Up at Sterling, Colorado, in 1976 to provide scheduled Cessna 206 passenger and cargo services to Denver. The FBO-owned airline division continues operations until the summer of 1980.
STERLING AIRWAYS, A. S.: Denmark (1962-1993). Danish clergyman Eilif Krogager, who had formed the travel agency Tjaereborg Re-jser A. S. during the 1950s, founds this carrier in April 1962 to operate charter and inclusive-tour flights to the Mediterranean. Douglas DC-6B flights begin on July 7 from Copenhagen to Las Palmas.
A DC-6B with three crew on a ferry flight crashes on final approach to Copenhagen, Denmark, on April 13, 1963; there are no fatalities.
Two DC-6Bs are purchased from the American carrier Northwest Airlines on May 22 and June 20, followed by three more that arrive between February 14 and May 20, 1964.
The first jetliner, a Sud SE-210 Caravelle I, is placed in service in 1965.
Coming in to Goteborg in poor visibility on a December 23, 1967 service from Stockholm, Flight 821, a DC-6B with 6 crew and 49 passengers is destroyed as the result of a bad landing; there are no fatalities.
Additional French-made trijets now follow the 1965 unit into service, including 7 specially ordered Caravelle XIIs, until 1970 when an order is placed for three Boeing 727-2J4s. On June 23 of that year, Caravelle XB3s launch inclusive-tour charters to North America, flying from Copenhagen to Omaha via Keflavik and Gander. Sterling is the first carrier to operate a twin-jet across the Atlantic with revenue passengers.
When Falconair Charter, A. B. goes into receivership on September 1, its Lockheed L-188C is sold to Sterling.
At the conclusion of the first decade in 1971, the fleet comprises 29 Caravelles, 2 Fokker F.27-500s, 1 Lockheed L-188C Electra, 7 DC-6Bs, 1 Cessna 402, and 1 Piper PA-28 Cherokee. A large network of vacation destinations are now visited in Europe, North Africa, and North America.
A subsidiary, Sterling Sweden, A. B, is established at Stockholm and begins holiday operations with the Lockheed Electra.
Enplanements reach the two million mark, standing at 2,047,522.
While on descent for Dubai Airport on March 14, 1972, Flight 296, an SE-210 Caravelle XBIII with 6 crew and 106 passengers crashes into a mountain near Al Fujayrah, 50 nm. from the runway; there are no survivors. The carrier’s tenth anniversary celebration in April is consequently low key.
Passenger traffic rises 14.4% to 2,392,000 and airline employment reaches 1,241. The fleet now includes 29 Caravelles, 2 Fokker F.27-500s, 1 L-188C, 6 DC-6Bs, 1 DC-6BF, 1 Cessna 402B, and 1 Piper PA-28.
Orders remain outstanding for three B-727-200s with wide-body interiors.
An SE-210 Caravelle VIR is damaged beyond repair as the result of a bad landing at Stockholm on July 14, 1973; there are no fatalities. Also at Stockholm, the Sterling Sweden, A. B. subsidiary is closed down and the Electra is sold.
The three B-727-2J4s are delivered, beginning in November. In the wake of the world’s first great oil crisis, enplanements for the year drop to 1,935,875.
The employee population is cut back to 920 in 1974 and 13 of the Caravelles have been disposed of since 1972. Another tragedy is recorded on March 15.
Asked to expedite taxiing to clear Tehran’s Runway 29L because of traffic on final approach, an SE-210 Caravelle XB3 with 4 crew and 92 passengers backtracks and while initiating a left turn at the end of the runway, suffers the collapse of right main landing gear. In the process, the right wing tank ruptures, igniting escaping jet fuel that explodes (15 dead).
Passenger boardings this year increase 8.9% to 2,125,000 and cargo traffic rebounds by 69.1%.
The workforce in 1975 is 1,200. A Philippine charter subsidiary, Sterling Philippine Airways, Inc., is established and given an SE-210 Caravelle XII with which to start Pacific operations.
The parent’s passenger traffic dips 10% to 1,892,225. Conversely, cargo is up by 20%.
