PLUNA
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox airline
PLUNA Líneas Aéreas Uruguayas S.A.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> was the flag carrier of Uruguay.<ref name="Uruguay's Pluna warns of collapse, but CEO's missive may be more political than financial"/> It was headquartered in Carrasco, Montevideo<ref>"Pluna: reunión de conciliación entre el Estado y Leadgate Template:Webarchive." Espectador.com. 8 September 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2010. "La reunión estaba fijada en la sede de Pluna en Carrasco,"</ref><ref>"Offices and call centre Template:Webarchive." PLUNA. Retrieved 13 May 2010. "Headquarters Miraflores 1445 (Carrasco)"</ref> and operated scheduled services within South America, as well as scheduled cargo<ref name="FI2000-97" /> and charter services<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> from its hub at Carrasco International Airport.<ref name="Aerolineas Argentinas, BQB, Gol and LAN-TAM poised to benefit from demise of Uruguay's Pluna"/>
On 5 July 2012,<ref name="Uruguay’s flag carrier Pluna indefinitely grounded and most staff redundant"/> only two days after the carrier's employees went on strike amid mounting financial difficulties,<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref name="Uruguay’s Pluna temporarily suspends operations after strike threat"/> the Uruguayan government decided to close the airline down and liquidate it.<ref name="Uruguay’s Pluna suspends operations indefinitely"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The carrier was wholly owned by the government at the time of its closure.<ref name="Uruguay seeks new investor for Pluna after Leadgate's withdrawal"/>
History
[edit]Foundation
[edit]
The airline was established in September 1936, and started operations the following month, on 19 November 1936.<ref name="FI1966" /> It was set up by Jorge and Alberto Márquez Vaesa, two brothers who had obtained the necessary financial and technical support through the ambassador of the United Kingdom to Uruguay at the time, Sir Eugen Millington-Drake. Millington-Drake wrote in his memoirs that he suggested the airline be named using a memorable acronym, taking SABENA as an example. It was then decided on "PLUNA", an acronym for Primeras Líneas Uruguayas de Navegación Aérea (Template:Langx). Millington-Drake knew De Havilland's representative in Buenos Aires at the time, which helped in the acquisition of the airline's first aircraft. The airline flew two five-seater de Havilland Dragonflys from Montevideo to Salto and Paysandú.<ref>PLUNA's history Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:When The two planes were christened Churrinche and San Alberto, the latter in honor of the brothers' father. PLUNA flew 2,600 passengers in their first fiscal year, a huge success for that era. It also flew 20,000 pieces of mail and 70,000 newspapers.Template:Cn
The carrier saw the incorporation of both the Potez 62 and the Douglas DC-2 into its fleet in the early 1940s, the latter acquired from the U.S. government.<ref name="FI1966"/> Following the outbreak of World War II, PLUNA was forced to suspend operations between 1942 and 1944, due to the lack of spare parts.<ref name="FI1966"/> The delicate position PLUNA was in at this time led the Uruguayan Government to aid the company by boosting its stake to 85% on 16 October 1944.<ref name="FI1966"/> The first Douglas DC-3 entered PLUNA's fleet in February 1946.<ref name="FI1966"/> The airline launched regular services to Porto Alegre, Brazil, in May 1948.<ref name="FI1966"/> The carrier later added the cities of Santa Cruz in Bolivia and Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba in Argentina to its network.Template:When
Nationalisation
[edit]
The airline became a wholly government-owned company on 12 November 1951.<ref name="FI1966"/> After World War II, PLUNA's fleet included two Douglas DC-2s which were operated on the Montevideo–Paysandú–Salto route until they were retired in 1951. In the same year, a Douglas DC-3 and four de Havilland Herons were added to the fleet. The Herons only stayed in PLUNA's fleet for a short time and by 1957, they had been sold. The DC-3s remained in service much longer, and in 1971, the last four of them were sold to the Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya.
São Paulo was added to the route network in January 1954.<ref name="FI1966"/> On 24 June 1958, the carrier entered the turbine era with the delivery of its first of three Vickers Viscounts four-engined turboprops purchased new from Vickers; it later acquired two Viscount 700s from Alitalia and three Viscount 800s from VASP.
PLUNA's growth slowed considerably for the next three decades, but it entered the jet age soon after jets were introduced to the world, and added John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York, and Miami to its destinations, using Boeing 707 and Boeing 737 aircraft.
