"AEROFLOT"
HISTORY
History
The
company was founded in 1923 under the name Dobroflot and was
reorganized under the name Aeroflot in 1932. International
flights started in 1937, before that date they had been carried out
by a joint Soviet-German airline Deruluft.
During
the Soviet era Aeroflot was a synonym for Russian civil aviation.
One of the rare examples of Soviet commercial advertisement was Aeroflot
slogan: "Fly on Aeroflot planes!" The paradox was that Aeroflot
had no competitors and it was virtually impossible for an average
Soviet citizen to fly on a non-Aeroflot plane.
The
airline grew into what was considered by the World Almanac as the
world's largest airline company. In 1976 Aeroflot carried more then
100 million passengers for the first time. Its flights were mainly
concentrating around the Soviet Union, but the airline also had an
international network covering five continents: North and South Americas,
Europe, Africa and Asia. The network included countries such as the
United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Cuba, and People's Republic
of China. Since the 1970s some transatlantic flights were flown using
Shannon Airport in Ireland as a hub, as it was the westernmost non-NATO
airport in Europe.
Aeroflot
joined IATA in 1989.
At
the start of the 1990s Aeroflot was divided into hundreds of new airlines.
The biggest one was the Moscow-based subsidiary responsible for international
flights, which possessed the brand (Aeroflot - Soviet International
Airlines). Some airline companies which were created from
the old Aeroflot are now flag carriers of the newly independent countries
of the CIS — e.g., Ukraine International Airlines. Smaller regional
airlines which emerged out of the old Aeroflot — sometimes just
one-plane operations — are sometimes referred to as Babyflots.
After
the collapse of the Soviet Union the decision was made to reorganize
Aeroflot as an open joint stock company (the company was created in
1994 under the name Aeroflot — Russian International Airlines).
The Russian government still owns 51% of the airline.
During
the 1990s Aeroflot was primarily focused on international flights
from Moscow. However, by the end of the decade Aeroflot started an
expansion in the domestic market. In 2000 the company name was changed
to Aeroflot — Russian Airlines to reflect the change in the company's
strategy.
The
transition period severely damaged the safety record of the company.
There was a number of accidents at the start of the 1990s. The last
one was in 1994, when an A310 crashed near Mezhdurechensk, Russia
killing 75 people on board. It happened after a captain allowed his
15 year-old son to manipulate the controls of the plane while a co-pilot
was not able to reach the controls properly.
Nevertheless,
Aeroflot managed to improve itself dramatically in a short period
of time and the airline's safe flights rate is currently 99.94 percent.
The
company used to be severely criticized for its bad service, especially
in the first half of 1990s. Although service has improved since then,
the hardest part was to train attendants to deliver it with a smile.
In the mid-1990s the company even had an advertisement slogan: "We
don't smile, because we're serious about making you happy".
Fleet
history
During
the Soviet era Aeroflot had 100% Russian-made fleet. In fact, all
Soviet civil aircrafts were build for Aeroflot.
On
September 15, 1956 Aeroflot started to operate Tupolev Tu-104 - the
World's first jet airplane in regular service. The first flight with
passengers was from Moscow to Irkutsk, Russia. The first international
route served by Tu-104 was Moscow - Prague, Czech Republic.
The
Tupolev Tu-114, originally used to transport Soviet leaders, came
into service in 1962 on the Moscow - Havana, Cuba route, the longest
non-stop route of the airline at that time.
In
1972 the first Tupolev Tu-154 began regular flights. This jet airplane
is probably the most popular Russian airliner (more than 1000 of these
were build in total). It is also one of the most reliable planes in
the world. The latest modification Tu-154M is still in service.
In
1974 Aeroflot started to use the Tupolev Tu-144 - the world's first
civil supersonic aircraft on its regular route from Moscow to Alma-Ata
(now Almaty, Kazakhstan). Tu-144s were retired from service in 1984.
In
1980 the Ilyushin Il-86 - the first Russian-made wide-body plane -joined
the fleet. Eleven planes are still in use for charter flights.
In
1993 Aeroflot started to operate the Ilyushin Il-96-300 airplanes
on its route Moscow-New York.
The
first western-made aircraft (the Airbus A310) was acquired in 1992.
The company also became a Boeing customer, adding new Boeing 767 jet
planes in 1994. Since then Aeroflot has also operated Boeing 737s,
Boeing 777s, Airbus A320 family and the cargo version of the Douglas
DC-10s.
Other
facts of interest
Aeroflot
started commercial flights to the United States in 1968. However,
in 1979 these flights were suspended by the US Government in response
to the Soviet intervention into Afghanistan. Direct flights from
Moscow to New York were resumed in 1986.
President
Vladimir Putin's wife is a former Aeroflot flight attendant. She
worked at the Leningrad-based subsidiary of Soviet Aeroflot (Leningrad
Avia-Squadron), now Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise.
Aeroflot
was portrayed in Bourne Supremacy.
