TransBrasil was a Brazilian airline which ceased operations on 3 December 2001. During most of its history, Transbrasil was owned by local entrepreneur Omar Fontana. Its aircraft usually featured a colorful livery, remarkably with a rainbow on the tail fin. Transbrasil base was
Brasilia International Airport in
Brasilia. From the 1970s and until its demise in 2002, Transbrasil was usually the third largest Brazilian airline after
Varig
VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went i ...
and
VASP
Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A (São Paulo Airways), better known as VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of São Paulo–Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. It had main bases at São Paulo's two m ...
, serving both domestic and international routes.
History
The First Years as Sadia (1955–1972)
![Transbrasil Handley Page HRP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Transbrasil_Handley_Page_HRP.7_Herald_214_Volpati-1.jpg)
Transbrasil was born in the
State of Santa Catarina as a sister company of S/A Indústria e Comércio Concórdia, better known by its acronym
Sadia
Sadia S.A. is a major Brazilian food producer that has been a subsidiary of BRF S.A. since 2009. It is among the world's leading producers of frozen foods, and is Brazil's main exporter of meat-based products.
In Portuguese the word ''sadia'' ...
. In 1953 Omar Fontana, one of the sons of the founder of Sadia Attilio Fontana noticed a
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
that remained parked at
Joaçaba Airport, near
Concórdia
Concórdia is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It was founded by colonizers of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, basically descendants of Italians and Germans, who immigrated to Brazil in the 19th century. It is located 480 km west o ...
, the whole weekend. Omar Fontana came up with the idea of leasing the aircraft for transporting the products of Sadia to
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
. In 1954 Sadia acquired its own Douglas DC-3 and flights became daily, having Omar as one of the crew members. However, since it was not an airline with regular schedule, it could not receive subventions from the government. In order to avoid this restriction, on January 5, 1955 he created Sadia S/A – Transportes Aéreos. The first regular flight was operated on March 16, 1956.
![BAC 1-11 520FN PP-SDR T](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/BAC_1-11_520FN_PP-SDR_T.Bsl_Cong_06.04.75_edited-2.jpg)
Sadia enlarged
Concórdia Airport
Olavo Cecco Rigon Airport is the airport serving Concórdia, Brazil.
History
The runway sits atop a ridge with dropoffs on all sides. The terrain in all quadrants is hilly, with ridges and ravines.
The Chapecó VOR-DME (Ident: XPC) is located ...
so that a Douglas DC-3 could operate with full load and created the first route from Concórdia to
Videira
Videira is a city in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil. The estimated population in 2020 was 53,610 inhabitants.
The city is called "Capital do Vinho" (The Wine Capital) in reference to the production of this alcoholic drink. In the past, Vi ...
,
Florianópolis
Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina, in the South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as well as part of the mainland. It has a populat ...
,
São Paulo-Congonhas. A short time later, Sadia was also operating to
Londrina
Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and fourth largest in the southern regi ...
,
Bauru
Bauru () is a Brazilian municipality in midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. It is the main city of the mesoregion and microregion of Bauru. The population is 379,297 (2020 est.) in an area of 667.68 km². Established in 1896, ...
,
Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a municipality and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo state, Brazil.
Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-largest municipality in the State wi ...
and
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
.
![Embraer EMB-110 PT-TBC T](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Embraer_EMB-110_PT-TBC_T.Brasil_SDU_05.04.75_edited-2.jpg)
In November 1957, Sadia established a partnership with
Real Transportes Aéreos
Real Transportes Aéreos (acronym to Redes Estaduais Aéreas Limitadas, literal translation: State Air Networks Limited) was a Brazilian airline founded in 1945. It was merged into Varig in 1961, when Varig bought the Consórcio Real-Aerovias-Nac ...
and became a feeder airline at Florianópolis. Whereas Linneu Gomes got 50% of the shares of Sadia, Omar Fontana became part of the board of Real, where he gained airline experience. At this time Sadia moved headquarters to São Paulo and expanded services to
Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont and
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...
. This partnership ended in 1961 with the demise of Real and Fontana bought back the shares he had earlier sold to Gomes.
In 1962 Sadia bought
TASSA – Transportes Aéreos Salvador and increased its presence in
Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
. In 1967 most of Sadia network was eligible to receive subventions from the Federal government and aiming at those subventions Sadia bought five
Handley Page Dart Herald
The Handley Page Dart Herald is a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft.
