ARNHEM AIR CHARTER (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (19911998) . AAC is established at Darwin in 1991 to offer charter and contract service flights to surrounding destinations in the Northern Territories. Revenue flights commence with five Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains.
A Piaggio P-68 is acquired in 1992 and operations continue apace in 1993-1994. The company encounters severe financial problems in 1995 and briefly shuts down in November.
Flights resume in 1996 as President Robert C. McDonald oversees a 13-employee company. As the fiscal situation improves in 1997, 3 Cessna 402Cs and 1 Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante are added to the fleet.
The company is purchased by Airnorth (Pty.), Ltd. in 1998.
AROOSTOCK AIRWAYS: United States (1965-1973). John C. Philbrick forms P. & M. Flying Service at Presque Isle, Maine, in early 1965 to provide passenger charter flights to Augusta, Portland, and Boston. Employing single-engine Pipers, he inaugurates revenue flights on May 3. Services continue and the company name is changed to Aroo-stock Airways in 1968.
At this point the commuter begins scheduled services, but it does not survive the recession and oil crisis of 1973.
ARPA (AEROLINEAS PARAGUAYAS, S. A.): Terminal ARPA, Aeroporto Silvio Petirossi, Asuncion, Paraguay; Phone 595 (21) 2150723; Fax 595 (21) 215-0111; Code A8; Year Founded 1994. ARPAis set up by TAM (Transportes Aereos Regionais, S. A.) in early spring 1994 to operate domestic feeder flights on its behalf. Miguel Candia is named president and he begins revenue flights on May 14 with a fleet of three Cessna 208 Caravan Is leased from the parent.
ARROW AIR: P. O. Box 026062, Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, 33126, United States; Phone (305) 526-0900; Fax (305) 526-0933; Http://www. arrowair. com; Code JW; Year Founded 1983.
George Batchelor’s Arrow Airways (2) is renamed Arrow Air in early 1983. The workforce totals 875 and the fleet comprises 2 Douglas DC-10-10s, 1 DC-8-73, 10 DC-8-63s, 1 DC-8-54, and 4 Boeing 707-320Cs. Orders are outstanding for 1 DC-10-10 and 1 DC-8-73.
During the year, new scheduled domestic services are opened from Miami to New York and Denver and from New York and Tampa/Miami to Denver. Simultaneously, flights are begun from New York to Guyana and from Denver to San Juan via Tampa and Miami. In addition, a Denver to London service compliments that started to the British capital from Tampa the previous year. Charter services, including those undertaken for the U. S. military, are continued.
Enplanements for the year skyrocket 93.8% to total 825,000, while freight traffic accelerates 31.9% to 109.4 million FTKs.
The payroll is cut 25.7% in 1984 to 650. Following FAA “white glove” inspections early in the year, the company is given a variety of penalties and is barred from carrying out its expansion plans, pending the correction of its shortcomings. The problems are cleared up by summer and all restrictions are lifted; Arrow receives a $33.6 million Pentagon contract for FY 1985. When Connecticut-based Value Vacations, for which Arrow is a carrier, fails in August, the airline refuses to provide transport home for the program’s stranded passengers. Lawsuits are filed.
The carrier substantially restructures its route network, beginning in October, to concentrate upon Caribbean and South American destinations as well as military and other contract services and inclusive-tour charters. Gone are domestic scheduled flights plus those to London and in their place are newly introduced passenger frequencies to Aguadilla and San Juan (Puerto Rico), Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic), and Georgetown (Guyana) flown from the company’s hubs at New York, Philadelphia, and Miami.
Scheduled cargo flights are maintained from New York to Port au Prince via Miami and San Juan. Although headquarters are maintained in Miami, the principal hub is shifted to San Juan.
Enplanements total 1,108,172 and cargo jumps 19.3% to 113.1 million FTKs.
The workforce is reduced by 23.1% in 1985 to 500 and the fleet now includes 10 DC-8-60/70s, 3 DC-10-10s, and 4 B-707-320Bs. Jonathan
D. Batchelor becomes President/Chief Operating Officer in February and, in early spring, following payment of a $34,000 penalty to settle matters with the FAA, passenger services are originated from San Juan to Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, and Toronto. Orlando becomes a customer destination in May.
Meanwhile, scheduled cargo flights begin from the Puerto Rican hub to New York, Miami, Antigua, St. Kitts, and Haiti. A whistleblower, company pilot Michael Sanjanis, contacts the Miami office of the FAA citing the carrier’s continuing unsafe maintenance practices. A new route from Tampa is initiated in the fall to Merida via Cancun and Cozumel. Worldwide charters continue to account for approximately one-half of the company’s business.
