Editing Iberia (airline) (section)

===Early years===
Iberia, Compañía Aérea de Transportes, was incorporated on 28 June 1927 with a capital investment of 1.1 million [[Spanish peseta|pesetas]] by financier [[Horacio Echevarrieta]] and [[Deutsche Luft Hansa]]. Flight operations commenced on 14 December 1927.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.europapress.es/economia/noticia-economia-empresas-iberia-celebra-manana-80-anos-andadura-flota-220-aviones-vuelos-104-destinos-20070627164221.html|title=Iberia celebra mañana 80 años de andadura con una flota de 220 aviones y vuelos a 104 destinos|date=27 June 2007|publisher=Europa Press|access-date=13 November 2017|language=es-ES|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241123052034/https://www.europapress.es/economia/noticia-economia-empresas-iberia-celebra-manana-80-anos-andadura-flota-220-aviones-vuelos-104-destinos-20070627164221.html|archive-date=23 November 2024}}</ref> The Spanish government contracted the company to provide postal transport between Madrid and Barcelona. During [[Miguel Primo de Rivera]]'s dictatorship, Spanish aviation companies were amalgamated and became state-controlled as a general interest public utility, starting early 1928.<ref name="LA" /> Consequently, Iberia was merged into [[CLASSA]] (Compañía de Líneas Aéreas Subvencionadas ''S.A.''), ceasing independent operations on 29 May 1929.<ref name="Histaer">{{cite web|url=http://www.histaer.org/compa/classa.htm |title=Compañía de Líneas Aéreas Subvencionadas S.A. (C.L.A.S.S.A.) |date=9 December 2004 |access-date=16 August 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041209203645/http://www.histaer.org/compa/classa.htm |archive-date=9 December 2004}}</ref> Although the airline had neither a fleet nor commercial operations under its brand, the name 'Iberia' remained registered.<ref name="LA" />

In 1937, during the [[Spanish Civil War]], Spanish navy captain and director-general of the company Daniel de Araoz y Aréjula<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1947/02/27/007.html|title=ABC (Madrid) – 27/02/1947, p. 7|last=ABC|website=hemeroteca.abc.es|language=es|access-date=6 November 2017}}</ref> received the order from [[Alfredo Kindelán|General Kindelán]] to organize an airline for the air transport in nationalist-held territory during the war.<ref name="LA">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNLfqO1mBbkC&pg=PA48|title=Las alas de España: Iberia, líneas aéreas (1940–2005)|last=Vidal Olivares|first=Javier|publisher=Universitat de València|year=2008|isbn=978-84-370-8734-4|location=Valencia|pages=48–49}}</ref> Daniel de Araoz y Aréjula traveled to Germany to get support and material for the restoration of the company as an independent airline, thus six [[Junkers Ju 52]] from Deutsche Luft Hansa arrived, which were acquired by Iberia at the end of the conflict, in addition to material to help the operations.<ref name="LA" /> As the name "Iberia" was still registered, it was used when operations began in 1937<ref>{{cite web|url=https://airline-memorabilia.blogspot.com.es/2011/04/iberia-1937.html|title=Airline memorabilia: Iberia (1937)|date=15 April 2011|website=Airline memorabilia|access-date=24 October 2017}}</ref> towards the end of the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.es/hemeroteca/historico-13-07-2008/abc/Domingos/enigma-vuelo-tetuan-sevilla-1939_1641999538161.html|title=Enigma, vuelo Tetuán-Sevilla, 1939 {{!}} Domingos {{!}} Domingos |date=13 July 2008|website=ABC}}</ref> During the conflict Iberia was a purely domestic airline, with headquarters in [[Salamanca]] the airline operated flights to cities in the nationalist side, [[Plazas de soberanía|Spanish North Africa]], [[Spanish West Africa]] and [[Spanish protectorate in Morocco|Morocco]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1938/1938%20-%202840.html?search=Iberia|title= Business as usual. Airline operation in nationalist Spain — Some First-hand Impressions 1938 {{!}} 2840 {{!}} Flight Archive|website=www.flightglobal.com|access-date=22 October 2017}}</ref> After the war, at the end of the 1930s, the airline served the [[Seville]]–[[Larache]]–[[Cape Juby|Cabo Juby]]–[[Las Palmas]], [[Barcelona]]–[[Zaragoza|Saragosa]]–[[Burgos]]–[[Salamanca]]–Seville–[[Tetuan]] and [[La Palma|Palma]]–Barcelona–[[Vitoria-Gasteiz|Vitoria]] runs using Junkers Ju 52 aircraft.<ref name="Flight-1939-428" /> On 1 May 1939, Iberia operated its first regular service to an international destination as an independent civil airline with a Madrid–[[Lisbon]] flight.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iberia.com/web/product.do?cntCat=Productos/GASTRO&cntId=aniversario_vuelos_a_Lisboa&isPopup=true|title=Iberia L.A.E.|website=www.iberia.com|language=es|access-date=24 October 2017}}</ref>

