Is established at Santiago during the summer of 1992 to offer scheduled domestic passenger and cargo services. Employing a Boeing 737-200 chartered from Polaris Aircraft Leasing Corp., the company begins operations in August.
Unable to achieve viability, the new entrant shuts its doors early in 1993.
SOUTHEAST SKYWAYS: United States (1968-1982). Dean Williams and Billy Bernhardt found Southeast Skyways at Juneau in Alaska in March 1968. Employing several Cessna 206s, they begin operations to various nonscheduled destinations in the southeastern part of the state.
In June 1982, the company is purchased by Jim Shanks and Jim Lindsey and, perhaps inadvertently, takes the same name as the famous CIA-sponsored airline of southeast Asia fame, Air America. Shanks and Lindsey sell out to Bob Jacobsen, Mike Fenster, and Drew Haag on November 1. The corporate identity is changed again on February 22, 1983 to Wings of Alaska.
SOUTHEASTERN AIRLINES: United States (1982-1983). Southeastern is set up at Huntsville, Alabama, in the spring of 1982 to offer scheduled passenger and cargo services to regional destinations. Employing 1 each Cessna 402 and Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante, plus an Australian-made Government Aircraft Factory (GAF) Nomad N-24A, Southeastern inaugurates daily roundtrips on June 15 linking its base with Gadsden, Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, Auburn, Tupelo, and Columbus.
Overextended, the company goes out of business in 1983.
SOUTHEASTERN COMMUTER AIRLINES: United States (1979-1983). Roy H. Hagerty, president of Coastal Air, reforms his third-level service at Auburn, Alabama in 1979. Employing 1 de Havil-land DH 104 Dove and 2 Riley Doves, the operator undertakes scheduled passenger and cargo service to Opelika and Atlanta. Flights continue apace into the new decade, losing additional money each year as operating costs, led by fuel prices, increase.
Unable to survive both inflation and recession, the carrier agrees to its takeover by and merger into Atlantic Southeast Airlines in April 1983.
SOUTHEND-ON-SEAFLYING SERVICE, LTD.: United Kingdom (1932-1935). Southend-on-Sea is registered on December 15, 1932. Services finally begin, in conjunction with Short Brothers, Ltd., on June 9, 1934, when a Short Scion and a de Havilland DH 83 Fox Moth initiate hourly Southend-Rochester ferry service; frequency is cut to four trips per day as of October 7 and suspended for winter.
During the summer of 1935, two routes are opened from Allhallows: to Rochester and to Southend, as well as an experimental twice-weekly Rochester-Portsmouth frequency. The company ceases operations on October 26.
SOUTHERN AIR: 4323 Eastpointe Dr., Columbus, Ohio 43232, United States; Phone 614-759-5000; Year Founded 1999. In February 1999, a group of former Southern Air Transport managers and others band together under the name of Devon Partners and announce plans for the creation of a new Southern Air that will succeed their historic pioneer. Capitalization of $3.4 million is secured and the SAT assets are purchased in March. The reborn airline, under the leadership of President Thomas Gillies, begins the DOT/FAA certification process, applying for the international routes previously operated by SAT.
An 18-year-old B-747-230F is purchased from Lufthansa Cargo Airlines, A. G.; it will be wet-leased to other carriers under ACMI contracts until the new Southern can resume its own flight operations. Two more B-747-230Fs are acquired by midyear.
As the year progresses and Southern’s government paperwork is reviewed, rival Kitty Hawk International opposes the Southern application for the old SAT routes, claiming that the new concern is asking for established routes before it is granted operating authority. This potential breech of the rules is not acceptable and the DOT settles the question in mid-November. Southern is granted its operating permit. However, all certificates and exemption authority held by the defunct SAT are cancelled. Any U. S. carrier may now bid on the routes Southern had hoped would come to it.
ACMI service is continued in 2000. Following the termination of services by Kitty Hawk International, Southern, beginning on May 15, is able to finally operate its own Jumbojet services, in its own colors, over the old KHI routes.
A third B-747F is acquired at the beginning of August; wearing the new “SA” logo on its tail, it begins service on behalf of Cathay Pacific Airways (Pty.), Ltd. Plans are now made to start a new hub at Chicago (ORD).
SOUTHERN AIR, LTD.: P. O. Box 860, Invercargill, 9500, New Zealand; Phone 64 (3) 218-9129; Fax 64 (3) 214-4681; Code WK; Year Founded 1978. When an airfield is built on Stewart Island, the amphibious operation undertaken by Stewart Island Air Services, Ltd. is changed to a land-based service. To promote this new approach, SIAS is renamed Southern Air, Ltd. on January 28, 1978. Simultaneously, Chairman W. G. Broughton and General Manager W. M. Norris’ new fleet of 1 GAF Nomad N-22B, 1 Piper PA-23 Aztec, and 1 Cessna 402 inaugurate scheduled flights. Frequencies to Dunedin are inaugurated in 1980.
Services are maintained throughout the 1980s. In 1986, Keith A. Smith becomes managing director and the fleet is altered. Gone are the Cessnas and Nomad, replaced by three Pilatus-Britten-Norman PBN-2 Islanders. Operations continue through the remainder of the decade and the workforce grows to 22.
Traffic and financial figures become available in 1991 and show a total of 31,000 passengers carried in 1990. Revenues total NZ$1.8 million, expenses are NZ$1.5 million, and the operating profit is NZ$300,000. Net gain reaches NZ$1.8 million.
Fiscal results are no longer released, primarily because money is lost as customer bookings decline to 28,000 in 1991, a figure exactly repeated in 1992, despite the addition of a fourth Islander.