Design and development
In the mid-1950s Handley Page developed a new fast short-range regional airliner, intended to replace the older Douglas DC-3, particularly in ...
s. In 1968 Sadia joined the shuttle service ( pt, Ponte Aérea, meaning "air bridge") between Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont and São Paulo-Congonhas airports, operated since 1959 by
Varig
VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went i ...
,
Cruzeiro do Sul and
VASP
Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A (São Paulo Airways), better known as VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of São Paulo–Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. It had main bases at São Paulo's two m ...
. This service was abandoned only in 1999.
The first jet airliner type to be introduced into the fleet of Sadia, a stretched
BAC One-Eleven
The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...
Series 500, entered into service on September 17, 1970. In 1972 the name of the airline was changed to Transbrasil S/A Linhas Aéreas and its headquarters were moved to
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
.
Consolidation as Transbrasil (1972–1983)
* 1973 - Transbrasil replaces its ageing Dart Heralds by new
Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante
The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use.
The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Ho ...
light transport turboprops.
* 1974 - Transbrasil starts to phase out its remainder Bandeirantes, Heralds and 1-11s, replacing them with
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
-100. By 1979, its fleet consisted only of 727-100s.
* 1983 - Its first
Boeing 767-200
The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...
is delivered, and Transbrasil starts its international operations, initially with charter flights - and from 1989, with regular service - to
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
and
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
Apogee and Downturn (1983–2003)
In 1990 Transbrasil fleet consisted of three 767-200, three
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
for cargo and passenger service (operated by its affiliated company, Aerobrasil) and 15 leased
Boeing 737-300 and -400. In addition to domestic flights to most of the larger Brazilian cities, Transbrasil offered regular and charter service to Miami, Orlando, New York, Washington, Buenos Aires, Vienna, Amsterdam, London and even Beijing. During some time, due to discounted ticket prices and an aggressive commercial strategy Transbrasil surpassed VASP as the second largest Brazilian airline.
Despite its growing market share, Transbrasil was already experiencing financial problems. In 1987 after a formal request of its chairman Omar Fontana, Brazilian government took over Transbrasil management. However, soon Fontana started to disagree with the Brazilian Air Force officers nominated to run the company and in 1989 the intervention was cancelled. After Fontana stepped out from Transbrasil management due to health issues, the company was run by his son-in-law Celso Cipriani - a former police officer with no previous experience on airline management. Cipriani tenure on Transbrasil was controversial, and he has been formally charged with fraud, embezzlement of funds and property and mismanagement since then.
On January 14, 1994, Transbrasil created its regional subsidiary
Interbrasil STAR
Interbrasil STAR S/A was a Brazilian airline founded in 1994 as a feeder airline to Transbrasil. It ceased activities along with its parent company in 2001.
History
Interbrasil Sistema de Transporte Aéreo Regional was founded on January 14, 19 ...
to operate as feeder-carrier. Services started on July 3, 1995.
In addition to the management problems, Transbrasil was also facing other difficulties, specially the reduced or no profit from its international routes, severe competition from other companies in the domestic front (specially
TAM, a former air taxi company with a growing fleet) and growing expenses. Following the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, despite several government loans, Transbrasil was amassing huge debts with several suppliers. When
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
refused to further supply fuel without payment, Transbrasil's then aging and reduced fleet was grounded on 3 December 2001. It never returned to the air, and was declared bankrupt in 2003 at the request of one of its major debtors -
GE Capital Aviation Services
GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) was an Irish–American commercial aviation financing and leasing company. AerCap acquired the company from GE Capital on November 1, 2021.
GECAS was the largest commercial airline leasing/financing company in ...
.
After Bankruptcy (2003–2010)
![TransBrasil airplanes at BSB 09 2009 7136](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/TransBrasil_airplanes_at_BSB_09_2009_7136.jpg)
On 16 September 2009 the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court began the analysis of the legality of the bankruptcy of Transbrasil. The bankruptcy was confirmed on 2 October 2009.
That same year, the Public Ministry was preparing to file charges against the senior management of the company. The main accused being Celso Cipriani, who allegedly committed crimes that hastened the company's demise.
In 2010, the debt which caused the bankruptcy of Transbrasil was invalidated by the Court of Justice of São Paulo.
