Formed at Beirut late in 1945 with Air France as majority shareholder. Using French-made Junkers Ju-52/3ms, the company begins service in summer 1946 to several Mideast destinations. Although it retains a management contract, private interests buy out the French flag carrier’s control in 1948. That year, monthly flights are undertaken from Beirut to Dakar and Lagos.
Operations continue without incident until July 25, 1950. On that date, a company Douglas DC-3 with 28 passengers accidentally crosses the border into Israeli territory, near the Sea of Galilee N of Rosh Pinna. The transport is intercepted by a patrolling Israeli Air Force Supermarine Spitfire, which opens fire. Bullets slam into the Douglas, killing the radio operator and a passenger. The plane is able to zigzag its way back across the border, forcing the IAF fighter to break off its pursuit. Government officials will claim that the flight was 3 mi. N of the border in Lebanese territory when it was assaulted.
CGT is renamed Lignes Aeriennes Libanaises (Air Liban) in 1951 and its fleet and route network are upgraded by the addition of several Sud-Est SE-161 Languedocs. The addition of Douglas DC-4s in 1954 allows the introduction of scheduled services to West Africa as well as a new line from Beirut to Paris, via Rome.
Toward decade’s end, the carrier is reequipped with DC-6s, including a DC-6B purchased before its delivery to Trans-Caribbean Airways. In September 1959, Air Liban refuses a $10-million purchase offer from Pan American World Airways (1).
A chartered Avro 685 York C.1 with four crew fails its takeoff from Tehran on May 27, 1960, and makes a forced landing; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities.
In 1962, Sheikh Najib Alamuddin begins campaigning for the amalgamation of all Lebanese airlines into a single national carrier. In March 1963, Air Liban enters into a joint agreement with Lebanese International Airlines, S. A.L. and Middle East Airlines, S. A.L. (1). With Air France retaining a 20% interest, the associates operate under joint schedules and merge the operations of their aircraft. Air Liban is fully subsumed by 1965 and the amalgamated carrier continues operations as Middle East Airlines, S. A.L. (2).
AIR LIBERIA (LIBERIAN NATIONAL AIRLINES): Liberia (1974-1990). Under the management guidance of Hughes Airwest, Liberian National Airlines (also known as Air Liberia) acquires and merges with Ducor Air Transport/Datco Airlines in 1974. The fleet of 2 Fokker F.27s, 2 DC-3s, 3 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders, 3 Cessna 334s, 1 Cessna 185, 1 DHC-2 Beaver, and 1 Piper PA-34 Seneca commence service over the predecessor’s domestic routes while inaugurating the airline’s first international flights to Freetown and Abidjan. Enplanements total 11,800.
Ticketing services are expanded in 1975 into neighboring countries and additional new personnel receive training.
While on its takeoff roll from Robertsfield, Liberia, on April 19, a DC-3, with 25 passengers, suffers a flat tire, which causes it to veer off the runway, losing its main landing gear and coming to rest in a field; there are no serious injuries.
A fleet standardization program results in the disposal of the F.27s, DC-3s, Cessna 334s, the Cessna 185, the DHC-2, and the Piper Seneca.
Lack of capacity, in turn, forces the passenger boarding total to drop to 5,200.
The association with Hughes Airwest is severed in 1976 and a new three-year contract for management services is signed with British Caledonian Airways, Ltd. in March. Three Britten-Norman BN-2A Trislanders join the fleet while additional aircraft are evaluated. The employee populations stands at 129 and passenger traffic soars 67.5% to 15,822. Freight is also up by 9% to 22,000 FTKs.
Between 1977 and 1978, President/General Manager Leonard J. Cros-bie of BCAL has a fleet comprising 1 Hawker Siddeley HS-748, 2 Trislanders, and 3 Islanders, supported by a workforce of 122. Services are maintained to Greenville, Zwedru, and Harper.
