TACA Boeing 737
TACA (Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano) was founded in 1931 with a single Stinson aircraft. It was hoped that TACA would become an umbrella organization for every Central and South American nation, with each nation operating a TACA franchise. Initially, this was successful, with TACA building a regional route network; for the first time, a local airline was posing a challenge to the most established airline in Central America, Pan American World Airways.
TACA operated throughout World War II, but in 1945 moved its headquarters to El Salvador. All the TACA enterprises were subsequently spun off to become their own airlines, and the airline became known as TACA International. It was established as the flag carrier of El Salvador. It standardized on the cheap and easy to get Douglas DC-3, then expanded to include DC-4s, which allowed TACA to reach points in the United States and South America. It entered the jet age in 1966 when it purchased a BAC One-Eleven.
Due to El Salvador's increasing political instability (which resulted in civil war during the 1980s), TACA moved much of its infrastructure to the United States. The fleet now standardized on the Boeing 737, with cargo flights flown by Lockheed L-188 Electras. With the end of the Salvadorean Civil War in 1990, TACA could concentrate on expanding its route network again.
Ironically, the airline now began to realize its original dream of becoming a Latin American-wide airline. TACA entered into a codesharing agreement with several South American airlines, and bought out Copa Panama in 1992, followed by a new subsidiary, TACA Peru, in 2001. Its route network now stretched from Chicago in the north to Lima, Peru in the south.
This was a large network for a relatively small airline, and rising fuel costs threatened TACA. As a result, it agreed to a merger with Avianca of Colombia in 2009, though TACA did not remove its brand until 2013, when it became Avianca El Salvador.
This 737 depicts TACA's 1980s-era livery, which was broadly similar to Airbus' house colors or that of Japan's Toa Domestic. The parrot on the fuselage was hand-painted. The real YS-08C was delivered new to TACA in 1978, and flew with the airline until it was sold to Braathens in 1985. It then passed through four other airlines before ending up with Nigerian-based Bellview Airlines; as that airline recently went bankrupt, its final fate is unknown.
TACA Boeing 737
TACA (Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano) was founded in 1931 with a single Stinson aircraft. It was hoped that TACA would become an umbrella organization for every Central and South American nation, with each nation operating a TACA franchise. Initially, this was successful, with TACA building a regional route network; for the first time, a local airline was posing a challenge to the most established airline in Central America, Pan American World Airways.
TACA operated throughout World War II, but in 1945 moved its headquarters to El Salvador. All the TACA enterprises were subsequently spun off to become their own airlines, and the airline became known as TACA International. It was established as the flag carrier of El Salvador. It standardized on the cheap and easy to get Douglas DC-3, then expanded to include DC-4s, which allowed TACA to reach points in the United States and South America. It entered the jet age in 1966 when it purchased a BAC One-Eleven.
Due to El Salvador's increasing political instability (which resulted in civil war during the 1980s), TACA moved much of its infrastructure to the United States. The fleet now standardized on the Boeing 737, with cargo flights flown by Lockheed L-188 Electras. With the end of the Salvadorean Civil War in 1990, TACA could concentrate on expanding its route network again.
Ironically, the airline now began to realize its original dream of becoming a Latin American-wide airline. TACA entered into a codesharing agreement with several South American airlines, and bought out Copa Panama in 1992, followed by a new subsidiary, TACA Peru, in 2001. Its route network now stretched from Chicago in the north to Lima, Peru in the south.
This was a large network for a relatively small airline, and rising fuel costs threatened TACA. As a result, it agreed to a merger with Avianca of Colombia in 2009, though TACA did not remove its brand until 2013, when it became Avianca El Salvador.
This 737 depicts TACA's 1980s-era livery, which was broadly similar to Airbus' house colors or that of Japan's Toa Domestic. The parrot on the fuselage was hand-painted. The real YS-08C was delivered new to TACA in 1978, and flew with the airline until it was sold to Braathens in 1985. It then passed through four other airlines before ending up with Nigerian-based Bellview Airlines; as that airline recently went bankrupt, its final fate is unknown.