Airline History Blog - YESTERDAY'S AIRLINES

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Speedbird Charter 236s: Air Europe's 757s

29/11/2023

Managing the seasonal nature of the charter airline business has historically led to several airlines switching capacity across the Atlantic in the Winter with lease agreements whereby their aircraft get a winter in North America and a summer back in the UK. Air Europe had such an agreement with Air Florida between 1980/81 and 1982/83 but the failure of the American airline led to a more unusual arrangement with the British flag carrier that not only saw Air Europe swap aircraft but also acquire its first 757s from British Airways order backlog.

Taban Airlines & Iran's Only EP- 757

15/3/2022

I find Iran's aviation scene to be vibrant and interesting, the more so due to the sanctions the country's airlines have to operate under, or around. The 2000s have been a period of deregulation and continued liberalisation, which has led to the creation of a wide range of airlines often operating rather haphazard fleets. One of the larger and seemingly more siccessful recent entrants has been Taban Airlines.

Block's Third Way: Air Holland

6/10/2019

Nowadays the charter market is undersiege from low cost airlines, and customers empowered by the internet to create their own holidays, however during the 1980s this wasn’t the case and the charter market was still thriving. Even so that didn’t mean Martinair and Transavia thought there was room for a 3rd Dutch charter airline. That airline was Air Holland.

Karnali & Gandaki: The Nepalese 757s

27/9/2019

Few nations are as dependent on air travel as Nepal. Not only has it no access to the sea but is also extremely mountainous with a poorly developed road network. For many years Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation was the primary mover, both inside the country and internationally, for getting to Nepal and from 1987 its primary equipment included a pair of 757s, one of which was truly unique.

Rise of the Jetset: Air 2000's First Decade

10/9/2019

The UK charter airline scene has always been ultra-competitive and highly susceptible to economic downturns, which disproportionally impact spending on luxuries like package holidays. For that reason, the creation and cessation of charter airline activity was common during the heyday of IT charters. Few names managed any long-term success but one of those that made its mark was a relative latecomer – Air 2000.

High Country: Chinese 757s in the Himalayas

27/7/2019

The Boeing 757 is renowned for having some grunt, which is one of the reasons it has gained a second life on transatlantic duties. It also makes it ideal for operating in hot and high destinations where the thin air makes thrust important. The Western regions of China include the foothills of the Himalayas right up to the Tibetan plateau and the 757 proved its worth in these challenging conditions.

Earning Their Wings: Eastern 757s

16/7/2019

Eastern struggled through the deregulation era, even prior to the Lorenzo led Texas Air takeover, however one of the few bright spots for EAL was the acquisition of the new Boeing 757-200, which proved itself a fine acquisition to the fleet right up until the airline’s final closure. Even so, despite the need for the type the introduction of the 757s coincided with the period that marked the beginning of the end of the 'Great Silver Fleet'.

The 757 Story Pt2: Engines & Sales

21/5/2019

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

14/5/2019

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.

The BA Shuttle: Bringing the Regions to Heathrow

18/3/2019

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.

Shanghai Airlines Pt1: Pearl of the Orient

10/8/2015

Shanghai is the largest city proper in the world, with over 24 million residents. It has a rich history including a marked western influence which saw it become the financial hub of the Asia Pacific region by the 1930s. In recent years it has regained its status and it is not surprising that this cosmopolitan destination was a major focus in the liberalisation of the Chinese civil aviation sector in the 1980s. Nicknamed the "Pearl of the Orient" and "Paris of the East" Shanghai nowadays has multiple airlines based there but first there was Shanghai Airlines.

China Southern in the 90s Pt1: Narrowbodies

10/7/2015

When, during the mid-late 1980s, the CAAC was split into six major airlines, based upon its regional administrations, the Guangzhou bureau became China Southern. As with the other new airlines the aircraft assigned to it gradually began to take on the colours of the new entity which was (and remains) the largest domestic operator in China. CZ is nowadays a monster but it all began with a small fleet of Boeing narrowbodies.

Go Easy, Go ATA Pt2: Midway or Bust

15/3/2015

American Trans Air gradually cast off its dependence on charter operations and throughout the 90s focused on expanding its scheduled operations with a particular focus on Chicago Midway Airport. This would lead to a brief but beautiful flowering of the airline as a major network carrier with a fleet of new 737s and 757s however a combination of strong competition and the economic downturn following September 11 doomed TZ to bankruptcy from which it was never fully able to recover.

Cactus Flowers: America West 757s - Pt2. Sports & Teamwork

27/2/2015

America West was a strong supporter of several sports teams located near its hub operations and it was in fact one of these agreements which kicked off its repainting of its 757s into special schemes. The airline had signed a marketing agreement with the Phoenix Suns basketball team as early as 1989, which renamed their new stadium the America West Arena. It was their colours which were the first to be adopted, upon N907AW, and for many years the team flew an America West 737-100 for their away fixtures. It was the first of three sports team tie-ups, however the second special scheme adopted celebrated America West Airlines and its employees and was named Teamwork...

Cactus Flowers: America West Special 757s - Pt1. States

26/2/2015

The mid-1980s was a time of significant growth for America West and only three years after starting operations they took on 6 nearly new 757-2S7s which had been delivered to Republic Airlines just prior to its takeover by Northwest. Of the fifteen Boeing 757s that would join America West only three would join them directly and be 757-2G7s. The other twelve were either ex-Republic 2S7s (6), ex-Eastern 225s (4), an ex-Odyssey Int 28A or an AWAS leased series 23A. Two other 757-2G7s ordered new from Boeing were cancelled following the carrier's bankruptcy in the early 90s and not built. Though it only had a relatively small fleet of 757s America West made sure that many of them caught the eye, as in the 1990s it began painting 8 of them into special liveries.