In 1940, the government gave the monopoly of national air transport to Iberia (this fact changed 6 years later when the government liberalized the national air traffic for the private airlines),<ref name="BO" /> This privilege helped the company to start building as an important international airline, which had not been until then.<ref name="AE">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNLfqO1mBbkC&pg=PA117|title=Las alas de España: Iberia, líneas aéreas (1940–2005)|last=Vidal Olivares|first=Javier|publisher=Universitat de València|year=2008|isbn=978-84-370-8734-4|location=Valencia|pages=117–121}}</ref> The airline was [[Nationalization|nationalised]] on 30 September 1944 and became part of [[Instituto Nacional de Industria]]. The policy of the company was to separate itself from the German orbit to which it had been linked in its first years and establish relations with the United States in terms of aircraft purchase and supplies of aeronautical material for the operation.<ref name="AE" /> Thus, that year the purchase of seven [[Douglas DC-3|DC-3]] and three [[Douglas DC-4|DC-4]] was finalized, to expand the network in Europe and accomplish the company's first transatlantic flight.<ref name="AE" /> This was achieved in 1946, Iberia was the first airline to fly between Europe and South America after [[World War II]], using a Douglas DC-4 to operate flights between Madrid and [[Buenos Aires]].<ref name="FI" /> This flight was the first of an expansion of flights between Latin America and Europe through Spain carried out by the company, with destinations such as [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan de Puerto Rico]], [[Caracas]], [[Mexico City|Ciudad de México]] and [[Havana|La Habana]]. The poor diplomatic relations of the [[Francoist Spain|Francoist regime]] delayed the establishment of some destinations until the beginning of the 1950s.<ref name="AE" />

Iberia incorporated four more DC-4s into its fleet during the first half of 1950, enabling both the strengthening of current services and the launch of new ones.<ref name="Flight-1950-500" /> With the [[Pact of Madrid]] in 1953, visa requirements were eliminated for US visitors to Spain.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1992/08/06/pdfs/A27479-27479.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328164612/http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1992/08/06/pdfs/A27479-27479.pdf |archive-date=2018-03-28 |url-status=live|title=BOE núm. 188, 08/06/1992|date=6 August 1992|work=BOE|page=27479}}</ref> This stimulated the start of [[transatlantic flight]]s between Spain and the United States the following year. The airline phased in the first of three [[Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation|Super Constellation]]s in June 1954. The aircraft was named ''[[Santa María (ship)|Santa María]]'' to commemorate [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus|Columbus' first voyage]]<ref name="Flight-1954-59" /> and was deployed in the inauguration of the new Madrid–[[New York City|New York]] service two months later, on 3 August 1954, the same day that Columbus left the port of [[Palos de la Frontera]].<ref name="Flight-1954-311" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://grupo.iberia.es/portal/site/WebCorporativa/menuitem.abb717cb888166100cd0cbfdf34e51ca?ib_contentId=df2a4eb44f4b7410VgnVCM20000060fe15acRCRD|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140831145222/http://grupo.iberia.es/portal/site/WebCorporativa/menuitem.abb717cb888166100cd0cbfdf34e51ca?ib_contentId=df2a4eb44f4b7410VgnVCM20000060fe15acRCRD|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 August 2014|title=Iberia marks 60th anniversary of New York flights|website=www.iberia.com}}</ref>  The amendments to Article 6 of the [[Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation|Convention on International Civil Aviation]] of 14 June 1954 made in Paris on 30 June 1956 about non-scheduled air services enabled mass tourism using chartered aircraft since allowing European member states to carry out this type of operation with international flights between their territories.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.icao.int/secretariat/legal/List%20of%20Parties/EURcom56_EN.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208142241/http://www.icao.int/secretariat/legal/List%20of%20Parties/EURcom56_EN.pdf |archive-date=2012-12-08 |url-status=live|title=Multilateral agreement on commercial rights of non-scheduled air services in Europe signed at Paris on 30 April 1956|date=30 June 1956|work=International Civil Aviation Organization}}</ref> This favored the airline given that it had in its territory several highly sought after destinations, mainly those on the eastern and southern Mediterranean coast and in the Balearic and Canary Islands, highly demanded by seaside tourism which began with this type of operation.

