CORPORATE FLIGHT: 6150 Highland Road, Waterford, Michigan 48327, United States; Phone (248) 666-8865; Fax (248) 6668805; Http://www. corporateflight. com; Year Founded 1979. Corporate Flight is set up at Oakland-Pontiac Airport in 1979 to offer independent FAR Part 135 passenger charters in competition with Chrysler Pentastar Aviation.
By 2000, the carrier employs 14 full-time and four part-time staff and operates a fleet that includes 1 each British Aerospace BAe (HS) 125-700A Hawker, North American NA-265-7 Sabreliner, NA-265-80 Sabreliner, Cessna 550 Citation II, Learjet 25, Beech King Air 100, and Piper PA-42 Cheyenne III.
CORPORATE FLIGHT MANAGEMENT: P. O. Box 270487, Nashville International Airport, Nashville, Tennessee 37227, United States; Phone 615-275-3950; Fax 615-275-6565; http:// Www. iflycorpex. com; Year Founded 1981. Corporate Flight Management is established by Charles R. “Chuck” Howell IV at Nashville in 1981 to offer charter and contract service flights throughout the middle southern U. S. with a fleet of Piper PA-31-310 Navajos. Operations commence and continue.
In October 1996, a scheduled airline division, Corporate Express Airlines, is established. Outfitted with 6 British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31s, it begins revenue services in December.
During the summer of 1997, Corpex significantly expands its network and charters a fleet of 14 former American Eagle BAe Jetstream 32s, the first of which arrives in September. At this, CFM acquires for its charter services a Jetstream 31 previously operated by Eastern Metro Express.
In May 1998, the carrier’s scheduled air transport division, Corporate Express Airlines, is renamed Corporate Airlines in an effort to better identify the carrier for the business traveler.
Unscheduled charters continue to be offered by the parent into the new millennium.
CORPORATE HELICOPTERS OF SAN DIEGO: 3753 John J. Montgomery Drive #2, San Diego, California 92123, United States; Phone (619) 505-5650; Fax (619) 874-3038; Year Founded 1989. Ivor Shier sets up this rotary-wing corporate passenger transport concern at San Diego in 1989. Within 11 years, Shier employs four full-time pilots and operates 2 Bell 206B JetRangers, 1 Bell 206L Long-Ranger, 1 Aerospatiale AS-350B Ecureuil, 1 AS-355E Twinstar, and 1 Robinson R-22.
CORPORATE JETS: 14600 North Airport Drive, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, United States; Phone (602) 948-2400; Fax (602) 9483874; http ://Www. corpjet. com; Year Founded 1969. Originally established as an FBO at Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1969, Corporate, over the next 30 years, also becomes a well-known executive and small group passenger charter operator. By 2000, the concern employs 10 full-time pilots and operates services from 4 eastern locations in addition to its principal base in the West.
From Scottsdale, Corporate flies 1 each Cessna 525 Citation, C-560 Citation V, C-425 Conquest, and British Aerospace BAe (HS) 125-400 Hawker. A Learjet 35A is based at Tampa, a Hawker is stationed at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport at Atlanta, with another at Charlottesville, Virginia.
The company’s principal eastern station is at Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County Airport. From here, the company operates 3 Learjet 35As, 1 Citation III, 1 Beech King Air 100, and 1 Cessna 340.
CORSAIR, S. A.: 24 rue Saarinen Sillic 221, Rungis Cedex, F-94528, France; Phone 33 (1) 49 79 49 79; Fax 33 (1) 49 79 49 68; Http://www. corsair-info. com; Http://www. pacificislands. com/ airlines/corsair. html; Code SS; Year Founded 1993. Adopted in 1993, Corsair is the new name for Corse Air International, S. A. Nouvelles Frontieres, France’s largest tour operator, continues to operate the company as its in-house airline. Employing the previous fleet of 2 Boeing 747-121s, 2 B-737-3M8s and 1 B-737-4B3, Chairman Paul Casanova’s 200-employee carrier continues to provide charter and inclusive-tour flights from the company base at Paris (Orly) to destinations in Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa. A weekly Jumbojet roundtrip, begun the previous year, is also maintained between Paris (CDG) and Tahiti via Los Angeles (LAX).
