Sachsische Luftverkehrs is established at Saxony in late 1923 to offer charter and flight-seeing services. On March 12, 1924, the company is reformed into a holding company. Shareholding is divided between
Elektra, A. G., the Bank of Saxony, and Junkers Flugzeugwerke, A. G. The latter’s stake is approximately 26% and includes contracts for both management and the provision of two F-13s.
Revenue services commence on April 7 on a route from Saxony to Berlin. On April 26, the carrier is drawn into the Junkers-backed Trans Europa Union. Two more F.13s join the fleet during the summer and on August 8, daily roundtrips commence from Dresden to Nuremberg.
Flights continue apace in 1925 as the fleet grows by the addition of another F.13 and four G.24s. When Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) is established in January 1926, Sachsische Luftverkehrs is one of the companies merged into it.
SACO (SERVICIO AEREO COLOMBIANO, S. A.): Colombia (1933-1940). Ernesto Samper Mendoza founds SACO at Bogota on June 15, 1933 and prepares to compete with the larger carrier SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aereos, S. A.). Certificates for two direct routes linking Cali and Medellin with Bogota are received from the government and two Ford 5-ATs are purchased from Transcontinental and Western Air Lines (TWA) to fly them.
Three ex-Eastern Air Lines Curtiss D-2 Kingbirds are purchased in 1934. The former Transcontinental and Western Air Lines (TWA) Ford Tri-Motors 5-AT-6 and 5-AT-16 are received on April 5, 1935; the former will not survive long. The most remarkable event in company history and indeed, one of the two or three most spectacular prewar aviation accidents occurs on June 24. While taking off from Medellin, pi-lot/CEO Mendoza loses power and crashes the 5-AT-6 into the waiting SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aereos, S. A.) Ford 5-AT-112 Manizales, piloted by Hans Thomas. Mendoza, the noted Argentine singer Carlos Gardel, and 15 others aboard the 2 planes are killed.
Without its dynamic leader, SACO limps along over its route network for another five years, taking delivery of two Curtiss T-32C Condors from Eastern Air Lines in 1937 and a pair of new Lockheed Model 10E Electras in 1938.
The Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-16 is sold to TACA (Transportes Aereos Centro Americanos, S. A.) in March 1939. On October 27, officials of SACO and SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aereos, S. A.) agree to merge under the latters banner. The arrangement becomes official on October 3, 1940, by which time all of SACO’s routes and assets have been absorbed.
SACSA (SERVICIOS AEREOS DE CHIAPAS, S. A. de C. V.): Mexico (1948-1955). SACSA is formed at Merida in 1948 to fly coffee cargos on behalf of local plantation owners. Yajalon-based TAYSA (Transportes Aereos Yajalon, S. A. de C. V.) is purchased and merged in 1949. The fleet comprises a number of older transports including Northrop trimotors, one of which crashes at Tuxtla Guttierrez.
Having begun life with National Air Transport in the U. S. in 1931, the Ford 5-AT-103 is purchased from Lagosa (Lineas Aereas Guerro-Oaxaca, S. A. de C. V.) in June 1951; however, its expensive flight hours are much reduced after 1952. In the 1950s, the owners find other ways to get their crops to market and the airline is often reduced to the use of an old Douglas B-18 bomber.
The 5-AT-103 is brought out of storage and refurbished at Mexico City in early 1955, being given a new noncorrugated skin and three overhauled Wasp engines. The costly rebuild does not pay off because the plane is lost in a July 3 accident in the Sierra de San Andreas Mountains. Out of cash and aircraft, the company ceases operation.
SADELCA (SOCIEDAD AEREA DEL CAQUETA, S. A.): Colombia (1977-1986). German Cuellar S. founds this all-cargo airline at Neiva, in southwestern Colombia, to fly all-cargo charters to Bogota and other points within the nation. The fleet is comprised of 3 unmodified ex-military Douglas C-47s, 1 C-54, and 1 Curtiss C-46A.
Within a decade of its 1977 founding, the carrier ceases operations.
SADIA, S. A. (TRANSPORTS AEREOS): Brazil (1954-1972). While working for his father’s Concordia meat packing firm S. A. Industria e Comercio Concordia, Omar Fontana forms a private airline on February 25, 1954, its title taken from the first two and last three letters of the family operation. A lone Douglas DC-3 is acquired from Panair do Brazil, S. A. and on August 3 the required government certificate allowing the launch of meat haulage to Sao Paulo is obtained. Sadia, S. A. (Transportes Aereos) is officially registered as a cargo airline on January 5, 1955.