In 1959, the Spanish airline [[Aviaco]] became a part of Iberia by controlling two-thirds of its capital in a capital increase.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNLfqO1mBbkC&pg=PA124|title=Las alas de España: Iberia, líneas aéreas (1940–2005)|last=Vidal Olivares|first=Javier|publisher=Universitat de València|year=2008|isbn=978-84-370-8734-4|location=Valencia|pages=124}}</ref> Aviaco had been created in 1948,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1975/1975%20-%200538.html|title=World Airline Directory {{!}} Flight Archive {{!}}1975 {{!}} 0538 |date=20 March 1975|publisher=Flight International|access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref> after the national air traffic had been liberalized for Spanish private companies in 1946.<ref name="BO">{{cite news|url=http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1946/174/A05070-05071.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114145412/http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1946/174/A05070-05071.pdf |archive-date=2017-11-14 |url-status=live|title=Boletín Oficial del Estado núm. 174, 23/06/1946.|last=Ministerio del Aire|date=23 June 1946|work=Boletín Oficial del Estado|pages=5070–5071 (num. 174)}}</ref>

In 1961, Iberia had 9 [[Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation|Super Constellations]] in the fleet, that year came into service the first [[Douglas DC-8#Series 50|DC-8-50]], the four-engined jet airliner was progressively incorporated until reaching the number of 8 aircraft of the 50 series variant.<ref name="EI">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNLfqO1mBbkC&pg=PA55|title=Las alas de España: Iberia, líneas aéreas (1940–2005)|last=Vidal Olivares|first=Javier|publisher=Universitat de València|year=2008|isbn=978-84-370-8734-4|location=Valencia|pages=55}}</ref> Iberia was gradually incorporating jets of short and middle range, such as [[Sud Aviation Caravelle]], and [[McDonnell Douglas DC-9|Douglas DC-9]]. The Super Constellations were removed and sold in 1966, and two years later, three [[Douglas DC-8#Super 60 Series|DC-8-63]] with more seat capacity were incorporated into the fleet. By 1969, the long-range fleet of Iberia was composed of 11 DC-8s.<ref name="EI" /> In the early 1970s, the jumbo jets [[Boeing 747]]s and [[Douglas DC-10]]s came to the company during an expansion of the intercontinental routes, especially to Central America. By the middle of this decade, the airline flew to almost all Latin American capitals. With the expansion in Latin America the company had followed a policy of purchasing shares and establishing agreements with several Latin American airlines such as [[Dominicana de Aviación|Compañia Dominicana de Aviación]], [[Aérolíneas Peruanas]], [[PLUNA]] and [[Air Panamá Internacional]]. At first, the intention of this policy could be to create a strong distribution network for intercontinental routes passengers, but as the airline was controlled by the state the Franco regime used this investment policy to get support in Latin America. Iberia gave material, capital and logistical support to those flag-carrier airlines. By 1971, these investments resulted in the loss of 14&nbsp;million dollars.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNLfqO1mBbkC&pg=PA55|title=Las alas de España: Iberia, líneas aéreas (1940–2005)|last=Vidal Olivares|first=Javier|publisher=Universitat de València|year=2008|isbn=978-84-370-8734-4|location=Valencia|pages=137}}</ref> Iberia also bought the short-middle range trijet [[Boeing 727|Boeing 727-200]] in 1971, of which the company had 35 aircraft<ref>{{cite news|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1985/02/20/espana/477702020_850215.html|title=El 727, el avión más vendido en el último cuarto de siglo|last=El País|date=20 February 1985|access-date=22 November 2017|language=es}}</ref> and was used until 2001 like the other short-range jet bought by the company in the late '60s, the Douglas DC-9.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.expansion.com/2001/08/02/empresas/759112.html|title=El último viaje del avión 'DC-9' de Iberia|last=Ruiz de Guna|first=Clara|date=2 August 2001|work=Expansión.com|language=es}}</ref>

In 1987, Iberia, together with [[Lufthansa]], [[Air France]] and [[SAS Group]], founded [[Amadeus IT Group|Amadeus]], an IT company (also known as a [[Global Distribution System]]) that would enable travel agencies to sell the founders and other airlines' products from a single system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amadeus.com/web/amadeus/en_1A-corporate/Amadeus-Home/About-us/Our-history/1987-New-global-distribution-system/1319591612325-Page-AMAD_DetailPpal?assetid=1319593241232&assettype=StandardContent_C|title=Amadeus History {{!}} 1987 |website=www.amadeus.com|access-date=24 October 2017}}</ref> In the same year, Iberia planned a fleet renewal in the middle-range fleet with the [[McDonnell Douglas MD-80|McDonnell Douglas MD-87]] and [[Airbus A320]] replacing the Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 727 respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1987/12/05/074.html|title=ABC (Madrid) – 05/12/1987, p. 74|website=hemeroteca.abc.es|publisher=ABC|language=es|access-date=22 November 2017}}</ref> In June 1990, the carrier bought 16 [[Boeing 757]]s for {{US$|1}}&nbsp;billion, including spares and training; twelve more aircraft of the type were taken on option as a part of the deal.<ref name="FI-1990-9" />