Scheduled international service is abandoned in 1979-1989 in favor of passenger and cargo charters and the maintenance of domestic services. At home, the route network grows to include 12 destinations and the fleet is realigned to comprise 1 BN-2A, 3 BN-2As, 1 Cessna 402, 2 Cessna 337s, and 2 CASA C-212s.
A chartered HS 748-2A, with 3 crew and 6 passengers, suffers an engine failure on its climb away from Khartoum on April 16, 1983; while attempting to return, the plane crashes 4 km. S of the town (8 dead).
Enplanements average some 65,000 per year and airline employment remains around 200. The world economic situation bring staggering losses. In 1990, the airline stops flying.
AIR LIBERTE (COMPAGNIE AIR LIBERTE, S. A.): 67 Rue de Montlhery, Rungis, 94533, Rungis Cedex, France; Phone 33 (1) 49 79 23 33; Fax 33 (1) 49 79 89 34; Http://www. air-liberte. fr; Code VD; Year Founded 1987. Air Liberte, S. A. is organized by “Group A” in July 1987 to offer charter and inclusive-tour flights to holiday destinations in southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Shareholding is divided between the insurance concern GMF and the tour operators Nouvelles Frontieres, Go Voyage, and Club Aquarius.
The flamboyant Lotfi Belhassine is named chairman and president. After acquiring a leased Airbus Industrie A300B4-622R, flights are launched in April 1988 from the base at Paris (ORY) to Saint-Denis de la Reunion, Port-de-France, and Pointe-a-Pitre.
The fleet is expanded in 1989 to comprise the A300B4-622R, 1 leased A310-324, and 5 chartered McDonnell Douglas MD-83s. Enplanements for the year total 527,600.
Airline employment stands at 465 in 1990 as a sixth MD-83 and an second A300B4-622R arrives. The associate company Air Liberte Tunisie, S. A. is formed and while orders are placed for two replacements for itself, the French carrier subleases two MD-83s to the new Tunisian airline. Air Liberte’s passenger boardings shoot up 32% to 696,600
In March 1991, the parent company, Club Aquarius, is taken over by the French holiday group Club Mediterranee and its air charter subsidiary, Minerve, S. A. The two requested MD-83s are received under lease, as the French government grants authority for the carrier to initiate scheduled services in June from Paris to Rome and Montreal.
In August, a management contract is signed with Sierra Leone National Airways, Ltd. Under terms of the agreement, the French carrier will pay off $20 million in debt incurred under the previous Sierra management of Royal Jordanian Airlines executives in order to allow the company to operate to London and a number of European capitals. Employing an Airbus A310-324 chartered from Air Liberte, weekly service is inaugurated by SLNA to Paris on October 26; the frequency becomes twice weekly on December 20.
In 1992, a new scheduled service is introduced to Montreal by the A310-324. Later in the year, an MD-83 is subleased to Air Aruba. During the fall, the French courts reverse an attempt to downsize the carrier’s workforce. The workers will receive no salary increases the following year and will, in fact, take reductions.
Airline employment in 1993 stands at 600 and the fleet now includes two A300B4-622Rs, 1 A310-324, and 8 MD-83s, 2 of which remain chartered to Air Liberte Tunisie, S. A. The Montreal frequency is maintained while flights are undertaken from Paris to Saint-Denis de la Reunion, Fort-de-France, and Pointe-a-Pitre. Enplanements for the year total 835,000 and fiscal losses are suffered: $2 million (operating) and $3.5 million (net).
The workforce is increased by 18.2% in 1994 to 650 and MD-83 scheduled service is inaugurated on January 29 from Paris (ORY) to Oporto and Lisbon. In April, orders are placed for 5 Fokker 70s.
Later in the year, scheduled flights are also initiated to London (LGW) and Bangkok. Plans are made to add a pair of Douglas DC-1030 and merger discussions are held with AOM French Airlines, S. A. parent Credit Lyonnais. Late in the year, 3 DC-10-30s arrive under charter from Finnair O/Y.
While landing at Kajaani, Finland, after a November 3 service from Monastir, Tunisia, an MD-83, with 7 crew and 164 passengers, makes a hard landing, during which the left wing strikes the ground. Although the aircraft is damaged, no injuries are reported.
