Airline History Blog - Yesterday's Airlines

The 757 Story Pt2: Engines & Sales

22/5/2019

By the time the design of the new Boeing 757 was finalized in 1979 it was clear it would be a big improvement over the 727-200 Advanced and yet some commentators were under the impression that with both the 757 and 767 Boeing was effectively competing against itself as much as against the Airbus A310. Initially sales seemed to give this a grain of truth but eventually the 757 would find its time had come.

The 757 Story Pt1: From 727-300, to 7N7, to 757

15/5/2019

The Boeing 727-200 Advanced was spectacularly successful during the 1970s but although orders were flooding in Boeing didn’t rest on its laurels and was looking for ways to improve the design. In the end the result wasn’t the initially designed stretched 727-300 but instead an all new jet, the 7N7, that was paired with its big brother the 7X7 to take on McDonnell Douglas and Airbus into the 1980s and 90s.

Constant Crisis: AVENSA 1994-2004

7/5/2019

Nowadays Venezuela is in a sorry state, wracked by economic collapse, hyper-inflation and a dictatorial regime. The pathway to this has been long and complex and has gradually taken a toll of the airline’s once rich aviation scene, so that only a handful of airlines survive and connections with international destinations are sporadic. One of the highest profile failures was that of AVENSA who had started operations in 1943.

Eastern A300s: A Marriage Made In Heaven

23/4/2019

By the 1970s it had been years since the US majors had bought any foreign aircraft and the new Airbus consortium was struggling to sell its A300 to anybody, let alone the Americans. Eastern, cash-strapped and inefficient, needed a new aircraft and it was Frank Borman's airline that would give Airbus the opportunity that perhaps more than any allowed it to be taken seriously on the world stage.

Killed by Debt: Air Florida 1982-1984

9/4/2019

The loss of Ed Acker to Air Florida’s greatest rival Pan Am in September 1981 was undoubtedly a serious blow to Air Florida, however not necessarily because of the benefits he had brought to the airline. Indeed the mountains of Acker created debt the carrier was under may well have been enough to kill it alone without a series of other issues that saw the airline gradually contract until it collapsed.

Air Florida Across the Atlantic: Palm DC-10s

6/4/2019

Air Florida was, thanks to its President Ed Acker, one of the darlings of the first years of deregulation and exploded out of Florida with low fares and cheeky service in late 1978. Acker’s expansionist dreams would never be satisfied with just the USA and as well as trying to buy a selection of much larger airlines Air Florida also positioned itself for the long-haul. This is the story of their push across the Atlantic.

Acker’s Gamble: Air Florida 1979-1982

31/3/2019

With deregulation of the airlines in the USA the expectation was that an intrastate airline like Air Florida would be a force in the new post-regulation world and for a while that was true enough. The story of Air Florida is forever intertwined with the fortunes and wheeler dealing of one man, Ed Acker who took it from obscurity to the big leagues and then abandoned it for its greatest rival.

Escape from Dar: Kenya Airways Birth

23/3/2019

The main trio of East African nations, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have a long history of co-operation but also rivalry. This has seen various organisations oversee the joint relationship and historically the sharing of a national airline in East African Airways Corporation. Unfortunately, the failing partnership would lead to the collapse of EAAC and some drastic measures being taken to enable the birth of Kenya Airways from the ashes.

The BA Shuttle: Bringing the Regions to Heathrow

19/3/2019

The Eastern Air Lines shuttle was a pioneering idea in the busy US North-east market offering no-reservation guaranteed seat service between the super busy business destinations of New York, Washington and Boston. There are few markets that can support such a concept but travel from the UK regions to the London Heathrow was always a good contender. In 1975 the new British Airways decided to see if it could replicate the massive success of Eastern’s shuttle in the UK.

Con Job: Braniff Mk III

7/3/2019

The third incarnation of Braniff International is as good a reason as you are ever likely to find for letting classic airline names rest in peace rather than resurrecting them so they can be dragged through the mud and bankruptcy courts yet again. In fact, Braniff Mk3 is about as low as you can go in terms of the characters that ran it, both of whom ended up in prison partly for their involvement with the airline.

Desert Sun: Fokker 70s in the America West

27/2/2019

In the early 90s, just prior to the Regional jet revolution, Fokker's line of twinjets were rather squeezed in at the lower end of mainline fleets. This suited the larger F100 more than its smaller, and later, family member the F70. In fact despite its seeming ideal fit the F70 only ever acquired two orders within the vast US market operating for a small regional connected with a much larger one.

Early EU F28s: Fokker Fellowships 1969-1971

20/2/2019

Following its success with the F27 Friendship Fokker’s move into pure jets was a risk that took a long while to pay off. Interestingly far from being a ‘regional’ type aircraft the earliest F28 operators saw the Fellowship as a mainline aircraft and it was not unusual to see the type in operation on charter routes from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean that in later years would occupy an A300 or Tristar.

Empress Sydney: CP's Only 707

12/2/2019

Aside from its experiment with the Bristol Britannia Canadian Pacific had been a stalwart Douglas customer since the 1940s. Despite it being a hard-fought competition Douglas won out for the first CP jets with Canadian Pacific purchasing Douglas DC-8-43s over the rival Boeing 707-320. The only time that CP actually operated a 707 was from late 1967 to early 1968 and the experience didn’t end happily.

Air India’s Revolution: Jetley’s Sun 1987-90

31/1/2019

As with many developing nation's national carriers, that have had long glorious histories, Air India is today a model of mismanagement, inefficiency and financial disaster. There have been many attempts to change the airline and probably the most effective of these was during the tenure of Rajan Jetley from 1987-1990. Unfortunately, his successful reforms did not long survive his departure and the airline lurched back into its old patterns all too quickly.

Eastern Cross the Atlantic: New Mark 10s

24/1/2019

Towards the end of the 1970s Eastern Airlines was in a period of cautious expansion and with deregulation upon the US market was free to try and expand its overseas network. One target was the route from Miami – London but initially it managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory and it was only in 1985 that it was finally able to go transatlantic.