Air Panama

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Air Panama is an airline in Panama. It was originally a joint venture between Iberia Airlines and the Panamanian government. In the late 1970's Iberia Airlines sold their shares entirely to the Panamanian government, who became sole propietor. During the 1980's Air Panama decayed in service, as they were only left with one single Boeing 727-100 by 1989. After the United States invasion of Panama in 1989 the only airplane owned by Air Panama was damaged by gunfire, and was written off from service. When the new government was installed, efforts were made to privatize the airline. However the airline union hampered the efforts by demanding that their past salaries were covered by the new operator. As no agreement could be met, the government dropped the privatization idea.

The Air Panama trademark was allowed to lapse, and the name (with a different logo from the original Air Panama) is now used by a domestic carrier. The airline provides air services throughout Panama and to San José, Costa Rica.

The "new" Air Panama began operating under its current name in early 2006. Previously, the same airline operated under the name "Turismo Aereo". Owned by the former private pilot to General Noriega (George Novey), Air Panama has grown to account for about half of the domestic commercial air travel market in Panama.

In 2006, Air Panama suffered two total aircraft losses due to crashes in Bocas del Toro and in the San Blas islands region of Panama. No deaths or serious injuries were suffered by passengers on board. In the same year, Air Panama incurred 3 serious incidents - two of which being in-flight engine shut-downs. Clearly, despite its recent commercial success, Air Panama has some serious safety issues it must address to avoid suffering the same fate of its namesake in the late 70's and 80's. For more information of accidents and incidents see the Aviation Safety Net website [1].