Also in November, a two-tier wage scale is introduced for newly hired pilots and cabin crew.
Passenger boardings jump 16.7% to 1 million and revenues accelerate 12.5% to $180 million. Expenses are up 9.3% to $177 million and, as a result, there are profits: $3 million (operating) and $2 million (net).
The number of employees grows by 32.3% in 1995 to 860. As a result of pressure from European Union officials for France to open Orly Airport, the company during the first week of January inaugurates return $100-roundtrip service from that Paris facility to Toulouse. As part of the new service, the company unveils a new fixed-price annual tariff for frequent travelers.
Air Inter, S. A., which had previously flown the route as a monopoly, reacts with fares of $49, which leads to a fare war, the first in French domestic history. Air Liberte Chairman/CEO Lofti Belhassine files suit against the state competitor in the Paris Court and in the European Court of Justice charging predatory fare practices. TAT European Airlines, S. A. intensifies the price war when it begins flying the route in March.
A code-sharing compact is now signed with Air France under which the regional will fly replacement services with a newly delivered Fokker 100 and the first Fokker 70 when it enters service toward the end of April.
Not only does the company expand in France, but undertakes international growth as well. In late April, a $32.6-million arrangement is concluded with Finnair O/Y under which the French line will lease all four of the major’s Douglas DC-10-30s and inaugurate flights to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean during the upcoming holiday season. The first wide-body is received in mid-June, with two more following in October and November.
In September, a code-sharing agreement is signed with the French independent Euralair, S. A.; under its provisions, the two will jointly operate roundtrip service from Paris to Toulouse.
During the second week of October, the financial company Air Invest, S. A. is formed; the venture-capital concern has 10 equal partners, including the ILFC. The following week, Chairman/CEO Belhassine, with the backing of the new Air Invest, presents an unsolicited merger offer to competing AOM French Airlines, S. A. It is not accepted.
By the end of November, all four Fokker 70s are in Air France replacement service. In December, the company joins with AOM French Airlines, S. A. in cutting the return service fare between Paris (ORY) and Nice to $138, a 50% reduction.
In the year to October 31, revenues total FFr 1.7 billion and allow a net gain of FFr 13 million ($2.6 million). The latter amount will represent the last profit for some time.
Customer bookings accelerate 44.4% to 1,010,500 and a net $2.5-million profit is posted.
The French domestic market is fully deregulated on January 1, 1996. During the first few months of the year, a total of 23 new routes will be started by Air Liberte from Paris, as the airline shifts some of its operations from Orly Airport to Charles de Gaulle International Airport. A former Euralair, S. A. A310-221 is chartered in January from International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) for a year.
During January and February, five routes are launched from Nice— to Paris (ORY), Strasbourg, Lille, Toulouse, and Bordeaux. In March and April, flights begin from Paris (ORY) to Biarritz, Toulon, Pau, Per-pignon, and Mulhouse. A B-737-210C is added to the fleet in April.
Route starts continue in May and early June, with frequencies added from Paris (ORY) to Lyon, Nantes, Brest, and Grenoble. The fourth Finnair O/Y DC-10-30 is received in early June.
The Credit Lyonnais subsidiary CDR, in something of a surprise move, dismisses Marc Rochet, chairman of rival AOM French Airlines, S. A. during the second week of June. He is succeeded by Euralair Group CEO Alexandre Couvelaire, who is given a mandate to conclude a merger with Air Liberte.
On July 14, the company launches a code-sharing agreement with AOM that also includes a variety of other partnership arrangements. The two independents begin to coordinate their programs, linking their frequent flyer programs and undertaking dual-designator frequencies over their domestic routes. They also coordinate schedules and long-haul operations to the French Caribbean.
The financially troubled company is placed into receivership on September 26 and its chartered Douglas wide-bodies are returned to Finland. Debts amounting to FFr 650 million have been incurred since January, bringing total debt to FFr 1.5 billion.