A chartered DC-8-63PF with 256 aboard, including 248 101st Airborne Division soldiers returning home to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after a six-month peacekeeping assignment in the Sinai, crashes one mile from the end of the runway while taking off from Gander, Newfoundland, on December 12; there are no survivors.
The death toll is the highest ever in an air crash on Canadian soil. Arrow becomes a target of intense adverse public and political attention. Two Canadian books detail the tragedy: T. C. Badcock, A Broken Arrow (St. Johns, Newfoundland: Al Clouston Publications, 1988) and Les Filotas, Improbable Cause (Toronto, Ont.: McClelland, Bantam, 1991). The most extensive American review of the disaster is conducted by the U. S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Crime, published in Fatal Plane Crash in Gander, Newfoundland, December 12, 1985: Hearings.101st Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington, D. C.: GPO, 1991).
During the third week of December, Arrow launches flights to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula from Boston, Philadelphia, and Tampa.
Passenger boardings plunge and, for the year as a whole, are off by 31.3% to 844,000; cargo is down 30.5% to 27.6 million FTKs. Revenues total $134.7 million and with costs low, a net profit of $229.91 million is generated.
A $7.6-million Military Airlift Command contract to fly USN personnel is received on February 2, 1986 and Congressional hearings into the Newfoundland crash begin three days later. On February 8, FAA regulators, who have been investigating the carrier, order all of
Arrow’s passenger DC-8s grounded for using undocumented spare parts and unsafe and unapproved maintenance practices. Company officials cry foul, claiming the regulators are bending to political pressure to close the airline.
Simultaneously, the Pentagon suspends its new and old military transport contracts (worth $21 million) pending its own review. Unable to continue, the airline declares Chapter XI bankruptcy on February 11; although Arrow continues to fly three DC-10s on military cargo charter, no more passenger flights are allowed.
By December 31, the onetime national carrier has flown a total of 127.3 million FTKs. Revenues for the year plunge by 69% to $41.71 million, expenses decline 66.3% to $45.46 million, and a $3.76-million operating loss is taken. The net loss increases to an identical $3.76 million.
Operations continue apace in 1987 as Richard L. Haberly, in May, becomes president/chief operating officer. Two DC-8-62CFs are acquired and an arrangement is entered into with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. under which Arrow will assume responsibility for the onward shipment into Central and South America of the German carrier’s freight shipments arriving in Miami.
Cargo climbs a slight 0.2% to 127.5 million FTKs and revenues fall 21.1% to $32.9 million. Expenses also decline, by 31.9%, to allow operating income of $6.2 million and net gain of $6 million.
The workforce is increased by 20% in 1988 to 120. The carrier’s five DC-8 freighters transport 35.9% more freight, 173.26 million FTKs, than a year earlier. Revenues skyrocket 91.5% to $40.8 million; however, costs are also up. As a result, operating profit falls to $5.1 million and net gain is down to $5.2 million.
Employment is cut by 20.8% in 1989 to 95 and the fleet includes 4 DC-8-62Fs and 3 DC-8-63Fs. Cargo increases 68.6% to 292.03 million FTKs and revenues sweep upward by 23.4% to $50.3 million. The operating profit dips to $4.4 million and net gain falls to $4.6 million.
The number of workers explodes by 114.7% in 1990 to 204 as a fourth DC-8-63F joins the fleet and assists in the delivery of cargo to Saudi Arabia in the fall in support of the Allied buildup known as Operation Desert Shield.
Despite this work, recessionary and oil costs cause difficulties, including a 16.1% decline in freight to 255.98 million FTKs. Revenues move up by 46.3% to $73.6 million, expenses jump 55.5% to $71.44 million, and operating income slips to $2.15 million. There is, however, a net loss of $251,695.
The workforce is reduced by 38.7% in 1991 to 125 and the fleet now includes 5 DC-8-62Fs and 4 DC-8-63Fs. Significant cargo is transported in support of the U. S. military commitment in the Persian Gulf, with overall tonnage climbing by 40.9% to 360.58 million FTKs. Revenues move ahead by 23.5% to $87.37 million, expenses rise 19.8% to $84.91 million, and operating income totals $2.46 million. There is a net gain of $1.76 million.
Employment in 1992 grows to 280 and the fleet is increased by the addition of 3 DC-8-62Fs, 1 DC-8-62C, and 1 Boeing 727-291F. Recession does not impact traffic nearly as bad as finances.
