Manhattan, Kansas-based air taxi and charter operator Gary Cromer, owner of Capitol Air Service, creates a scheduled airline division, calling it Capitol Airlines. Employing 5 Cessna 402s and 5 Cessna 207s, CA-1 inaugurates flights linking the company’s base with Topeka and Kansas City.
Operations continue with little change through the remainder of the decade and into the 1970s. Allen Aviation is purchased on August 13, 1975 and the fleet is enhanced by the addition of a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100 Twin Otter.
During the early 1980s, Lawrence and Salina join the route network and the fleet includes 2 Twin Otters plus the Cessna lightplanes owned earlier. Enplanements in 1983 total 83,700.
During 1984, the FAA revokes the carrier’s FAR Part 135 operating certificate for irregularities and grounds the company. The decision is taken to close down the airline division and continue operations under the previous name. John Jackson is named president in November, but resigns in April 1985. Enplanements for the year total 41,280.
The 52-employee small regional enters into a code-sharing agreement with Braniff, Inc. in late fall 1986 and begins to feed the national’s Kansas City hub on December 15 via three routes from the Sunshine State. Passenger boardings jump 14% to 48,000. “Braniff Express” flights continue apace in 1987.
William Fogerson becomes general manager in 1988. In September, Braniff, Inc. restructures its hub at Kansas City and serves notice that its agreement with Capitol will be cancelled at the end of the fourth quarter. The regional airline goes to court.
Fogerson becomes president in 1989; however, he is powerless to halt the implementation of Braniff, Inc.’s code-sharing cancellation on January 2. The affiliation loss causes a dramatic downturn and the fleet is changed. Gone are the Twin Otters, replaced by a Cessna 421. In deep fiscal difficulty for two years, the carrier ceases operations on March 30 and files for Chapter XI bankruptcy protection.
Attempts are made during the remainder of the year to reorganize, but prove unsuccessful. Just after New Year’s 1990, the bankruptcy court orders the regional liquidated, a process which is completed by October.
CAPITOL AIRLINES (2): United States (1993-1995). Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based Empire Airlines establishes this separate subsidiary at Minneapolis (MSP) in the fall of 1993. Equipped with 3 Fairchild Metro III, the new regional inaugurates scheduled flights to Chicago (MDW) in December.
Early in 1994, routes are stretched to Omaha and Milwaukee. Financial losses are significant enough to force the company to suspend operations at year’s end. The carrier is purchased by Air LA during the first quarter of 1995.
CAPITOL AIRWAYS: United States (1946-1967). American Airlines pilot Jesse Stallings (87.5%) and a partner (11.5%) found Capitol Airways at Cumberland Field in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 11, 1946 as an FBO and flying school. Three years later, Stallings resigns his job with American to devote more time to his prospering business.
In early 1950, a war-surplus Lockheed L-18 is acquired for charter work, followed by a Douglas DC-3 in 1951 and a second Douglas transport in 1952. A significant portion of the company’s flight business revolves around the transport of Grand Ole Opry performers.
To take advantage of the income to be earned from USAF “Mercury” resupply flights, predecessor to the Logair program, Stallings purchases 3 Curtiss C-46 Commandos in 1954. These are used to operate contract
Military flights in the continental U. S. Simultaneously, the entrepreneur also acquires 2 Douglas DC-4s that are introduced on long-haul transatlantic passenger charters.
In September, the newly established subsidiary Volunteer Airlines (1) begins operating the DC-3s on scheduled intrastate commuter flights. Although this venture is profitable, Stallings closes it down on August 12, 1955 in order to devote his full attention to the larger supplemental business.
During the remainder of the decade, Capitol engages in a full menu of supplemental operations, specializing in low-cost, long-haul passenger and cargo charters. Employing over 40 surplus military C-46s, 5 Lockheed L-749As and L-1049E Super Constellations, Stalling’s company spreads its wings over both transatlantic and Caribbean routes.
This expansion is not cost-free. A C-46F with two crew is lost near Fort Collins, Colorado, on November 16, 1958; there are no survivors. An L-1049H is purchased from the Babb Company in April 1959.
The carrier’s first L-1049G is purchased in January 1960. The company suffers two crashes in one day later in the year. On October 4 at Sacramento, a private Cessna fails to see a taxiing C-46; no one is hurt in the resulting collision. A second Commando suffers an in-flight wing failure at Plain City, Utah, but lands without injury to its crew.
A C-46F with two crew crashes at Plain City, Utah, on October 15; both men are killed and the aircraft must be written off.
An in-flight fire causes a C-46F to crash near Katy, Texas, on January 22, 1961, killing its two-man crew.
Three L-1049Ds, previously flown by Seaboard World Airlines, are leased in May 1962. When Riddle Airlines, because of financial difficulties, is forced to sell its 6 Armstrong-Whitworth AW.650 Argosy Is back to their manufacturer in late June, Chairman Stallings acquires 5 for his own Logair military contracts. The landing gear of one of these fails while it is on a training flight at Wilmington, Delaware, on July 2; none of the six crewmen is hurt. A second Argosy I makes a wheels-up landing at Rome, New York, on July 23.
