VARIG

VARIG Viação Aérea Rio Grandense
IATA code :	RG
ICAO code :	VRN
Call sign :	VARIG
Founding:	1927
Operation stopped:	2007/2009
Seat:	Porto Alegre , Brazil
Home airport :	Sao Paulo-Guarulhos São Paulo-Congonhas
IATA prefix code :	042
Frequent Flyer Program :	Smiles
Fleet size:	26th
Aims:	National and international
VARIG Viação Aérea Rio Grandense ceased operations in 2007/2009. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

VARIG ( V iação A érea Ri o G randense ) was a Brazilian airline based in Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro . The brand name was taken over in 2007 by the also Brazilian Gol Transportes Aéreos , which has not used it since 2010. It continues to exist as Varig Log , the brand name of Varig Logística SA , a cargo airline that spun off from Varig in 2000 and has been in bankruptcy since 2012 .

history

VARIG - Viação Aérea Rio Grandense SA was founded on May 7, 1927 by the German émigré Otto Ernst Meyer , a former pilot in the German air force of the First World War . From June 15, Varig first flew nationally in a Dornier Wal , and internationally from August 5. The Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation from Rio de Janeiro to New York completed the first significant flight route with great success, because the management had attractive flight attendants deployed on this route. From December 1959 this route was flown with Sud Aviation Caravelle , which was quickly replaced by the Boeing 707 , of which the first was delivered in 1960.

Ascent

Boeing 727-100, Rio de Janeiro 1984

Airbus A300, Miami 1984

In August 1961 Varig bought REAL ( Redes Estaduais Aéreas Ltda) and thus became the largest airline in South America. In February 1965, the then military government assigned Varig the intercontinental routes of Panair do Brasil , then the leading airline of Brazil, which had been declared bankrupt under dubious circumstances , and several DC-8s that served them. The inland routes completed the Hawker Siddeley 748 from November 1967. It replaced the Douglas DC-3 and the Convair CV-240 . In the 1960s, more Boeing 707s were delivered with which Varig flew to Tokyo and Johannesburg .

The first wide-body aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 -30, was delivered on May 29, 1971.

Gradually, Varig bought smaller airlines, including a. the Cruzeiro do Sul , which, despite its new owner, did not lose its identity until 1993. On January 30, 1981 the first Boeing 747 was delivered to Varig and in June 1981 the first Airbus A300 .

Varig parted ways with their last Boeing 747-300 in 1998. Four Boeing 747s went to Cathay Pacific Airways , one each to Focus Air , Atlas Air , South African Airways , which had the aircraft scrapped two years after the purchase, and Garuda Indonesia . Iberia and Air New Zealand bought the two remaining machines. The Airbus A300 only remained in the fleet for a few years and was sold in the late 1980s. Since then, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 has dominated the Varig long-haul fleet, supported by the Boeing 767 . Similar to Delta and American, the 747 was taken out of the network, a trend of the past decade. In October 1989 Varig lost the monopoly on international scheduled flights, so that other Brazilian companies such as Transbrasil could take up international flight connections.

descent

The Varig suffered from increasing competition in the Brazilian market. Their market share fell to below 30%, while TAM Linhas Aéreas was able to advance to market leader with 43% and the newcomer Gol Transportes Aéreos now controlled 28% of the market. Messed up management structures and, due to the financial situation, only weak resistance in the cutthroat competition caused Brazil's former national pride to plunge into an uncontrolled descent. The Varig Group now had more than $ 3 billion in debt with Brazilian state creditors. In 2003 the Brazilian government tried to establish a merger with the TAM. Although the first steps towards the merger had already been taken, the project failed.

A VARIG Boeing 777-200 around 2005

In July 2005, Varig sought bankruptcy protection to the seizure of its aircraft to prevent by creditors. On July 20, 2006, it was auctioned for US $ 24 million to the former Cargo subsidiary Varig Log . The purchase price is considered by experts to be extremely low for such an airline. The buyer and only bidder pledged investments of 485 million dollars to save the Varig from collapse. In order not to have to service the mountain of debt of the old Varig, the new Varig - VRG Linhas Aéreas was founded in the form of an independent company.

On July 21, 2006, all international connections with the exception of Frankfurt am Main and Buenos Aires were suspended. In Brazil, only Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador, Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo remained in the route network.

On December 14, 2006, the new Varig received all the necessary operating permits, including the particularly important certification as an air transport company (Certificação de Homologação de Empresas de Transporte Aéreo - CHETA) by the National Agency for Civil Aviation of Brazil (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil - ANAC).

However, the takeover of the old Varig by VRG Linhas Aéreas meant the end of membership in the Star Alliance , an important marketing instrument, on January 31, 2007. The official reason was that the Varig no longer after the transition to the new company meets the requirements for membership. In fact, it had become worthless to the Star Alliance because of its thinned route network in the home country.

