ALM Antillean Airlines

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Antilliaanse Luchtvaart Maatschappij
IATA
ICAO
Callsign
LM ALM ANTILLEAN
FoundedAugust 1, 1964
Ceased operationsSeptember 2001
Hubs
Focus cities
Parent company
KLM (1964-1969)
HeadquartersWillemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles
WebsiteAiralm.com

ALM Antillean Airlines (

Hato International Airport.[1][2]

History

ALM on Sint Maarten
ALM Douglas DC-9-15 parked in Kingston, Jamaica, circa 1971

ALM Antillean Airlines was founded on August 1, 1964, by the conversion from

Fokker F27-500 series. New destinations were added, and an ex Viasa DC-9
was also added to the fleet.

The period between 1968 and 1969 was crucial for ALM. By January 1, 1969, the Antillean government took a 96% share from KLM and ALM became a state-owned company. An ex-KLM

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30
.

The Fokker F-27s were replaced by a third DC-9-15 also from KLM and ALM became an all-jet passenger airline for a short time. During this time in August 1972, a Douglas DC-6B was purchased for the cargo routes. Windward Islands' Winair was acquired, with its fleet of turboprop, STOL capable de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (series 300 aircraft), by the Antillean government. It became apparent that on the short flights to Aruba and Bonaire, the DC-9 jet was not cost-effective. A temporary solution was found in the shape of two Twin Otter 100 series. For a while, ALM Twin Otter flights between Aruba-Bonaire-Curaçao were labeled ABC Commuter. After a bumpy start the Twin Otter became a success with the passengers and two further machines (series 300) were added. In the years 1973 through 1978, ALM made a total profit of ANG14.3M. Their raison d'être was to maintain airways between the islands of the Netherlands Antilles, and to promote tourist trade by providing transport.

ALM MD-80 in Miami

In 1975, ALM replaced its older DC-9s with the new

Douglas DC-8-53 jets were leased from Rosenbalm Aviation. Additionally, the Twin Otters were replaced by Short SD-330
commuter turboprop aircraft. In 1978, KLM restarted extensive cooperation with ALM. Two DC-8s were brought into the fleet and served the route Curaçao-New York JFK, where KLM handled the ground services. KLM was still hoping and trying to build a hub with ALM. KLM flights from Curaçao-Amsterdam often had at least an ALM cabin crew on board in those years.

ALM Dash 8 landing at Sint Maarten circa 1990

1979 was a turning point for ALM. The low point of the oil prices coupled with slow tourist figures and the devaluation of the Venezuelan currency, brought ALM into trouble. Additionally, ALM had to deal with competing businesses from Eastern Air Lines and American Airlines on competing routes. The DC-8 flights were halted and the newly arrived Short 330s were sold off. During 1980 the Boeing 727 and Beech Queen Air left the company and ALM concentrated on its fleet of four DC-9-32s.

In 1982, ALM decided to replace some of its DC-9s with two

Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprops from Delta Air Transport
for the short-haul routes.

Cutting costs

Due to the separate status of the island of

ABC-islands went back to their original levels or even higher. With the sharing of passengers between two competitors, profits on the Aruba-Curaçao route dwindled. Even worse was that the Miami-Curaçao route was also shared. The Miami-Curaçao route was considered one of ALM's most profitable routes. From 1970 through 1982, ALM's average loss was ANG
1.2 million per year, or a total of 15.6M. As 1973-1978 showed a profit, in the remaining years the average loss was ANG 4.3 million, and probably heavier in the period after 1978.

ALM on Curaçao circa 2002

During the 1990s, ALM managed to stay in business despite stiff US competition and political changes in the aviation industry.

de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 regional turboprop aircraft were added to the fleet. Early 1991 KLM re-invested into ALM with some minor shares. However, due to a lack of government and public interest, ALM could not keep up and slowly went into a dire financial situation. By the year 2000, things were so bad that ALM was on the verge of bankruptcy. KLM had stopped its participation with ALM concerning the Amsterdam-Curaçao flights. Worse for ALM, the KLM flights to Europe and South America now were transferred to Bonaire's Flamingo International Airport, leaving the just-open ALM catering building at Curaçao Hato airport unused. ALM went into bankruptcy by early September 2001 and was then replaced by Dutch Caribbean Airlines
, an all-new company using their older DC-9-32s.

Destinations

ALM previously served the following destinations during its existence:[citation needed]

City Country Airport Refs/Notes
Oranjestad Aruba Queen Beatrix International Airport Hub until 1988
St. John's Antigua and Barbuda V. C. Bird International Airport
Bridgetown Barbados Grantley Adams International Airport
Barranquilla Colombia Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport
Focus city
Medellín
Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport
San José Costa Rica Juan Santamaría International Airport
Santo Domingo Dominican Republic
Las Americas International Airport
Fort-de-France France Fort-de-France International Airport
Pointe-à-Pitre Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport
Georgetown Guyana Timehri International Airport
Port-au-Prince Haiti
Port-au-Prince International Airport
Kingston Jamaica Norman Manley International Airport
Amsterdam Netherlands Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Kralendijk Netherlands Antilles Flamingo International Airport Hub
Willemstad
Hato International Airport
 Hub
Philipsburg Princess Juliana International Airport
Focus city
Panama City Panama Tocumen International Airport
Castries St. Lucia Hewanorra International Airport
Paramaribo Suriname Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport
Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago Piarco International Airport
Atlanta United States Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Miami Miami International Airport
Focus city
New York City John F. Kennedy International Airport
San Juan Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
Barcelona
 Venezuela General José Antonio Anzoátegui International Airport
Barquisimeto Jacinto Lara International Airport
Caracas Simón Bolívar International Airport
Focus city
Maracaibo La Chinita International Airport
Focus city
Valencia
 Arturo Michelena International Airport

Codeshare agreements

ALM had formed agreements that extended its route system:[3]

Fleet

Over the years, ALM operated the following aircraft types:[4]

ALM fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Beechcraft 65
 1 1965 1980
Boeing 727-100
 1 1977 1979
Convair CV-340
 3 1964 1970
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 2 1974 1978
De Havilland Dash 8-300
 6 1990 2001
Douglas DC-8-33 2 1978 1978
Douglas DC-8-53 1 1978 1979 Leased from KLM
Fokker F27-500 Friendship
 2 1968 1970
Lockheed L-188C Electra
 3 1989 1994
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15
 3 1968 1975 Returned to McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
 7 1970 1988 One written off as Flight 980
McDonnell Douglas MD-82
 6 1982 2001
McDonnell Douglas MD-83
 1 1999 2000 Leased from Aero Lloyd
Short 330 2 1978 1980 Sold to Mississippi Valley Airlines

Incidents and accidents

  • St. Croix and the death of 23 of the 63 people on board.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 26 March 1970. 472. "Head Office: M. F. da Costa Gomezplein 5, Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles."
  2. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 21–27 March 2000. 56. "Hato International Airport, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles."
  3. ^ "Welcome to Air ALM [Partners]". Airalm.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001.
  4. ^ "Antillean Airlines (ALM) Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  5. ^ ALM Flight 980 at the Aviation Safety Network

External links

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