An Italian subsidiary, Sterling, S. p.A., is formed in 1976 to fly Caravelle charter services in Italy and to the offshore Mediterranean islands.
In 1977-1978, additional tour packages are developed and the fleet is rationalized, with the Fokkers and Douglasses retired. During the latter year, Chairman Krogager and President Anders Helgstrand oversee a workforce of 1,354 and a fleet comprising 4 Boeing 727-2J4s, 7 Caravelle XIIs, 6 Caravelle XBs. Traffic declines continue; in 1979, 1,234,500 travelers are carried.
The company employs 1,091 workers in 1980 and operates a fleet that includes 5 B-727-2J4As, 9 Caravelles, and 1 Beech King Air.
Passenger boardings skyrocket 17.7% to 1.536,000 while freight increases by 7.2% to 1.04 million FTKs.
Another B-727-2J4A is added to the fleet in 1981 as another SE-210 is retired. Passenger traffic remains level at 1,534,746.
The workforce is cut by 15.4% in 1982 to 1,100. Enplanements rise 1.4% to 1,555,746, but cargo falls off by 35.1% to 873,000 FTKs.
As the world financial situation worsens in 1983, enplanements drop to 1,348,160; 2 more Caravelles and 3 B-727-2J4s are sold.
The payroll is cut 2.3% in 1984 to 1,152 workers. Three Douglas DC-8-63s are acquired and join a fleet that also contains 3 B-727-2J4As and 6 SE-210s Caravelle XBs.
Passenger boardings leap 12% to 1,532,000. Freight does slightly better, growing 16.1% to 1.01 million FTKs. Revenues total $117 million.
The workforce is increased 17.2% to 1,350 in 1985 and 1 DC-8-63 is deleted. Peter Vange is named president.
Bookings climb 4.3% to 1,598,000 and cargo jumps 150.1% to 1.4 million FTKs.
Only one new employee arrives in 1986, new Chairman Niels Herring.
A scheduled route is opened between Copenhagen and Luxembourg. On August 28, the company purchases four B-727-264As from USAir.
Passenger boardings surge upward by 10.2% to 4,759,765 while freight increases another 67% to 2.35 million FTKs. Revenues happily exceed costs and produce profits of $21 million (operating) and $7 million (net).
The payroll grows again in 1987, up by 5.9% to 1,354. New uniforms are provided to personnel and a new paint scheme is provided to the fleet’s 10 B-727-2J4A/264As, 6 Caravelle XBs, and 2 Corvettes.
Customer bookings accelerate 14% to 2,005,926, but freight plunges 80% down to 460,000 FTKs. Revenues also dip, falling 1.1% to $263 million. Expenses drop 6.5% to $229 million and allow an operating income of $19 million. Net profit climbs to $28.5 million.
The employee population rises a further 2.1% in 1988 to 1,384. The independent is sold in April for $118.4 million; shareholders include Reso Travel of Sweden (49%), Danish investors (49%), and Sterling employees (2%).
Passenger boardings fall 1.3% to 1,980,687 and freight dips 13.9% to 396,000 FTKs. On the other hand, revenues increase by 8.9% to $243.4 million and operating income reaches $21.6 million. Net gain declines, however, to $6.8 million.
Company employment inches up 0.8% in 1989 to 1,381. Early in the year, orders are placed for two B-757-27Bs, with options for three more; the first one arrives in time to help the company open the summer season at the end of March. Simultaneously, the carrier’s first scheduled route is started between Copenhagen and Luxembourg.
During the year, the company joins in creation of the Portugeuse airline Air Columbus, S. A., taking a 34% equity stake.
Customer bookings slide 3% to 1,921,341, but cargo mounts a 57.7% upward rally to 624.73 million FTKs.
The payroll is reduced by 6.6% in 1990 to 1,290 and the fleet comprises 10 Boeing 727-2J4A/264As, 2 B-757-27Bs leased from Air Holland, N. V., and 5 Caravelle XBs, 1 of which is leased to Air Toulouse International, S. A.
Passenger boardings decline another 13% to 1,677,700.