Given six months by the Creteil bankruptcy court (located at Orly where Air Liberte is based) to develop a workable reorganization plan, Chairman Belhassine promises to write a recovery program by the end of October, at which time $120-million in fiscal year losses must be reported. At this point, 30 pilots are laid off and all pursers are downgraded to flight attendant status.
Following further exploration into the company’s finances during the first week of October, the Creteil bankruptcy court determines that Air Liberte’s fiscal situation is worse than was originally reported. Even though a number of unprofitable routes are now cut, the court announces that it must have outside acquisition bids by October 14 in order to avoid ordering the company liquidated.
Suitors for the stricken airline begin to emerge late in the week. With pressure to keep it in French hands and its unions seeking acquisition, Air France expresses interest. Under European Commission restrictions against acquisition of other carriers during the time of its $4-billion state bailout, it appears unlikely that the independent will go to the major.
Other companies expressing an interest include AOM French Airlines, S. A., which has been seeking a merger, along with British Airways, Ltd. (2), Virgin Atlantic Express, Ltd., TAT European Airlines, S. A., and Corsair, S. A., the in-house airline of France’s largest tour operator, Nouvelles Frontieres. Seeking to protect the interest of its TAT subsidiary, BA CEO Robert Ayling complains to the European Commission that AOM should not be allowed to seek ownership as it, too, is up for sale as the result of restructuring plans announced in the wake of a 1995 state-aid package to its parent, Credit Lyonnais.
With AOM French Airlines, S. A. and Air France out of the picture, two airlines, Nouvelles Frontiers, and a group of private investors submit offerings for Air Liberte, S. A. to the Creteil court on October 14.
The weakest offering is made by an unnamed French pilot acting on behalf of a group of private investors; no details are provided. Virgin Atlantic Express, Ltd.’s offering, for which details are also not provided, is not, as company officials put it, “fully compliant with the court’s requirements.”
Nouvelles Frontiers notes that it has partners in the Rivaud Bank and Royal Air Maroc, S. A. who would be willing to take over Air Liberte (including its $300-million debt) and make it profitable within 18 months. It would also make an offer to acquire AOM French Airlines, S. A. The two independents would be merged with its own in-house carrier, Corsair, S. A., to create a major independent airline that could then compete with Air France.
Working together, British Airways, Ltd. (2) and TAT European Airlines, S. A. agree on a three-year plan for Air Liberte, S. A. TAT Chairman/CEO Marc Rochet is tasked to manage the offering on behalf of the British major.
In addition to an initial payment of $5 million for AL’s assets, the BA/TAT plan would essentially retain the airline’s fleet and routes, concluding a code-sharing agreement for routes now flown in competition and pledging not to begin new routes that overlap. French management would be maintained, 1,250 employees would be hired, and the British would make a major capital investment. The company would be reformed into the new French carrier Societe Nouvelle Air Liberte, S. A.
During the last week of October, Banque Rivaud and Nouvelles Frontiers abandon their efforts to take over Air Liberte, S. A.; Rivaud throws its support behind British Airways, Ltd. (2), with the two pledging to invest $124 million in the ailing French independent. BA would hold 70% interest with the remaining 30% stake held by Rivaud. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic Express, Ltd. is joined by a number of unnamed investors in presenting an alternative to the French bankruptcy court handling the case; the court extends the deadline for its decision from October 30 to November 5.
Virgin Atlantic Express, Ltd. does not submit a bid and, on the fifth day of November, the Creteil court accepts the BA/Rivaud joint offering to acquire Air Liberte. Under terms of the agreement, which will become final on December 15, TAT Chairman/CEO Rochet will assume the same post at Air Liberte. He will be joined by other TAT officials, as well as BA Investment and Joint Ventures Department Head Warren Tucker. No immediate plans to merge the carriers are announced; however, schedules will be coordinated and flight operations will be streamlined. Air Liberte’s recently suspended routes to Africa and Canada will not be restarted and those to Portugal and Tunisia are to be dropped.
