SAETA (SOCIEDAD AEREA DE TOLIMA, S. A.): Colombia (1947-1952). Capitalized at 570,000 persons, a group of investors from the Tolima province capital of Ibague form SAETA as an independent passenger airline in early 1947. Shareholding is held by local interests (70%) and AVIANCA Colombian Airlines (Aerovias Nacionales de Colombia, S. A.) (30%). Three ex-militaiy Douglas C-47s (converted to DC-3 civil standard) are purchased, with two more arriving in 1948.
Services are launched to various destinations within the province and to the cities of Bogota and Medellin. Caribbean coastal destinations are added to the route network in 1949-1951, along with a stop at Girardot.
A C-47 with 3 crew and 29 passengers is lost at Bogota on August 13 of the former year; there are no survivors.
Unable to compete economically, the carrier is forced to sell out to AVIANCA Colombian Airlines (Aerovias Nacionales de Colombia, S. A.) in 1952.
SAETA (SOCIEDAD AEREA ECUATORIANA DE TRANSPORTES AEREOS, S. A.): Ecuador (1966-2000). Former army colonels Eduardo Sandoval and Carlos Najera put together a group of investors in late 1966 and found SAETA at Quito, registering it in January 1967. After obtaining a Piper PA-23 Aztec, the operators inaugurate charter services to Cuenca in March.
Nonscheduled domestic operations continue in 1968; however, scheduled flights begin in 1969 and the route network is expanded to also include stops at Sucua, Macas, and Pastaza.
In April 1970, two Vickers Viscount 785Ds are purchased from Alitalia, S. p.A. and join the company’s Piper and two Douglas DC-3s in expanding frequencies, opening new routes to Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, and Tulcan, and increasing traffic.
A Vickers Viscount 785D is damaged beyond repair when it overruns the runway while landing at Cuenca, Ecuador, on June 3; there are no fatalities.
En route from Quito to Cuenca on October 20, 1971, a Viscount 785D with 35 passengers is taken over by four men and two women, who order it flown to Cuba.
Passenger boardings for the year total 58,000.
Service continues apace in 1972-1974.
Alitalia, S. p.A. sells the carrier three of its Sud-Est Caravelle VINs in 1975. These are employed, beginning in July, to operate a shuttle service that is not unlike the famed Eastern Air Lines shuttle operation in the U. S. Every 35 minutes, flights are launched between Simon Bolivar Airport at Quito and Mariscal Sucre Airport at Quito.
A Viscount 785D with 4 crew and 55 passengers disappears on an August 15, 1976 flight from Quito to Cuenca; no wreckage or bodies is ever found. A Viscount 764D with 4 crew and 29 passengers crashes into a mountain near Cuenca on September 4, 1977; there are no survivors.
On January 18, 1978, a Viscount 785D en route from Quito to Guayaquil with 60 passengers is taken over by a man and a woman, who order the turboprop diverted to Havana.
En route from Quito to Cuenca on April 23, 1979, a Viscount 785D with 5 crew and 52 passengers disappears over Pastaza Province. The wreckage will be found in 1984 on high ground, 25 nm. off course.
Services, including contract charter work, are maintained during 1980 and airline employment grows to 105. A Boeing 727-31 first operated by Trans World Airlines (TWA) is added, replacing the propeller equipment.
Passenger boardings in 1981 total 189,000 and in 1982, 195,400. In the latter year, a $713,575 operating profit is generated.
The number of employees is increased by 4.8% in 1983 to 110 and the fleet now includes 2 SE-210s and 1 B-727-31.
Customer bookings climb 4.2% to 197,395 and revenues advance 8.1% to $4 million. With expenses under $3 million, the carrier is able to post an operating profit of $1.1 million.
Eight new employees are hired in 1984. Enplanements swell 22.4% to 241,655 and revenues climb 3.7% to $4.2 million. Expenses jump 22.3% to $3.6 million, but still allow an operating profit of $605,128. Net profit improves by 27% to $70,530 and comes atop an operating gain of $605,128.
The workforce grows 13.6% in 1985 to 134 and the fleet still includes 1 B-727-31 and 2 Caravelles. Cargo charters are undertaken to Panama, Cura9ao, and Colombia with a leased Boeing 707-373C.
Passenger boardings jump 19.7% to 289,296 and revenues rise 23.5% to $5.2 million. Costs are held to a point where an operating profit of $1.4 million is generated and net gain of $607,180 is banked.
Operations continue apace in 1986-1989. The Caravelles are withdrawn and during the latter year the fleet includes 1 each B-707-373C, B-727-31, and B-727-95. Biweekly international B-727-31 service is begun from Quito and Guayaquil to Miami in May 1988. A B-727-282A is purchased in 1991. A leased Airbus Industrie A310-304 is acquired in 1992 and flights are inaugurated to New York via Miami. Two B-737s are also received, one each Dash-2Q8A and Dash-219A.
