TACA is the trade name "brand" comprising a group of five independently IATA-coded and -owned Central American airlines, whose operations are combined to function as one and a number of other independently owned and IATA-coded regional airlines which code-share and feed the TACA brand system. TACA, originally an acronym of ''Transportes Aéreos Centroamericanos'' (Central American Air Transport), now stands for ''Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano'' (Air Transport of the American Continent), reflecting its expansion to North, Central, South America and the Caribbean.
The five airlines are:
TACA International (TA) (El Salvador)
Aviateca (GU) (Guatemala)
:
Regional (GU) - Formerly Inter, it operates under Aviateca's code.
Lacsa (LR) (Costa Rica)
: Lacsa is the only airline of the group that still operates international flights with its own flight numbers. Its hub is at
Juan Santamaría International Airport in
San José, Costa Rica.
:
SANSA (RZ)
Islena Airlines (WC) (Honduras)
Nicaragüense de Aviación (6Y) (Nicaragua)
: Regional -
La Costeña
TACA Perú (T0) (Peru) is now an important part of Grupo TACA.
AviancaTaca
In October 2009 it was announced that TACA would merge its assets in a strategic alliance with Colombian airline
Avianca, in which case each will maintain their own trademark and operations. Avianca and TACA currently operate a combined fleet of 129 aircraft, serving over 100 destinations in the Americas and Europe. In December 2009 approval for the merger was given by the Colombian Civil Aeronautical Agency.
Ecuadorian airline Aerogal also announced its merger into Avianca-TACA by the end of October 2009.
Service
TACA has three flight hubs or "Centros de Conexiones":
TACA hub at Comalapa International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador
TACA Perú hub at Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, Peru
Lacsa hub at Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, Costa Rica.
TACA's headquarters are in San Salvador, El Salvador.
TACA's regional airlines system includes the following airlines:
Aeroperlas
Regional Operating under Aviateca's code
Islena Airlines
La Costeña
SANSA
History
TACA was founded in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 1931 by
New Zealander
Lowell Yerex. TACA was once the "world's largest cargo carrier.". The idea of its founder was to establish one airline in each Latin-American country, such as
Aerovias Brasil in Brazil and other TACAs in Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia.Out of all the TACA franchise airlines created, only TACA International of
El Salvador survived, and has now ventured in acquisitions and has helped launch airlines such as the Mexican
Volaris and has 49% shares in TACA Peru.
Until 1980 TACA was owned by a United States company and had its corporate headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana (due to the civil war raging in El Salvador) in 1980 the Kriete Family of El Salvador who owned a minority stock completed buying all the shares. Today the headquarters returned to San Salvador, El Salvador to a new building which was inaugurated in 2008.
Between 1989 and 1995, TACA bought the majority shares of the flag airlines of Guatemala (AVIATECA), Costa Rica (Lacsa), and Nicaragua (NICA), consolidating operations under a new brand name, Grupo TACA. In 2008, Roberto Kriete and the board of directors decided to revert back to the original name; TACA International Airlines since the consolidation of the acquired airlines was completed. It has announced that it will join Star Alliance in 2012 and all of its affiliates, except Volaris will join the alliance as affiliate members.
AviancaTaca alliance (since 2009)
The merger of Colombia's Avianca and Salvadoran-based TACA is the latest sign that consolidation in the Latin American airline sector is picking up. AviancaTaca
The newly formed Holdco - which will be controlled jointly by Avianca and TACA - instantly becomes one of the region's largest airlines after Brazil's TAM and GOL, with 129 aircraft and flights to more than 100 destinations.
In November 2009, the airline's Chief Executive Fabio Villegas announced that the airline is looking to replace its Fokker 50 and Fokker 100 aircraft with newer aircraft of 100 seats or less. The 10 Fokker 50s and 15 Fokker 100s are currently operated on flights shorter than one-and-a-half hours. Aircraft manufactured by Brazil's Embraer, Canada's Bombardier Aerospace and the Airbus A318 are being considered for the replacement.
In December 2010, The airline made the decision to retire the Fokker 100 aircraft in 2011 and replace them with 10 Airbus A318 leased from GECAS from 2011-2018. The aircraft will be delivered during January to February 2011.
Star Alliance (from 2012)
On November 10, 2010 Star Alliance announced Avianca (and its subsidiary, TACA) to become full member in mid-2012. Due to Avianca's entry into Star Alliance it will stop its code share agreement with Delta Air Lines in March 2011 and begin a new code share agreement with United Airlines and Continental Airlines. TACA has been code sharing with United Airlines for a while now.