A total of 1.1 million passengers are flown. Revenues total $236.9 million and allow an $11-million net profit.
Airline employment stands at 600 in 1994. The 2 B-737-3M8s are retired as the Jumbojet fleet grows through the addition of a B-747-206B leased from KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.).
Initially flown as the South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd. Majuba and then sold, a B-747SP-44 is purchased from Royal Air Maroc, S. A. on October 13. A Douglas DC-10-30 is subleased from the new Belgian operator ChallengeAir, S. A.
Passenger boardings for the year accelerate 9.6% to 1,206,000.
There is no change in the workforce during 1995. During the spring, a second DC-10-30, also painted in an all-white scheme with olive drab and red markings, is wet-leased (and repainted) from the Belgian charter operator ChallengeAir, S. A. At the same time, a B-737-2K5A is leased from Aigle Azur Transport Aeriens, S. A.
In June, a second weekly roundtrip flight, employing the B-747SP-44, is added between Oakland, California, and Tahiti. Many customers are booked as the result of a contract with San Francisco-based Manuia Tours.
Both services over this route are now flown by the Special Purpose Jum-bojet and are continued even after the French government resumes Polynesian nuclear testing in September, which causes tourism to plunge.
With French nuclear testing completed, customer bookings to French Polynesia rebound during the last four months of the year.
Enplanements this year jump 30.1% to 1,569,500.
The fleet in 1996 includes 10 Jumbojets and 2 DC-10-30s, the second unit being a former Air France unit that has also been chartered from ChallengeAir, S. A. A third weekly roundtrip is introduced on July 3 from Paris (CDG) to Oakland and Los Angeles.
On July 5, the second weekly Paris to Tahiti via Los Angeles round-trip is operated with a chartered B-747-206B. Passengers are often drawn from contracts with Voyage Tahiti and Club Med.
The financially troubled Air Liberte, S. A. is placed into receivership on September 26 and its chartered Douglas wide-bodies are returned to Finland. Given six months by the Creteil bankruptcy court, located at Orly where Air Liberte is based, to develop a workable reorganization plan, Chairman Belhassine promises to write a recovery program by the end of October, at which time $120 million in fiscal year losses must be reported.
Following further exploration into the company’s finances during the first week of October, the Creteil bankruptcy court determines that Air Liberte, S. A.’s fiscal situation is worse than was originally reported. Even though a number of unprofitable routes are now cut, the court announces that it must have outside acquisition bids by October 14 in order to avoid ordering the company liquidated.
Suitors for the stricken airline begin to emerge late in the week. With pressure to keep it in French hands and its unions seeking acquisition, Air France expresses interest. Under European Commission restrictions against acquisition of other carriers during the time of its $4-billion state bailout, it appears unlikely that the independent will be placed under the major’s umbrella.
Other companies expressing an interest include AOM French Airlines, S. A., which has been seeking a merger, along with British Airways, Ltd. (2), Virgin Express, Ltd., TAT European Airlines, S. A.,
And Corsair.
After AOM French Airlines, S. A. and Air France drop out of the
Picture, two parties, Nouvelles Frontiers and a group of private investors, submit offerings for Air Liberte, S. A. to the Creteil Court on October 14.
Nouvelles Frontiers notes that it has partners in the Rivaud Bank and Royal Air Maroc who would be willing to take over Air Liberte, S. A.—including its $300-million debt—and make it profitable within 18 months. It would also make an offer to acquire AOM French Airlines, S. A. The two independents would be merged with its own in-house carrier, Corsair, to create a major independent airline that could then compete with Air France.