Later in the summer, 4 L-1049Hs are chartered from Seaboard World Airlines. Later, the carrier will purchase 2 Super Ds and 1 Super
H. At the same time, 4 ex-Hughes Tool Company L-1049Hs are leased from Trans-International Airlines, which also sells the company an L-1049G previously flown by Qantas Empire Airways (Pty.), Ltd.
The Argosy Is continue to have difficulties in 1963. While landing at Fairfield, Ohio, on June 9, the pilot of one inadvertently retracts the landing gear, causing the aircraft to crash. A hydraulic failure aboard a second aircraft, while it is parking at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina on November 21, causes it to ram into an obstruction.
In 1964, the company employs 323 workers and owns a fleet that still includes the Argosies plus 17 C-46s. Certification as a Supplemental Air Carrier, good for five years, is received from the CAB on April 18. A C-46 suffers substantial damage at Charleston, South Carolina, on October 10 when one of its engines catches fire. Five C-46s are wet-leased to Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. and are employed to operate night cargo flights in Northwest Europe.
This year, a total of 141,000 charter passengers are carried and 12.58 million freight ton-miles are flown. Revenues total $18.27 million.
In 1965, as a result of the withdrawal of the Argosy Is, the fleet is down to 9 aircraft, which will fly 23,330 million freight ton-miles over the next 12 months.
A Lockheed L-1049E is leased from Cubana (Empresa Consoli-dada de Aviacion, S. A.) on June 1. The carrier must inform a teachers group on June 30 that four charter flights to Europe, for which each member had prepaid $300 to a New York State teachers study group, will be cancelled because of the disappearance of the persons who took the reservations. Revenues for the year total $19.8 million and a net profit of $1.18 million is reported.
Two of the three leased Seaboard World Airlines L-1049Ds are purchased in March 1966. Revenues for the year climb to $31.18 million. The operating profit is $102,545 and the net profit is $75,244.
On March 22, 1967, the company is reformed into a public stock company and its name is changed to Capitol International Airways to reflect its worldwide capability.
CAPITOL HELICOPTERS: United States (1983-1984). An unsuccessful attempt to create a helicopter commuter airline for Washington,
D. C.’s airports begins in late 1983 with the establishment of this company at Dulles International Airport. With the acquisition of 3 Aerospatiale 365N Dauphin 2 helicopters, rotary-wing flights begin in early 1984 linking Capitol’s base with Baltimore (BWI) via the downtown district’s National Airport.
As the result of high operating costs associated with the Dauphin 2s, ticket prices quickly reach a point more than double ground transport costs. In addition, maintenance problems contribute to a service suspension. Without subsidy and with little public demand for its high-priced, uncompetitive service, the debt-ridden new entrant cannot generate the traffic or finances to continue. Consequently, it shuts down in the fall.
CAPITOL INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS: United States (19671982). To better reflect and finance its worldwide capability, Capital Airways is reorganized into a public stock company on March 22, 1967 and its name is changed. Airline employment totals 660 and the fleet includes 2 Douglas DC-8-61CFs, 2 DC-8-31s, and 3 DC-8-11Fs. Orders are outstanding for 4 DC-8-63CFs as the Super Constellation fleet is put up for sale. Among the last charters flown by the Connies before their removal are a series of inclusive-tour flights out of West Berlin on behalf of the travel agency Berliner Flug Ring.
In August, a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation is sold to James Flannery of Pendel, Pennsylvania. The aircraft is dismantled at Newcastle Airport in Delaware and trucked to the owner, where it is erected on 25-ft. high pillars, just behind a sign that reads “Joe Flannery’s Constellation Lounge and Restaurant.”
Now the third largest supplemental carrier, CIA operates 33.4 million freight ton-miles and originates 312,804 charter passengers. Overall revenues are up 5% to $32,661,694. The operating profit is $4.78 million while the net profit is $2.17 million.
The employee population numbers 583 in 1968. Two DC-8-63CFs join the fleet and the last of the Super Constellation freighters are phased out.
While executing a go-around, one of the new jetliners, on an April 28 training flight, yaws to the right, crashes, and burns at the National Aviation Facilities Experiment Training Center at Atlantic City; the four crewmen aboard are injured.
In anticipation of renewed growth, the company opens new offices at Cleveland and Detroit and upgrades six others.
On June 2, nearly 1,000 New York City area residents are delayed up to 8i/! hours at Freeport, in the Bahamas, when a company aircraft fails to arrive on time for the chartered return flight to the Big Apple. Eastern Air Lines returns 537 of the passengers.
Customer bookings fall to 304,270 and freight ton mileage is down to 12.54 million. Still revenues are up 36% to $44,392,244. The operating profit climbs significantly to $4,745,766 and net income rises by a million dollars to $3,453,376.
The workforce in 1969 is 820 and the fleet is increased by the addition of 2 more DC-8-63CFs. The night cargo contract with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. is concluded and the 5 Curtiss C-46s employed, the last owned by Capitol, are withdrawn from service and sold.
Enplanements rise to 359,379. Revenues advance to $48,118,890 and an operating profit of $1.52 million is reported; there is, however, a $105,411 net loss.
