FAA Takes Olive Branch to Chavez

"I have never seen a contract finalized unless there is pressure, so the pressure from Venezuela should remain," he said.

Ramiz said Venezuela had been seeking for two years to have the FAA visit and assess improvements in its aviation-safety infrastructure. Last week, officials from the FAA and INAC, Venezuela's aviation authority, met to reach an arrangement that would allow air service between the two countries to continue at the existing level while the assessment is made and FAA recommendations are carried out.

With four "wet-leased" flights a day to Miami, Aeropostal has about a quarter of the traffic between Venezuela and the U.S. Only the flight attendants are Venezuelan.

Meanwhile, American has five daily Miami-Venezuela flights, a daily flight from Puerto Rico, five flights a week from Dallas and two a week from New York. Delta has daily service between Atlanta and Caracas. Continental has daily Houston-Caracas service and a weekly Newark-Caracas flight.

Many of the U.S. carriers' flights have been added since 1995, when Venezuelan expansion was curtailed by the FAA.