Two Aerospatiale SN-601 Corvettes are added in 1991 and all but one Caravelle is retired. In January, the carrier enters into a contract with Transavia Airlines, N. V. under which the two charter operators pledge to cooperate on operational, commercial, and technical matters. The first of two B-757-2J4As to be delivered on the year arrives in early June wearing the company’s new color scheme.
Arrangements are also made with Transwede Airways, A. B. and Norway Airlines, A. S. as enplanements plunge down to 882,990.
Airline employment totals 890 in 1992 as the last Caravelle is withdrawn from service following its final rotation on January 15 and with two others, is placed up for sale. The fleet now includes 2 owned and 2 leased B-727-2J4As, 2 each B-727-2B7As, B-727-2J4REs, and 2 B-757-2J4s, as well as 1 each B-727-2K3A and B-727-270A.
Passenger boardings rise 21.7% to 1,127,700.
Despite reductions in the number of aircraft and staff, the company is in deep financial difficulty in 1993, due entirely to the world recession. Unable to weather the financial storm, the carrier ceases operations on September 22, declares bankruptcy, and is liquidated.
STERLING CARGO, A. S.: Denmark (1999-2000). Sterling Cargo is established as a subsidiary of Sterling European Airlines, A. S. at Copenhagen in the summer of 1999 to offer high-yield, low-cost allcargo service to New York (JFK) from Scandinavia. Employing a Boeing 747-200F under an ACMI contract from Atlas Air, the carrier begins thrice-weekly operations in October transporting goods for Volvo, Erickson, and Nokia.
Unhappily, stiff competition for U. S. exports drives down eastbound rates and despite high traffic, Sterling is unable to recover the rising costs of its operation. A subsequent tariff increase drives away its customers. The company’s North Atlantic venture is shut down on July 14, 2000, less than 10 months after its start. Sterling is left with its original business of flying passenger charters and wet-lease B-727Fs freighter services, the latter largely on behalf of newly renamed TNT Airways, B. V.
STERLING EUROPEARLINES, A. S.: Copenhagen Airport South, Dragoer, DK-2791, Denmark; Phone 45 32 45 45 45; Fax 45 32 45 14 12; Code NB; Year Founded 1993. SEA is established by Lars Sven-heim, Per Volstrup Petersen, Jan Lyneborg, and Keld Ditlev Pedersen at Copenhagen Airport South on December 14, 1993. It is based on the remaining assets of failed Sterling Airways, A. S., including 1 each Boeing 727-2B7A and B-727-270A. Keld Pedersen is appointed chairman, with Lars Svenheim as president and Per Petersen as chief operating officer.
In the early spring of 1994, 24 employees are recruited and 1 each B-727-2K3A and B-727-2J4(RE)A are leased. Revenue flights to holiday destinations in the Mediterranean and ad hoc charters worldwide are begun by the four trimotors on May 1.
Airline employment stands at 250 in 1995. The company begins to fly a B-727F for TNT Worldwide Express and enplanements of 3,022,000 are reported.
There is no change in the workforce or fleet at the beginning of 1996. In January, 90% ownership is acquired by the two Norweigian companies, Ganger Rolf, A. S. and Bonheur, A. S., both of which are managed by Fred Olsen & Co. and are sold on the Oslo Stock Exchange. This is a very bad traffic year as customer bookings plunge 77.8% to just 670,000.
During the summer of 1997, a B-727-2J4A is wet-leased to the Swedish tour carrier Blue Scandinavia, A. B. After Blue Scandinavia is purchased by Britannica Airways, Ltd. of the U. K., it will be returned early the following year. At the end of July, President Svenheim announces that three Next Generation B-737-8Q8s will be delivered under charter in mid-1998 from ILFC.
Passenger boardings drop 12.3% to 587,600.
Following the bankruptcy of the U. S. carrier Western Pacific Airlines (Westpac) in early 1998, Sterling agrees to acquire one of that carrier’s B-737-3Y0s. At the same time, the company adopts a new “beach ball” livery, with the ball to be painted on the tails of four brightly-colored aircraft reminiscent of the “jelly bean” color scheme introduced by Braniff International Airways in 1965. The first ILFC B-737-8Q8 arrives on March 19 wearing a bright yellow “beach ball” livery. It immediately begins flying to Palma de Mallorca. Late in the month, two more B-737-8Q8s are delivered wearing red and green color schemes. One more, in yellow, will follow.
