AOM French Airlines was the second-largest airline in France that operated from 1991 until 2001. Its head office was in Building 363 at Orly Airport, Paray-Vieille-Poste."World Airline Directory 1999." Flight International. 2000. 363.; "Nos coordonnées agences en "France Métropolitaine "." AOM French Airlines. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "SIEGE Bâtiment 363 B.P. 854 94 551 ORLY AEROGARE CEDEX"; "Résultat de votre recherche." Le Journal officiel électronique authentifié. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Siège social : compagnie Air Lib, bâtiment 363, zone centrale à l’aéroport d’Orly, 91550 Paray-Vieille-Poste."

History

Foundation through merger Air Outre Mer S.A., or AOM for short, was founded in July 1987 in the French overseas département of Réunion island and began services on 28 May 1990, locally with a Dornier 228 and a overseas with a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30. In October 1991, Air Outre Mer agreed to merge with Minerve, a French airline which was based at Orly Airport and had operated since 1975. Minerve had been the first airline to compete directly with Air Inter on the French domestic airline market by opening a Paris (Orly) - Nice route in May 1991. However, Minerve's history had been marked by clashes and restrictions imposed by the State to protect "its company Air France" (refused aircraft changes, refusal to take off in France and therefore obligation to transfer the passengers by train to Brussels, etc.).

The two companies began operating under the name AOM French Airlines, although the administrative name was "AOM-Minerve S.A.", on 1 January 1992. Throughout its existence, AOM suffered from a lack of resources, as it was owned by the CDR-Consortium de Réalisation, a financial entity tasked with selling off the former "rotten" assets of Crédit Lyonnais bank. The CDR, whose sole mission was to sell the company, made no investments in it. AOM thus remained a struggling airline, primarily due to fierce competition. Under pressure from Air France and Aéroports de Paris, it was forced to relocate the flights from Orly-Ouest (a terminal recently renovated for Air France) to the more outdated Orly-Sud terminal. AOM resisted in vain by all means (including painting "I want to stay at Orly West!" on some aircraft) for the simple reason that domestic traffic departed from Orly-Ouest, not Orly-Sud. This would have been tantamount to condemning the airline. For most of the decade, the airline fiercely competed with Air France on both the French domestic market and on the routes to the French overseas territories.

In February 1999, Swissair acquired a 49% stake in the airline as a part of its "hunter strategy". So, in 2000, it joined Swissair Group and consequentially the struggling Qualifier Group alliance. The management of Alexandre Couvelaire, head of Euralair (and friend of French president Jacques Chirac), did not prevent the company from continuing its irresistible decline.

Another merger Due to inappropriate fleet management and overcapacity, the airline quickly accumulated huge debts and consequently ceased operations (possibly as a result of the bursting of the dot-com bubble and the early 2000s recession which followed). In late March 2001, at the initiative of Swissair Group, AOM merged the operations with Air Liberté and Air Littoral, equally ill-fated acquisitions by the declining Swiss group. In April the new company adopted the name AOM/Air Liberté"Home." AOM French Airlines. 6 May 2001. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 25 Mars 2001 AOM change de nom et devient Air Liberté." However, it survived only thanks to funding from Swissair, and in May a restructuring plan involving the elimination of a third of jobs was announced. Indeed, Swissair Group, was facing financial difficulties as well. On 15 June, the company filed for bankruptcy and was placed under court supervision for three months. At the end of this period, two potential buyers came forward: Marc Rochet and Jean-Charles Corbet, an employee of the national airline. Following a standoff between management and unions, and under pressure from the then Minister of Transport, the airline was taken over in July (two months before the September 11 attacks) for a symbolic 1 €uro by Jean-Charles Corbet, an Air France pilot. In this deal, Swissair committed to paying 1.3 billion French francs starting in August to finance a restructuring that would result in the elimination of 1,405 jobs. On 22 September the airline was renamed Air Lib."Découvrir Air Liberté." Air Liberté. 23 February 2002. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 22 Septembre 2001, AOM et AIR LIBERTE ont donné naissance à une nouvelle compagnie aérienne qui porte désormais le nom AIR LIB."

Destinations AOM French Airlines served the following destinations:

France Marseille – Marseille Provence Airport Nice – Nice Côte d'Azur Airport Paris – Orly Airport Perpignan – Llabanère Airport Toulon – Toulon-Hyères Airport

French overseas departments and territories French Guiana Cayenne – Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport Guadeloupe Pointe-à-Pitre – Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport Saint Martin – Princess Juliana International Airport Martinique Fort-de-France – Le Lamentin Airport New Caledonia Nouméa – La Tontouta International Airport Réunion Saint-Denis – Roland Garros Airport Tahiti Papeete – Faa'a International Airport

International routes

Sydney – Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (Paris-Colombo-Sydney-Nouméa from November 1995, ceased 2001.)Flight Global News, 20 September 1995

Nassau – Lynden Pindling International Airport

Havana – José Martí International Airport Varadero – Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport

Punta Cana – Punta Cana International Airport

Quito – Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport

Tokyo – Narita International Airport

Tripoli – Tripoli International Airport

Malé – Velana International Airport

Colombo – Bandaranaike International Airport (Paris-Colombo-Sydney-Nouméa from November 1995, ceased 2001.)

Zürich – Zürich Airport

Bangkok – Don Mueang International Airport (Paris-Bangkok-Nouméa, until November 1995.)

Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport

Ho Chi Minh City – Tan Son Nhat International Airport

Fleet AOM French Airlines has operated the following aircraft throughout its existence:

+ AOM French Airlines fleetAircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredNotesAirbus A300B4119992000Leased from TransAer International Airlines.Airbus A340-200319992001Airbus A340-300220002001Boeing 737-200119961996Leased from Air Toulouse.Boeing 737-500319982000Leased from LOT Polish Airlines.Boeing 747-200B119921993Douglas DC-8-62CF119921992Douglas DC-8-73119921992Leased to Air Sweden.Fokker 100119961996Leased from Transwede Airways.McDonnell Douglas DC-10-301519902001One crashed as Cubana Flight 1216.McDonnell Douglas MD-82119941994Leased from Meridiana.McDonnell Douglas MD-831419922001McDonnell Douglas MD-87119951996Leased from Transwede Airways.

References

External links

AOM French Airlines (Archive) Air Outre-Mer at the Aviation Safety Network Database AOM French Airlines at rati.com