Operations continue apace in 1993-1998 as Managing Director Smith adds a fourth PBN-2 Islander and several additional Cessna 402s are returned to service. On August 19 of the latter year, a Cessna 402 with 10 passengers crashes while on a flight-seeing tour (4 dead).
Service is maintained without further incident into the new millennium. In March 2000, the company is taken over by Southeast Air, Ltd., who operates Southern as a division.
SOUTHERN AIR FAST EXPRESS (SAFE): United States (19301931). Following its purchase by American Airways in September 1930, Southwest Air Fast Express (SAFEWAY), the conglomerate’s newest subsidiary, joins with the Robertson division, original recipient of the Contract Air Mail Route No. 2 (CAM-2) from Chicago to St. Louis, to bid on a new service, CAM-33, Atlanta to Los Angeles.
The two, independent on paper, are duly awarded the new contract on October 15 and in turn sublet it to Southern Air Fast Express, another new AA subsidiary outfitted four days earlier with all of SAFEWAY’s Ford Tri-Motors. For a publicity photograph, one of these, Ford 5-AT-29, gives a strength demonstration test later in the month when 32 employees are lined up atop its wing.
SAFE will be renamed Southern Transcontinental Airways, half-owned by the AA parent. While the ink dries on the various papers, American Airways flies the mail service. A year later, in October 1931, the company is folded into its parent.
SOUTHERN AIR LINES (YUGAVIAAVIATRANSPORTNII KON-CERN): 40 Ulitsa Engelsa, Rostov-on-Don, 344700, Russia; Phone 7 (8632) 664 698; Fax 7 (8632) 664 698; Code V4; Year Founded 1992. When Aeroflot Soviet Airlines is reformed in 1992, this longtime North Caucasian directorate, based at Rostov-on-Don, becomes a semiautonomous division of Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA).
G. A. Kruglikov is director general and his fleet includes 20-plus Tupolev Tu-154s, 20-plus Tu-134s, 10-plus Yakovlev Yak-42s, 20-plus Yak-40s, 15-plus Antonov An-24s/-26s, and 10-plus An-12s. Passenger and cargo charters are added to other CIS destinations, as well as localities in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Enplanments total 5,327,148.
The 1993 downturn in the Russian economy significantly impacts traffic results. Passenger boardings fall 39.8% to 3,810,550 while freight is down 26.3% to 725 million FTKs. The number of Tu-154s is reduced to 15 in 1994 as the carrier suffers another decline in customer bookings, down 11% to 3.39 million. Cargo falls to 13.1% to 630 million FTKs. The company struggles through 1995 before setting down to success in 1996-1997. The Russian currency crisis, which begins in the summer of 1998, plays havoc with company finances and finally puts the concern out of the passenger business.
AirlinersOnline. com reports, on August 18, 2000, that a new Southern Cargo Air Lines has been formed at Taganrog/Urrt, 43 nm. W of Rostov-on-Don, to operate charters with a single An-12.
SOUTHERN AIR TRANSPORT: United States (1946-1998). Established by Frederick C. “Doc” Moor and Stanley G. Williams at Miami in 1946, SAT has a long and at times controversial history in contract and charter cargo work. Initially the carrier is equipped with one purchased and two leased Curtiss C-46 Commandos and specializes in livestock carriage. Early services are within Florida and to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands.
The company is formally incorporated in Florida on October 31, 1949. In the 1950s, the carrier is awarded Supplemental status and begins to participate in the USAF LogAir and later, the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) program.
A C-46F with two crew must be written off following a hard landing at Dallas on July 19, 1953; there are no fatalities.
In 1960, the MATS requires that all contract carriers in the Far East be certified as both a supplemental and LogAir participant. In need of such an entity to fulfill an MATS contract then being operated by Air America from Tachikawa AFB near Tokyo to Pacific destinations, another proprietary, the Pacific Corporation—the covert airline holding company of the U. S. CIA—decides to purchase an existing civilian airline.
A survey of the nation’s 18 supplemental carriers reveals Miami-based SAT to be the most agreeable acquisition candidate, particularly as a contingency need is envisioned for airlift capability into South America. With the concurrence of the Civil CAB, DOD, Air America management, and the appropriate CIA bureaus, CIA Director Allen W. Dulles approves the takeover on July 15, authorizing that funds be made available from the budget of Clandestine Services.
The Pacific Corporation purchases indebted SAT, then with an appeal pending for permanent certification before the CAB, for $307,506.10. With
Moor and Williams remaining corporate officials and nominal half-owners, the company is divided into two divisions. The Atlantic division continues to operate from the company’s Miami facilities. The Pacific division headquarters are transferred to Tokyo’s Tachikawa AFB. Meanwhile, Pacific Corporation guarantees a $6.6-million loan to SAT from private bankers.
In Japan, the operator is reequipped with 3 Douglas DC-6s paid for with a $6.7-million loan obtained via the CIA proprietary company Actus Technology and transferred from the CIA airline Air America. SAT begins to fly military personnel and charter cargos on October 1 to various Oriental destinations, especially Okinawa, where a large CIA supply base is maintained. By year’s end, the value of assets rises from $100,000 to $2.5 million, debt is gone, and a $75,000 profit (all above board from military contracts) can be reported.
Over the next 13 years, SAT undertakes both legitimate and “black” flights on behalf of its secret owners. The latter entail the unheralded transfer of arms from the CIA’s Okinawa supply center to secret bases in India, Thailand, and elsewhere. The fleet is increased by the addition of three more DC-6s.
During the April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, a Dominican-registered Consolidated PBY-5A is converted by the airline into a communications center at Miami and is used by the CIA under the code name Swan Island. A C-46 crashes at Point-a-Pitre in the French West Indies on July 11, 1962.