When the former Westpac Baby Boeing arrives in late April, it wears a purple fuselage with white Sterling titles and a colorful beach ball painted on its tail.
Flights continue during the remainder of the year. Customer bookings surge 18.3% to 695,000.
By the beginning of 1999, airline employment has been increased by a huge 80.3% to 476.
One of the “beach ball” Next Generation B-737-8Q8s is subleased to Britannia Airways, A. B. during the first quarter. Repainted in the colors of the British-owned Swedish carrier, the plane enters service with the beginning of the summer season in late March.
Having continued to operate cargo services on behalf of TNT Worldwide Express over the past several years, Sterling European, during the summer, begins a long-haul subsidiary, Sterling Cargo, A. S. Flights to New York (JFK) from Scandinavia are begun with a wet-leased B-747-200F provided by Atlas Air.
At the beginning of 2000, the B-727 fleet includes 2 each Dash-287AFs and Dash-281Fs and 1 each Dash-232AF, Dash-251F, Dash-227AF, Dash-and 224AF. Three B-737-382s and 6 Next Generation B-737-8Q8s are also operated.
Freighter service is suspended from Copenhagen to Dubai on April 1. On August 11, a Next Generation B-737-8Q8 is leased from ILFC, with delivery anticipated in February. It is reported in July that the carrier will retire two B-737-382s in February.
Having failed with its effort to establish a North Atlantic subsidiary, the company shuts down Sterling Cargo, A. S. on July 14, less than 10 months after its start. It will continue to operate freight charters on behalf of newly renamed TNT Airways, B. V.
Scheduled service is inaugurated on November 1 with the introduction of flights from Copenhagen and Stockholm to the Spanish cities of Alicante and Malaga.
On December 13, it is announced that the multicolored beach ball tail logo is being dropped.
STERLING FLIGHT SERVICES: Craig Airport, Jacksonville, Florida 32225, United States; Phone (904) 642-9683; Fax (904) 6420994; Http://www. southeast. net/~sterling; Year Founded 1995. Blake Deal establishes this nonscheduled carrier at Craig Municipal Airport in 1995 to provide executive and small group passenger charters throughout the U. S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Within five years, the owner employs 3 pilots and operates a fleet that includes 1 each North American Sabreliner, Swearingen Merlin, Piper PA-34 Seneca, PA-28 Arrow, and 2 Cessna 414A Chancellors.
STERLING ONE: United States (1995-1996). Sterling One is established in the fall of 1995 to offer deep-discount scheduled and non-scheduled services between Long Beach, California, and Chicago (MDW). Lita-Nadine Quetnick is named president and she pledges to make her airline different by offering services not found on other cut-rate airlines: hot meals served on fine china and wine served in glass wineglasses.
Employing a Boeing B-727-225A leased from AvAtlantic, Sterling One launches daily nonstop roundtrips in December.
Unable to achieve viability, the company is temporarily shutdown on January 25, 1996. President Quetnick informs the Long Beach Press-Telegram that the suspension is due to “less than stellar performance from third-party vendors.” A resumption of service in March is promised, but, in the meantime, customers holding tickets are able to transfer their flights to America West Airlines.
The airline does not restart.
STERLING PHILIPPINE AIRWAYS, INC. See STERLING AIRWAYS, A. S.
STERLING SWEDEN, A. B. See STERLING AIRWAYS, A. S.
STERLITAMAK AVIAKOMPANIYA: Sterlitamak Airport, Ster-libashevski Trakt, Sterlitamak, Bashkortostan, 453113, Russia; Phone 3471-14-3062; Fax 3471-14-3062; Year Founded 1991. SA is
Set up at Sterlibashevski Trakt Airport in the Bashkortostan Republic of the Russian Federation in 1991 as a charter subsidiary of Bashkirskie Airlines. R. M. Baembitov is named general director and he begins revenue services with 1 Antonov An-24 and 2 An-2 biplanes.