In 1993, President Roberto Dunn Barreiro’s airline employs 450 workers and places orders for another Airbus. Routes served include Quito to Guayaquil, Quito to Miami via Guayaquil, and Quito to New York via Guayaquil. The latter two services are taken over from Ecua-toriana Airlines, S. A. Permission is sought to provide flights from Quito to Los Angeles, again via Guayaquil. Cargo charters are flown to Colombia, Cura9ao, and Panama.
After signing a marketing alliance with AVIANCA Colombian Airlines (Aerovias Nacionales de Colombia, S. A.) in July, a joint codesharing roundtrip service is inaugurated in September and October from Bogota to Cuzco via Guayaquil. When Ecuatoriana (Compania Ecuatoriana de Aviacion, S. A.) suspends operations, its Ecuador-U. S. route is assigned to SAETA.
The company joins with private Paraguayan investors calling themselves the Skies of America group during September 1994 to offer a bid for the remnants of LAP Paraguayan Airlines, S. A., now being privatized. In October, the group suggests $22.1 million as compensation for an 80% stake, a figure that is accepted by the Paraguayan government. The first of three former Mexicana Airlines, S. A. de C. V. A320-232s is leased from ILFC in December; it begins flying to Miami with LAPSA titles painted on one side and SAETA on the other.
Passenger boardings during the 12 months total 945,348 and revenues are $92.52 million. There is a $26.24-million operating profit and a net gain of just $22,000.
Airline employment is decreased by 6.6% in 1995 to 960. Three Airbus Industrie A320-232s are received, two of which are leased to the reborn LAP Air Paraguay, S. A.; two B-737s are also leased to the new Paraguayan carrier. SAETA inaugurates new service to San Jose and Panama City. A route-specific code-sharing agreement is inked with Carnival Air Lines in November.
Enplanements dip 0.6% to 891,838, but revenues advance 8.4% to $101.23 million. Costs climb 18% to $79.24 million and allow an operating gain of $21.99 million and a much larger net profit of $2.75 million.
The workforce is cut another 37.5% in 1996 to 600. Flights begin to Santiago de Chile and La Paz, Bolivia.
Nevertheless, customer bookings still slide to 834,000. The operating profit jumps to $37.98 million and a tiny $14,000 net profit is noted.
The employee population slides another 1.6% in 1997 to 992.
A B-727-251 with three crew is badly damaged when it lands 200 m. short of the runway on the Galapagos Islands on August 22; there are no injuries reported.
An alliance is signed with Pan American World Airways (2) on November 3; it will allow passengers of the U. S. carrier to connect at Miami with SAETA flights to Quito and Guayaquil, while customers coming north may smoothly exit onto Pan Am flights.
Passenger boardings accelerate 11.5% to 876,997. Operating revenues plunge 19.2% to $77.5 million. Expenses fall 10.7% to $51.81 million. The operating profit falls to $25.69 million and there is a $1.51-million net loss.
Destinations visited in 1998 include Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Cura9ao, Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, Lima, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, New York, Panama, Quito, and Santiago de Chile.
The dual-designator alliance with Pan American World Airways (2) is put on hold when that company declares bankruptcy during the spring.
A homepage is opened on the Internet’s World Wide Web at the end of the year.
Customer bookings slide to 695,000.
By the beginning of 1999, airline employment has been cut 34.4% to 651.
As it has for several years, the operational and economic situation continues to deteriorate and the chances of survival now appear grim. In October, the carrier attempts to switch to cheaper aircraft on its Miami route. Because Ecuador is rated Category II (safety) by the FAA, the U. S. government refuses to grant the necessary permission.
Customer bookings for the year plunge 47% to 400,000.
A total of 453 workers are employed at the beginning of 2000, a 30.4% decline over the previous 12 months. In February, the company’s partner stops accepting SAETA tickets for lack of payment, forcing the airline to stop flying over its domestic mainstay route from Quito to Guayaquil. Unable to face rising fuel bills and continue under a mountain of debt, SAETA now closes its doors.
SAFAIR (PTY.), LTD.: P. O. Box 938, Kempton Park, 1620, South Africa; Phone 27 (11) 928-0000; Fax 27 (11) 395-1314; Http://www. safair. co. za; Code FA; Year Founded 1988. When Air Cape (Pty.), Ltd. is purchased in August 1988 and merged, the “Freighters” portion of the Safair Freighters (Pty.), Ltd. name is now inappropriate. Consequently, the carrier is renamed Safair (Pty.), Ltd. in September. Braam Loots is appointed managing director.
Employing the Air Cape British Aerospace (HS) 748-B2s and Swearingen Merlin IVAs, the defunct airline’s passenger services are maintained during the remainder of the year and into 1989 and beyond. Flights are offered from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth via Oudtshoorn, George, and Plettenberg Bay and from Cape Town to Walvis Bay via Alexander Bay and Luderitz.
Another Boeing 707-344C joins the fleet in 1990 followed by a British Aerospace BAe-146-100QT freighter in 1991.
A BAe 146-200QC arrives on September 22, 1992. The QT and QC operate overnight freight and parcel services around the nation. Under an October agreement with Transkei Airways (Pty.), Ltd., they fly passengers during daylight hours between Johannesburg and the Transkei capital of Umtata.