As the DC-3 fleet continues to expand (12 will eventually be received) through the lease of two more Dakotas from TAN (Transportes Aereos Nacional, S. A.), the required technical scheduled passenger certificate is granted to the carrier by the Departamento de Aviacao Civil (DAC) on January 20, 1956. Scheduled passenger services are inaugurated on March 16, Sao Paulo-Florianapolis via Joacaba and Videira. A second DC-3 is purchased in August and the first of four ordered Curtiss C-46s (only two are delivered) is purchased from Loide Aereo Na-cional, S. A. in October. It is placed in service and the Joacaba route is stretched to Londrina, Bauru, Ribeirao, and Preto.
A maintenance agreement is signed with REAL, S. A. in August 1957, a second C-46 is purchased in October, and service is launched to Brasilia in November. Also in November, REAL, S. A. acquires 50% interest and Fontana becomes part of the larger carrier’s consortium management team under President Linneu Gomes, who now also becomes president of Sadia. Fontana’s creation is allowed to continue operating under its own name, expanding flights to Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre while supporting its partner with its Santa Catarina services. The fleet at year’s end comprises 5 DC-3s and 2 C-46s.
The carrier’s base is transferred to Sao Paulo in 1958, allowing the integration of services with REAL, S. A.’s. Additional DC-3s are received in 1959-1960, although Vice President Fontana is careful to maintain the independence of his charge. REAL, S. A. collapses in August 1961 and is taken over by VARIG Brazilian Airlines (Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense, S. A.). Omar Fontana is allowed to repurchase Sadia, S. A. from the wreckage of his former partner and resumes complete control.
The released carrier begins to grow in April 1962 with the purchase of three more DC-3s. Simultaneously, TAS (Transportes Aereos Salvador, S. A.) is acquired and upon completion of the arrangement on October 26, the company becomes known as SADIA-TAS, S. A. The fleet grows to include 12 DC-3s and 3 C-46s. In December, flights begin to link the Bahia city of Salvador with Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Fortaleza. Thus the route network is increased to 53 destinations.
In January 1963, the Brazilian government introduces a new subsidy scheme for feeder routes now labeled Rede de Integracao Nacional (RIN). Plans are undertaken for the acquisition of British-made Handley Page Heralds; however, this initial purchase, despite favorable terms by the builder, is halted by the DAC, which will only authorize the four-month lease of two of the Rolls Royce Dart-powered aircraft. The first Herald 203, leased from its manufacturer, is delivered on December 6 and enters service on December 18.
A second Herald, a Dash-100 chartered from the failing Philippine carrier Cruz Airways, joins the fleet in February 1964 and enters service in March. Later in the year, SADIA-TAS, S. A. is reorganized; Sadia, S. A. emerges as a single-name airline with some stock held by its employees.
On January 6, 1965, a $4.2-million order is placed for 5 Herald 214s. During the year, the route network is reduced from 53 stops to 28 and service started from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo.
In February 1966, government approval for Herald operations is officially awarded. DAC officials, convinced of the type’s ability through demonstration, allows Fontana to go ahead and acquire additional British aircraft, while remaining within the RIN fare structure. Retirement of the DC-3s/C-46s begins in April as the first of six new Heralds enters service. During the year, the carrier’s capitalization is increased from 750,000 to 1 million cruzeiros.
The last DC-3 flight is completed in March 1967 and Chairman Fontana seeks government permission in May to purchase BAC 1-11 jetliners.
A Handley Page HPR-7 Herald 214 with 5 crew and 20 passengers crashes into a 4,635-ft. hill near Curitiba, Brazil, on November 3 (21 dead).
The Shorts SC-7 Skyvan Patinho Feio is leased from its manufacturer in late 1968.
Approval is received and orders for BAC 1-11-500s are let in 1969. Between March and May, two Shorts SC-7 Skyvans are test flown on certain routes.
A BAC 1-11-400, leased from its manufacturer, is placed in service on September 17, 1970, pending delivery of the first Dash-500 on October 17. Sadia, S. A. begins flying its owned jetliner, nicknamed Jatao (Big Jet) over revenue routes just before the end of the month.
Additional BAC 1-11-500s (seven will eventually be received) are placed on the longer route segments throughout 1971. Headquarters are moved to Brazilia in the spring of 1972 and in June, the carrier is renamed Transbrasil S. A. (Linhas Aereas).
World History