The fleet in 1970 includes 4 DC-8-63CFs, 4 DC-8-55Fs, and 1 DC-831. A total of 180 new employees are hired.
On November 27 en route from McChord AFB in Washington State to Cam Ranh Bay via Anchorage and Yokota, Flight C2C3/26, under U. S. Military Airlift Command (MAC) charter, fails its takeoff from an icy Anchorage runway. T DC-8-63CF with 10 crew and 219 passengers makes a forced landing off the pavement, coming to a stop in a 12-ft.
Drainage ditch where it catches fire (47 dead). John Godson remembers the disaster in his Runway (New York: Scribner, 1974).
Charter bookings jump 10% to 399,309 and cargo tonnage flown skyrockets 81.9%. Still, the decline in Vietnam business and the U. S. recession hurt income. Revenues fall to $43,096,404 while the profit lines show more red ink: $578,399 (operating) and $1,193,449 (net).
In 1971, company headquarters are transferred from Wilmington, Delaware, to the deactivated Stewart AFB at Smyrna, Tennessee, near Nashville. Enplanements total 454,770.
Passenger boardings increase by 2.2% in 1972 to 465,000 and freight traffic grows a healthy 20.4%. Income is $38.58 million and with expenses nearly under control, the charter operator is able to report profits of $181,000 (operating) and $754,000 (net).
The workforce in 1973 is 508. Passenger boardings accelerate 18.7% to 552,000, but freight traffic is off by a huge 50.9%. Revenues, however, increase to $46 million with expenses trailing at $42.48 million. The operating profit is $1.86 million and net profit declines slightly to $709,000.
The workforce is reduced in 1974 to 467. On July 9, the Federal District Court in Philadelphia orders the carrier to hire male applicants for flight attendant positions and to seek out males who had sought such jobs with the airline earlier, but who had been rejected because of their sex.
Enplanements decline 9% to 503,779 and freight traffic is down a whopping 84.9%.
While only 22% of Capitol’s charter customers are military, almost all of its freight business comes from MAC, which is rapidly downsizing its transport needs now that the Indochinese situation is cooling.
Total income grows by 7.9% to $47.8 million, but fuel costs force expenses to shoot up by 17.6% to $49.9 million. As a result, the supplemental has an operating loss of $2.12 million and a net loss of $551,000.
Seventeen employees are laid off or not replaced in 1975, a drop of 25%. In addition to this and other cost-cutting measures, the Smyrna-based supplemental begins to concentrate on higher-yield charters.
As a result, it is able to transport 25% fewer passengers (367,880) while increasing its income. On revenues of $43.97 million, expenses are $43.84 million. As a result, the operating profit is $131,000 and net gain reaches $1.62 million.
The workforce in 1976 is increased by 24% to 528. Three DC-8-61s are purchased to increase capacity.
Nonscheduled operations with a fleet of 2 DC-8-63Fs, 5 DC-8-61s, and 5 DC-8-30s continue into the era of deregulation. During these years, CIA, one of the largest American supplemental carriers, derives 80% of its income from commercial charter work, mostly across the North Atlantic to Frankfurt and Brussels. The remaining 20% is derived from contract cargo flights made for the USAF.
Customer bookings accelerate 30.5% to 479,675. Expenses are $50.71 million, but are submerged by total revenues of $51.88 million. As a result, the operating profit is $1.17 million and net income doubles to $2.94 million.
Eighteen are reported injured on January 16, 1977 when a DC-8-30 catches fire on the runway at Baltimore (BWI). A DC-8-61 with 250 aboard catches fire at Shannon, Ireland, on October 2; 24 are injured. Twice-weekly tourist charter flights to Cuba are initiated on December 1 and help to bring the year’s passenger charter total to 702,000.
Bookings in 1978 are 857,000, an 18.2% increase. The Tennessee-based operation, losing money in the face of stiff competition from challengers, now elects to begin offering scheduled service.
New York to Brussels return services commence on May 4, 1979. Employing a pair of leased DC-10-10, Capitol introduces $180 one-way transcontinental Sky Saver flights from New York to Los Angeles.
Flight engineers, members of the Teamsters, strike the company between September 23 and October 6; a mediated agreement between the parties takes effect on October 17.
Bad traffic news, however, continues as CIA’s 6 aircraft haul only
753,000 passengers, a 12.1% decline. Revenues total $89.9 million, but expenses are $103 million. Consequently, an operating loss of $13.5 million and a net decline of $9.2 million are reported.
The fleet is cut to 6 DC-8-61s (including 5 leased from Eastern Air Lines) and 2 DC-8-63s in 1980. These continue to specialize in low-cost, long-haul, sometimes nonscheduled flights, despite the supplemental’s being relabeled as a national carrier under the CAB’s new airline classification scheme.
George E. Batchelor of Miami, who also controls Arrow Airways (2), acquires the carrier and its 829-employee workforce on June 30. A DC-8-61 must be evacuated at New York (JFK) on July 14 when an engine catches fire prior to takeoff.
Customer bookings fall 21% to 611,397. Revenues accelerate to $109.9 million and, for the first time, income from scheduled services exceeds that from charters. Costs also jump, to $111.9 million. Despite these larger numbers, the decline in both capacity and traffic lessens the flow of red ink. This year, the losses are down to $2 million (operating) and $3.8 million (net).