Cargo rises 23.5% to 445.43 million FTKs while revenues plunge 11.7% to $77.18 million. Expenses are down 7.2% to $78.79, leaving an operating loss of $1.61 million and a net loss of $1.04 million.
CEO Batchelor and President Richard L. Haberly’s payroll jumps 64.3% in 1993 to 460 and the fleet is increased by the addition of 4 DC-
8-63 s. Destinations now regularly visited include Miami, Hartford, Columbus, New York, San Juan, Bournquen/Aguadilla, San Jose, Costa Rica City, Panama City, Caracas, Asuncion, and Santiago de Chile.
Passenger subservice is initiated for several scheduled carriers. Freight declines 19.4% to 359.17 million FTKs, but revenues ascend 31.6% to $101.58 million. Expenses grow only 28.1% to $99.39 million and allow operating income of $2.18 million. Net gain is $1.73 million.
The fleet in 1994 comprises 1 each B-727-291F, DC-8-63F, DC-8-62AF, 2 each B-727-247s, B-727-225Fs, and DC-8-63CFs, 3 B-727-225AFs, and 8 DC-8-62Fs. Charter flights to Buenos Aires under the company’s own banner begin in January; however, due to FAA safety concerns, the company soon thereafter grounds its entire fleet. A total of 9,000 passengers are flown during the entire year.
Cargo, on the other hand, falls another 32.1% to 441.53 million FTKs. Revenues jump ahead by 20% to $121.86 million while expenses rise 23.7% to $122.95 million. As a result, there are losses: $1.09 million (operating) and $3.93 million (net).
Government safety concerns are initially resolved and the carrier prepares to resume operations in early 1995, with a workforce of just 335.
While on approach to the airport at Manaus, Brazil, on January 29, a DC-8-62F with three crew strikes a line of trees during a go-around after a missed landing; when the No. 4 engine fails, the captain declares an emergency and is able to land without further incident. No injuries are reported.
On March 17, the FAA grounds up to 6,000 propeller-driven aircraft nationwide until their owners can inspect them for unsafe bolts. Company maintenance personnel are unable to produce maintenance records for any of its aircraft and will thus be unable to carry out this urgent safety directive. Consequently, the government grounds the carrier.
Five days later, the FAA recommends revocation of Arrow’s operating certificate for this latest safety failure. In April, it is fined $1.5 million for the use of unapproved, bogus parts and falsified maintenance records.
Arrow manages to avoid its permanent closing but, even after it resumes operations as a freight airline in June, huge declines in traffic are suffered. Enplanements plunge 90% to just 1,000 while 209.29 million freight FTKs are operated, a 61.2% decline. The costs associated with the year cause additional fiscal downturn; there is a $9.24 million operating loss and a net loss of $10.17 million.
There is no change in the employee population in 1996. Although a DC-10F operator earlier, the company now elects to employ Lockheed TriStars in a freighter capacity. The first, an L-1011-385-1-15, arrives at Miami on January 27 wearing billboard-sized “Arrow” titles on its forward fuselage and a huge black “A” on its white tail. Two days later, it enters service on a cargo run to San Juan. Two more TriStars will arrive later in the year.
Traffic grows, rising 28.4% to 268.8 million FTKs. Operating revenues jump 19.5% to $61.09 million, but costs surge 22.1% to $73.66 million. The operating loss grows to $12.64 million while the net loss deepens to $11.8 million.
The employee population is reduced 16.4% in 1997 to 280. The fleet now includes 3 L-1011-200Fs and 6 DC-8-62/63Fs. During the first quarter, a new San Juan minihub is opened and services to South American are expanded, including the introduction of scheduled flights to Peru.
In July the company’s authority to operate two weekly return cargo services from the U. S. to Argentina is sold, for an undisclosed price, to Federal Express (FedEx).
In anticipation of significant growth in the new year, Emery Worldwide, in August, makes arrangements to lease one of Arrow’s L-1011Fs.
A total of 375.18 million FTKs are operated, a 39.6% increase over 1996. Operating revenues increase 43.7% to $87.82 million while expenses rise 37.7% to $101.56 million. Consequently, the operating loss deepens to $13.74 million and there is a $15.23-million net loss.
Houston’s only nonstop all-cargo Saturday service to South America is inaugurated on January 24, 1998 when a DC-8-62F begins roundtrips to Iquitos and Lima, Peru and Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador.
