Editing Dominicana de Aviación (section)

==History==
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2011}}
[[File:Douglas DC-6BF HI-92 Dominicana MIA 02.08.75 edited-4.jpg|thumb|A Dominicana [[Douglas DC-6B]] freighter parked at [[Miami International Airport]] in 1975]]
[[File:Dominicana McDonnell Douglas DC-9 HI-177.jpg|thumb|The only [[McDonnell Douglas DC-9]] Dominicana owned. This aircraft crashed [[1970 Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 crash|in 1970]], killing all 102 people on board]]

Dominicana was established in 1944 in an effort to create a national airline aiming at the large number of Dominican citizens who emigrated to the [[United States]], [[Puerto Rico]] and [[Spain]]. The initial fleet consisted of the [[Douglas C-47]] and [[Douglas DC-6|DC-6]]. During the 1950s, Dominicana launched a domestic route network to places such as [[Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic|Puerto Plata]], [[La Romana, Dominican Republic|La Romana]] and [[Santiago de los Caballeros]], acquiring [[Curtiss C-46 Commando]] and [[Aviation Traders Carvair]] airplanes. In 1960, the airline was operating international nonstop passenger service between [[Ciudad Trujillo]] (the capitol of the Dominican Republic which was later renamed [[Santo Domingo]]) and [[Miami]] with [[Douglas DC-4]] propliners and also nonstop between Ciudad Trujillo and [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]] with [[Douglas DC-3]] and Curtiss C-46 prop aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/do1/do60/|title=Index of /Ttimages/Do1/Do60/}}</ref> Later during the 1960s, Dominicana renewed its fleet with the [[Douglas DC-8]], [[McDonnell Douglas DC-9]] and [[Boeing 727]] jetliners. The route network was further expanded, with more destinations in the Americas and the Caribbean during the 1970s. At its height in the 1980s, Dominicana operated the [[Boeing 747]] to European destinations like Madrid, Milan, and [[Frankfurt]].

At the end of the decade, the airline's economic situation worsened due to poor management, lack of innovation or cost-cutting culture, and the heavy maintenance costs of its aging fleet. More importantly, on the revenue side, government employees also sought to fly non-revenue, given the typical patronage in the Dominican Republic with many flights full of them often displacing paying passengers. Subsequently, the fleet and network were scaled back, leaving only the original routes like New York, Miami, Caracas, and San Juan. In an effort to save on maintenance costs, Dominicana began to operate leased aircraft (mostly [[Boeing 727]]s and also [[Airbus A300]]s). The financial situation further worsened into the 1990s, which coincided with a negative customer reputation (like lost or delayed luggage as well as unreliable schedules). In 1994, now also faced with Cat1 restrictions in the US, Dominicana wet-leased a [[Boeing 737-300]] and a [[Boeing 757-200]] from Mexican low-cost airline [[TAESA]]. Further aircraft were wet-leased from [[Capitol Air Express]]
[[Express One International]], [[Atlantic Aviation]] and [[Carnival Air Lines]]. During Christmas of 1994, many Dominicana [[Visits to Friends and Relatives|VFR passengers]] were stranded at JFK, MIA, and SJU when the airline was unable to provide necessary funding to lessors for heavily-booked Christmas flights (and, overbooked for the B727 the lessors were providing, since an A300 had been expected to be wet-leased). As a consequence of the outrage, in early 1995 the government of the Dominican Republic decided to shut down the airline. While the shutdown was originally only planned as a temporary measure to get re-organized, the company never became operational again, and was dissolved in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pascal |first=Hugo Bueno |date=14 June 2023 |title=El nacimiento, renacer y desaparición de Dominicana de Aviación (CDA) – y 9- |url=https://acento.com.do/opinion/el-nacimiento-renacer-y-desaparicion-de-dominicana-de-aviacion-cda-y-9-9208149.html |access-date=22 January 2024 |website=Acento |language=es}}</ref> The vice president at the time was quoted saying that "Dominicans can fly [[APA International Air|APA International]]" which was another "local" airline that benefited handsomely from Dominicana's demise. While several attempts have been made to privatize the airline, no efforts came to fruition. [[American Airlines]] and later [[JetBlue]] dominated the market and the business case for a new Dominican flag carrier is relatively weak given the investment that would be required and the debts that would have to be honored in order to use the Dominicana name.<ref>[http://www.airlineupdate.com/content_public/airlines/caribbean/dominicanrepublic.htm List of airlines of the Dominican Republic at airlineupdate.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618122720/http://www.airlineupdate.com/content_public/airlines/caribbean/dominicanrepublic.htm|date=2013-06-18}}</ref>