In April 1966, Southern is one of 10 supplementals to obtain permanent certification and on September 30 the CAB grants Caribbean and Pacific scheduled all-cargo operating authority. Revenues publicly reported for the year are $7,539,281. Operating expenses are $6,830,257 and the net profit is $379,205.
Revenues in 1967 jump to $16,518,465. Profits are also up: $1,558,366 (operating) and $$1,267,833 (net).
In 1968 it is decided that in order for the airline to compete more effectively for military contracts (often legitimate, but sometimes used to cover secret operations), SAT must have two Boeing 727-92Cs. These are delivered and give every outward appearance of being normal “three-holers,” but are in fact covertly modified to allow airdrops, a capability never employed.
One of these is loaned in January to Civil Air Transport (CAT), another CIA proprietary, which crashes it on Taiwan on February 16 (21 dead). During the year, two Lockheed L-100-20 freighters are placed into service, making SAT the first operator of the commercial Hercules.
Revenues for the year are down to $10,369,865. Profits are the smallest in years: $102,513 (operating) and $87,845 net.
The fleet in 1969 comprises the 2 Boeings, 2 L-100-20s, 1 DC-7C, 3 DC-6A/Bs, 2 DC-4s, and 2 C-46Fs.
Revenues are $11,044,960. Although a $147,190 operating profit is earned, a $1,470 net loss is taken.
In 1970, income declines to $10,789,552 as the number of legitimate contracts flown is, along with the carrier’s Indochinese involvement, reduced.
The operating profit falls to $96,445, but a $50,820 net profit is realized.
Out of 10 U. S. supplemental carriers in 1971, SAT is the ninth largest, flying 23.59 million freight ton-miles. That number declines in 1972, down by 2.19% to 23.16 million. A total of 39,000 charter passengers carried are and the workforce is 155.
Meanwhile, on April 2, CIA Director William E. Colby authorizes the divestiture of CIA ownership and control, beginning with the immediate elimination of the carrier’s Pacific division and sale of the two Boeings. In May, two CIA officials meet with CAB officials to determine the best way in which to disengage the agency from the carrier. As a result of this conference, CIA determines to sell the carrier to its current management.
Income is bolstered by operation of a $2-million, 6-month relief operation to Bangladesh on behalf of AID. FTKs flown are 33.82 million. Overall income reported on CAB Form 41 is $8.17 million and expenses are $8.31 million. Consequently, a $141,000 operating loss is absorbed. On the other hand, a net profit of $51,000 is posted.
On January 19, 1973, the CIA director officially approves the sale of SAT to its current management. SAT’s board of directors, on February 28, executes corporate action on the sale agreement. On March 1, a petition for approval of the sale is filed with the CAB Once the proposed arrangement is opened to public inspection, other supplemental airlines step forward to object; the CIA makes known its position that failure of the sale will mean the company’s dissolution. Still, SAT remains the target of complaints to the CAB from potential competitors, which attack the airline’s growth through “illegal” government subsidies.
On July 31, the CIA director orders SAT’s dissolution; however, the current management steps forward with a new plan. It will remove itself from CAB jurisdiction by relinquishing its supplemental status and fly as a Part 121 operator. As CAB approval would not be required in such a case, the CIA agrees, on October 1, to this new arrangement, pending the purchaser’s ability to obtain prompt financing.
Four days later, a new sale agreement is executed. On November 29, the First National Bank of Chicago agrees to loan the purchaser $4.5 million and the sale is closed on December 31. SAT is sold back to its original owners for $2,145,000. Following repayment of a $3,125,000 Air America loan, SAT has $8.1 million in assets and $868,490.09 in liabilities. All-cargo service is resumed from Miami to Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands. The number of FTKs flown declines by 32.58% to 22.8 million and 22 employees are laid off.
A dispute over a clause in the contract forces arbitration between SAT and Air America on January 25, 1974. A civil suit filed in March by a group of SAT employees, which disputes the propriety of the airline’s sale by the CIA, is dismissed by a federal court “with prejudice” on July 17. After eight months of discussion, the arbitrator rules in favor of Air America on September 5 and SAT is required to pay the CIA an additional $1,304,243.
All of these acquisition and disposal details will be examined in 1975 by the U. S. Senate’s Select Committee to Study Government Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, also known as the Church Committee for its Chairman Sen. Frank Church. Results will be published in Book 1 of its 1976 Final Report.
During the civil war in Angola, SAT is often contracted to fly in munitions and various other supplies.
Operations continue apace in through 1977-1978 and President Stanley G. Williams oversees a workforce of 75 and operates a fleet of 1 Lockheed L-100-30 and 1 L-100-20 Hercules freighters. During the latter year, some 42% of all contract work is flown on behalf of the Iranian Air Force. Losses total $272,928.
James H. Bastian, who had been the company’s legal counsel during its years as a CIA proprietary company, becomes sole owner and chairman in 1979. The fall of the Shah of Iran’s government has a significant impact on company traffic and revenue figures. FTKs operated have declined since mid-decade and total 14.28 million in 1980.
The fleet in 1981 includes 1 DC-6A, 3 L-100-30s, and 1 DC-8-21F. In May, CASAIR (Caribbean Air Services) is reconstituted by SAT’s owners to fly DC-3 and DC-6 scheduled cargo flights in the eastern Caribbean from a base at San Juan.
Overall, FTKs operated skyrocket 73.4% to 24.76 million.
On December 28, 1982, the CAB revokes the company’s scheduled operating permit; however, the one for military charters granted in 1960 is retained.