The President of Varig, Guilherme Laager, announced on January 8, 2007 that ten more aircraft were to be purchased in January 2007 and that VRG Linhas Aéreas should again be responsible for 20 percent of domestic air traffic by the end of 2007. At times, negotiations were held with the Star Alliance and the Oneworld Alliance about admission.

sale

Varig's end time in 2009: Boeing 737

In April 2007, Varig was taken over for 320 million dollars (240 million euros) by the Brazilian airline Gol . From mid-June 2007, Varig flew to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro again separately from Frankfurt am Main, increasing the number of flights to 14 per week. At the beginning of 2008, Varig announced that it would discontinue flights to London on March 1, 2008 and those to Frankfurt am Main and Rome on March 29, 2008. The flights to Mexico City were suspended on May 11, 2008, those to Madrid on May 12, 2008. The last destination outside of South America was Paris. Initially, the suspension of these flights was scheduled for June 9, 2008, but this date has been postponed to August 31, 2008 due to the continued demand. Since then, VARIG has not flown to any destinations outside South America. The two long-haul Boeing 767 aircraft were taken over by the parent company Gol , but initially flew in Varig livery.

Suspension of flights

In June 2009 all independent flights were discontinued. From this point on, Varig no longer had its own flight operations. The planes were then used on Gol routes. After more than 70 years of aviation experience for the former Varig, Varig Log still operated independent routes as a cargo airline between August 2000 and February 2012.

fleet

Fleet at the end of operations

Douglas DC-3

Lockheed L-188A Electra

In June 2010 the Varig had 26 aircraft, all of which came from the fleet of the parent company Gol:

• 12 Boeing 737-700
• 09 Boeing 737-800
• 01 Boeing 767-200ER
• 04 Boeing 767-300ER

Previously deployed aircraft

Convair CV-990

Before that, VARIG also operated the following types of aircraft:

• Airbus A300
• Beechcraft Model 99
• Boeing 707-300, -400
• Boeing 727-100
• Boeing 737 -200, -300, -400, -500
• Boeing 747 -200, -300, -400
• Boeing 757
• Boeing 777-200
• Convair CV-240
• Convair CV-440
• Convair CV-990
• Curtiss C-46 Commando
• Douglas DC-3 / C-47
• Douglas DC-6
• Douglas DC-8
• Fairchild Hiller FH-227
• Hawker Siddeley HS 748
• Junkers Ju 52 / 3m
• Lockheed Super Constellation
• Lockheed L-188 Electra
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10
• McDonnell Douglas MD-11
• Sud Aviation Caravelle

Incidents

The Boeing 707
PP-VJK , which crashed near Abidjan in 1987 , Miami 1984

From 1942 until the cessation of operations in 2009, VARIG suffered 38 total aircraft losses, 20 of them with 439 fatalities. Examples:

• On April 7, 1957, a Curtiss C-46 A of VARIG ( aircraft registration PP-VCF ) that had just started in Bagé for Porto Alegre had an accident due to a fire in the landing gear shaft. Its intensity led to the breaking off of the left wing, whereupon the aircraft crashed onto the airport premises. The five-man crew and the 35 passengers were killed.

• On August 16, 1957 was Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation of VARIG (PP-VDA) 500 yards off shore in Cabarete ( Dominican Republic ) ditched . The machine had started from the then Santo Domingo airport with only three functioning engines for a transfer flight to Miami. After about 30 minutes, engine number 4 got out of control, broke off and also put the adjacent engine 3 out of operation. With only the remaining engine number 1, the coast could just be reached. One of the crew members was killed (see also VARIG aircraft accident near Cabarete ) .

• On November 27, 1962, a Boeing 707-441 (PP-VJB) crashed while approaching Lima Airport when it was flown into the side of Mount La Cruz. All 80 passengers and the 17 crew members were killed. It could not be determined why the machine had deviated from its course.

• On March 5, 1967, a Douglas DC-8-33 (PP-PEA) of VARIG had an accident on flight 837 from Rome to Monrovia . The master initially failed to initiate the descent in good time before landing. When he saw the lights at Monrovia airport, he initiated a hasty descent under visual flight rules when visibility was poor. In doing so, he let the machine sink too quickly. The DC-8 hit 1.8 kilometers from the runway ( controlled flight into terrain ). The flight engineer, 50 passengers and five people died on the ground. Of the remaining occupants, 21 passengers and 18 crew members survived the accident. The investigation report criticized the fact that the 18 surviving crew members did not make any particular effort to help evacuate the remaining passengers in the aircraft (see also VARIG flight 837 ) .