By 2000, Flight Director Rashid M. Khalimulin oversees a 126-person workforce and the operations of 1 each Antonov An-12 and An-24.
STEVENS AVIATION: Greenville-Spartanburg Airport,
Greenville, South Carolina 29612, United States; Phone (864) 8796000; Fax (864) 879-6195; Year Founded 1950. Stevens Aviation is established as the FBO/charter operation at Greenville-Spartanburg Airport in South Carolina in 1950. Although concentrating primarily on its “gas station” activities, the expanding company also offers a variety of smallplane charters to various southeastern destinations. During the next 40 years, a facility is also established at Nashville, Tennessee, and offices are opened at Knoxville, Atlanta, Denver, and Dayton, Ohio.
The most colorful event in company history occurs on March 20,
1992. After it has been discovered that its advertising and that of major Southwest Airlines (2) is nearly identical, Stevens Chairman Kurt Her-wald challenges Southwest Chairman Herbert D. “Herb” Kelleher to an arm wrestling contest with ad removal the forfeit. The best two-out-of-three contest is duly held before a large crowd at the Dallas Sportato-rium. Despite Kelleher’s loss, the two contestants agree to continue using their ads without change.
By 1999, Charter Director Julie Wrenn oversees the activities of three full-time and three part-time pilots. They fly 1 Beech 2000 Starship and 1 Beech 90 King Air from Spartanburg and 1 Super King Air 200, 1 B-58 Baron, and 2 British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31s from the Greenville base. A King Air 90 and a Starship, the only one in Tennessee, is flown from Nashville, while a King Air 90 is stationed up north at Dayton, Ohio.
STEWART ISLAND AIR SERVICES, LTD.: New Zealand (1976-1978). SIASL is formed at Invercargill at the tip of New Zealand’s South Island on May 1, 1976 to provide an amphibious air service to its offshore island namesake following the cessation of Grumman G-44A Widgeon services by Mount Cook Airlines, Ltd. at the end of April.
Employing a Widgeon leased from Mount Cook, as well as one from Sea Bee Air, Ltd., revenue charter services begin on October 1 and continue for 18 months until an airfield is built on Stewart Island. On January 21, 1978, the carrier is renamed Southern Air, Ltd. and reequipped, undertakes a land-based service.
STEWART ISLAND FLIGHTS, LTD.: P. O. Box 860, Invercargill, New Zealand; Phone 64 (3) 218-9129; Fax 64 (3) 214-4681; Http://www. souternair. co. nz; Code RKU; Year Founded 2000. Stewart Island Flights is established at Invercargill in March 2000 by a group of Southerners formerly associated with Southern Air, Ltd., which has been purchased by the charter operator Southeast Air, Ltd.
Two former Southern Air Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders are obtained and are employed to offer thrice-daily roundtrips to Stewart Island.
During the summer, the demand for service is so high that many additional frequencies are laid on to meet the demand. The record of 33 return flights in one day is quickly established.
In addition to scheduled service, flight-seeing is also available. Importantly, air ambulance service is provided and medical transfers can be made as needed to Dunedin and Christchurch.
STIGL GROZNI UNITED AIR DETACHMENT: 364026 Chechen Republic, Grozny Airport, Chechnya, Russia; Year Founded 1995.
This tiny air concern is established at Grozny Airport in the spring of 1995 even as fighting continues on the ground nearby between Chechen rebels and Russian troops. Ivan Babichev is CEO and is able to inaugurate domestic and regional passenger services, both scheduled and charter, with a pair of Tupolev Tu-134As.
Flights continue during the remainder of the year, but are offered only sporadically in 1996-2000.
STILLWELLAIRLINES (PTY.), LTD. See SKYWEST AIRLINES (PTY.), LTD.
STOL AIR: United States (1972-1979). Formed at Burlingame, California, in 1972 under the name STOL Air, this commuter is given a fleet of Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders and BN-2A Trislanders with which to launch scheduled passenger and cargo flights to San Francisco, San Rafael, Concord, Napa, Eureka, Sacramento, Chico, and Fresno.