The workforce increases 89.5% in 1981 to 1,571. CIA now acquires a variety of new long-haul routes utilizing 3 Douglas DC-10-10s. Destinations now served include Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York (JFK), Philadelphia, Aguadilla, Port au Prince, Puerto Plata, San Juan, San Pedro Sula, and San Salvador. Other gateways include the European terminals of Brussels and Frankfurt, plus Tel Aviv in the Middle East.
Enplanements skyrocket 89.3% to 1,153,000 while freight is up 85.5% to 14.75 million FTKs. Operating revenues total $185.03 million and expenses are $180.52 million; as a result, there are profits: $4.5 million (operating) and $2.58 million (net).
Capitol International is reorganized on January 6, 1982 and renamed Capitol Air.
CAPRIVI AIRWAYS (PTY.), LTD.: Namibia (1978-1982). Formed as a subsidiary of the Chantenis Group at Windhoek in early 1978, Chairman/Managing Director B. Drew’s 65-employee carrier begins scheduled services in September. Five Douglas DC-3s undertake daily return flights to Khorixas, Ondangwa, Bundu Katima, and Muillo.
Traffic proves too light and expenses, led by surging fuel price increases in 1979-1980, too high, forcing Caprivi to halt operations in 1982.
CARAIBBENNE DES TRANSPORTES AERIENS. See AIR FRANCE; AIR MARTINIQUE (COMPAGNIE ANTILLAISE D’AFFRETEMENTS AERIENS, S. A.); AIR SAINT MARTIN, S. A.; SATA (SOCIETE ANTILLAISE DE TRANSPORTS AERIENS, S. A.-AIR GUADELOUPE)
CARAVAN AIRLINES: United States (1965-1967). Caravan Airlines is set up at Phoenix, Arizona, in 1965 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo flights on local routes out of the city.
De Havilland DH 104 Dove and DH 114 Heron flights continue into 1967, when the company is purchased by and merged into Apache Airlines.
CARCO AIR SERVICE: United States (1963-1973). When William P. Cutter and Clark Carr, founders and operators of Cutter-Carr Flying Service, split up in 1963, Carr forms his own airline, Carco Air Service, to take over the Atomic Energy Commission contract previously operated.
The company receives CAB commuter certification in 1964 and continues to operate scheduled air services for workers at the nuclear station at Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Competition from Ross Aviation results in that firm winning the government contract in 1970 and the first great oil crisis puts the company out of the flying business in 1973.
The company does not, however, fail entirely. Under the direction of William R. Cutter, William P’s son, Carco, remains an FBO operator with stations at Albuquerque, El Paso, and Phoenix.
CARDIFF & PEACOCK AIR LINES: United States (19331934). Established at Bakersfield, California, in early 1933, C & P inaugurates scheduled, multistop passenger flights to Los Angeles with Travel Air 6000s and Stinson Juniors.
During early summer, a new Lockheed Model 9 Orion is acquired and operations are added linking Fresno with San Francisco. On July 11-12, the Orion and its pilot, Donald MacIntrye, is lost when it unexplainably dives into a swamp northwest of Fresno.
Without a mail subsidy, traffic proves to light to justify the continuance of operations too far into 1934.
CARDINAL AIRLINES: United States (1968-1976). Rodney Jaeger, owner of the Lynchburg, Virginia-based FBO Flight America, establishes Cardinal Airlines in the early fall of 1968 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services to the two principal airports at Washington, D. C. (DCA and lAD) plus Charlottesville, Va.
Employing a fleet of Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders, Beech 99s, and Cessna lightplanes, Cardinal inaugurates daily roundtrips on October 1, maintaining them into 1976. Jaeger will establish Air Virginia in 1979.
CARDINAL AIRWAYS: United States (1968-1969). Estabished at Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1968, Cardinal offers scheduled air taxi services to local destinations employing a Piper PA-31 Navajo. The operation can only be maintained into 1969.
CARE AIRLINES (PTY.), LTD.: South Africa (1991-1996). NAC, established at Lanseria Airport in 1991 to provide scheduled and charter regional, as well as domestic passenger and cargo services, initially remains dormant. Vernon Bricknell is named managing director.
Revenue services commence in 1993 with a single British Aerospace BAe (HS) 748-B2. Thrice-weekly scheduled return services are added between Johannesburg and Margate.
The BAe is sold in 1994 as the company elects to lease its future capacity, chartering a Series-A2 in its place. Managing Director Bricknell now assembles a larger fleet that includes 3 British Aerospace (BAC) 1-11-537GFs, 4 Beech Super King Air 200Cs, and 1 each BAC 1-11-531FS, BAC 1-11-518FG, BAC 1-11-509EW, and BAC 1-11-409AYF.
Scheduled services are inaugurated by the 85-employee company in January 1995, linking its primary base with Cape Town and the Transkei. Services are also provided for the South African Post Office to Cape Town and Durban. Traffic and financial figures are not released.