Freight traffic totals 16.47 million FTKs and revenues are $9.8 million. Despite the generation of a $628,700 operating profit, the company suffers a net $111,000 loss.
William G. Langton, former executive of The Flying Tiger Line and Evergreen International Airlines becomes president in 1983. Cargo plunges 28.3% to 12.84 million FTKs.
Despite the traffic downturn, the year is financially successful. Operating income climbs 18.7% to $11.64 million while costs rise 11% to $10.18 million. Consequently, the operating profit jumps to $1.45 million and a pleasing $614,000 net gain is reported.
Airline employment grows 38.5% in 1984 to 180 and the fleet comprises 6 Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules. After appeal, SAT suspends its scheduled flights to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, continuing to operate worldwide all-freight and contract service flights. A total of $9.1 million in contracts is won from the USAF MAC. Much of this funding will cover the commitment of up to eight L-100s on daily shuttle flights between continental U. S. military bases.
Additionally, the once and future covert operator becomes a feeder operator for UPS (United Parcel Service), as the latter expands its flight operations.
The carrier’s largest private account is accepted from IAS-Guernsey, Ltd., an Anglo-Irish firm that has been contracted to provide cargo services for the Marxist government of Angola. As the flying subcontractor for IAS, SAT operates 296 flights into Luanda between June and December. Cuban soldiers are passengers on some of the services.
Largely as a result of these new arrangements, the carrier is able to boost its cargo traffic by a whopping 477% to 74.05 million FTKs. The year’s profits are $4.17 million (operating) and $1.84 million (net).
The payroll is increased by 38.9% in 1985 to 250 and the fleet includes the 16 Hercules freighters plus 8 B-707-320B/Cs. Under contract to the shadowy U. S. National Security Agency subgroup “The Enterprise” operated by Maj. Gen. Richard Secord, USAF (Ret.) and USMC Lt. Col. Oliver North, the carrier in January undertakes a contract for munitions flights from Portugal to Guatemala, munitions destined for the Nicaraguan Contras.
President Langton seeks to increase the company’s military work and undertakes freight haulage for the U. S. military’s LogAir and Quicktrans systems. An additional $23.4 million worth of MAC contracts is received.
In May, three B-707-369Cs are purchased from Kuwait Airways; flown to Miami during July and August, they are outfitted with Tracor hush kits before joining the fleet.
According to an account in the August 1, 1990 issue of the Miami Herald, in October, Richard Gadd, an associate of North and Secord, requests SAT President Langton to dispatch Senior Vice President Robert Mason to Panama. There, he is to set up Amalgamated Commercial Enterprises (ACE), whose main purpose is the establishment of a commercial bank account through which funds may be funneled for the purchase of supplies for the Contra network. Mason will later contend that the funds SAT expends for supplies are reimbursed.
Flights on behalf of IAS-Gurnsey, Ltd. into Angola continue during the year, as the carrier makes 579 flights for the Irish concern. Following a warning from the DOS, SAT stops offering passage to Cuban troops. In addition, L-100s perform 105 services into the Angolan port city of Benguela on behalf of the U. S. government.
SAT is contracted in November to fly a shipment of American arms between Israel and Iran via Portugal. Security for the arrangements made by Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, which are supposed to have been kept secret, is compromised and information concerning the flight is reported in the press, bringing a measure of embarrassment to all of the governments concerned.
The total number of FTKs operated decline by 24.8% to 55.68 million. Revenues jump 29.9% to $38.58 million, costs climb 26.5% to $32.25 million, and a $6.33 million operating profit is generated. Net profit doubles to $3.92 million.
Operations continue apace in 1986 as the number of LogAir and overnight express flights is increased. The company now also undertakes monthly flights to Havana on behalf of the State Department’s U. S. Interests Section.
As the result of a Sandinista incursion into Honduras in March, the Honduran government requests aid from the U. S. A grant of $20 million in military aid is authorized to Honduras, along with an airlift contract for transport. Meanwhile, the DOS is authorized to provide “humanitarian” assistance to the Contras; Lt. Col. North establishes the Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office (NHAO) to provide airlift services, which are contracted out to SAT.
At the end of March, the carrier’s Hercules freighters begin flying from Washington, D. C. (IAD) and New Orleans down to the Contra airfield at Aguacate, Honduras. Thereafter, they also undertake NHAO flights to Ilopango and beginning in April, airdrops over Nicaragua.
Just after takeoff from Kelly AFB at San Antonio on October 4, Flight LOG51, an L-382G with 3 crew, having reached an altitude of 700 ft., banks left in a roll and dives into the ramp area in an almost inverted attitude, sliding between two hangars and exploding. There are no survivors.
Under the direction of Gen. Secord’s lieutenant Robert C. Dutton and SAT management, Corporate Air Services, which has hired a number of former Air America and Cuban exile pilots, undertakes covert aerial supply drop missions to the Contras in 1987. Project Democracy flights from Costa Rica to Nicaragua are undertaken by de Havilland Canada C-7 Caribous and Fairchild C-123 Providers.
While landing after a training flight from Fairfield-Travis AFB, California, on April 8, Flight 517, an L-100-30 with five crew, loses power and smashes into the airport perimeter fence; all aboard are killed and the aircraft must be written off.
On August 21, SAT pays $86.4 million to purchase the entire 11-unit Hercules fleet of Transamerica Airlines, raising the number of its airplanes to 12 hush-kitted B-707-320QCs and 17 L-100-30s.
During September, Project Democracy aircraft drop 185,000 pounds of supplies in Nicaragua in 10-15 missions.