Lacsa
Lacsa is the only airline of the merger that has current operations. Lacsa operates with its own crew, service, and hub at San Jose. Its main hub is Juan Santamaría International Airport
From 1946 until 1949 TACA was serving the NICARAGUAN TERRITORY flying from Managua to the atlantic coast Puerto Cabezas, Alamicamba, etc. it was replaced in that route for a Somoza owned company called FANSA. In 1956 a VISCOUNT plane of TACA taking off from Managua airport(LAS MERCEDES) went down killing several passengers.
Destinations
''Main Article:''
TACA destinations,
Lacsa destinations,
TACA Perú destinations
TACA has a total of 50 destinations around the world and continues to grow.
The hub at Comalapa International Airport makes connections between all of Central America and North America (Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington), as well as Lima, Perú and Bogotá, Colombia (In codeshare agreement with Avianca)
The Lacsa hub at Juan Santamaría International Airport is the focus of the Caribbean routes (Havana and Santo Domingo), South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela), as well as three US cities (Los Angeles, Miami and New York) and all of Central America.
The hub at Jorge Chavez International Airport handles all connections to the South American routes and serves Costa Rica, El Salvador, Havana and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
TACA has developed a focus city at La Aurora International Airport, serving North American Destinations (Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami), Central American Destinations (El Salvador, Managua, San Jose (CR), San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa), Mexican Destinations (Cancun, Mexico City) . Most of its flights connect in either SAL or SJO.
TACA's Evolution
On September 24, 2008, TACA Chairman and CEO Roberto Kriete introduced a new brand of identity by unveiling a new Airbus aircraft painted in TACA's new colour scheme. The event also included a fashion show featuring the new uniforms for TACA staff designed by Colombian designer Isabel Henao.
Skytrax
TACA Airlines won the Skytrax award in the following categories:
2009
Best Airline Central America
Best Regional Airline
Best Cabin Staff Central America and the Caribbean
2010
Best Airline Central America
Best Regional Airline
Best Cabin Staff Central America and the Caribbean
Fleet
As of June 2011, the TACA fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 5.5 years:
Historic fleet
Taca has operated the following types:
Stinson Reliant
Bellanca CH-400 Skyrocket
Ford 5-AT Tri-Motor (The Smithsonian has preserved one of TACA's Fords)
Douglas DC-4
Lockheed 18 Lodestar (The Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society has preserved one of TACA's Lockheeds)
Vickers Viscount 768
BAC One-Eleven
Airbus A300 (For Cargo Only)
Boeing 737
Boeing 767-200ER
Boeing 767-300ER
Metal Aircraft Flamingo
Reciprocal Frequent Flyer Agreements
Distancia is TACA's
frequent flyer program. It also has a corporate incentive program called Avancia that can be converted 1-to-1 to "Distancia" miles.
In addition to earning miles on TACA and TACA Regional flights, Taca has partnerships with the following airlines:
AeroSur
Avianca
Iberia
Lufthansa
TAME
United Airlines
US Airways
Distancia however will be replaced by LifeMiles, the new frequent flyer program of Avianca and TACA.
Joining of a Major "Airline Alliance"
TACA was not a part of a formal
airline alliance prior to November 2008, although it did exchange frequent flyer incentives to other airlines customers prior to this.
In November 2008 the chief executive of TACA Roberto Kriete revealed on the ALTA airline leaders forum in Cancun that TACA has submitted an application to join the Star Alliance.
On Wednesday November 10, 2010 it was announced that TACA Airlines along with Avianca Airlines together part of Avianca-TACA Ltd. had chosen to join the Star Alliance. Both to be accepted in the year 2012.
Accidents and incidents
On March 5, 1959,
Vickers Viscount YS-09C crashed shortly after take-off from
Managua Airport,
Nicaragua when both port engines failed. Fifteen of the 19 people on board were killed.
On May 24, 1988, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Boeing 737-300: TACA Flight 110: A double engine flameout due to water ingestion, a result of an in-flight encounter with an area of very heavy rain and hail. The design of the engines and FAA water ingestion certification standards did not take into account the higher water volume of strong or severe thunderstorms. NTSB Report
On April 6, 1993, Guatemala City, Guatemala, Boeing 767-200, TACA Flight 510, Overran the runway after not being able to brake on flooded landing field.
On May 30, 2008, Toncontín International Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Airbus A320 EI-TAF: TACA Flight 390, from San Salvador overran a rain-soaked runway in approach to Tegucigalpa Airport. There were five fatalities, three of which were occupants.
On December 1, 2008, TACA Airlines flight 670 from El Salvador to LAX was diverted to LA/Ontario International Airport due to heavy fog. 191 passengers were forced to wait 9 hours on the tarmac. In February, 2009, the passengers sued TACA for negligence and false imprisonment.
References
External links
Grupo TACA
TACA Regional
Aeroman
Tus Sentidos
LifeMiles
Category:Airlines established in 1931
Category:Airlines of El Salvador
Category:Avianca
Category:IATA members
Category:Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association
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