Aerolíneas Argentinas

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Aerolíneas Argentinas
IATA AR	ICAO ARG	Callsign ARGENTINA
Founded		1949
Hubs		Ministro Pistarini Int'l Airport Jorge Newbery Domestic Airport
Focus cities		Barajas International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Aerolíneas Plus
Member lounge		VIP Lounge
Fleet size		46 (+16)
Destinations		53
Parent company		Grupo Marsans
Headquarters		Buenos Aires, Argentina
Key people		Esteban Maccari (CEO)
Website: http://www.aerolineas.com.ar/

Aerolíneas Argentinas is Argentina's largest domestic and international airline. It is the national airline and carries around 80% of Argentina's domestic traffic and 40% of international flights from Ministro Pistarini International Airport, which is located in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires. Aerolíneas Argentinas and LAN Airlines are the only Latin American airlines that fly to Oceania.

Contents 1 History 2 Privatization and near-collapse 3 Destinations 4 Fleet 5 Other facts of interest 6 External links 7 References

[edit] History

The airline's history can be traced back to the year 1929, when carrier Aeroposta started operations. The Argentine government, recognizing Argentina's vast geographic size and the need for fast transportation links between the countryside and the larger cities, established an airline company to carry passengers and mail. The first two destinations served were Mendoza and Posadas. Frenchmen Jean Mermoz and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry were among the company's first pilots.

By 1930, two more airlines, LASO and LANE, began flights and the number of cities served by air routes in Argentina tripled. In 1945, these two airlines merged, becoming LADE (Líneas Aéreas del Estado, i.e. State Airlines). This was a well-timed move, as World War II was entering its final stages and commercial aviation was set to start a stage of explosive growth. In 1946 the first Douglas DC-3s arrived in Argentina, and Argentina's first intercontinental airline, FAMA, was created.

In May 1949, all these carriers merged under the name Aerolíneas Argentinas. Operations started on 7 December 1950. At this time Argentina did not have suitable airport facilities, so the government of Juan Perón built Ministro Pistarini airport; General Juan Pistarini, after whom the facilities are named, designed and directed its construction. Key to the airline's growth were Alfonso Aliaga García, and Dirk Wessel Van Layden, who had been a pilot with French carrier Aéropostale (not to be confused with Aeroposta) and was influential in raising flying standards.

The DC-3 proved to be an invaluable asset for Aerolíneas Argentinas, as for many other airlines worldwide. It enabled them to fly to domestic destinations that had, until then, been unreachable – and to keep flying FAMA's international routes. Soon afterwards, Douglas DC-4s joined the fleet and services were inaugurated to Santiago de Chile, Lima, Santa Cruz, and São Paulo.

The 1950s saw the arrival of the DC-6, allowing Aerolíneas Argentinas to fly at night for the first time. Thanks to this plane, the name of Aerolíneas Argentinas was seen at terminals in New York's Idlewild airport, as well as Havana, Lisbon, Dakar, and Rio de Janeiro. By the end of that decade, the Comet IV jet had begun commercial jet services worldwide, and Aerolíneas once again wanted to set the pace among South America's air companies. Airline President Juan José Güiraldes persuaded Argentina's President Arturo Frondizi to buy six of the new planes, on the understanding that Aerolíneas would pay for the planes later. And so, on March 2, 1959, 'Tres Marías', which became the first jet airplane flown by Aerolíneas, landed at Ministro Pistarini International Airport.

With these jets, Aerolíneas Argentinas kept a steady growth during the 1960s, opening routes to London, Paris, Rome, and Madrid. The 1970s saw the arrival of the Boeing 747s, 737s and 727s, and a stronger marketing strategy. Aerolíneas Argentinas was featured on many Jorge Porcel movies at that time, and the began licensing toy companies to produce models of their aircraft, a practice it maintains today. In 1980, Aerolíneas Argentinas became the first airline to operate a trans-oceanic South Pacific flight, from Buenos Aires to Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia, using Boeing 747s. The route remains in operation.

[edit] Privatization and near-collapse

In 1990 the airline was sold by the Argentine government to the Spanish state-owned company Iberia (which acquired an 85% stake) as part of president Carlos Menem's massive privatization program. Both the price paid by Iberia and the Spanish firm's ulterior conduct (including some convoluted lease-back operations) were widely considered to be due to corruption, with the airline paying the price for its own purchase with its assets. Subsequent management by American Airlines and Spanish state owned conglomerate SEPI drove Aerolineas Argentinas into an almost terminal crisis in 2001.

