Nationwide Airlines

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Nationwide Airlines
IATA
CE		 ICAO
NTW		 Callsign
NATIONWIDE
Founded 1991
Hubs OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg
Focus cities Cape Town International Airport and Durban International Airport
Fleet size 17
Destinations 8
Headquarters Lanseria, Johannesburg, South Africa
Key people
Website: http://www.flynationwide.co.za

Nationwide Airlines was an airline based in Lanseria, South Africa. It operated scheduled domestic and international services. Its main base was OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg.[1]. On 29 April 2008 the Airline halted operations.

Contents

[edit] History

Boeing 767-300
Boeing 767-300

The airline was founded in 1995 by Chief Executive Vernon Bricknell and began operating charter services within Africa for the United Nations and the World Food Programme, as well as ad hoc passenger and cargo charters. Domestic scheduled operations were started in December 1995 under Nationwide Airlines, which is now one of four companies within the group that consists of Nationwide Air Charter, Nationwide Aircraft Maintenance and Nationwide Aircraft Support. In 2003 it inaugurated an intercontinental service with widebody aircraft. It is privately owned and has 800 employees (at March 2007).[1]

Nationwide planned to expand its international operations with flights to Munich and possibly Shanghai or Beijing. A second Boeing 767 was to enter service in November 2006, however Nationwide failed to secure the purchase. Aircraft that were also under consideration for the longhaul routes were the Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 777-200ER. In February 2005, the airline began updating its fleet by introducing its first Boeing 737-500 into service. It thus became the first and only operator of the -500 type in South Africa. [2]

In March 2008 the airline was awarded as the most punctual scheduled airline in 2007 between London and Johannesburg for the second consecutive year according to UK CAA statistics.[3]

[edit] Destinations

Nationwide Airlines served the following destinations (at April 2008):

[edit] Incidents and accidents

November 07, 2007 A Nationwide Airlines Boeing 737-200 lost its right engine a few seconds after liftoff from Cape Town International Airport en route to OR Tambo International Airport[4]. The engine fell onto the runway, causing the airport to close and various other aircraft to be diverted to George Airport. During the accident, the aircraft also lost most of its 'A' system hydraulic fluid (and a substantial quantity of fuel from the right wing tank) via the now severed connections between the fuel and hydraulic system and the right engine. This kind of separation, and severance of the lines had been anticipated by Boeing engineers, but due to the nature of the separation, the break in the lines occurred deeper into the wing than the pre-planned breaking point. Amongst other failures, this also degraded the wheel brakes, and the nose wheel steering would not function. The undercarriage would also not extend normally and hand to be lowered manually. The plane landed safely back at Cape Town after the runway had been cleared of debris, but the engine itself remained to the east of the runway, and was only moved after an initial inspection by the accident investigators.[5] Captain Trevor Arnold and First Officer Daniel Perry were in command of this flight, numbered CE723. Daniel Perry was the pilot flying at the time of the accident. No-one was injured.

[edit] Grounded

November 29, 2007 the South African Civil Aviation Authority grounded all Nationwide aircraft following the non compliance with the applicable Civil Aviation regulations [6][7]. The airline had 30 days to either comply with the regulation or appeal.[8]

December 7, 2007 the CAA granted the 767-300 permission to fly on their Johanesburg to London route[9] The airline is planning to resume domestic flights the following week.

December 24, 2007 Nationwide aircraft are slowly been granted permission to take to the sky but according to Rodger Whittle, Nationwide's corporate quality director, the airline is struggling to accommodate the holiday season increased in traffic.[10]

[edit] Halt of Operations

April 29, 2008 In January, Nationwide resumed operations and attained a gradual recovery of the business however in the months of March and April they faced a 30% increase in fuel costs coupled with a decrease in passenger load factors. Nationwide's cash-flow became critical and as a result they decided to voluntarily cease all flight operations until further notice.

[edit] Fleet

The Nationwide Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at April 2008):

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-10, p. 54. 
  2. ^ Airliner World, April 2005
  3. ^ Flight on Time
  4. ^ Engine Falls off Nationwide 737 during Cape Town Takeoff
  5. ^ Terror in the sky: Engine falls off plane, pilot flies to safety
  6. ^ The sa civil aviation authority grounds nationwide aircraft
  7. ^ Nationwide flights grounded
  8. ^ Nationwide grounded
  9. ^ SACAA grants nationwide’s 767-300 er permission to fly.
  10. ^ Nationwide is still battling headwinds

[edit] External links

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