Beginning on November 18, the two companies undertake revised and coordinated flight schedules, including code-sharing on the 18 daily flights they offer from Paris (ORY) to Toulouse, which is the only route over which they had directly competed. From the Paris hub, two more daily frequencies are initiated to Nice and Bordeaux.
Although the acquisition of the company is scheduled for completion on December 15, paperwork complexities will force a delay into the new year.
Enplanements for Air Liberte and its soon-to-be sister TAT European Airlines, S. A. total 4.5 million. A FFr 1-billion (US$181-million) loss is reported; the figure will later be adjusted to $250 million.
On January 4, 1997, the Creteil court officially approves the British Airways, Ltd. (2) purchase of a 67% stake in Air Liberte, with the remainder held by Banque Rivaud. TAT European Airlines, S. A. Chairman Rochet is also confirmed as chairman of Air Liberte’s board of directors. He, in turn, brings in a new management team, including several executives from TAT European Airlines, S. A. and others from outside the group. Rochet divides his time between the old and new carriers.
French government permission is simultaneously acquired by the British major to take over complete control and to integrate AL’s operations into those of its other French franchise partner, TAT European Airlines, S. A.
The carrier emerges from bankruptcy on January 9 and, by February, has settled with its major domestic and overseas creditors, including ILFC. With FFr 1.5 billion ($274.2 million) in long-term debts, the carrier offers creditors either immediate cash payments of 20 cents on a dollar or 100% repayment spread over a decade. Two-thirds of the carrier’s creditors choose the long-term payout.
TAT and Air Liberte, under a substantial code-sharing agreement signed at the end of March, begin to more deeply integrate their services as of April 1, the day on which the process of liberalization within the European civil aviation industry is completed. At this point, Chairman Rochet demands that the working conditions of TAT pilots be cut to the level of their Air Liberte opposite numbers.
It is also required that pilots from both lines perform to the European Union legal limits for flight and duty time. Believing this to be unsafe, flight crews from TAT and Air Liberte, with support from the European Cockpit Association, walk out on indefinite strike on April 9. Flight crews at other airlines facing similar difficulties offer support; on April 24-25, pilots at TAP Air Portugal, S. A. declare a 48-hour strike. The work stoppages will continue off and on for over a month.
The leases on all 4 of the Finnair O/Y DC-10-30s are extended; however, 1 aircraft is, on May 1, subchartered to Garuda Indonesia for 10 weeks for Hadj flights. The process of amalgamation continues throughout the spring, summer, and into the fall, with the combined carrier based at Rungis, near Paris (ORY). On July 1, the associate company Air Liberte Tunisie, S. A. is renamed Nouvelair Tunisie, S. A.
Plans are made to withdraw all B-737s and F28s, replacing them with Fokker 100s that are out on lease. On September 25, a code-sharing partnership agreement is reached with Regional Airlines, S. A. On October 1, the two carriers launch dual-designator services over seven domestic routes: Saint-Brieuc-Paris (ORY), Brest-Bordeaux, Metz-Bordeaux, Lille-Bordeaux, Toulouse-Lyon, and Marseilles-Lyon. The arrangement also provides Air Liberte passengers with seamless access to Spain, via the Regional Airlines mini-hub at Bordeaux.
A strategic agreement is signed on October 13 with American Airlines; 27 French cities are to be opened to AA passengers via Orly Airport as soon as a new France-U. S. bilateral air agreement is ratified. Late in the month, feeder pacts are entered into with Air Toulouse International, S. A., Flandre Air, S. A., and Air Normandie, S. A. These compacts, together with the Regional Airlines, S. A. arrangement, will assist the company to compete in the French market with the 3,000 weekly flights provided by Air France; 2,000 services will become quickly available.
Although legalization of the merger is not complete, the company trade name is no longer employed after November 1.
In December, the carrier opens a secondary hub at Bordeaux and prepares to inaugurate flights to Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon. Enplane-ments total 3.6 million. A$125-million loss is reported on operating revenues of $660 million.