On October 5, a Fairchild Provider is shot down over the jungles of northern Nicaragua and “kicker” Eugene Hasenfus is the only one of four crewmen to survive (he is the only one wearing a parachute). Captured by the Sandinistas, Hasenfus claims that his plane had been hired by the CIA. Following this claim, the U. S. covert air operation in support of the Contras is compromised and media exposure helps to unravel the so-called Iran-Contra Affair. Later in the month, Lt. Col. North is able to intervene with the DOJ and convince it to abandon an investigation it is about to launch into the activities of SAT.
Freight traffic increases to 392.5 million FTKs and revenues skyrocket 74.5% to $119.5 million. The latter figure allows the controversial airline to advance from the ranks of the large regionals to national status. Profits total $15.17 million (operating) and $7.62 million (net).
The workforce is increased by 8.1% in 1988 to 683. Two more Strato-liner freighters are acquired. A variety of government contracts are undertaken to provide L-100 relief flights to various famine-plagued African destinations, including Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Seven Hercules freighters are assigned to what was once labeled as the “Dark Continent,” flying for such international relief organizations as the International Committee of the Red Cross and Caritas, the Catholic relief agency.
The carrier is also the first to employ the Hercules to spray insecticide, again on African contract, in Senegal and Morocco, and the first to land relief supplies in Soviet Armenia following the December earthquake.
Freight traffic grows by only 0.7% to 397 million FTKs, but revenues increase 17.82% to $140.81 million. Costs are held to a 14.5% increase, $119.47 million, and allow operating income to reach $21.34 million. Net gain grows to $9.93 million.
Airline employment grows again in 1989, up 12.4% to 770. The fleet is dramatically increased to include 1 Boeing 707-311C, 3 B-707-321Cs, 1 B-707-399C, and 2 B-707-338Cs leased from Burlington Air Express in support of a contract with that operator. Also included are 1 B-707-321C and 1 B-707-338C leased from and operated for CP Air Freight, Ltd., 3 B-707-369Cs, 2 Lockheed L-382Es, 15 L-382Gs, including 3 (representing an entire fleet) leased from Globe Air, and an L-1329 Jetstar 6. SAT is now the world’s largest commercial operator of both the Stratoliner and the Hercules.
The FAA officially grants the carrier authority to airdrop food and supplies and it becomes the first U. S. airline to operate such relief missions on behalf of the Red Cross.
Despite much activity, freight traffic is essentially flat, growing only a slight 0.4% to 399 million FTKs. Revenues rise 3.4% to $145.59 million. Costs, however, climb more quickly, by 10.5% to $132 million, cutting the operating profit to $13.6 million. Net profit falls to $5.9 million.
The number of employees grows by 3.9% in 1990 to 800 as the Jet-star 6 is withdrawn. Cooperation with Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2) is strengthened during July when a weekly joint Chicago to Tokyo air freight operation is initiated.
During the spring, SAT is contracted to provide three Hercules freighters in support of the Kutubu Project in Papua New Guinea; the L-100s begin to haul massive amounts of supplies and equipment in support of one of the most important oil discoveries ever on the Pacific Rim.
At the end of July, Eugene Hasenfus and the family of deceased airman Wallace Sawyer, who were shot down over Nicaragua on October 5, 1986, file suit against SAT and retired USAF Gen. Richard Secord. The suit contends that they misled the crew of the C-123 that was sent into dangerous territory with faulty equipment and that SAT should be held responsible for damages because the Miami-based airline employed a series of companies, such as ACE, to shield its covert Contra involvement from scrutiny.
While climbing away from Juba, Sudan, on August 12, the No. 4 engine of an L-100-30 with four crew and a passenger loses power, followed by problems with the No. 1 and 2 engines. A safe emergency landing is made back at the point of origin; however, the Hercules runs off the runway, stopping against a row of sea containers.
Cargo traffic declines a slight 0.6% to 396.68 million FTKs, but revenues swell 4.7% to $152.5 million. Expenses are only up 1.14% to $133.47 million and allow an operating profit of $19.02 million. Net gain balloons to $22.56 million.
The employee population is not significantly changed in 1991. One L-382G and one L-382E are withdrawn and the first two of six chartered Douglas DC-8-71F is acquired from GPA Group, Ltd. in February. The CP Air Freight, Ltd. charter is concluded and the Canadian operator’s aircraft are returned. Lockheed’s Hercules flight training center is purchased and in May SimuFlight, a simulator training facility based at Tampa, is purchased from bankruptcy.
An L-100-20 with five crew strikes a land mine while taking off from Wau, Sudan, on September 2 and crashes; there are no fatalities.
The Burlington Air Express contract is concluded and all of that operator’s B-707-321Cs and B-707-338Cs are returned. On charter, one more L-382G and four additional DC-8-71Fs are obtained.
Freight traffic declines by 13.1% to 344.71 million FTKs; however, revenues move upward by 14.65% to $174.85 million. Expenses jump 17.3% to $156.57 million and guarantee operating income of $18.98 million. Net profit jumps to $26.41 million.
Company employment is cut by 25% in 1992 to 600. Two DC-8-71Fs are replaced by a leased DC-8-73CFs.
On January 17, the company acquires all three of the Lockheed L-100-30 cargo planes previously operated by the Alaskan carrier MarkAir. Painted in SAT’s black, white, and gray colors, two of the aircraft will be wet-leased back to help MarkAir operate a $5.6 USAF contract, received the same day, to ferry cargo and passengers from El-mendorf AFB to Galena, King Salmon, Atka, Shemya, and Amchitka.
The downward spiral in cargo traffic continues with FTKs operated sliding to 234.442. Revenues drop 20.9% to $138.31 million, but expenses fall 15.9% to $131.74 million. As a result, operating profit is reduced to $6.57 million and net gain drops to $4.93 million.