Two Boeing 727-100Fs and 2 more BAC 1-11-500s are acquired in 1996. The little-known carrier is now the second largest BAC operator in the world. Charters are flown throughout Southern Africa. Operations continue as before until the company takes a new corporate identity later in the year, becoming Nationwide Airlines (Pty.), Ltd.
CARGA AEREO TRANSPORTADA, S. A.: Bolivia (19831991). CAT is set up at La Paz Airport in 1983 to offer nonscheduled allcargo flights around the country. Flights commence and continue with a Convair CV-440. During the next eight years, at least four Convairs are employed, one after the next.
CARGA DEL CARIBE, S. A. de C. V.: Espino 352, Col Santa Maria La Rivera, Mexico City, Mexico; Phone 52 (5) 547-3308; Fax 52 (5) 547-6648; Year Founded 1994. CDC is established at Mexico City in 1994 to offer all-cargo charter and contract service flights to Mexican and regional destinations in Central America and the Caribbean. Operations commence and continue with a single Douglas DC-6 freighter.
CARGO D’OR, LTD.: Ghana (1989-1997). Cargo d’Or, Ltd. is set up at Accra in 1989 to offer regularly scheduled weekly all-cargo roundtrip services to London. Revenue flights commence with a single Douglas DC-8F. The following year, the company is taken over by London-based MK Air Cargo, Ltd., which will provide it with chartered aircraft and operate it as a subsidiary for seven years.
CARGO LION, S. A.: Lion Aviation Building, Findel Airport, Luxembourg, Luxembourg 1110, Luxembourg; Phone 32 (59) 513 984; Fax 32 (59) 513 985; Http://www. cargolion. com; Code TLX; Year Founded 1991. During the summer of 1991, Bertram Pohl, Konrad Homberger, and Thomas Hamilton decide to form an all-cargo airline in Switzerland. As the name Swisscargo is not available, the new entrant is named Cargo Lion, A. G. in honor of the pioneering American line named for a big cat, The Flying Tiger Line. Start-up is postponed due to a combination of the economic downturn caused by the Gulf War and the inability of the partners to obtain a suitable fleet.
With Homberger remaining behind, Pohl and Hamilton decide to look elsewhere, and, early in 1992, join with Roger Tolley and Richard R. Le Lion to establish Lion Aviation Holdings, Ltd. at St. Peter Port, Guernsey, in March, with Cargo Lion, Ltd. as the principal subsidiary. Founder Pohl is named president with Le Lion as commercial director. Although the head office is established at St. Peter Port, Guernsey, operations are centered at Ostend Airport.
A workforce of 13 is recruited and 1 Douglas DC-8-62F is leased from AOM French Airlines, S. A. to be flown from the Belgian base. The inaugural revenue flight is made on August 1; a shipment of machinery, medicine, and general cargo is flown to Ghana and the narrow-body returns with 40 tons of pineapples.
African markets fill the company’s itinerary for the remainder of the year and over the next two. In 1993-1994, the company begins to consolidate and slowly moves away from the ad hoc charter market to the operation of long - and medium-term contracts. Clintele comes to consist of major airlines such as Air France, Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G., and Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A. and air freight consolidators and brokers such as ACS, Chapman Freeborn, East African Flowers, and Raeford. Many charters are also accept from relief organizations such as the International Red Cross and the UN
During the spring of 1994, the company enters into negotiations to purchase the Irish all-cargo airline Aer Turas, Ltd.; however, that company is eventually acquired by Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd. Another unsuccessful effort is simultaneously made to begin a passenger charter operation with Toronto-based Advance Air Charter, Ltd.; however, the Canadian company goes out of business.
In the fall, the paper airline Translux International Airlines, S. A., formed by Airmec Aviation Services, is taken over and its license application is completed in Luxembourg under the Cargo Lion name.
A second DC-8-62F is acquired in March 1995 as the company transfers its base and licensure to Luxembourg. As the only independent European all-cargo airline entirely equipped with hush-kitted aircraft, Cargo Lion finds itself in heavy demand for the operation of replacement services for major carriers into airports where noise control measures are in place. Indeed, the new plane’s first flight is operated on April 7 on behalf of Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. In September, both aircraft are in Ostend for routine overhauls.
During the summer, the company begins to operate a long-term contract on behalf of British Airways, Ltd. (2), transporting cargo between London (LGW) and Johannesburg. At the same time, a one-year contract is received from Lufthansa Cargo Airlines, A. G. to operate on its behalf to India.
Airmec Aviation Services is purchased on October 1 and the company is able to open its own maintenance department in Luxembourg one month later.
The Lufthansa Cargo Airlines, A. G. expires in August, at which point a new service to Sweden and the Middle East is launched on behalf of the Panalpina Group.
Ground is broken in February 1997 for a new maintenance facility in Luxembourg. The BA contract service to Johannesburg ends during the summer. At this point, the company enters into a long-term contract with Air France to operate a pair of DC-8-62Fs from Paris to points in the former colonies in Africa. At the same time, arrangements are made to operate a passenger Airbus Industrie A310-203 on behalf of Air Charter, the French major’s charter subsidiary.