In the 1980s, PLUNA began flying to Madrid, Asunción, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago, but services to JFK and Miami were suspended. In the meantime, as the city of Punta del Este flourished as a major tourist destination, PLUNA benefited from that. During this time, an office was also opened in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Privatisation
[edit]The 1990s, saw financial trouble loom for PLUNA. In 1995, the company was transformed into a public–private partnership and the government sold 51% of the shares to a holding formed by an Argentine consortium named Tevycom and Uruguayan businessmen; the holding later sold half of its participation in PLUNA to Varig.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
At Template:Start date, the airline had Template:Cardinal employees. At this time the fleet consisted of Template:Cardinal to word Boeing 737-200 Advanced and Template:Cardinal to word McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 to serve a network that included Asunción, Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Florianópolis, Madrid, Montevideo, Punta del Este, Rio de Janeiro, Rosario, Salvador, Santiago and São Paulo.<ref name="FI2000-97" /> By late Template:Start date, the airline's major shareholders were the Government of Uruguay (49%) and Varig (49%), and private investors held the balance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When Varig entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 17 June 2005, it sought a bidder for its 49% stake in PLUNA. For almost a year, it looked as if it might go to Venezuela's state-run Conviasa,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the deal officially fell through in Template:Start date.
On 4 January 2007, the Government of Uruguay started negotiations to sell 75% of it shares to a private consortium of investors from Germany, United States, Uruguay and Argentina called Leadgate Investment, a subsidiary of Latin American Regional Aviation Holding Corporation (LARAH),<ref name="PLUNA se capitaliza en 20 millones de dólares y anuncia plan de crecimiento"/>Template:Failed verification that committed to inject Template:US$ million in the company.<ref name="Uphoff">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July the same year, the government awarded 75% of PLUNA's stock to LARAH,<ref name="El empresario argentino Campiani abandona Pluna"/> and the acquisition of seven Bombardier CRJ-900s in a deal worth Template:US$ million was announced.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In late Template:Start date, PLUNA presented its new corporate image, developed by Australian design company Cato Partners. This new image is based on the interpretation of the name "Uruguay" as meaning "river of the painted birds" or "river of the colorful birds" (Template:Langx).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first of seven brand new CRJ900s that would be incorporated into the fleet during 2008 arrived in March that year; these new aircraft permitted increasing frequencies to existing routes, as well as expanding services to new destinations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In Template:Start date, the Canadian airline holding company Jazz Air Income Fund invested Template:US$ million in LARAH.<ref name="Canadian Fund Invests in Uruguay’s Flagship Carrier PLUNA">Template:Cite web</ref> The move gave this holding an indirect control of 25% of the Uruguayan flag carrier, as LARAH had a participation of 75% into PLUNA at that time; the Government of Uruguay held the balance.<ref name="Canadian Fund Invests in Uruguay’s Flagship Carrier PLUNA"/><ref name="Jazz Air to convert to corporate structure by year-end"/><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>Template:Clarify
In September and October 2010, three additional new CRJ900s aircraft were delivered from the Bombardier factory. In April 2011, three options were taken up for delivery at the end of 2011 and these were delivered between September and November 2011. With these additions, PLUNA's fleet consisted of 13 airplanes, the highest number in its history.