Also during the year, the number of Hercules freighters is reduced to 10 and of these, 5 are leased: 1 to the French operator Jet Fret, S. A., 1 to TAAG Angolan Airlines, S. A., and 3 to Transafrik, S. A. of Sao Tome.
In an arrangement between the company and Russia’s Ecotrends, Safair is contracted on September 4 to market and manage a wide range of Russian and Ukrainian aircraft in southern Africa. The agreement will not last long, but does allow the company to give consideration to operation of the Antonov An-124. One such machine is employed to operate a test charter from Jan Smuts Airport, Johannesburg, to Moscow, transporting products on behalf of the Hanover, Germany-based concern Marvol.
In 1993-1994, Chairman Ralph Boettler and Managing Director Piet J. van Arwegen oversees a workforce of 525 and a fleet that now includes 1 BAe 146-100QT, 1 BAe 146-200QC, and the 10 Hercules freighters, leases on 5 of which are continued as earlier. Domestic markets now regularly visited by freighter and passenger turboprops include Cape Town, Durban, East London, George, Walvis Bay, Port Elizabeth, and Johannesburg.
The fleet is altered in 1995-1997. Gone are the BAe 146s, replaced by one B-727-23F and three B-727-230As. Of the latter, one is leased out to Transafrik, S. A. and another to Sun Air (Pty.), Ltd. The third is sold, along with a Hercules, to NWT Air, Ltd.
In order to concentrate on its oil and defense business, Hunting, plc, in late June 1998 sells its subsidiary airline Hunting Cargo Airlines, Ltd. to a consortium consisting of Safair and Compagnie Maritime Belge, S. A. for $14.7 million. The new owners, led by Chairman Lud-vid Criel and CEO Hugh Flynn, transfer the airline to Ireland and register it as Air Contractors (Ireland), Ltd. Hunting, meanwhile, negotiates the separate sale of its five remaining L-188CFs.
With a fleet of 6 hush-kitted Boeing 727-200s and 5 Airbus Industrie A300B4Fs, Air Contractors (Ireland), Ltd. resumes flying shortly before Christmas. Over the next three years, it will undertake regular and ad hoc charters throughout Europe and the Mideast, with emphasis on the transport of overnight parcels under contract to United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express.
Also in December, Safair, itself, is sold to Imperial Holdings for $40 million.
The company retains its position in 1999 as a leading southern Africa aircraft charter and leasing company. That status is further enhanced in July when National Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. is taken over. It is allowed to continue operations under its name as before. The B-727 fleet at year’s end includes 1 Dash-23F, 6 Dash-230As or AFs, and 1 each Dash-294A and Dash-232AF. Three B-727-230As remain on lease to Comair (Commercial Airways [Pty.], Ltd.) as they have since 1996. In addition, the “classic” B-737 fleet includes 1 Dash-2L9A, 2 Dash-230As, and 3 Dash-236As. Two MD-81s and 5 MD-82s are also on hand. None of these is seldom off lease to one African carrier or another.
A total of 306 workers are employed at the beginning of 2000. On January 6, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 is leased to Dinar Lineas Aereas, S. A. and departs for service with the airline in Argentina. Two days later, a Lockheed L-100 Hercules, returning to Darwin, Australia, after a UN-sponsored charter to East Timor, is forced to make a belly landing after its main landing gear fails to deploy.
On February 22, the first of two MD-82s is sent to Air Liberte, S. A. on a four-year lease. Two more Hercules freighters are wet-leased to the East Timor operation on February 29. The second Air Liberte, S. A. is delivered on March 14.
On May 6, an L-100-30 is wet-leased to the UN and departs for Kinshasa on a long-term contract in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Also during May, a number of B-737s are purchased from and leased back to Comair (Commercial Airways [Pty.], Ltd.).
An R500-million deal is concluded with South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd. on May 31. Under terms of the arrangement, which is revealed on June 7, SAA sells its entire fleet of 13 B-737s (11 Dash-244As and 2 Dash-244AFs) and then leases them back. SAA will not only operate the aircraft, but maintain them as well. With over 40 planes, Managing Director Ralph Bottger is pleased to inform the press that Safair is now the largest aircraft leasing and charter firm in Africa.
On July 12, two ex-Austrian Airlines, A. G. McDonnell Douglas MD-82s are acquired; arrangements are completed to lease them to Air Liberte, S. A. and all will be in French service by the end of the year.
On August 16, a deal is struck to charter a pair of former Sun Air (Pty.), Ltd. MD-81s to Florida-based Spirit Airlines for delivery before Christmas. At the same time, it completes the wet-lease of an L-100 Hercules to Federal Express (FedEx), which will operate the turboprop freighter in Europe.
At the Africa Aerospace Defense Show on September 6, the airline announces its intention to acquire 10 Next Generation B-737-700s.
A B-737-230A, previously out on lease to Croatia Airlines, is chartered to South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd. on November 17. On December 11, the company places firm orders for two Next Generation B-737-700s as part of the plan announced in September. Under terms of the agreement, Boeing and engine-maker CFM International will help Safair expand its existing training and maintenance service facilities.
World History
