Ficers, who would be involved in forming Transatlantica Argentina, S. A. three years later, found ALA at Rosario in early 1955. A fleet of Aero Commander 500s is purchased and employed to run an ultimately unsuccessful shuttle operation to Buenos Aires.
The carrier is reorganized in 1958 and the lightplanes are withdrawn in favor of 6 Douglas DC-3s. At the same time, its officials enter into a cooperative agreement with another new second-level airline, PLAS (Primera Linea Aerea Santafecina, S. A.).
ALA continues to maintain its service, losing money. During 1961, a merger is proposed between ALA and Austral (Compania Argentina de Transportes Aereos Saci, S. A.). Discussions will drag on through 1962.
In 1963, the national government announces a new master plan for domestic air service. Under this arrangement, 37 million pesos are granted to ALA to cover its 1962 losses and 41 million are provided to erase those of 1963. In return, the airline is now permitted to fly to its first foreign destinations, Asuncion, Paraguay, and Montevideo, Uruguay. Planning to merge with Austral is shelved.
The company’s first fatal accident is suffered in 1964. On January 9, a DC-3 with 29 aboard crashes near Zarate; there are no survivors. In 1965, company headquarters are moved to Buenos Aires and, in 1966, the carrier begins to work in tandem with its rival Austral Airlines (Compania Argentina de Transportes Aereos, S. A.) in an arrangement that is almost a merger. When Austral receives Douglas DC-6s as part of its equipment contract with Pan American World Airways (1), it is able to lease a number of Curtiss C-46s to ALA. At the same time, Austral takes a 30% interest.
The two carriers will work as a single unit, Austral-ALA (see the Austral entry, below) until they are fully amalgamated in 1973 as Austral Airlines (Austral Lineas Aereas, S. A.).
ALA (SOCIEDAD DE TRANSPORTS AEREOS, LTDA.): Chile (1954-1961). Two small independent freight operators, Air Chile and Lyon Air, are merged in 1954, becoming ALA, a division of the nitrate conglomerate Compania Salitrera de Tarapaca y Antofagasta, S. A. Employing 3 Curtiss C-46s and 1 converted Consolidated B-24 bomber, ALA maintains domestic routes in support of its owners through 1956. During these years, only one new aircraft is added, a C-46 in 1954. The B-24 is damaged beyond repair in a crash on February 21, 1955.
Aware of the arguments being made by CINTA (Compania Nacional de Turismo Aereo, S. A.) official Jorge Carnicero for low-fare charter flights to North America, ALA now elects to enter the tour business. Two Douglas DC-4s are purchased and a Lockheed L-049 Constellation is leased from Cubana (Compania Cubana de Aviacion, S. A.). The latter plane introduces cut-rate flights up the continent’s west coast to Havana.
In competition with CINTA (Compania Nacional de Turismo Aereo, S. A.), ALA inaugurates nonscheduled flights to New York in May 1957, via Antofagasta, Arica, Tatara, Guayaquil, Panama City, and Miami. Overextended in a slender market, ALA elects to merge with CINTA in December.
ALA/CINTA joint services are integrated and domestic routes are transferred to a third new Chilean airline, LADECO (Linea Aerea del Cobre, S. A.) upon its formation in December 1958. Meanwhile, the low-cost charters continue, although the route changes slightly. DC-4s provide a service from Santiago to Arica while the ALA Constellation, now joined by a chartered L-1049G Super Constellation, fly from Santiago up the west coast of South America and on to Havana, connecting there to the U. S.
After Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba on January 1, 1959, the Cuban air transport industry is nationalized and the Constellation lease to ALA/ CINTA is ended. The DC-4s are insufficient to turn a profit and thus the Chilean operations suspend operations during the busy summer season. Unable to resume flying in 1960, the carrier is liquidated in February 1961.
World History
