LAC (LINEAS AEREAS DE CARIBE, S. A.): Colombia (19761997). Trading under the name LAC Airlines, this carrier is formed at Barranquilla in late 1976 by Capt. Luis Carlos Donado Velilla to take over the routes (but not the assets) of Aerocosta International, S. A., which had ceased trading earlier in the year. The new entrant does not claim any connection with LIDCA (Lineas Aereas de Caribe, S. A.), which failed in 1980.
A fleet of 7 Douglas DC-6As and 2 DC-8-54Fs is built up during the remainder of the decade and scheduled all-cargo services are undertaken linking Barranquilla with the Colombian cities of Bogota, Cali, Cartagena, and Medellin.
Having received a U. S. permit, regularly scheduled freight services are also initiated to Miami. There are two fatal accidents without survivors in 1978.
A C-118A with three crew and nine passengers fails its initial climb away from Bogota on April 29 and crashes.
En route from Bogota to Trinidad on December 8, a DC-6A with three crew disappears in the vicinity of Sierra Cucuy.
In 1979-1980, the company sells five of its piston-engine Douglas transports. In 1981-1988, President Orlando Donado and his brothers, Vice Presidents Carlos, Raul, and Alvardo, increase the size of the family carrier to 327 employees. There are losses.
A DC-6BF with four crew strikes an 800-ft. hill while on initial approach to Cerro el Tablazo, Colombia, on February 19, 1982; there are no survivors.
A DC-8-54F with three crew and two passengers is destroyed as the result of a bad landing at Barranquilla on September 18, 1984; there are no fatalities.
The lost DC-6A and DC-8-54F replaced by a DC-8-30F and a DC-8-63F and new routes are opened to Asuncion, Caracas, Panama, Sao Paulo, and Toronto. Worldwide charters continue to be flown. A total of 43.88 million FTKs are hauled during the latter year.
The fleet in 1989 includes 1 DC-6A, 2 DC-8-33Fs, and 2 DC-8-55Fs.
Cargo traffic declines by 9.3% to 36.09 million ton-kilometers.
The 309 employees of the Colombian freight operator watch as its FTKs zoom upward 47.4% during the first eight months of 1990 to 46.65 million.
Airline employment is increased by 10.4% in 1991 to 270 and the fleet is altered to now include 2 DC-8-33Fs and 1 DC-8-54F.
The previous year’s traffic grow goes into reverse as freight falls 5.5% through September to 50.13 million FTKs.
The workforce grows by 21.1% in 1992 to 327.
While landing at Medellin after an all-cargo service from Miami on October 15, a DC-8-55F with three crew overruns the runway and is damaged; there are no fatalities.
Statistics are provided through October and reveal that cargo traffic has risen 31% to 72.98 million FTKs. Revenues total $26.9 million and produce an operating profit of $800,000.
In 1993, President Donado oversees an employee population of 327 and a fleet of but 1 owned DC-8-54F and 1 DC-8-55F leased from Fine Air. Freight slips 0.4% to 89.75 million FTKs.
The workforce is cut by 17.4% in 1994 to 270 as a DC-8-52F arrives under charter. Cargo recovers, growing by 21.8% to 109.36 million FTKs.
There is no change in the workforce during 1995. Traffic figures are reported through August and show a 9.7% increase to 74.48 million FTKs.
A DC-8-52F is chartered in 1996 and from bases at Barranquilla and Bogota, the carrier’s three freighters visit Asuncion, Caracas, Miami, Panama City, Sao Paulo, and Toronto on a scheduled basis.
Just after takeoff from Asuncion, Paraguay, on February 4, the DC-8-55F with 3 crew and 1 passenger, loses control and crashes into a playing field 2 km. from the runway; all aboard the freighter are killed, along with 20 people on the ground.
The carrier is unable to survive this disaster. Not only does the government quickly pull its operating certificate forcing it into bankruptcy, but the U. S. DOT revokes its foreign air carrier authority. Interestingly enough, the DOT Docket suggests that a principal reason for the U. S. suspension is an allegation that the company has been operating allcargo flights carrying unauthorized passengers.
LAC (LINEAS AEREAS DE CUYO, S. A.): Argentina (19581960) . LAC is formed at Mendoza in early 1958 to provide hub services on spokes spanning north, south, and west. A fleet of Aero Commanders and a Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is assembled and revenue flights commence in early 1959. Flights link the carrier’s base city with Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Mar del Plata, Cordoba, and Tucuman.
Despite great expectations on the part of company and government officials when the original announcement of a 15-year concession was made in 1958, the third-level operator is unable to earn sufficient revenues to maintain its heavy commitment and operations cease in July 1960.
World History