Recognized as a specialist in the delivery of outsized cargo to bush areas where normal air transport does not exist or landing surface conditions are inappropriate, Chairman Bastion and President Langton oversee a workforce of 395 in 1993, a 34.2% decline from the previous year. Ad hoc/contract services are also offered to other cargo companies, airlines, and governments. In the spring, a minority interest is assumed in the Seattle-based freight carrier Polar Air Cargo.
B-747-100Fs will be chartered to the new entrant for use on long-haul cargo flights to Asia and Ireland, which will be made on the basis of the SAT certificate.
A new Corporate Aviation Services division is established in August to provide support services for operators of bizjets. Landing and overflight permits, contract fuel, weather services, computerized flight plans, and a worldwide high-frequency radio network will all be offered; if needed, CAS will also arrange for catering, ground transport, and hotel accommodations.
The support contract for the Kutubu Project in Papua New Guinea ends during the year.
Cargo traffic climbs 36% to 326.91 million FTKs and revenues plunge 13.6% to $119.45 million. Expenses are also down, by 10.3% to $118.23 million and allow operating income of $1.22 million. Net gain also declines, to $1.84 million.
Airline employment increases 51.9% in 1994 to 600. In late January, the company offers the oil industry locally based, specially outfitted transports that can be quickly placed into service to fight oil spills. Equipped with the Biegert Aerial Delivery Dispersal System, one each L-100 is stationed at Anchorage and London (CTN); the aircraft are able to fly regional cargo services when not required for special duties.
The last two B-707-369Cs are withdrawn from service early in the spring and in July, the first of three chartered Jumbojet freighters reports for duty, a B-747-273C leased from Evergreen International Airlines. It is employed on a long-term contract from Aerofloral of Colombia to make daily roundtrip flights transporting fresh flowers for the U. S. market from Bogota to Miami.
A contract is now accepted to fly cargo on behalf of Air India, Ltd. A Douglas DC-8-73, repainted in Air India Cargo livery but with the “S” logo on the tail, is placed on the service in August, flying pallets westward from Indian cities via the Mideast to Zurich and Brussels and hence, via Gander, to New York (JFK). Upon receipt of a second DC-8-73F in September, it is also committed to the weekly Indian service, flying on behalf of British Airways, Ltd. (2).
On October 24, a three-year contract is received from International Enterprise Group to operate twice-weekly, all-cargo roundtrips from Miami to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile.
Two additional leased Jumbojet freighters are put into service later in the year, one each B-747-212BC and B-747-246F, and these undertake the International Enterprise Group commission.
Freight traffic skyrockets 91.5% to 624.61 million FTKs and the year’s revenues advance by 40.5% to $167.79 million. Expenses are only up 33.5% to $157.87 million, leaving an operating surplus of $9.91 million and net profit of $8.95 million.
There is no change in the workforce during 1995. In March, the State of Ohio begins to woo the airline, promising it certain tax advantages if it will move to its capital city Columbus. SAT agrees, in return for economic incentives, to make the move over a three-year period.
It is announced on May 29 that Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2) will, during high traffic periods, turn over a portion of its cross-border cargo business to SAT. It is estimated that the Japanese company will save up to 10% over the cost of operating its own aircraft by wet-leasing needed capacity elsewhere.
A contract is entered into with Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2) and in July weekly B-747-212F services are inaugurated on its behalf from Tokyo (NRT) to the U. S.
In August, a DC-8-73F is leased from Challenge Air Cargo via GPA for eight months. During the summer, the company begins to move certain of its administrative staff to temporary facilities it has purchased at Rickenbacker Air Industrial Park; some aircraft maintenance operations are performed in a renovated military hangar. Plans are announced for the construction of a $35.8-million, 180,000-sq.-ft. facility on 30 acres at Rickenbacker during the following year. When up and running, the SAT complex is expected to provide 300 additional jobs for Ohioans.
It is announced in Columbus by The Daily Reporter on October 23 that the Ohio Job Creation Tax Authority has granted SAT a $1.79-million tax credit to attract its corporate and maintenance offices from Miami (MIA) to the city’s Rickenbacker Air Industrial Park. In addition, other incentives are also reported. These include a $212,000 Franklin County grant for infrastructure improvements, $300,000 in job recruitment services from the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, a $400,000 jobs training grant, $5-million direct loan, and $500,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Development.
At the beginning of November, four Lockheed L-100 Hercules freighters are leased to UPS (United Parcel Service); repainted in UPS colors, they will provide extra capacity into smaller airports for the upcoming holiday season.
Also in November, the company provides the aviation media with an inventory of its aircraft contracts. Of its 18 Hercules, 3 are employed by the USAF, 1 is on emergency standby and cargo duties for the North Sea oil industry while another performs similar duties out of Anchorage, 8 support relief activities in Africa, and 5 are available for ad hoc assignment. The two DC-8-73Fs continue to operate charters to India.
A total of 844.02 million FTKs are operated, a 35.7% increase. Revenues slightly exceed expenses and there is an operating profit of $445,000. A net $2.6-million loss is suffered.
The employee population remains the same in 1996. On January 2, SAT L-100 Hercules freighters begin a 90-day contract for Houston-based Brown & Root Services Corporation to fly supplies and equipment from Zagreb, Croatia, to Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina. These will be employed to build a road into Bosnia that will be employed by a force of 20,000 U. S. soldiers in the NATO Implementation Force (IFOR).