A third DC-8-62F is acquired in January 1998 and is immediately sent for an inspection. The Air France DC-8 contract ends at the beginning of March. Meanwhile, on March 8, an agreement is reached by Gemini Air Cargo with Air France under which Gemini will operate a trio of DC-10-30Fs for the French line, replacing the DC-8Fs that it had previously wet-leased from Cargo Lion.
The Air Charter service is concluded in April. At this point, the two original DC-8-62Fs begin flying under contract to DHL Worldwide Express to points in Europe and Africa. The third DC-8-62F enters service in June. In late October, it is wet-leased to Air Afrique, S. A. (2) to serve their link between West Africa and Europe.
During the first quarter of 1999, a DC-8-62F flies nightly domestic express service in France on behalf of Aeropostale, S. A. (2). On May 21, a letter of intent is signed for the acquisition of two retired British Airways, Ltd. (2) DC-10-30s. Both are sent to Aeronavali, Curtis & Co. for conversion into freighters, with the first scheduled for delivery in November and the second the following July.
The freight operator actually takes delivery of its first Douglas DC-10-30F on February 16, 2000. On March 12, the company is approached by Atlas Air with a proposal that it become the U. S. carrier’s European operating arm. A month later plans to add the second DC-10F are shelved.
CARGOLUX AIRLINES INTERNATIONAL, S. A.: Luxembourg International, S. A., Luxembourg Airport, L-21990, Luxembourg; Phone 352 4211; Fax 352 4354; Http://www. cargolux. com; Code CV; Year Founded 1970. Luxair, S. A., Loftleider Icelandic Airlines, H. F.,
And the Swedish shipping concern Salenia, A. B. form this all-cargo carrier at Findel Airport on March 4, 1970. The carrier’s first aircraft, a Canadair CL-44, is delivered on April 4 and worldwide cargo charters begin in May. As additional work is undertaken during the next year, four additional freighters are received.
On final approach to the airport at Dacca, Bangladesh, on December 2, a Canadair CL-44J with four crew crashes into a farmhouse; all aboard the aircraft are killed, plus four people on the ground.
By 1972, the workforce totals 35 and the fleet includes 5 Canadairs. Operations to the Far East and South Africa are expanded and freight traffic grows 100%.
The workforce is expanded to 190 during 1973. The first Douglas DC-8-63CF is delivered on October 8, on lease from Loftleider Icelandic Airlines, H. F. The Loftleider Icelandic Airlines, H. F. maintenance base at Findel Airport is acquired and freight service to West Africa is inaugurated. Frequencies to the Far East and other African destinations are increased. A total of 146 million FTKs are flown, a 64.9% increase over the previous year.
The fourth anniversary is celebrated in March 1974. A new head office and maintenance center begins construction along with a new freight terminal while a DC-8-55F is chartered. Cargo traffic soars by 35% with 201.18 million FTKs flown.
Freight traffic rises 30% in 1975 to 261 million FTKs as another DC-8-63CF joins the fleet.
Airline employment stands at 385 in 1976. Outside maintenance contracts are increased and air freight frequencies are begun to a number of new areas, including the Arabian Gulf, Vietnam, and the People’s Republic of China. The first stage of the new cargo terminal is activated during the fall.
Cargo carried climbs 16% to 261 million FTKs.
A third DC-8-63CF and 2 Boeing 707-331Cs, formerly flown by Trans World Airlines (TWA) , are delivered in 1977 as 2 CL-44s are deleted. An interest is taken in the new Aero Uruguay, S. A. and DC-8-41s/53s are leased on behalf of Air Algerie, S. A. in 1978 to transport Muslim pilgrims on Hadj flights to Mecca. The remaining Canadairs are all retired as a Boeing 747-2R7F is added to the fleet in December. President Roger Sietzen’s company employs 450 workers and the year’s freight traffic is up 16%.
The new B-747-2R7F City of Luxembourg is placed on the Luxembourg to Hong Kong route in February 1979. The airline is now the first European all-cargo carrier to operate a dedicated Jumbojet.
Cargo frequencies on the Europe-Taiwan weekly route are doubled and, under the leadership of Vice President Lucien Schummer, development is begun on a CHAMP (Cargo Handling and Management Planning) computerized cargo management system. New sales offices are opened in London and Paris as the workforce is increased by 16.4% to 469. Again, cargo climbs 16%, to 472 million FTKs.
Twenty-three new employees are hired in 1980. Weekly DC-8-63CF service to Mexico City and Houston is launched in February and twice-weekly flights begin in May to Nairobi. A second B-747-2R7F is delivered in September.
The B-747-2R7F City ofEsch-sur-Alzette is purchased on October 10. On October 23-24, the company becomes involved in the U. S.-Iran hostage crisis. A company DC-8-41F, chartered by the Israeli government, transports a cargo of F-4 fighter jet tires from Nice to Tehran using a call sign supplied by Iran Air in an unsuccessful “spares-for-hostages” release scheme.
Freight traffic climbs a scant 2.9% to 486.17 million FTKs.
The workforce is increased by a scant 1.9% in 1981 to 500. Frequencies to the U. S. are doubled and contract maintenance work is increased. Service from Europe to the Far East is also stepped up.
Cargo traffic zooms upward by 29.4% to 629.28 million FTKs.