The planes and most real estate (both global headquarters and offices in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Rome and Frankfurt) were sold; some assets were leased back. The firm incurred massive debt, and operating profits were not realized. Iberia bought from Aerolíneas Argentinas two 10-year old Boeing 707 aircraft for the price of US$1.57 million each.

Aerolíneas Argentinas when Iberia acquired it, and when it sold it.

Item	1991	2001
Assets (without routes, MM US$)	650	?
Annual Balance (MM US$)	18	-300
Debt (MM US$)	0	cc. 1000
Planes (owned/leased)	28/1	1/43
Flight simulators	3	0
Number of employees	11500	6500

Aerolíneas merged with Argentina's domestic carrier Austral. By the late 1990s the airline was near bankruptcy; losses in 1999 where around 240 million US dollars. The Spanish government tried to sell its controlling share to American Airlines but the offer was declined.

In June 2001 flights to seven international destinations were suspended and the airline went into administration. In October 2001, control of both Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral was handed to Air Comet, a consortium of the Spanish private carriers Spanair, Air Plus Comet and travel operator Viajes Marsans, who acquired 92.1% of the shares.

After teetering on the brink of closure during most of 2001, combined with the adverse effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the industry and Argentina's financial meltdown of December 2001, Aerolíneas was forced to close down international services for a few days during early 2002. However, fresh capital was provided ($50 million from the Marsans Group) and the airline resumed services almost immediately. In 2002 the airline came out of administration after a Buenos Aires judge accepted its debt restructuring agreement with creditors.

The airline is now owned by Grupo Marsans (92%), the government of Argentina (5%), and employees (3%) and employs 7,016 staff (at January 2005).

The airline endured a pilot's strike during November of 2005. After nine days of negotiations, the airline and its pilots struck a deal.

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Aerolíneas Argentinas destinations

[edit] Fleet

The Aerolíneas Argentinas active fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of January 2007):^[2]

Aerolineas Argentinas Fleet^{[3][citation needed]}

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Club Condor/Economy)	Routes	Notes
Airbus A340-200	4	249 (32/217)	North America, Oceania, Europe
Airbus A310-300	2	193 (18/175)	Miami, Intercontinental
Boeing 747-400	3	421 (42/379)	Europe, Oceania
Boeing 747-200	1	392 (46/346)	Europe	Being replaced by 747-400's
Boeing 737-500	11	108 (8/100)	Regional & Domestic	Also operated by Austral
Boeing 737-200	15	108 (8/100)	Regional & Domestic	Also operated by Austral

The average age of the Aerolineas Argentinas fleet is 19.1 years (as of March 2007).

[edit] Other facts of interest

• Aerolíneas Argentinas is also a major sponsor of the Argentina national football team.

• Boeing customer code is -87

• Aerolíneas Argentinas is the longest serving operator of the Boeing 737-200 in the world, with the type likely to complete four decades of uninterrupted service in 2010 although retirement is already underway.

• In 2007 (first 747 entered service on Jan 6, 1977) Aerolíneas Argentinas will celebrate 30 years of uninterrupted Boeing 747 operations. Of the few Latin American carriers to operate the mighty Jumbo, none operated as many as the Argentine flag carrier, or for so long. While older -200 models are being progressively phased-out, the acquisition of used (but modern) -400s in 2004/5 gave the type a lease of life with the airline.

• Aerolíneas Argentinas, in spite of an occasionally haphazard image, is one of the safest airlines in Latin America and the world. However, this reputation has not come without the intervention of Lady Luck, for since 1975 the airline has had to write-off a Boeing 707-320C, two Boeing 737-200s, a Fokker F28-1000, a Fokker F28-4000 and a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 on account of various accidents, though none of which have involved fatalities.

• Sister airline Austral has not been so lucky. In the same period of time, it lost four aircraft (two BAC 1-11s, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 and a McDonnell Douglas MD-80), with the loss of 127 lives. In three of the accidents, there were no survivors. All were largely caused by pilot error.

• Austral was one of the launch customers for the McDonnell Douglas MD-80, ordering five in April 1979 (of which two were never delivered). They too are the oldest operator of the type, and one of the originals (LV-WFN) is still in service after 25 years, while another one (LV-WPY) ended it's service in January 2007.

[edit] External links

• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• Aerolíneas Argentinas Fleet Age
• Aerolíneas Argentinas Fleet Detail
• Aerolíneas Argentinas Passenger Opinions
• Aerolíneas Argentinas workers' Union Site
• Airline History

[edit] References