Air Liberte, S. A. completes integration of TAT European Airlines, S. A. on March 15, 1998 and sets its sights on achieving a position as the nation’s second largest domestic carrier behind Air France. A new homepage on the World Wide Web is unveiled.
Chairman Rochet continues to pursue a 27% cost reduction plan, which will be fully implemented by summer. Additionally, service to Canada, Asia, and Africa is withdrawn and plans are made to rationalize the fleet. All MD-83s and Fokker 100s will be replaced with advanced medium-range aircraft of a type to be determined.
In an effort to attract passengers who usually travel by train, the airline, on March 17, introduces a $34 one-way domestic companion fare; the sole condition of purchase is that an additional ticket be purchased no earlier than 24 hours prior to departure.
Company pilots go on strike on July 1 to protest corporate plans to cut salaries and institute a two-tier wage structure. Flights are sporadic, with many cancellations.
Once the job action is resolved, service is resumed in an orderly fashion. Destinations visited include Annecy, Bordeaux, Brest, Brive, Carcassonne, Figari, Lyon, Marseilles, Metz/Nancy, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nantes, Nice, Poitiers, Rodez, Strasbourg, Toulon, Toulouse, La Rochelle, Lille, Paris (ORY), Perpignan, and Tours.
Thrice-daily MD-83 return service is started on August 1 from Paris (ORY) to London (LHR); the flights replace those offered earlier by British Airways, Ltd. (2).
On October 6, the company unveils its involvement in parent BA’s multicolored tail program. The first scheme entitled “La Pyramide du Louvre” appears on an MD-83, while an F-100 bears “L’esprit Liberte.”
With the beginning of the fall schedule, new routes are opened to Cork, Epinal, Fort de France, Pointe-a-Pitre, St. Denis de la Reunion, St. Lucia, and St. Martin.
American Airlines places its AA code on Air Liberte domestic flights on November 4. Passengers traveling on American to and from the U. S. are able to transfer at Paris (ORY) to Air Liberte’s services to Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nice, Perpignan, Strasbourg, Toulon, and Toulouse.
A code-sharing arrangement is entered into with the new French regional Air Open Sky, S. A., which begins scheduled operations in December. Employing the first of four Avions de Transport Regional ATR42-320s to be delivered, the company launches revenue flights from Brive to Paris (ORY) and from Metz to Marseilles and Nice.
At the end of the month, a franchise agreement is signed with Flan-dre Air, S. A.; under the accord, the BA affiliate will assume control over the 18-aircraft fleet and the routes of this code-sharing partner.
Flights continue in 1999. Seeking an improvement in general working conditions, as well as an extra holiday for pilots flying short - and medium-haul routes, the company’s pilots stage a three-hour strike on August 20.
Although traffic and revenue figures are reported with those of British Airways, Ltd. (2), it is widely understood that the company has lost almost $38 million on revenues of approximately $528 million.
Service between Paris (ORY) and Strasbourg ends on March 26, 2000.
Never having enjoyed French market success even after a ?60 million investment, British Airways, Ltd., negotiates during the first quarter to sell its 86% stake in the loss-making Air Liberte subsidiary. French unions protest the proposed sale with a one-day strike on April 21 that forces the carrier to cancel three-quarters of its 180 daily flights.
On May 5, BA sells its 86% stake for FFr 457 million (?47 million) to Taitbout Antibes, B. V., a Swissair, A. G. affiliate that is owned by the French investment houses of Alpha Group and Marine Wendel. Taitbout is already joined with SAirGroup in the total ownership of AOM French Airlines, S. A. with the two also holding 66% of Air Littoral, Ltd. Plans are announced for a merger of the three into a single carrier that can offer domestic French competition for Air France.
For its part, BA requests that the “World Image” tailfin livery on Air Liberte’s aircraft be removed, along with the “Speed Marque” (ribbon), as soon as possible. It also announces an end next March to the Air Lib-erte contract for service from Toulouse and Bordeaux to London (LGW).