An agreement is signed with China Airlines, Ltd. (CAL) in May 1982 providing for the exchange of space on flights between Luxembourg and Taipei. The world recession catches up with the carrier; freight traffic falls 10% to 564.7 million FTKs. As a result, the workforce is cut to 350 and the number of DC-8-63CFs in the fleet is reduced to 3. Hadj service is provided to Mecca by DC-8-61s and B-747-100s leased on behalf of Nigeria Airways, Ltd. Late in the year, the first three elements of CHAMP I come on line.
Following the introduction of cost-cutting procedures and with slight recoveries in some traffic regions in 1983, cargo grows a tiny 0.6% to 568.31 million FTKs. The 3 remaining DC-8-63CFs are all sold as a loss of Flux 230 million is suffered.
The world economic upturn in 1984 allows the carrier’s 2 B-747-2R7Fs to boost the freight traffic a whopping 31% to 744 million FTKs.
A Flux 82-million ($ 1.3-million) net profit is posted by the 296-employee Luxembourg-based cargo airline, on top of an operating gain of $7.06 million.
The carrier’s fifteenth anniversary is celebrated in 1985 and, in February, the B-747-2R7F City of Esch-sur-Alzette is sold to the Government of Taiwan for delivery to China Airlines, Ltd. (CAL). A new route is extended to Fukuoka, Japan, and, in May, a B-747-254F is chartered from Korean Airlines/Korean Air (KAL). A leased B-747-100 provides Hadj flights to Mecca on behalf of Air Afrique, S. A.
Late in the year, the B-747-2R7F City of Luxembourg is employed to deliver 281,000 pounds of a special Spanish pink granite rocks from Carrara, Italy to Seattle on behalf of a contractor completing the facade of a 30-story office building.
Despite a 9.7% drop in freight traffic to 672 million FTKs, the carrier, in terms of cargo carried, ranks 19th among all world airlines. Other services (e. g., maintenance) are expanded. Revenues advance 30% to $130.6 million and costs are kept low, allowing an operating profit of $8.1 million and net gain of $24.5 million.
The employee population is increased 15.6% in 1986 to 364 and the Icelandair shareholding is purchased by Italian and Arab interests. The Korean Airlines/Korean Air (KAL) B-747-254F is replaced in April by a B-747-271C, previously flown by Transamerica Airlines, leased on a long-term basis.
During July, 3 B-747-123s, formerly operated by American Airlines, are leased for 10 months from Citicorp; 2 are leased to Iran Air and provide Hadj services from Mashad and Teheran to Mecca, during which
90,000 passengers are flown.
In November, another ex-Transamerica B-747-271C freighter is leased for use on routes to the U. S. and the Far East. Service to the Far East is now the major source of the company’s revenues, with over 40% of its income originating in Asia.
Cargo traffic revives, jumping upward by 22.5% to 823.21 million FTKs. Revenues accelerate to $127 million, expenses total $114.5 million, and the operating profit is $12.5 million.
The payroll grows 18.2% in 1987 to 436. A GE-engine model replaces the carrier’s Pratt & Whitney-powered B-747-271C, also from Transamerica Airlines, giving the fleet 4 GE freighters. The leasing of the B-747-123s continues, both on an individual trip basis and to Iran Air for Hadj flights.
Bangkok joins the route network and frequencies to Asia are increased to four-per-week. During the fall, the carrier (45%) joins with Luxair, S. A. (55%) to form the passenger charter operator Lionair, S. A. In December, the German state airline Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. purchases a 24.7% interest. The arrangement calls for cooperation and coordination in a number of areas.
Freight traffic this year ascends 21.7% to one billion FTKs.
Airline employment climbs 19.7% in 1988 to 522 and the fleet includes 5 Jumbojet freighters. Employing a pair of 505-seat B-747-121s formerly flown by Pan American World Airways (1) and delivered on January 13 and 20, respectively, Lionair, S. A. passenger charters begin in February. On behalf of the national airline of Barbados, Caribbean Airways, Ltd., one Jumbojet undertakes scheduled roundtrip service over a route from Manchester to Barbados.
In November, the company’s entire fleet is chartered to transport, in time for the official uncorking, the year’s Beaujolais Nouveau to the world’s wine connoisseurs.
Cargo traffic for the 12 months rises 8% to 1.08 billion FTKs.
The workforce swells 33% in 1989 to 694. During the spring, the frequency of the decade-old weekly return service between Luxembourg and Taiwan, flown via Dubai in cooperation with China Airlines, Ltd. (CAL), is doubled.
Three Dash-271C Jumbojet freighters are acquired in July after refurbishment at Seattle from B-747-271Cs previously flown by Transamerica Airlines. In August, French fertilizers are flown to Alaska to aid in the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster.
Freight moves ahead by 7% to 1.16 billion FTKs and a $13.9-million operating profit is reported.
Company employment falls 3.5% in 1990 to 670, as one Jumbojet is withdrawn. Recession causes the Lionair, S. A. experiment to fold and its two Jumbojets are put up for sale. In September, the company enters into a lease arrangement with Air Foyle, Ltd. to operate a Soviet-made Antonov An-124 on weekly out-size cargo flights from Luxembourg to Singapore. Following three trial flights, regularly scheduled weekly flights commence on September 22.
