Trans Caribbean Airways

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Trans Caribbean Airways
IATA ICAO Callsign
TR - -
FoundedMay 18, 1945 (as Trans Caribbean Air Cargo Lines)
Commenced operationsDecember 1945
Ceased operationsMarch 3, 1971 (Purchased by American Airlines)
HubsLuis Muñoz Marín International Airport
Fleet size9
Destinations9 (by July 7, 1969)
HeadquartersNew York, New York
Key peopleO. Roy Chalk
A Trans Caribbean Boeing 727-200 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1970

Trans Caribbean Airways (TCA) was an irregular air carrier (United States charter airline) until 1957, when it was certificated by the Civil Aeronautics Board as an international air carrier to fly from New York City to San Juan, Puerto Rico. TCA thereafter operated as a small scheduled airline specializing in flying from New York (and later Washington, DC) to the Caribbean, adding a small number of additional routes over time until it was purchased by American Airlines in 1971.

TCA was founded and, for its entire existence controlled, by businessman O. Roy Chalk.

Name

TCA was originally organized under the name "Trans Caribbean Air Cargo Lines, Inc.",[1] which continued to be its legal name through 1952, when it became "Trans Caribbean Airlines, Inc.".[2] However, the name "Trans Caribbean Airways" was in use as early as 1946.[3] In 1959 TCA once again changed its legal name, this time to "Transportation Corporation of America dba Trans Caribbean Airways" until 1964, when it reverted to "Trans Caribbean Airlines, Inc.".[4][5]

History

Irregular carrier

TCA was organized May 18, 1945, acquired two C-47s in June and started operations in December, initially between Miami, New York, Havana and other Caribbean and Latin American points. TCA acquired Douglas DC-4s in April 1946, with DC-4 operations starting in August. The company went public in April 1946 (99,000 shares at $3/share, or about $4.8mm in gross proceeds in 2024 dollars).[6] TCA did well as an irregular carrier, its CAB application for Puerto Rico service noting a history of profitability and of significant charter service to San Juan.[7] However, the airline also functioned as a vehicle for Roy Chalk's wider ambitions. In 1956, Chalk bought D.C. Transit, the pre-Washington Metro Washington, DC streetcar/bus service,[8] and did so through TCA. In 1959, TCA owned 85% of the stock of D.C. Transit.[9]

At the time of its 1957 CAB scheduled certificate award, TCA’s fleet comprised four DC-4s, a DC-6 and two C-46s, with four more DC-6s on order. TCA’s certification was the result of a CAB case adding a new carrier to the New York to San Juan route where the CAB atypically sought to add a carrier (to the two carriers already present – Eastern and Pan Am) would concentrate on low-priced travel.[7] At the time, Puerto Rican migration to the US mainland was a big deal and New York City was the singular focus of this migration, with 70% of all stateside-Puerto Ricans resident in New York City in 1960 (and even higher levels earlier).[10] The CAB saw low fares between New York City and Puerto Rico as essential for the further development of Puerto Rico and to allow Puerto Rican migrants to the mainland US to easily visit their homeland.[7] The Puerto Rico case therefore was remarkable in having as its results (i) that a supplemental air carrier achieved the status of being a certificated carrier (the only time this ever happened) [11] and (ii) where the CAB explicitly sought to reduce fares.

Mosaic (now destroyed) at former Trans Caribbean ticket office at 1022 Ashford Ave, San Juan

Destinations

According to the Trans Caribbean system timetable dated July 7, 1969, the following destinations were served on the east coast of the U.S. and the Caribbean:[12]

Fleet

A Trans Caribbean Douglas DC-8-61CF at Frankfurt Airport in 1970

Trans Caribbean operated the following aircraft types during its existence:[13][14]

Trans Caribbean Airways fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Boeing 707-320C 1 1967 1968 Leased from Aer Lingus
Boeing 720 1
Boeing 727-100 3 1967 1971
Boeing 727-200 2 1969
Curtiss C-46 Commando 2 1948 1956
Douglas C-47 Skytrain 2 1945 Un­known
Douglas C-54 Skymaster 7 1946 1962
Douglas DC-6 2 1955 1957
Douglas DC-6B 2 1960 1964
Douglas DC-8-51 2 1961
Douglas DC-8-54CF 3 1963 1971
Douglas DC-8-55CF 1 1970
Douglas DC-8-61CF 3 1967

Accidents and incidents

  • On December 28, 1970, Trans Caribbean Airways Flight 505, a Boeing 727-200 (registered N8790R) made a hard landing and ran off the side of the runway of Cyril E. King Airport. Two of the 48 passengers onboard died in a subsequent fire, and the aircraft was then destroyed by the ensuing conflagration.[15][16]

See also

External sources

  • "Trans Caribbean Airways Flight 505 Aftermath Footage" (video). youtube.com. Air Crash Daily. December 28, 2022.

References

  1. ^ "Transatlantic Cargo Case". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 21: 712. 1955. hdl:2027/osu.32435022360531.
  2. ^ "ARRETE". Le Moniteur; Journal Officiel de la République d’Haiti. 124 (65). 7 July 1969.
  3. ^ Airways Plans Debut, Miami Herald, June 11, 1946
  4. ^ "Docket 10776 Transportation Corporation of America (Formerly Trans Caribbean Airlines, Inc.), Reissuance of Certificate—order E-14592 adopted October 29, 1959". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 30: 1506–1507. 1959. hdl:2027/uc1.b2938521.
  5. ^ "Docket 15364 Trans Caribbean Airways, Inc., Name Change—order E-21119 adopted July 27, 1964". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 40: 864. 1964. hdl:2027/uc1.b2939172.
  6. ^ IPO tombstone in Philadelphia Inquirer, April 25, 1946
  7. ^ a b c "Service to Puerto Rico Case". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 26. Civil Aeronautics Board: 72–164. October 1957 – June 1958. hdl:2027/uc1.b2938517.
  8. ^ D.C. Transit Firm Being Sold To Airline Man, Washington Evening Sun, August 3, 1956
  9. ^ Regulation of D.C. Transit System, Inc.: hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Eighty-sixth Congress, first session, on H.R. 2316, H.R. 4163, and H.R. 4815, bills to insure effective regulation of D.C. Transit System, Inc., and fair and equal competition between D.C. Transit System, Inc., and its competitors (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1959. p. 346. hdl:2027/ien.35556021313861.
  10. ^ "1960 Census: Population, Puerto Ricans in the United States" (PDF). Census.gov. February 14, 2019. p. 7. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  11. ^ Burkhardt, Robert (1974). CAB--The Civil Aeronautics Board. Dulles Intl Airport, Virginia: The Green Hills Publishing Company. p. 116. LCCN 74082194.
  12. ^ "Airline Timetable Images". Timetableimages.com. Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  13. ^ "Trans Caribbean Airways Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  14. ^ "Trans Caribbean Airways". Aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  15. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-2A7 N8790R Saint Thomas-Harry S.Truman Airport (STT)". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  16. ^ Robert Lindsey (December 29, 1970). "2 Die and 51 Hurt in Virgin Islands Jet Crash". Nytimes.com.
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