America’s oldest all-cargo airline still operating under its original name, Arrow’s senior management is restructured on June 29. CEO Batchelor succeeds Todd Cole as board chairman, while retaining his title of CEO. Cole remains on the board and Vice President-Operations Guillermo J. “Willy” Cabeza is named president/chief operating officer.
Special ceremonies are held in Lima on December 30 honoring the company for its 25 years of service in Peru. The coveted “El Con-tenedor de Oro” (Gold Container), given to the best cargo airline serving the nation, is presented by the Asociacion Peruana de Agentes de Carga, Internacional.
The fleet at year’s end includes 7 DC-8-62Fs, 2 DC-8-63Fs, and 3 L-1011-200Fs.
Cargo traffic plunges 52.46% this year, dropping to 178.35 million FTKs. Revenues inch up just 0.2% to $87.98 million, while expenses jump 9.2% to $110.87 million. The operating loss rises to $22.88 million, while the net loss worsens, reaching $23.93 million.
Thrice-weekly DC-8-62F all-cargo return service is inaugurated on January 29, 1999, from Miami to San Jose, Costa Rica, via Panama City. On February 11, President Cabeza completes merger negotiations with Frank and Barry H. Fine. As a result, Arrow is to be acquired from Puerto Rico-based International Air Leases by Fine Air Services for $115 million in cash and operated as a subsidiary under its current name. Cabeza will remain as president and no layoffs are foreseen.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) completes its review of the merger during March and, on April 9, the DOT approves the acquisition. Only Gemini Air Cargo has filed a regulatory objection to the arrangement, which is not heeded. In an interview with Reuters, Ltd. on April 15, Barry H. Fine, president/CEO of Fine Air Services, notes his plans to keep Arrow as a separate cargo carrier for up to two years, primarily because of the strong customer loyalty President Cabeza has built up in the shipping industry. Fine indicates that Arrow will add new services in the southern region of South America over the next three to four months, with Bolivia and Brazil seen as the initial markets.
Following the arrival of a company freighter at Miami from Guayaquil on August 30, U. S. Customs Service inspectors find 2,720-lb. of cocaine, with a wholesale value of $21 million, in the plane’s cargo of fresh fish. When no one turns up to claim the grouper, flounder, and eels, it is suspected that the perpetrators have been tipped off.
Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer John Zappia is appointed president of the fine parts and engine sales business, Fine/AAA Interair, in February 2000. He is succeeded by Guillermo Cabez, who had been president of Arrow before its takeover by Fine.
Arrow and Fine Air Services, through the holding company Fine Air Services Corporation, declare Chapter XI bankruptcy on September 27; both lines will continue operating through reorganization.
ARROW AIRWAYS (1): United States (1930). Established at Memphis, Tennessee in late summer 1930, Arrow is equipped with a single Stinson that is employed to begin scheduled passenger service to Little Rock, Arkansas, in October. Without enough traffic to cover start-up expenses, the trans-Mississippi operation stops in November.
ARROW AIRWAYS (2): United States (1947-1983). George E. Batchelor forms Arrow Airways in 1947 to offer scheduled and charter services from a base at Miami. Several DC-3s are acquired, including one from Pacific Southwest Airlines that crashes on December 7, 1949.
Douglas services continue to be flown until 1953, when flight operations are suspended after the Civil Aviation Administration suspends the company’s certificate for maintenance violations. The carrier now goes dormant.
Batchelor thereafter establishes Batchelor Enterprises as a holding company for the airline and for the leasing companies Batch-Air and International Air Leases. These nonflying concerns occupy the founder until new flying opportunities appear in the wake of airline deregulation.
Following his acquisition of Capitol International Airways early in 1980, George Batchelor also reactivates Arrow Airways, basing it at White Plains, New York. An initial fleet is acquired comprising 6 Boeing 707-320Cs and CAB certification is received in May.
Cargo charter flights on behalf of the Military Airlift Command commence on May 26, 1981 and regularly scheduled freight service is launched to San Juan from New York and Miami in August. A total of 1.3 million FTKs are operated during the remainder of the year.
Scheduled Atlanta to San Juan cargo flights begin in March 1982 and, in April, route authority to Montego Bay is acquired from the CAB. Scheduled passenger flights begin in July between Los Angeles and Montego Bay. The CAB gives the company a temporary permit on August 12 for flights from Florida to England. One-way midweek $99 flights are launched on November 11 from New York to Miami and scheduled Tampa to London passenger frequencies are initiated on December 15. Enplanements total 51,150 and 74.5 million FTKs are flown. The company is renamed Arrow Air in early 1983.
World History