• On June 9, 1973, a VARIG Boeing 707-327C (PP-VLJ) cargo plane was in flight from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport when one of the two pilots accidentally activated the spoilers shortly before landing. The machine then went into a steep descent from a height of 70 meters, hit the approach lights and hit the ground hard, killing two of the four crew members on board (see also the accident involving a Boeing 707 operated by VARIG near Rio de Janeiro 1973 ) .

• On July 11, 1973, a fire broke out on board a VARIG Boeing 707-345C (PP-VJZ) . The machine was on the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Orly Airport . The pilots made an emergency landing about 5 kilometers from the airport. Ten crew members left the aircraft while 7 others and 116 of 117 passengers died. With one exception, the 123 victims died from inhaling the fire gases (smoke poisoning) (see also main article VARIG flight 820 ) .

• On January 30, 1979, a Boeing 707-323C cargo plane operated by VARIG (PP-VLU) disappeared without a trace over the Pacific for an unknown reason after it had left the radar range of air traffic control about 200 kilometers off the Japanese coast. The whereabouts of the aircraft could not be established. The six-person crew has also been missing since then (see also VARIG flight 967 ) .

• On January 3, 1987, the flight crew of a Boeing 707-379C (PP-VJK) of VARIG on the way to Rio de Janeiro returned twenty minutes after take-off from Abidjan airport due to a fire warning on an engine and switched the engine off.

A Boeing 737-200, Salvador 1977, identical in construction to the plane that crashed on the Amazon in 1989

On the approach to the airport in the moonless night there was spatial disorientation, stall and loss of control. The plane crashed 18 kilometers northeast of the field and went up in flames. Of the 12 crew members and 39 passengers, only one survived (see also VARIG flight 797 ) .

• On September 3, 1989, a VARIG Boeing 737-241 (PP-VMK) crash-landed in the central Amazon rainforest after the pilots could not find Belém Airport and the machine ran out of fuel. The machine was only found 2 days later, around 1,100 kilometers from its actual destination. The reason was that the pilots entered a wrong course (270 ° instead of 027 °) in the autopilot after take-off due to a misleadingly displayed heading on the flight plan - a mistake they did not notice in the dark until the fuel ran out. Of the 54 occupants, 41 survived, but 13 were killed (see also VARIG flight 254 ) .

• On February 14, 1997, the right main landing gear of a Boeing 737-2C3 of VARIG (PP-CJO) buckled backwards during landing at Carajás Airport. The machine came off the runway to the right and slid into the woods. The first officer was the only fatality among the 52 people on board (see also VARIG flight 265 ) .

See also

• Former Airlines List (America)

Web links

Commons : VARIG  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Almanaque Digital ( Memento from December 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (pt)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Planespotters.net: Boeing 747-2L5B (SF) - cn 22105 / ln 435
2. ↑ Planespotters.net: A300B4-203 - cn 143
3. ↑ Varig can hardly be saved anymore Handelsblatt Online from April 26, 2006
4. ↑ Varig seeks rescue in fusion with TAM ( Memento from August 2nd, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) FTD Online from February 7th, 2003
5. ↑ http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/dinheiro/ult91u113136.shtml Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil - Brasil December 14, 2006
6. ↑ Star Alliance December 21, 2006
7. ↑ Varig seeks rescue in fusion with TAM ( Memento from August 2nd, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
8. ↑ ch-aviation.ch: Varig fleet as part of the Gol Transportes Aéreos ( memento of September 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (English) June 30, 2010
9. ^ REG Davies: Airlines of Latin America since 1919. Putnam Aeronautical Books, London 1997, ISBN 0-85177-889-5 , pp. 606-608.
10. ^ Ulrich Klee and Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1966 to 2007
11. ↑ VARIG accident statistics , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 25, 2019.
12. ^ Accident report C-46 PP-VCF , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 19, 2017.
13. ↑ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest 9, Circular 56-AN / 51, Montreal 1959 (English), pp. 152-153.
14. ^ Accident report L-1049G PP-VDA , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 22, 2019.
15. ^ Accident report B-707-400 PP-VJB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 29, 2019.
16. ↑ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest No. 17 Volume II, Circular 88-AN / 74 (English), pp. 142–150.
17. ^ Accident report DC-8-30 PP-PEA , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 25, 2019.
18. ^ Accident report B-707 PP-VLJ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 29, 2019.
19. ^ Accident report B-707 PP-VJZ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 16, 2019.
20. ↑ Accident report B-707 PP-VLU , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 17, 2019.
21. ^ Accident report B-707 PP-VJK , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 10, 2017.
22. ↑ Accident report B-737-200 PP-VMK , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 17, 2019.
23. ^ Accident report B-737-200 PP-CJO , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 23, 2019.