While preparing for departure from Paris (CDG) to Madrid on May 25, a company MD-80 returning 154 Spanish football fans home from the European Cup Final, is involved in a runway incursion accident with a Streamline Aviation Shorts 360 freighter. Although no injuries are reported aboard the jetliner, its wing smashes into the cockpit of the turboprop, killing its copilot.
Work toward the merger of Air Liberte, AOM, and Air Littoral later in the year moves ahead in June, even in the face of stiff union resistance. AOM President Alexandre Couvelaire is tapped to head the new, but (as yet) unnamed entity within the framework of the “Qualiflyer” group. Ownership plans are put into place for a new airline holding company, Participations Aeronautiques, to be held by SAirGroup (49%) and Taitbout Antibes, B. V. (51%).
At the end of July, SAirGroup President/CEO Philippe Bruggisser announces creation of a “Conseil de Surveillance,” a revised management structure for the airlines that are about to be merged. Chaired by Alexandre Couvelaire, the body’s executive management will be headed by Paul Reutlinger, current Sabena (Belgian World Airlines, S. A.) CEO, who will move to Paris to guide the fusion of the three into one, but will also become vice chair of the Belgian airline’s board of directors.
Merger approval for creation of the new airline is sought from the European Commission and is granted on August 1. The process of creating a single French carrier comes unglued at month’s end as SAirGroup CEO Bruggisser announces that not one, but two companies will be formed. One, comprised of elements of Air Liberte and Air Littoral, will be created at Nice and operate all aircraft up to the size of Fokker 70s. Meanwhile, AOM will be left as the second, intact entity at Paris (ORY) to operate all jetliners of 100 seats or more. The revised idea will be put to the French unions for approval, hopefully by October.
During late summer, arrangements are completed to lease 4 McDonnell Douglas MD-82s from Safair (Pty.), Ltd., all of which will be in service by the end of the year.
On September 4, the carrier begins operating an MD-82 painted in the new “L’Esprit Liberte” color scheme, the livery chosen to replace on an interim-basis the BA-inspired paint previously worn.
Labor problems and integration concerns prove a significant complication CEO Reutlinger admits in a September 18 interview with Aviation Daily; completion of arrangements may not be completed for a year.
AIR LIBERTE TUNISIE, S. A.: Tunisia (1989-1996). With 60% shareholding held by the Tunisian government, ALT is formed at Tunis/ Belvedere in November 1989 as a charter associate of the French holiday airline Air Liberte, S. A.
Under the chairmanship of Aziz Milad, General Manager Siaheddine Kastalli leases a pair of McDonnell Douglas MD-83s from Air Liberte in 1990 and assembles a workforce of 169 employees based at the resort of Monastir. Revenue operations begin on October 5 to seven European destinations: Birmingham, Brussels, Cagliari, London, Milan, Turin, and Vienna.
Flights continue apace in 1991 and, in 1992-1994, the fleet still includes 2 MD-83s leased from the parent. During the latter year, Chairman Aziz Milad oversees a workforce of 150. After a largely uneventful 1995, the company is renamed Novelair Tunisie, S. A. on July 1, 1996.
AIR LIFT ASSOCIATES: United States (1979-1990). John Hoffman forms a scheduled air taxi division of his Air Lift Associates at Raleigh-Durham Airport, Morrisville, North Carolina, in 1979 to offer scheduled daily passenger flights to Wilmington, Raleigh/Durham, and Rocky Mountain. Under the name Air Lift Commuter, Hoffman’s pilots commence roundtrip revenue flights in the spring with 2 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains.
Operations continue apace in the 1980s; airline employment in 19851986 stands at 15.
During its takeoff from Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 23, 1987, a Swearingen Metro freighter, with two crew, suffers an uncontained engine failure that causes the aircraft to crash into trees near the runway; both crewmen are killed and the plane is destroyed.
In 1988, the fleet is altered by the addition of 2 Beech King Air 90s and service is inaugurated to Newburn. The national recession begins to impact the carrier in 1989.
Economic hard times bring disaster for the small regional, which is forced to shut its doors in 1990.
World History