During the last week of October, the Rivaud bank and Nouvelles Frontiers abandon their efforts to take over Air Liberte, S. A.; Rivaud throws its support behind British Airways (2), with the 2 pledging to invest $124 million in the ailing French independent. BA would hold 70% interest with the remaining 30% stake held by Rivaud. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic Express, Ltd. is joined by a number of unnamed investors in presenting an alternative to the French bankruptcy court handling the case; the court extends the deadline for its decision, but, in the end, British Airways, Ltd. (2) wins out.
Only 1 DC-10-30 is leased from ChallengeAir, S. A. in 1997. The Belgian operator chooses to share its other wide-body with Calendon-ian Airways, Ltd. Markets now visited include Abidjan, Bangkok, Cayenne, Dakar, Fort de France, Los Angeles, Mombasa, Montreal, New York, Noumea, Papeete, Pointe-a-Pitre, Rome, San Francisco, St. Louis, St. Martin, and destinations throughout the Mediterranean.
Coming into Moroni, Comoros, on December 25 on its regularly scheduled weekly roundtrip from Paris to Reunion, the company’s B-747-312 with 564 passengers, touches down during a storm and then skids 1,500 ft. off the runway into a field of volcanic earth. No injuries are reported.
Customer bookings this year total 1,877,600.
Flights continue in 1998. In January, Corsair ceases its weekly service to the Comoros as the result of secessionist rebellions on the islands of Anjouan and Moheli.
In an effort to rescue people stranded by the September 2 pilots’ strike, Air Canada, Ltd. over the next week wet-leases aircraft from Royal Aviation, Ltd., First Air, Ltd., Skyservice, Ltd., and Corsair to move passengers. The French charter line provides a B-747-206B to fly the important Paris-Canada flights.
Passenger boardings during the 12 months fall 6.1% to 1.76 million.
By the beginning of 1999, airline employment has been increased by 8.3% to 1,300.
While taxiing at Los Angeles (LAX) on June 6 just after landing on a service from France, Corsair Flight 942, a B-747SP-44 with 17 crew and 257 passengers, stops short of its assigned gate with its left wing partially extended onto the taxiway. Simultaneously, Philippine Air Lines (PAL) Flight 103, a B-747-4F6 with 20 crew and 405 passengers, is taxiing west and collides with the stationary Corsair aircraft. Although the wings of both aircraft are damaged, no injuries are reported.
Thrice-weekly B-747-312 (sometimes B-747SP-44) roundtrips are initiated on June 18 between Paris (ORY) and New York (JFK). The year’s enplanements reach 2 million.
The last of 3 B-747-312s to be chartered from Singapore International Airlines, Ltd. arrives at the company base in January 2000. An Airbus A330 is received on April 3. It is employed to operate thrice-weekly nonstops from Paris (ORY) to New York (JFK) between June 17 and September 9.
Originally intended for the moribund Algerian start-up Ecoair International, S. A., a B-737-200A is employed by Corsair during the summer to operate regional charters from Paris (ORY).
As it is preparing to land at St. Martin on September 1, Flight 868, a fully loaded company B-747-312 inbound from Paris (CDG), becomes the subject of a bomb threat. Upon landing, all aboard are quickly evacuated, but no explosive is found. The aircraft is allowed to resume its roundtrip back to Paris via Martinique.
The Pan African News Agency reports on October 7 that Corsair will soon open charter operations in East Africa, replacing the Air France service from Paris to Nairobi, Kenya, halted on March 25.
It is announced on October 9 that Preussag, A. G. will purchase a 6% stake in the carrier’s Nouvelles Frontieres parent, subject to European Commission approval. The stake will later be boosted to 34.4%. Preussag officials believe that Corsair’s long-haul operations well complement the medium-range services of their own charter airline, Hapag-Lloyd Fluggellschaft mbH.
An ACMI contract is signed with Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Ltd.
On October 27 for use of a B-747-312 during the next Hadj season.