The company is transferred to Chico in 1975 and the fleet is expanded by the addition of Cessna 402s. New destinations visited in that year and
1976-1977 include Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Clear Lake, and Oakland.
STOL Air is acquired in 1978 by the investment group Westair, which appoints Timothy Flynn its general manager. On April 1, 1979, the new ownership merges its acquisition with another small carrier, Santa Rosa-based Golden Eagle Airlines, to form Western Airlines doing business as Westair Commuter Airlines.
STOUT AIR SERVICES: United States (1926-1930). Determined to see his aircraft inaugurate passenger service, William Bushnell “Bill” Stout, a leading proponent and, with William B. Mayo, one of the fathers of the Ford Tri-Motor, forms his own airline in the early summer of 1926. Employing the single 2-AT-10, piloted by the Ford Motor Company Chief Pilot and SAS Operations Manager J. Parker Van Sandt (who has also flown the Trimotor predecessor, the Stout 1-AS Air Sedan), the new demonstration line opens scheduled service between Detroit and Grand Rapids on August 2.
A second Ford, 2-AT-11, is acquired in December, along with 2-AT-8 repossessed from the failed Florida Airways.
At year’s end, records show that a total of 657 passengers and 3,155 pounds of air-express parcels have been carried.
The inventor also obtains U. S. Post Office Contract Air Mail Route No. 14 (CAM-14) in the spring of 1927, but elects not to fly it and returns it to the post office for closure on July 30. Meanwhile, the Ford Tri-Motor 4-AT-5 is delivered on June 23, becoming the number three aircraft on the Detroit-Cleveland service.
Beginning in July, the latest aircraft, bearing writing in the middle of its fuselage aft the wing that reads “Aerial Tours over the City,” undertakes sight-seeing flights over Cleveland, Detroit, and Toledo. On October 6, Stout obtains Ford 4-AT-9 Tri-Motor and while Ford Air Freight Lines, flying from the same field, elects to emphasize cargo services, he is given an opportunity to develop exclusive passenger operations. On November 1, regularly scheduled flights allow customers a view of Lake Erie while traveling to Cleveland via Toledo.
Service continues apace in 1928, with the Ford 4-AT-8, previously flown by the Royal Typewriter Company, entering service on February 18, followed by the 4-AT-18 on May 10, the 4-AT-28 on August 17, and 4-AT-34 on September 14. On October 13, Ralph Reed’s 4-AT-8 crashes into a tree while landing at Detroit in the dark; he and two passengers are injured. Detroit to Chicago passenger service is initiated on November 1.
A total of 5,640 passengers are carried over the 2 routes during the year, with another 40,000 taken on 15-minute sight-seeing flights. Overall mileage flown during the year is 161,755.
As the result of a mail compartment fire, the Ford 4-AT-9 crashes near Toledo on January 16, 1929; the aircraft is destroyed and the two-man crew hurt. Another Tri-Motor with engine trouble, 4-AT-5, makes a forced landing in a field near West 65th St. and Denison Ave. in Cleveland on February 24; none of the 13 people aboard is seriously hurt. The next day, the first of the larger Ford Tri-Motors to be received by the company, the $65,475 5-AT-15, is delivered at Detroit, followed by the $55,000 5-AT-26 on April 24.
The Ford 5-AT-52 is acquired on June 29, 1930; however, Stout Air Services is purchased by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation on June 30. Still, yet another Ford, 5-AT-53, arrives on July 8 followed by the 5-AT-70 on August 26. The company is merged into National Air Transport, another United acquisition, on August 31. Stout’s framework, while disappearing as an independent entity, allows United’s main line, Boeing Air Transport, to reach from coast to coast.
Founder Stout recalls the story of his airline and of the Tri-Motor in his memoir So Away I Went! (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1951).
STRAHLE LUFTVERKEHR, GmbH.: Germany (1920-1922). This small, independent carrier is formed at Stuttgart in late fall 1920 to provide services to Constanz; flights begin in December and continue until August 1921. Reconstituted, the company resumes operations from Stuttgart to Nuremberg during the spring of 1922. Short of capital and failing to attract affiliation invitations from either Junkers or Lloyd interests, the company ceases operation.
World History
