The fine art of flying - Part II
In 1976 a new era began. Air France introduced the supersonic Concorde with a new livery, an all white fuselage with blue and red stripes on the tail replacing the blue cheat line introduced on the Caravelle and the Boeing 707 at the dawn of the jet age. Air France was, for twenty seven years, the only airline with British Airways to fly the Concorde.
In the middle of the 1980's Air France began to study with Airbus a new single aisle airplane which would replace the Boeing 727 and become the backbone of the fleet, the Airbus A320 incorporated with new Fly By Wire technology. The airline was one of the first customers to order the A320 which made its maiden flight in Toulouse in 1987. The type was introduced in 1988 on short and medium haul flights, but it suffered a disaster in France when doing a demonstration flight because the pilot flew the aircraft too low above the ground, he wanted to show the capabilities of the aircraft. Fortunately all occupants escape when the aircraft caught fire. Since then, the A320 followed by all of its derivatives, the A318, A319 and A321 fleet began to grow and it has maintained an outstanding safety record. Air France is the only airline operating all four models of the Airbus single aisle types.
In the middle of the 1980's Air France began to study with Airbus a new single aisle airplane which would replace the Boeing 727 and become the backbone of the fleet, the Airbus A320 incorporated with new Fly By Wire technology. The airline was one of the first customers to order the A320 which made its maiden flight in Toulouse in 1987. The type was introduced in 1988 on short and medium haul flights, but it suffered a disaster in France when doing a demonstration flight because the pilot flew the aircraft too low above the ground, he wanted to show the capabilities of the aircraft. Fortunately all occupants escape when the aircraft caught fire. Since then, the A320 followed by all of its derivatives, the A318, A319 and A321 fleet began to grow and it has maintained an outstanding safety record. Air France is the only airline operating all four models of the Airbus single aisle types.
The 1990's saw major steps in the fleet renewal at Air France. The Airbus A320 began to replace the Boeing 727's in the late 1980's and became the backbone of the short and medium haul fleet. The last Boeing 727 left the fleet in 1993. Air France also introduced another type in the fleet in the early 1990's: the Boeing 737-500 Series. Those were ordered from the Seattle aircraft maker in 1990 so that they would be used on low density short and medium hauls flights in Europe, on routes that could not necessarily support an 180-passenger A320 aircraft. I think Air France turned to Boeing for a 120-passenger aircraft because at that time the A319 was not yet available, only after 1995 the A319 would be available. Air France began then to take delivery of A319's and A321's to supplement the large fleet of A320 aircraft, part of which came from defunct Air Inter. The 737's continued to stay in the fleet although in limited number, the last 200 left the fleet in 2000 and the last 500 left the fleet in 2007.
I flew on a Boeing 737-500 Series, F-GJNK, from Vienna to Paris in 2005, after a nice week end in Vienna. This was my only flight with Air France this decade.
The long haul fleet also saw major changes with the introduction of the Airbus A340 on long haul flights in 1993. Air France was one of the first airlines, with Lufthansa to introduce the Airbus A340 which was announced in 1987. Boeing 747-400's were also ordered to complement the then existing fleet of 200's and in the late 1990's Air France ordered and took delivery of Boeing 777's. The first 200 arrived in 1998 but the first 300ER arrived only in 2004. Air France was also an early customer to order the Airbus A380 back in 2000 when the then project A3XX was officially called A380. Air France is currently in the process of phasing out the Boeing 747's in favor of the brand new GE powered Boeing 777-300ER's. The last A300 was retired in the late 1990's and the last A310 left the fleet in the early 2000's.
Air France took over two French airlines in the 1990's: Air Inter and UTA.
Air Inter was founded in the 1950's. It used to be a French domestic airline flying short routes only within France, and it would operate mostly French built types including the Caravelle, the Mercure, the Airbus A300, A320(one of the crashed in the Vosges in 1992) and A330. It would be only in the 1990's that Air Inter flew to destinations outside France. Air Inter didn't fly the A330 long because shortly after the first aircraft arrived in the mid 1990's the merger was already taking place. Air Inter was the only airline in the world to fly the Dassault Mercure.
UTA, Unions de Transport Aeriens, was founded in the 1960's. It used to be a French airline flying long haul routes only to several destinations including Johannesburg and Papeete. UTA started operations with the Douglas DC-8 and added the DC-10 and the Boeing 747 in the mid 1970's. The DC-8's were phased out but the DC-10's and Boeing 747's remained in the fleet until the early 1990's when the merger was taking place. UTA flew the Boeing 747-200, 300 and 400 Series.
I flew on a Boeing 737-500 Series, F-GJNK, from Vienna to Paris in 2005, after a nice week end in Vienna. This was my only flight with Air France this decade.
The long haul fleet also saw major changes with the introduction of the Airbus A340 on long haul flights in 1993. Air France was one of the first airlines, with Lufthansa to introduce the Airbus A340 which was announced in 1987. Boeing 747-400's were also ordered to complement the then existing fleet of 200's and in the late 1990's Air France ordered and took delivery of Boeing 777's. The first 200 arrived in 1998 but the first 300ER arrived only in 2004. Air France was also an early customer to order the Airbus A380 back in 2000 when the then project A3XX was officially called A380. Air France is currently in the process of phasing out the Boeing 747's in favor of the brand new GE powered Boeing 777-300ER's. The last A300 was retired in the late 1990's and the last A310 left the fleet in the early 2000's.
Air France took over two French airlines in the 1990's: Air Inter and UTA.
Air Inter was founded in the 1950's. It used to be a French domestic airline flying short routes only within France, and it would operate mostly French built types including the Caravelle, the Mercure, the Airbus A300, A320(one of the crashed in the Vosges in 1992) and A330. It would be only in the 1990's that Air Inter flew to destinations outside France. Air Inter didn't fly the A330 long because shortly after the first aircraft arrived in the mid 1990's the merger was already taking place. Air Inter was the only airline in the world to fly the Dassault Mercure.
UTA, Unions de Transport Aeriens, was founded in the 1960's. It used to be a French airline flying long haul routes only to several destinations including Johannesburg and Papeete. UTA started operations with the Douglas DC-8 and added the DC-10 and the Boeing 747 in the mid 1970's. The DC-8's were phased out but the DC-10's and Boeing 747's remained in the fleet until the early 1990's when the merger was taking place. UTA flew the Boeing 747-200, 300 and 400 Series.