A regional office is opened at Seattle in October, taking over services previously leased from Aviation West.
Freight traffic ascends a slight 2% to 1.18 billion FTKs. Although revenues are $266.3 million, higher fuel costs, occasioned after Iraq’s August 2 invasion of Kuwait, lower the operating profit to $10.9 million.
The payroll is sliced another 9% in 1991 to 610 and orders are placed for 4 B-747-4R7Fs. In January, the carrier receives U. S. DOT authorization to offer seven roundtrip weekly flights from Houston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Miami to Luxembourg.
During the spring, the company contracts with Air Foyle, Ltd. to operate 3 Antonov An-124 Ruslans on out-size service flights to the Persian Gulf and Asia. In September, a second weekly flight is added from Luxembourg to Edmonton, Alberta, using the carrier’s newly received B-747-228F.
Cargo swells during the year by 9% to 1.29 billion FTKs.
The workforce is revitalized in 1992 and increased by 10.4% to 873 as a fifth B-747-2D3BC is delivered. The carrier now leases, on an almost monthly basis, service from Air Foyle, Ltd.’s Antonov An-124 freighter. The last B-747-100 passenger plane is sold and new all-cargo flights are initiated to Damascus and Colombo.
On November 8, a Cargolux B-747-200F becomes the first foreign airliner to land at Shenzhen Airport, on the Chinese border with Hong Kong.
Freight slips 1.9% to 1.26 billion FTKs. Long-term debt stands at $142 million.
In 1993, Chairman Robert Stetzen and President/CEO Sten Grotenfelt oversee a workforce of 610, down 30.1% from the previous year. The fleet now includes 3 B-747-271Cs, 1 chartered B-747-2D3F, 1 B-747-228 that is leased to El Al Israel Airlines, and 2 B-747-4R7Fs. The latter, valued at $275 million and received in November, are the first of their type delivered anywhere in the world.
From Luxembourg, all-cargo flights are made to Abu Dhabi, Athens, Bangkok, Colombo, Damascus, Dubai, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Houston, Huntsville, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Mexico City, San Francisco, Seattle, Singapore, Tacoma, and Taipei.
New service to Los Angeles begins in the fall and, in October, a new alliance is signed with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. Under its terms, the two carriers agree to code-share their flights over the routes from Luxembourg to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Cargo remains level at 1.26 billion FTKs and, despite an operating loss of $1.7 million, there is a net profit of $1.44 million.
Operations continue apace in 1994. Permission is received from the Japanese government in January to shift services from Fukuoka to Komatsu Airport. Traffic rights to Bahrain are also acquired. Early in the year, Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. purchases block-space on the carrier’s Dash-4R7F Jumbojet service to Los Angeles and abandons its own.
During the last week of July, the company begins its first around-the-world scheduled freight route; twice weekly, a B-747-4R7F flies to Taipei, Komatsu, Khabarovsk, and Fairbanks and then, via the North Pole, returns to Luxembourg.
In August, a joint development agreement is signed with Vietnam Airlines. On August 8 weekly all-cargo flights commence between Ho Chi Minh City and Luxembourg employing a Cargolux B-747F.
Overall freight traffic increases dramatically during the year, rising 37% to 1.73 billion FTKs. Revenues swell 27% to $307 million and with expenses only up 20.1% to $296.3 million, there is an operating surplus of $3.2 million. This year, however, there is a net loss of $1.7 million.
Airline employment is increased by 20.5% to 735 in 1995, the twenty-fifth anniversary year.
During the spring, new services are started to Madras, Detroit, and New York. In July, the carrier’s fully integrated, on-line cargo system, CHAMPS, is successfully introduced.
Late in the year, weekly service is inaugurated between Europe and the South African cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town. The weekly roundtrip service to South Africa is doubled on December 18.
Cargo traffic jumps again during these 12 months, up 12% to 1.94 billion FTKs. Revenues total $389 million and there is a $15.3-million net gain.
The workforce grows another 7.3% in 1996 to 886 and the owned fleet now includes 2 B-747-271Cs and 1 each B-747-428F and B-747-4R7Fs. Also operated, under charter, are 1 B-747-4R7F and 1 B-747-228F, which is subleased to Atlas Air.
Doubling the size of existing storage facilities and warehousing, a new cargo terminal is opened at Luxembourg early in the year. When the giant Swiss forwarder agrees to take half of the space on every flight, Cargolux launches weekly roundtrips to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Weekly roundtrip service to Chile is inaugurated in July.
A total of 2.02 billion FTKs are operated, a 4.1% increase. There are profits on top of the $404 million in revenues: $4.77 million (operating) and $7.33 million (net).
Airline employment jumps 13.7% in 1997 to 1,007. In early October, a $825-million order is placed for 4 B-747-400Fs that will begin to be delivered in 12 months.
When Lufthansa Cargo, A. G. determines during the month that it no longer requires its 25.4% stake in Cargolux, that shareholding is sold by parent Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. to Swissair, A. G.’s Swisscargo, which is owned by SAirGroup’s SAirLogistics subsidiary.
World History
