Category: Airlines Of C America

Big Bunny: XA-JEB’s Unusual Career

6/2/2018

Aeroclassics has firmly supported Mexican collectors in 2017 with a selection of great releases, one of which is an Aeroméxico DC-9-32. Looking into the particular aircraft’s history it is obvious that it was not chosen at random. For although Aeroméxico flew many DC-9s none had the unique back history of XA-JEB.

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Bahamas Airways Pt2: Swire's Flamingo

20/9/2017

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Bahamas Airways had for many years been rather a thorn in the side of BOAC and by 1968 the British flag carrier was keen to extricate itself from the perenially loss making airline. It succeeded and initially the future looked, literally, bright, however the rebirth was ultimately only a short-lived affair and the Bahamian government was left to look for an alternative.

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Bahamas Airways Pt 1: Money for Nothing

18/9/2017

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Following WW2 the UK still owned a vast empire. Britain's flag carrier BOAC continued to play an important role in supporting and equipping infant airline adventures within many of the Empire's formative nations. BOAC's foray in the Bahamas created a reliable airline, but one that could never quite match up to the competition and consistently failed to make any money.

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TAESA Pt3: DC-9 Disaster

12/2/2017

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TAESA had come through the crisis of the mid-90s albeit with a large debt burden, modified ownership and a much older fleet of aircraft. Moving into 1998 TAESA had a bright new livery and began to take delivery of new aircraf too. If it could just capitalise on this then it still could be the standard bearer for competition in the Mexican market.

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TAESA Pt2: Old is New

10/2/2017

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After 5 years of operations Transportes Aéreos Ejecutivos (TAESA) had appeared to carve itself a strong and profitable position in both the Mexican domestic scheduled and international charter markets. It was a well run airline with a large modern fleet that was going places. Unfortunately events outside of its control would lead to drastic retrenchment and a fight for survival, but not before it attempted a crazy transpacific gamble.

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TAESA Pt1: The Little Airline That Could

8/2/2017

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TAESA (Transportes Aéreos Ejecutivos) Lineas Aéreas was begun in April 1988 operating executive jets and began scheduled passenger operations in 1989. It was the brainchild of the then 36 year old pilot Alberto Abed and the powerful Mexican industrialist Carlos Hank Rhon as a vehicle to create a competitor to the duopoly of Mexicana and Aeromexico in the newly deregulated Mexican market. It grew quickly but the 90s would prove a rocky time for airlines in Mexico.

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Flight 455 & the Cuban DC-8s

30/1/2017

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Communist Cuba has been largely cutoff from the West for over 50 years with some form of detente only beginning very recently. Canada has however had good relations with Castro's regime for much of this time and a controversial deal to provide American built Douglas DC-8s to Cubana would lead to a heinous crime being perpetrated, if not with the acceptance of the USA at the very least right under their noses.

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Aeronaves De México Pt4: Eights Into the Eighties

5/7/2016

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Aeronaves De México had had a rather torrid entry of service of its DC-8s (as discussed in part 3) but after it crashed its first 3 it managed to keep the rest in the air. Even so the late 1960s was not a successful period for the airline, which would need to be recapitalised and renamed in the 70s so that Cuauhtli could carry on flying. The DC-8 would continue to be an important component of the fleet into the 1980s by which time once again bankruptcy loomed.

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Aeronaves De México Pt3: Cuauhtli's Bumpy Jet Ride

1/7/2016

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By the end of the 1950s Aeronaves De México was on the lookout for more modern equipment than the two Britannias and trusty Sixes. In July 1960 a DC-8 took a Douglas sales team, including Mr Douglas Sr, to the Mexican capital on a demonstration tour. The trip was successful as a pair of DC-8-50s was ordered and in the interim prior to their delivery a single new DC-8-21 was purchased from the production line.

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Aeronaves De México Pt2: Cuauhtli Goes International

29/6/2016

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Aeronaves De México finally became a major airline in late 1957 when it began its first international route connecting Mexico City with New York. The service began on December 16 using the pair of leased Pan Am L-049s, however after only two days the Connies were substituted for something grander - the Whispering Giant.

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Aeronaves De México Pt1: Cuauhtli Takes Flight

27/6/2016

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Aeronaves De México was established on 15th September 1934, but it wasn’t until September 12, 1940, when Pan Am purchased a 40% stake, that it began to go places. At that point it still was a one route airline connecting Mexico City to Acapulco using a variety of single engined aircraft like Stinson Reliants. The Pan Am stake substantially increased the young airline's capital base and allowed the acquisition of a pair of Boeing 247Ds enabling the single route to go daily from September 30, 1941.

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Sunjet Tristars: BWIA in the 1980/90s

10/5/2016

4 Comments

British West Indies Airways, the national airline of Trinidad & Tobago, had entered the 1970s in poor shape, been turned around by a consultancy form only to fall back into bad habits as the decade closed. Nonetheless the new long haul choice, the Tristar 500, was well suited to the long thin European routes that BWIA was flying. Unfortunately the Tristar alone couldn't turn around BWIA's fortunes.

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Sunjet 707s: BWIA in the 1970s

6/5/2016

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Trinidad and Tobago is a wonderful island group which for many years had the most important airline in the Caribbean - British West Indies Airways. BWIA entered the 1970s after a troubled decade in which it had gradually come under 100% government ownership. The 1970s would see a change in management that would lead to the airline's renaissance but profits and national airlines don't often mix in relation to smaller countries and it was to be a false dawn.

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El' Inter Americano vs El'Dorado: Panagra & Braniff 7s

14/2/2016

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By mid-1950 Braniff had acquired permission from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to compete head to head with Pan Am and the Grace Shipping Company's airline Pan American-Grace Airways (Panagra) on long-haul services to destinations as far south as Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. This direct competition was far cry from the sedate anti-competitive nature of domestic US services and necessitated the best levels of service and equipment. At the same time it also created serious enmity between the two airlines.

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Hispaniolan Highlight: Dominicana

17/12/2015

2 Comments

Many Latin American nations have long aviation histories thanks to pioneering immigrants and the not always benign influence of Pan Am. The Dominican Republic is one such country, which grew a modern and well run national airline only to see it collapse in on itself as corruption and competition took their toll. Compania Dominicana de Aviacion was founded as early as May 4, 1944, one of a string of airlines within Latin America that Pan Am helped found and held a stake in (40% in this case).

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<<Previous

Big Bunny: XA-JEB’s Unusual Career

Bahamas Airways Pt2: Swire's Flamingo

Bahamas Airways Pt 1: Money for Nothing

TAESA Pt3: DC-9 Disaster

TAESA Pt2: Old is New

TAESA Pt1: The Little Airline That Could

Flight 455 & the Cuban DC-8s

Aeronaves De México Pt4: Eights Into the Eighties

Aeronaves De México Pt3: Cuauhtli's Bumpy Jet Ride

Aeronaves De México Pt2: Cuauhtli Goes International

Aeronaves De México Pt1: Cuauhtli Takes Flight

Sunjet Tristars: BWIA in the 1980/90s

Sunjet 707s: BWIA in the 1970s

El' Inter Americano vs El'Dorado: Panagra & Braniff 7s

Hispaniolan Highlight: Dominicana

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