CORSAIRWAYS: United States (1942-1946). A division of Consoli-dated-Vultee Aircraft Corporation, Corsairways is organized on April 1, 1942 under the direction of Richard A. McMakin, the company’s flight and service department chief pilot. It is immediately placed under contract to the U. S. Army Air Force’s Air Transport Command for the delivery of high priority personnel and express to the Pacific. Between April 2-8, McMakin, with a handpicked crew, makes a proving flight with an LB-30 (the transport version of the B-24 Liberator) over 16,400 miles from California to Australia.
Regularly scheduled LB-30 service is inaugurated on April 23 from San Diego to Williamstown via Hamilton Field, California, Hickam Field, Hawaii, Canton Island, Fiji, and Plaines des Gaiacs, New Caledonia. Pilots from United Air Lines begin U. S.-Australia familiarization flights aboard company LB-30s during August. Beginning in September, flights start from Hamilton Field and end at Amberley Field, near Ipswich in Queensland. United is able to begin a second Pacific contract at months end employing the pilots flown during the previous 30 days.
Chief Test Pilot/Manager McMakin is killed while making a May 10, 1943 flight aboard the XB-32 bomber prototype. He is succeeded at Corsairway by Robert S. Mitchell. The California operations center is shifted again on December 15, from Hamilton Field to Fairfield-Suisan Field, later Travis AFB. As World War II progresses, the secret organization’s civilian pilots continue fly a variety of cargo aircraft, including Consolidated LB-30s/C-44s and Douglas C-47s out of California and Hawaii to destinations as diverse as Australia, New Zealand, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Guam, and the Philippines.
In 1944-1945, Corsairways’s 17 Liberator transports average 14 hrs. 30 min. to 15 hrs. 11 min. in the air per plane, per day—a record that still stands. Following V-J Day, little attention is paid to the corporate airline. A number of Corsairways personnel band together in October 1945 to form Pacific Overseas Airways.
When the company airline is shut down on December 15, a number of records grace the pioneer’s history. Although 3 fatal accidents have been suffered during its years of service, the airline has flown over 101 million ton-miles of cargo over 299 million passenger miles. It had achieved a record California-Australia roundtrip time of 3 days, 17 hrs. and until the introduction of Douglas DC-7, a company LB-30 will hold the Honolulu-San Francisco speed record.
Corsairways’ government contract is officially cancelled on January 1, 1946 and it fades from memory as “the unknown airline.”
CORSE AIR INTERNATIONAL, S. A.: France (1981-1993). Corse Air International, S. A. is established at Paris in 1981 to offer charter and inclusive-tour flights from its base at Orly Airport and another at Ajaccio, Corsica, to destinations in Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa. Revenue flights commence on July 1 with a fleet comprising 3 Sud-Est SE-210 Caravelle VINs and 1 Caravelle XB.
Services are maintained throughout the remainder of the decade, with the first B-737-3Y0 arriving in 1987. A B-747-121 is leased from Lion-air, Ltd. in 1988 and employed to commence long-range charters to North America. Operations continue apace in 1989 and, in 1990, Chairman Paul Casanova’s fleet includes 2 Boeing 737-3Y0s and the B-747-121 leased from Lionair, Ltd.
Another B-747-121 is added in 1991, leased from Cargolux Airlines International, S. A. Nouvelle Frontiers, an important French tour operator, now acquires a stake in the carrier and the new corporate identity requires a new logo and livery. Although traffic figures are not released, it is revealed that a $7-million net profit is earned.
In 1992, a B-737-4B3 is leased from Air France. Enplanements total 608,000. In early 1993, the carrier is renamed Corsair, S. A.
