MEA Cedar Jets Pt2: Coronados to the Rescue

The destruction of nearly two thirds of its fleet would have been enough to kill any other airline but Middle East Airlines was made of tougher stuff and as the situation inside Lebanon went from bad to worse it would need every ounce of resilience to stay in operation. Nevertheless despite its losses in 1968 a replacement fleet was just around the corner.

For the earlier parts of this blog series see:

• MEA Cedar Jets Pt1: Lebanese Fleet Gifted
  

Middle East Airlines Convair CV-990 OD-AFG Aeroclassics 1:400 Scale Model Airliner

Not all the airlines involved in the Israeli attack were as lucky as MEA. Lebanese International Airlines had been in service since 1953 and had acquired a pair of ex-American Airlines Convair 990s in 1966. Unfortunately the loss of both of these aircraft, plus its DC-7s, was the death knell for the airline. With no aircraft and few other assets MEA was able to purchase LIA's traffic rights on April 23, 1969. All 150 of its employees also joined MEA, which was granted exclusive rights to carry passengers under the Lebanese flag until 1989 (later extended until 2012).

A new fleet was also in the offing and MEA successfully made arrangements with American Airlines to replace its lost aircraft on a more permanent basis with Convair 990s. Six aircraft were acquired in a lease/purchase deal with the first arriving in June 1969. The aircraft were registered OD-AFF-AFK and labelled as 'Cedar Jets'. They could be seen operating from Beirut to Ankara, Aman, Cairo, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Instanbul, Milan, Paris, Vienna, and Zurich. Despite all the ructions, prior to the Israeli action MEA was scheduled to post a profit in 1968 and emplanements during 1969 soared to 545,272 passengers.

Sadly the Convair 990s were not long for the MEA fleet. Pleased with its new 707s the airline wanted to standardise the fleet and an agreement was reached with American by which the CV-990s would be replaced from December 1970 with ex-American Boeing 720-023Bs. Thirteen ex-AA 720-023Bs would join the fleet with the last Convairs leaving by March 1972.

OD-AFI at Heathrow in 1970 wearing the earlier white tail scheme

Another positive note for MEA was the offering of shares to its employees in 1971. Nearly 3,000 employees from 28 nations took up partial ownership. By this stage MEA was the second largest employer in the whole of Lebanon. In coming years it would need the hard work and dedication of its staff more than ever.

Following the 1968 retaliatory Israeli strike the situation within Lebanon failed to improve. In fact things got worse as the Lebanese military failed to rest control of the Palestinian camps from the militants and the resulting 1969 Cairo agreement created a situation where the militants were tolerated and in fact controlled the populous refugee camps. Worse the PLO leadership was forced to flee Jordan in 1970, following a failed coup attempt. They setup their new base in Lebanon fueling cross-border violence with Israel. They were not alone and many terrorits groups called Lebanon home, including Black September which undertook the infamous 1972 Munich Olympics attack.

This would lead to an escalation of tensions in Lebanon, further Israeli attacks and a spiral towards all out civil war which would test MEA even further than the destruction of its fleet had. In part 3 we'll chart MEA's survival into the 1980s and beyond.

Above: MEA's 1972 timetable paints a sunny picture of an increasingly bleak situation.

References

2001. Middle East Airlines. A Struggle for Survival. Airliners no. 71
Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the Jet Age: A History.
MEA Fleet. RZjets.net