and supplies from the secret base at Takhli, Thailand to General Phoumi Nosavan at Savannakhet, Laos. In January 61, Vang Pao was added to the CIA’s list of receivers in Laos, and from then some of the supplies flown out of Takhli were delivered to a drop zone near Vang Pao’s headquarters at Pa Doung, Laos.

Air America Commandos continued to fly in other theaters as well: two of them were used out of Japan to deliver the Stars and Stripes newspaper to Korea in the early sixties; two of them were used by Scheduled Air Services Ryukyus out of Naha, Okinawa between 1964 and 1967; one or two of them were used on CAT domestic flights until 1968; and two of them were apparently destined for another use against Cuba, but eventually flew for the Aviation Research Center of India. However, Southeast Asia became the center of Air America’s Commando activities. In Laos, they were used for all types of airdrops, especially to drop palletized rice and salt, but also other types of supplies, even arms and ammunition. Those Commandos had rails inside, on which the pallets were rolled to the door. Some of them had a 39 standard seat configuration, but nearly all of them could also be equipped with 68 high-density and centerline seats to serve as troop carriers or for refugee airlifts.

In South Vietnam, Air America’s Commandos flew the usual mix of passengers and supplies for both USAID and military customers, except for some scheduled services like the one linking Saigon and Danang. Although USAID was officially the main contractor to Air America in South Vietnam, all CIA missions in South Vietnam were flown as part of the USAID contracts, and within those contracts, all CIA requirements were handled with priority. Since 1965, Air America’s services in South Vietnam were also supplemented by some Commandos owned and operated by China Airlines, whose aircraft adopted serials like CA-1 or EM-2 when they flew for Air America. The reason is evident: they were under operational and contractual control of the CIA, and they were also used on secret missions for the Studies and Observations Group. Already in the early sixties, Air America was involved in secret flying in South Vietnam – not as a transport company, however, but with maintenance, as they supported the Commandos of VIAT (Vietnamese Air Transport). VIAT, also called or Biet Kich So Bac, was a front used between 1961 and 1964 by the Government of South Vietnam and by the CIA for a secret unit whose task was to drop agents into enemy territory outside South Vietnam – that is especially into North Vietnam – and to support them. The secret unit was commanded by Colonel Ngo The Linh and William Colby.

At the end of the Vietnam War, Air America’s Commandos shared the destiny of other Air America aircraft and many of them were scrapped.

Commandos Operated

Last edited: 04/04/2024