CORSE MEDITERRANEE (COMPAGNIE CORSE MEDI-TERRANEE, S. A.): Aeroport de Campo del I’Gro, BP 505, Ajaccio, Corsica 20186, France; Phone 33 (4) 95 29 95 00; Fax 33 (4) 95 29 05 05; Http://www. corsemed. com; Code XK; Year Founded 1989. Corse Mediterranee is organized in late 1989 at Corsica’s Aeroport de Campo Dell’Oro in Ajaccio to provide both chartered and scheduled regional services. Air France, Air Inter, and TAT Transport Aerien Transregional, S. A. are all minority FFr 1-million partners. Pierre Philippe Cec-caldi is named chairman/CEO, with Daniel Gaudart as managing director. Two Avions de Transport Regional ATR72-210s are obtained, allowing revenue services to commence to Nice on July 1, 1990.
Flights are inaugurated from Ajaccio and Bastia to Marseilles on behalf of Air France and Air Inter in addition to services from those two destinations to Nice and Rome. A Calvi to Nice route is also initiated.
Four additional ATR72-210s join the fleet in 1991. One of these is the new turboprop delivered to Brit Air, S. A. in May, operated under charter.
During the summer, a chartered Fokker 100 is operated on the carrier’s routes from Ajaccio to Marseilles and Bastia. Enplanements at the 275-employee airline total 488,000.
The leased ATR72-210 is withdrawn in January 1992 and replaced by 2 Fokker 100s leased from TAT (Transport Aerien Transregional, S. A.).
In 1993, Chairman/CEO Ceccaldi oversees a workforce of 273 and a fleet of 5 ATR72-210s and 2 chartered Fokker 100s. Operations continue in 1994 and bookings, reported for the first half only, reach 389,625. Revenues of $90.33 million are earned, which allow a $609,000 net profit.
There is no change in either workforce or fleet in 1995. Again, figures are only released through June. These show enplanements off 3.9% to 375,000.
In December 1996, a pair of Fokker 100s formerly operated by Swissair, A. G. are leased from a French financial institution that had acquired them from BAe Asset Management: Jets. A total of 752,303 passengers are transported.
Destinations visited in 1997 include Geneva, Marseilles, Milan, Nice, Rome, and Zurich. The fleet now includes 3 Fokker 100s and 5 ATR72-210s. Enplanements reach 771,145 and operating income of FFr 497 million is generated.
The fleet in 1998 includes 5 each ATR72-210s and Fokker 100s. During the year, the company continues a process of diversification begun the previous year with the creation of the tour operator CCM Voyages. With several investors, the airline launches a Mediterranean maintenance hub for regional aircraft; however, the initial outcome is not successful. More profitable is the deepening of the company’s commuter contract with Air France into an arrangement that represents 15% of the airline’s total turnover. Operational revenues for the year climb to FFr 540 million and allow a FFr 26.7-million profit.
At the beginning of 1999, a decision on the company’s tender for the renewal of its three-year operating certificate covering routes between Corsica and France is delayed for at least 12 months. Plans to launch flights to Figari in competition with Air Liberte, S. A. must be put on hold and an ATR72-202 acquired for the service is, instead, contracted for “Air France Express” flights between Nice and Lyon. The introduction of new European Union labor rules requires that the staff be increased by 27 workers by year’s end (for a total of 467).
A total of 387,000 passengers are flown during the year.
At the beginning of 2000, the Corsican Regional Assembly cancels its public service tender for a link from Ajaccio, Calvi, and Bastilla to Marseilles and Nice. Consequently, Corse remains the sole operator on routes to the island from southern France.
Per schedule, the company now renegotiates its feeder contract with Air France, while simultaneously pondering a switch to regional jets.
COSMOPOLITAN AIRLINES: United States (1978-1985). Cosmopolitan Aviation, owned by Peter and George Garrambone at Farm-ingdale, New York, creates a scheduled air taxi division in 1978. Employing a Convair CV-440 Metropolitan, the company inaugurates daily roundtrips linking its base with Boston, Atlantic City, and Albany. Operations continue apace for the remainder of the decade and into the early 1980s.
The company encounters financial difficulty in 1985 and goes out of business.