Destinations
Fleet
Airline Affinity Program
TransPass was Transbrasil's
Frequent-flyer program
A frequent-flyer program (American English) or frequent-flyer programme (British English) is a loyalty program offered by an airline.
Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program ...
. Points could be used on Transbrasil and
Interbrasil STAR
Interbrasil STAR S/A was a Brazilian airline founded in 1994 as a feeder airline to Transbrasil. It ceased activities along with its parent company in 2001.
History
Interbrasil Sistema de Transporte Aéreo Regional was founded on January 14, 19 ...
services. Points held at the time of the airline's collapse lost their value as no other airline took over the program.
Accidents and incidents
As Sadia
*4 August 1963: a
Douglas C-49E registration PP-SLL en route from
Joaçaba
Joaçaba is a city situated in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, with approximately 30,404 inhabitants. Located in 27º10'22" S and 51º30'03" W and 516.74 m above sea level, the city was colonized in the early 20th century by German and Ital ...
to
Videira
Videira is a city in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil. The estimated population in 2020 was 53,610 inhabitants.
The city is called "Capital do Vinho" (The Wine Capital) in reference to the production of this alcoholic drink. In the past, Vi ...
crashed into a hill when approaching Videira under poor visibility. All 10 occupants died.
*3 November 1967: a
Handley Page Dart Herald 214 registration PP-SDJ flying from
São Paulo-Congonhas to
Curitiba-Afonso Pena collided with a hill during approach to land at Curitiba. All crew and 21 passengers died, 4 passengers survived.
*16 March 1968: Douglas C-47A-35-DL (DC-3) registrationPP-AST en route from
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
to
Arica
Arica ( ; ) is a Communes of Chile, commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The ...
Chile crashed near
Tacna
Tacna was known for its mining industry; it had significant deposits of sodium nitrate and other resources. Its economic prosperity attracted a wave of immigrants from Italy. Today, their Italian Peruvian descendants live in the city and many of t ...
. All 4 occupants died.
As Transbrasil
*22 January 1976: an
Embraer EMB 110C Bandeirante registration PT-TBD operating flight 107 from
Chapecó
Chapecó () is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of Brazil. Being a major industrial, financial and educational center, it is a major producer of industrialized food products. Considered a medium city, with a p ...
to
Erechim
Erechim is a Brazilian municipality located in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. A regional center in the northern portion of the state, it is the second most populous city in the region with 106,633 inhabitants, second only to the city of ...
, crashed upon take-off from Chapecó. Seven of the nine passengers and crew on board died.
*12 April 1980: a
Boeing 727-27C registration PT-TYS operating
flight 303 flying from
São Paulo-Congonhas to
Florianópolis
Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina, in the South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as well as part of the mainland. It has a populat ...
was on a night instrumental approach to Florianópolis Airport under a severe thunderstorm. The aircraft went off course, struck a hill and exploded. Probable causes are misjudgment of speed and distance, inadequate flight supervision, failure to initiate a go-around and improper operation of the engines. Of the 58 passengers and crew aboard, 3 passengers survived.
*21 March 1989:
Flight 801, a cargo
Boeing 707-349C registration PT-TCS, flying from
Manaus
Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...
to
São Paulo-Guarulhos, crashed at the district of Vila Barros in Guarulhos, shortly before touch-down at runway 09R. That day, at 12:00 the runway was going to be closed for maintenance and the crew decided to speed up procedures to touch-down before closure (it was already 11:54). In a hurry, one of the crew members, by mistake, activated the air-dynamic brakes and the aircraft lost too much speed to have enough aerodynamic support (Stall). As a consequence the aircraft crashed at approximately 2 km from the airport. There were 25 fatalities which of these three were crew members and 22 were civilians on the accident site. As well as the 22 fatalities,
there were also over 200 injured on the ground.
This aircraft was used in the filming of the movie ''
Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
''.
See also
*
List of defunct airlines of Brazil
a. German trade company that operated airline services in Brazil while also providing aircraft, maintenance and aviation information.
See also
* List of airlines of Brazil
* Transportation in Brazil
References
{{List of defunct airline ...
References
External links
Sadia accidents as per Aviation Safety DatabaseTransbrasil accidents as per Aviation Safety DatabaseTransbrasil Photo Archive at airliners.netTransbrasil(Portuguese)
{{Authority control
Defunct airlines of Brazil
Airlines established in 1955
Airlines disestablished in 2003
1955 establishments in Brazil