In a highly visible operation conducted on January 7, one of the L-100 Hercules freighters leased to UPS (United Parcel Service) is employed to transport the “killer whale” Keik, star of the Free Willie films. After a 9 1/2-hour flight from Mexico City via Monterrey, Mexico, and Phoenix, the Orca is placed in a custom-designed tank at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon.
On February 10, Oil Spill Response, Ltd., a subsidiary of Air Foyle, Ltd. , contracts with SAT to provide assistance in dispersing oil slicks up to 12 miles long off the Welsh coast. The slicks had been caused from the loss of an estimated 19 million gallons of light crude oil leaked from a stranded tanker. An SAT L-100-30 on February 11-12 flies three missions spraying dispersant on slicks off Milford Haven and across Carmarthen Bay in southwest Wales.
Ironically, a client’s spill of toxic mercury in the cargo hold of a company B-747F at the end of the month renders the plane useless.
On April 30, SAT receives DOT authority to employ its two leased B-747-246Fs over the dormant USAfrica Airways routes to South Africa. The previous month, in an effort to block the award, the U. S. District Court for the District of Delaware at the request of Tower Air issued a temporary restraining order. This order is now withdrawn and within weeks the Jumbo freighters will commence twice-weekly roundtrips from Columbus via New York (JFK) to Johannesburg and Cape Town with a non-traffic technical stop at Sal Island.
On May 8, the Ohio Department of Development awards the airline another $500,000 grant for the purchase of equipment in connection with the construction of its new headquarters facility.
On May 15, the DOT awards SAT authorization to undertake two additional roundtrips to South Africa. When the flights commence in early fall, they will operate from Columbus to New York (JFK) and from there via Luanda (Angola) to Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Also in May, Challenge Air Cargo leases a B-767-34AFER from UPS (United Parcel Service) on a month-to-month basis. The wide-body, which replaces a DC-8F previously leased from SAT, will be employed to operate weekend all-cargo services from Miami (MIA) to Venezuela and Brazil.
In an executive session of the Rickenbacker Port Authority board on June 5, SAT spokesman David Sweet informs the lawmakers that, because it has a shortage of Jumbojet freighters (only two are currently available), portions of the company’s three-year transition plan must be delayed. Groundbreaking for the $180,000-sq.-ft. hangar facility must be put off until the spring of 1997.
During late spring and summer, the company continues its piecemeal relocation from Miami to Rickenbacker AFB, Ohio; a company press release indicates that the move is made because Columbus is with 800 km. of the entire U. S. population.
Cargo traffic drops 10.9% to 752.1 million FTKs. Financial figures are provided through September. Costs of $118.62 million are less than operating income of $119.93 million; the operating gain increases to $1.31 million, but the net loss deepens to $2.8 million. It will later be reported that revenue income for the whole year is just $164.5 million.
The fleet at the beginning of 1997 includes 2 leased B-747-246Fs, 1 chartered B-747-212F, 3 leased DC-8-73Fs, 1 chartered DC-8-71F, plus 1 owned L-382E and 14 owned L-382Gs.
During the spring, an L-382G is contracted to transport mining supplies and fuel in support of a copper mining program being undertaken in Tabubil, Papua New Guinea. The groundbreaking in Ohio is again postponed and will never, in fact, occur.
On July 11, an interline agreement is signed with Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2). Under its terms, twice-weekly JAL flights from Tokyo (NRT) to San Francisco will offload their goods to an SAT aircraft, which will deliver them to Dallas (DFW) the next day. The service replaces the current Tokyo-Atlanta offering, which requires truck transport from the Georgia hub to Dallas (DFW).
In August, it is revealed that the company will postpone its expansion plans until the year 2000 to allow for an increase in the Jumbojet freighter fleet to nine planes. With Hercules-required relief flights fewer in number, efforts are pressed to sell off the L-382 fleet.
On August 19, a contract is signed with Cargolux Airlines International, S. A. to serve eight cities from a Luxembourg base, including Huntsville, Alabama, Miami, and Bradley, Connecticut, as well as cities in Scotland, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela.
During December, the company purchases a B-747-249F from Northwest Airlines.
A total of 221.4 million FTKs are operated, a gigantic 70.6% decline. Operating revenues slide 2.8% to $159.82 million, while expenses rise 6.6% to $173.92 million. The previous year’s operating gain becomes a $14.1 million loss, while the net loss deepens to $17.7 million.
While landing at Mekoryuk, Alaska after a January 10, 1998, flight from Anchorage, an L-382G Hercules with four crew crashes; although the aircraft is badly damaged, no injuries are reported.
The new Jumbojet freighter is delivered to Southern’s Miami hub in January. Under contract to South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd., the aircraft quickly relocates to New York (JFK) from which it begins thrice-weekly all-cargo flights to Johannesburg, via Amsterdam and Lagos.
Following a massive February 4 earthquake in the area of Rustaq, Afghanistan, a city located near the country’s northern boarder, the company is contracted by the International Committee of the Red Cross to fly relief missions. A Hercules freighter and two flight crews are dispatched to Peshawar, Pakistan, from which the huge turboprop will fly relief missions, dropping palletized, bagged supplies in 18,000-lb. deployments from 700 ft.
Beginning on March 7, an L-382G Hercules is sent to Trujillo, Peru, on contract to Minera Yanacocha, S. A., a subsidiary of Newmont Gold, the second largest gold producer in the world. Over the next 45 days, the freighter will fly diesel fuel 5 times daily into the mining base at Caja-marca. The aerial operations replace road transport, which has been made impossible by the heavy rains in the area caused by El Nino.
Under terms of a second subcontract signed with Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2) on March 24, a B-747-212F is employed, beginning on April 1, to offer weekly all-cargo roundtrips between Tokyo (NRT) to the U. S.