COSMOS AIR, GmbH.: Flugplatz, Mannheim-Neuostheim, D-68163, Germany; Phone 49 (621) 416040; Fax 49 (621) 460412; Code ZE; Year Founded 1997. Cosmos is established at Mannheim in 1997 to offer regional scheduled services as an affiliate of Arcus Air Logistics. Revenue flights to Berlin’s Templehof begin with 2 Fairchild Dornier 228-210s and a 328-110.
COSMOS AND TRANSPORT AVIA (KIT KOSMOS E TRANSPORT AVIAKOMPANNIYA): 12 Reysovaya Ulitsa, Aeroport Vnukov, Moscow, 103027, Russia; Year Founded 1992. The air transport department of an industry based in the national capital, C & T is expanded at Moscow’s Aeroport Vnukov in 1992 to offer ad hoc passenger and cargo charter flights to destinations in Africa, Europe, and Asia. I. I. Kanygin is named general director and he begins revenue services with a fleet that includes 3 Tupolev Tu-134s, 3 Antonov An-8s, and 1 Ilyushin Il-76.
Operations continue in 1993-1999 and a second Il-76 is placed into service.
It is understood that flights continue without change during the remainder of the decade and that the fleet is enhanced by the addition of a second Il-76; exact additional information is, however, unavailable.
COUGAR HELICOPTERS, LTD.: P. O. Box 248, Halifax International Airport, Waverly, Nova Scotia B0N 2S0, Canada; Phone (902) 873-3611; Fax (902) 873-3972; Http://www. cougar. ca; Year Founded 1984. Cougar Helicopters, Ltd. is established at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in late 1984 to provide scheduled shuttle services between the downtown Waterfront Heliport and Halifax International Airport. Modeling itself on New York Helicopter Corporation, which company officials have visited, the new entrant is outfitted with 1 each Bell 206L LongRanger and Bell 206B JetRanger.
Scheduled to be coordinated with the arrival and departure of Air Canada, Ltd. flights, Cougar inaugurates 16-per-day one-way flights on June 4, 1985. In 1986, former Okanagan Helicopters, Ltd. Captain James Johnston and a partner purchase the company.
Operations continue apace over the remainder of the decade. Local financier David Hennigar comes aboard as chief shareholder and CEO, with Johnston now president/general manager; Johnston’s original partner is bought out.
In these years, Johnston develops an ag-spraying technique that saves half the cost of using fixed-wing aircraft. The process is not only cost effective but accurate, preventing the needless application of herbicide to unintended plots of land, including the usual collateral target of reforested acreage. Fraser, Inc., a major forestry company, offers Cougar a five-year contract to employ its technique; other firms follow.
In 1990, the company begins to accelerate following receipt of a $C2.5-million, renewable contract from the LASMO oil consortium to provide support near Sable Island, 135 nm. SE of Halifax. To handle this new challenge, a Sikorsky S-61N is purchased from KLM Helikopters, B. V.
At the same time, Cougar introduces the idea of employing helicopters round-the-clock to seek out vessels fishing illegally in Canadian waters and photograph them for prosecution. The contract with Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans will lead to the development of Transport Canada-approved over-water IF and night approach techniques.
The third major accomplishment of the year is the introduction of a maritime search and rescue (SAR) service for the National Search and Rescue Secretariat and Canada’s Department of National Defense. The Cougar initiative results in the first civilian marine SAR operation in North America.
Also, with the financial support of LASMO and the provincial health departments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, Cougar begins an emergency medical service (EMS) based at Halifax, employing a Sikorsky S-76 equipped with a Cougar-designed incubator and stretcher. Later in the year, a non-Canadian contract is obtained from Global Marine Drilling Company to support a Conoco offshore drilling operation off Gijon, Spain.