Collapse
[edit]In early Template:Start date, PLUNA's then CEO, Matías Campiani, disclosed that the airline might face collapse amid a financial distress that led to a loss of Template:US$ million for the eight months ending in February the same year, partly due to the protectionism of the government of Argentina —where the carrier concentrated 21% of its operations— following the renationalisation of Aerolíneas Argentinas in 2008, and partly due to the slowdown of the Brazilian economy in the preceding months.<ref name="Uruguay's Pluna warns of collapse, but CEO's missive may be more political than financial"/><ref name="Uruguay's Pluna airline hits 'strong turbulence'"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Later on, with losses totalling Template:US$ million, Leadgate disposed of their 75% stake in the airline, transferring it back to the Uruguayan government.<ref name="Uruguay seeks new investor for Pluna after Leadgate's withdrawal"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By that time, that percentage of PLUNA's stock was owned by LARAH, which was in turn 75% owned by Leadgate and 25% by Jazz Air.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite being initially disclosed that Jazz Air was not interested in taking over the entire 75% stock,<ref name="Jazz no está interesada en adquirir más acciones de Pluna"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and that it was later informed that the Canadian airline was evaluating the acquisition,<ref name="Canadian company still interested in recapitalization of Uruguay’s national airline"/><ref name="Ejecutivos de Jazz llegan al país para negociar compra de Pluna"/> the government suspended PLUNA's operations on Template:End date—following a strike that started two days earlier, after failing to find new investors for the company.<ref name="Uruguay's Pluna halts operations indefinitely"/><ref name="Pluna closes down"/><ref name="Uruguay to shut down bankrupt flagship carrier Pluna -source"/> The government announced that both PLUNA's fleet and routes would be auctioned.<ref name="Liquidated Pluna to auction fleet, route rights within 60 days"/> It seemed there were no plans for the government to have any stake in PLUNA's successor.<ref name="Liquidated Pluna to auction fleet, route rights within 60 days"/>
In Template:Start date, the auction of the seven Bombardier aircraft that belonged to the liquidated carrier was delayed until Template:Start date as there were no bidders.<ref name="Pluna’s fleet auction postponed to Oct. 1"/><ref name="Auction of Pluna’s Bombardier aircraft collapses: terms “non attractive” and “non viable”"/> Cosmo Airlines, a Spanish charter carrier, eventually purchased the seven aircraft at a price of $137 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Regionally, the void created by PLUNA's collapse benefited foreign airlines on some routes.<ref name="Aerolineas Argentinas, BQB, Gol and LAN-TAM poised to benefit from demise of Uruguay's Pluna"/>
In 2016, a Uruguayan court concluded that no Leadgate executives were responsible for Pluna's collapse. Two years later, in 2018 a Panamanian-based investment consortium named Caballero Verde S. de R.L. took ownership of LARAH, which still owned 75% of Pluna's shares. The consortium plans to seek compensation from the Uruguayan government for Pluna's demise.<ref name="New Pluna owners to challenge Uruguay over airline’s demise" />
Destinations
[edit]
Template:As of, PLUNA linked Uruguay with two destinations in Argentina, one in Chile, one in Paraguay, and eight in Brazil.<ref name="Pluna confirma la compra de tres nuevos aviones Bombardier CRJ 900 NextGen"/> The following is a list of destinations that were served by PLUNA as part of its scheduled services throughout its history:
Codeshare agreements
[edit]PLUNA had a codeshare agreement with Iberia, which operates the Montevideo–Madrid–Montevideo route.<ref name="Codeshare">Template:Cite web</ref> Under the same codeshare agreement, passengers also connected from Madrid to many destinations within Spain and also to Frankfurt.<ref name="Codeshare"/> PLUNA also announced a codeshare agreement with American Airlines, which would have placed PLUNA's code on American's Miami-Montevideo route, if it had government approval.<ref name="American Airlines and PLUNA Announce Codeshare Agreement"/>
Fleet
[edit]Fleet at bankruptcy
[edit]
Prior to its collapse, PLUNA's fleet consisted of the following aircraft, Template:As of.<ref name="ATDB"/>
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Economy) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bombardier CRJ900 | 13 | 90 | |
| Total | 13 | ||
Historical fleet
[edit]The carrier also operated the following aircraft types throughout its history:<ref name="ATDB"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Accidents and incidents
[edit]PLUNA had only one fatal accident with the loss of ten crew members, the Aviation Safety Network records 3 hull-loss accidents/incidents for the airline.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- 8 January 1946: A Douglas DC-2-124, registration CX-AEG, was destroyed during a thunderstorm in Uruguay.<ref>Template:ASN accident</ref>
- 9 October 1962: A Douglas C-47A, registration CX-AGE, crashed during a final test flight. The crash occurred during takeoff from Carrasco International Airport, when the right wing grazed the runway, bouncing the aircraft and causing the right tire to burst, then bouncing the aircraft again causing the engine to smash into the ground at almost full throttle, and finally rolling over and coming to rest upside down. A fire broke out shortly afterwards. All 10 crew members died.<ref>Template:ASN accident</ref>
- 11 May 1975: A Vickers 769D Viscount, registration CX-AQO, flying a scheduled Carrasco International Airport–Buenos Aires-Aeroparque service, ran off the end of the runway at the destination airport on landing. The damage wrote off the aircraft. All 57 passengers and crew survived the incident.<ref>Template:ASN accident</ref>
See also
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]Template:Commons category inline
- Template:Cite news
- Memorias del Tiempo de Vuelo (In Spanish)
Template:Portalbar Template:Airlines of Uruguay Template:Authority control