By the end of the second quarter, five Hercules freighters have been sold under the crash program to dispose of the turboprop freighters. Also in June, the Rickenbacker maintenance facility is shut down, with 110 employees laid off.
On July 22, Fine Air executes a letter of intent to acquire SAT. The acquisition is expected to be completed within 90 days, subject to the satisfactory completion of due diligence, receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, and certain other conditions, including board approvals. Fine has plans to continue its new subsidiary as a separate company, which will, in turn, lease its five B-747-200Fs to other carriers. Three would be taken by Fine itself for use on its expanding Latin American services.
In the month afterwards, both parties work together in an effort to develop an acquisition plan that will be effective for both companies. A major stumbling block occurs when SAT is unable to find a buyer for the remainder of its fleet of Lockheed Hercules freighters, which Fine does not want to acquire.
Unable to find a way to dispose of the Lockheeds, an agreement is not reached; both parties elect to explore other business opportunities and terminate their acquisition plans on August 24.
Just after it has extricated itself from due diligence under a letter of intent for its acquisition by Fine Air, Southern signs a nonbinding letter of intent to be taken over by Kitty Hawk Airways. If completed, the acquisition will be made for a combination of cash and stock and indemnities against certain SAT lease obligations. Kitty Hawk will not get the SAT fleet of Lockheed Hercules aircraft which, with their related parts and equipment and associated debt, will be transferred to another entity before closing.
Again, the transaction is expected to be completed within 90 days, subject to the negotiation and execution of a definitive purchase agreement, receipt of regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of closing conditions.
Unable to reach a definitive agreement, once more because of the Hercules fleet, discussions for the acquisition of SAT end on September 14. The press release issued the next morning indicates that there are no penalties or fees for either side associated with the breakdown.
Three tires are blown as a B-747-200F takes off from Miami (MIA) on September 21. The aircraft makes a safe emergency landing back at its point of origin, but is parked.
On September 24, the company informs its clients that financial problems will cause it to shut down. Company employees are made aware of the bleak situation on September 25, the same day 450 of their number nationwide, including flight crews, maintenance workers, and support personnel, are laid off. Some 30 workers are kept on at headquarters. At the same time, the three operational B-747-200Fs are ferried back to Columbus and the remaining L-382Gs are sent to a facility at Marana, Arizona.
When the historic carrier shuts its doors on September 26, over 800 creditors, including the State of Ohio, begin lining up for payment of outstanding debts.
SAT files for Chapter XI bankruptcy protection on October 1 in U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Assets of $111.3 million are listed, with liabilities of $103 million. The Lockheeds are eventually sold, mostly in Africa, and although no plans are immediately announced for either reorganization or a resumption of services, the company homepage on the Internet’s World Wide Web remains active through the end of December.
In February 1999, a group of SAT managers and others band together under the name Devon Partners and announce plans for the creation of a new Southern Air that will succeed their historic pioneer. Capitalization of $3.4 million is secured and the SAT assets are purchased in March. The reborn airline, under the leadership of President Thomas Gillies, begins the DOT/FAA certification process, applying for the international routes previously operated by SAT. An 18-year-old B-747-230F is purchased from Lufthansa Cargo Airlines, A. G.; it will be wet-leased to other carriers until the new Southern can resume its own flight operations.
SOUTHERN AIR TRANSPORT SYSTEM: United States (19291930). Tennessee financier A. P. Barrett, who had purchased and reformed Texas Air Transport in November 1928, with the assistance of his Vice President/Treasurer Cyrus R. (“C. R.”) Smith, forms SATS on March 31,1929, incorporating it under the laws of the state of Delaware. The operation, which may have been modeled on the Universal Air Lines System of Universal Aviation Corporation, has a number of divisions, including three airline subsidiaries: Texas Air Transport, which maintains its CAM-21 and CAM-22 mail routes; Texas Flying
Service, the former TAT passenger division; and Gulf Coast Airways (formerly St. Tammany-Gulf Coast Airways), a new acquisition.
CAM-32 from Atlanta to New Orleans and CAM-29 from New Orleans to Houston routes are continued under the St. Tammany name. All passenger work is turned over to a combined TFS-St. Tammany division christened SAT Flying Services, which employs Fokker Model 8 Super Universals, Curtiss Robins, and Travel Air 6000s over the El Paso-Dallas-Houston-Brownsville multistop network.
In May, Barrett sells controlling interest to the Aviation Corporation (AVCO), but continues to operate his system under its previous name. On May 16, the company’s Fokker Model 8 Super Universal makes a nonfatal crash landing during a storm into the Delaware Mountains of Texas. While flying over Bogalusa, Louisiana, on September 1, pilot W. A. McDonald’s Curtiss Robin, with two passengers aboard, suffers a wing failure, but safely crash - lands.
In the fall, passengers on the Dallas-El Paso route are provided with box lunches; the promotional sandwiches, taken aboard at Big Springs, prove quite popular with travelers. A Pitcairn PA-5 of the St. Tammany-Gulf Coast subsidiary crashes upon takeoff at Galveston, Texas, on November 14. The wreck is put on a truck for Dallas, but catches fire and is destroyed with its transport at Bremond. Preparing to land at Amarillo from a December 30 sight-seeing tour, the Travel Air 6000B piloted by station manager Robert Gray crashes (five dead).
On January 25, 1930, American Airways is formed as AVCO’s principal operating subsidiary through the expedient of a stock exchange between the new entrant and the holding company’s subsidiaries. Consequently, SATS receives 2,074 shares in AA and is now both a stockholder and a division. The Southern story is finished under the American Airlines entry.
World History