These operations are maintained in 1991 as revenues climb to C$5.5 million and profits reach C$175,000. The fleet in 1992 includes the S-61N, 2 S-76s, and 1 each Bell 206B JetRanger and 206L LongRanger. In February, Cougar continues a tradition, begun several years earlier with other local operators, of providing aerial transport for sightseers wishing to view newly born seal pups on the ice floes near the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
During the summer of 1993, the SAR and fishery reconnaissance contracts are lost to Canadian Helicopter Corporation, Ltd. At the same time, a dedicated airmedical S-76 is based at Ottawa, the cost of which is covered by the Ontario Department of Health. Hennigar and Johnston’s company is now recognized as the seventh fastest growing firm in Canada by a leading business magazine.
Later in the year and into 1994, Cougar begins aerial support of firms seeking aerial photography for television commercials. Additionally, a contract is signed with the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources to support the count of moose, ducks, deer, and other animals. During the summer of the latter year, an S-76 is pressed into service during a week to provide forest fire assistance, putting in 90 flight hours transporting and dumping water on flames with a Bambi bucket.
In June, Cougar establishes a presence in the Thai offshore market when it forms a joint venture with Thai Petroleum Services, a company that will be known as Thai Canadian Helicopter and Petroleum Services, Ltd. A Sikorsky S-76A is dispatched to Ko Samui Island in the Gulf of Thailand, from which it provides support beginning on July 1. A second will follow shortly thereafter.
Also in July, following the creation of the Hibernia offshore oil project by a consortium led by Mobil Oil Canada (33.1%), Chevron Canada (26.8%), Petro-Canada (25%), Cougar is awarded a five-year C$37-million contract to provide support during and after construction of the drilling platforms. A fifty-fifty joint venture is now entered into with Norway’s Helikopter Air Service, A. S. Under its terms, HAS will provide pilot training and maintenance and lease to a new Cougar Hibernia Division of 3 of its Eurocopter AS-332L.1 Super Pumas. In addition, work begins on a new hangar at St. Johns Airport that will house the chartered helicopters.
In addition to the Hibernia buildup, Cougar, by the end of 1996, is also operating elsewhere. One S-61N performs offshore work in Nova Scotia, 3 Bell 206s and 1 Eurocopter AS-355 are engaged in domestic Canadian forest fire fighting and aerial work, and 2 S-76As are providing offshore support in Thailand.
The new C$3.2-million, 32,000-sq.-ft. hangar is opened in mid-April 1997. The first 2 Super Pumas arrive from Norway in early May and, beginning on May 23, one daily Super Puma flight is undertaken while the platform is towed to the Hibernia field’s location, 170 nm. off the Newfoundland coast. The third AS-332L.1 arrives on June 1 and the Hibernia platform is secured on June 6.
During the subsequent construction phase, lasting through August, the carrier makes four-times-per-weekday roundtrips to the platform, transporting many of the 360 workers employed on it.
Flights continue in 1998-1999, as a third Super Puma enters service. In early December of the former year, Canadian Helicopter Corporation, Ltd. is outbid by Cougar on a new C$20-million contract from Terra Nova. Under the agreement, Cougar will employ its Super Pumas in support of Terra Nova’s glory hole, subsea construction, drilling, and operations activities off Newfoundland in 1999-2002.
In February 2000, Cougar, together with Vancouver-based Helijet International, Inc., becomes launch customer for the 19-seat Sikorsky S-92A Helibus. Deliveries of 5 units in a $65-million contract will commence in April 2002.
COULSON AIRCRANE, LTD.: RR#3, Site 360 Comp 8, Port Al-berni, British Columbia V9Y 7L7, Canada; Phone (250) 723-8100; Fax (250) 723-0608; Http://www. coulsonaircrane. com; Year Founded 1987. Coulson Aircrane, a privately owned family business, is established on Vancouver Island by Wayne Coulson in 1987. The first Sikorsky S-61 is purchased and the company begins to engage in heli-logging, fire fighting, and hydro tower construction activities. It also opens an overhaul and repair service.
During the remainder of the decade, the company grows its fleet and expands its operational experience throughout the Pacific Northwest, operating as far north as Alaska, as far south as California, east to Quebec, and southeast to Idaho.
