Category: Boeing 727

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.

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Killed by Debt: Air Florida 1982-1984

9/4/2019

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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.

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Con Job: Braniff Mk III

7/3/2019

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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.

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Three Swallows Pt2: Go Getters Go Ozark

28/11/2018

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During its first 20 years of operation Ozark had fulfilled exactly the promise that the local service airlines had been created for. It had started and proved a wide range of feeder services and grown demand to the point that it could sustain not just prop-jets but pure jets as well. Even better it had done so profitably and begun to wean itself off of subsidy and pick-up longer routes that the trunk airlines no longer wanted. All in all it found itself in good position to grow into the 1970s and face the challenges of deregulation to come.

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Aviacsa Pt1: Pakal Expands

29/8/2018

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Consorcio Aviacsa, S.A. de C.V. (commonly known as Aviacsa) grew from a struggling small regional airline into Mexico’s 3rd largest carrier during the first decade of deregulation, as competitors failed and Mexico’s economy see-sawed from feast to famine. Despite having regular issues with corruption and finances by 2000 it had survived and grown as a proud private Mexican airline still holding on to its Southern roots with King Pakal on its tails and a smile firmly on its face.

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The Elegance Campaign: Braniff’s Ultra Look

21/7/2018

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The rise and fall of Harding Lawrence’s Braniff International is so well known that in aviation it has become something of a byword for mismanagement and a case study for the impact of deregulation. In many ways it was a harbinger of the bloodbath that the 1980s would become for US carriers however in others it was unique. Nonetheless back in 1978 everything seemed rosy at Braniff and the airline would celebrate its Golden anniversary with the introduction of a new look.

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Air West Pt1: The Airline That Had to Happen

21/3/2018

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As the 1960s drew to a close the CAB in the USA was looking for ways to wean the local service airlines off of subsidies. This meant a gradual movement away from serving local communities and instead using economies of scale to serve wider regions. The result was mergers, including the unique tri-merger that created 'The airline that had to happen' - Air West!

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Independence Pt2: The Atlanta Bicentennials

6/12/2017

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As far as I'm aware none of the other US airlines went as far as ONA and Braniff to paint fleet members for the 1976 US Bicentennial celebrations and only three others applied any outward signs of participation at all. Which airlines were these? Interestingly all 3 were southerners including the 2 giants from Atlanta. I assume it was no coincidence that both of them decided to celebrate in style.

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Bad Luck Blues: Braniff's Dallas Cowboys Jet

25/7/2017

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By late 1981 Braniff International was in severe trouble. Braniff’s President and Chairman Harding Lawrence had believed that airline deregulation would not be a success and decided that Braniff’s response would be to grow aggressively and build marketshare before re-regulation. The result was Braniff spent money like water on unprofitable expansion whilst at the same time being taken to the cleaners by its Dallas neighbour American Airlines. Add in a major economic downturn and things were not looking good. Even so Braniff still had time for its hometown football team.

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Tsuru in Full Flight: JAL in the 1960s

13/6/2017

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The first civil jetliners outside the Soviet Union were designed for long range travel. That left many airlines, including JAL, looking for smaller jets to complement their DC-8s and 707s. JAL identified two medium range types from new manufacturers but soon it would find demand out-stretching the new types and would begin the search for widebody transports.

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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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I-Trijets: Alitalia's 727s

9/10/2016

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Alitalia saw massive growth during the 1960s and 70s and acquired a large fleet of jets to service this. Despite these acquisitions by the early 1970s the airline was looking for a new medium range jet to build its European fleet around and fill the gap between its DC-9s and larger, increasingly obsolete DC-8s. Despite the arrival of the new Airbus and a larger variant of the DC-9 it was instead to Boeing that the carrier looked.

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Colombian Peril: Avianca's Tragic 727-021s

24/6/2016

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Few nations can stake a claim to the dubious honour of being the least peaceful and most dangerous places to live, however unfortunately for Colombia it could lay claim to be a contender for much of the past 70 years. Even without the country's ongoing conflict operating in its relatively low technology and challenging environment was difficult enough. These factors have as you'd expect had an impact on the operations of Colombia's airlines and can be seen in the history of a select batch of Avianca's 727s.

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Flying Colors of the USA: The Sneaky Snake

1/3/2016

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The philosophical and literal union (they married) between Mary Wells of the marketing firm Wells Rich Greene and Harding Lawrence, leader of Braniff International, powered the airline's transformation through the 1960s and 70s. The artistic apogee of this union was the special Calder schemes one of which celebrated the 1976 US Bicentennial.

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Braniff's Flying Colors 727s

28/2/2016

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Harding Lawrence had taken over the leadership of Braniff in 1965 and changed not only the airline but also the industry as a whole with his marketing heavy image makeover. It had worked and Braniff had increased its profitability whilst making moves, like the takeover of Panagra, which strengthened its position. Fleet rationalisation was a key pillar of this strategy also. Lawrence wanted rid of the Electras and One-Elevens and to that end was building up his fleet of 727s.

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<<Previous

Constant Crisis: AVENSA 1994-2004

Killed by Debt: Air Florida 1982-1984

Con Job: Braniff Mk III

Three Swallows Pt2: Go Getters Go Ozark

Aviacsa Pt1: Pakal Expands

The Elegance Campaign: Braniff’s Ultra Look

Air West Pt1: The Airline That Had to Happen

Independence Pt2: The Atlanta Bicentennials

Bad Luck Blues: Braniff's Dallas Cowboys Jet

Tsuru in Full Flight: JAL in the 1960s

TAESA Pt3: DC-9 Disaster

I-Trijets: Alitalia's 727s

Colombian Peril: Avianca's Tragic 727-021s

Flying Colors of the USA: The Sneaky Snake

Braniff's Flying Colors 727s

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