On July 18, 1989, the company is awarded a U. S. patent for a revolutionary grapple system designed by company personnel to complement the conventional heli-logging program. The grapple, with its greater safety features, allows the Sikorskys to enter dangerous areas where it is unsafe for chokermen to work.
Service continues apace during the 1990s, during which years Coul-son remains president, with Rita Carter as operations manager and John Coughlin as chief pilot. A workforce of 75 is employed and the fleet comes to include 4 S-61s, 3 Bell 206B JetRangers, 1 Bell 222, and 1 single fixed-wing de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter.
In 1992, Sikorsky Aircraft singles out and awards Coulson a plaque for “The Highest Annual Utilization in the History of the S-61.” Four years later, General Electric acknowledges the firm for having flown the “Most Single Aircraft Hours” with their CT-58 engine.
As the decade draws to a close, Coulson Aircrane has the highest time-utilized S-61 fleet in the world, with each of its aircraft averaging in excess of 2,500 flight-hours each year. In 1997 alone, the 4 S-61s externally fly over a billion pounds.
COUNTRY CONNECTION AIRLINES (PTY.), LTD.: P. O. Box 171, Cootamundra NSW 2590, Australia; Phone +61 69 423 500; Fax +61 69 423 213; Http://www. wagga. com. au/cc; Code XL; Year Founded 1991. Privately owned CCA is established by Terence and Deidre McKenzie at Cootamundra in the summer of 1991 as the scheduled airline division of South West Aviation (Pty.), Ltd., an FBO and maintenance facility set up in 1980. The two entrepreneurs establish their carrier to provide regional third-level passenger and cargo services for an area of southwestern New South Wales abandoned by Hazelton Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. Terence becomes managing director and inaugurates revenue operations in September with a single Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain. Neither traffic nor financial figures will be released.
A second Chieftain is acquired in July 1992 and, in 1993, Thompson’s fleet includes 1 Piper PA-34-200T Twin Seneca II, 3 Beech 58 Barons, 1 Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante, 2 Cessna 404 Titans, and 1 Pilatus-Britten-Norman PBN-2 Islander.
Three Piper PA-31-310 Navajos and a Cessna 310 are placed into service during 1994. These aircraft replace all previous units.
Airline employment in 1995-2000 stands at six full-time and seven part-time staff. The route network includes 14 communities; major destinations visited from Cootamundra are Sydney, Young, West Wyalong, Cowra, and Forbes.
COUNTRYAIR (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (1958-1991). Country Air Services (Pty.), Ltd. is formed by Keith Thompson at Rockhampton Airport on October 16, 1958 to provide passenger and cargo services throughout Queensland. Initially, charter passenger and freight services are flown, including scenic trips over the Great Barrier Reef. During the late 1960s, the carrier begins scheduled feeder flights from Rockhampton to Great Keppel Island on behalf of Trans-Australian Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. As demand increases, the fleet grows to include 1 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, 1 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander, 1 Piper PA-23 Aztec, 1 Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche, 2 Piper PA-24 Comanches, and 1 Piper PA-28 Cherokee.
In 1983, the company receives its present name following a change in ownership; the Comanches and Cherokee are withdrawn. During the decade that follows, Countrywide elects to enter the regional airline market with additional scheduled services to such distant destinations as Brisbane, Middlemount, and Dysart.
The fleet is now upgraded and by 1988, Managing Director Thompson’s operation is employing 1 Islander, 1 Chieftain, 1 Beech B-58 Baron, and 1 Piper PA-34 Seneca. The first Embraer EMB-110 Ban-deirante is acquired and the network is enlarged through the addition of stops at Gladstone, Mackay, and Cairns.
In 1989, the Islander, Navajo Chieftain, and other small types are replaced with 4 Cessna 404 Titans. Operations continue apace in 1990; however, recession causes the carrier to fail in 1991.
World History
