The 1980s Air Afrique

a mcdonnell douglas dc-10-30 @ paris-charles de gaulle airport in 1980. airline received first aircraft of type in 1973. registration tu-tam , named ″cotonou″, particular aircraft second dc-10-30 company received, in 1976.

in july 1980 (1980-07) airline had 5,100 employees , fleet comprised pair of caravelle 10rs, 3 dc-8-50s, 2 dc-8-50fs, 1 dc-8-63 , 3 dc-10-30s served 22 african nations , intercontinental routes bordeaux, geneva, lyon, marseilles, nice, new york, paris, rome , zurich. 3 aircraft (an airbus a300b4, airbus a310 , boeing 747-200f) on order. dc-8-55f sold in 1981 ahead of incorporation of new aircraft; year, 3 airbus a300s, boeing 747-200c , third dc-10-30 named niamey joined fleet. airline had sell 3 caravelles , 2 dc-8-63s counter financial difficulties arose decline of passengers carried in 1983. on 1 march 1984, boeing 747-200f leased national airlines, in turn sub-leased aircraft saudi arabian airlines. business class introduced on of aircraft during 1984.

an air afrique airbus a300b4-200 departed geneva international airport in 1982. type first ordered in 1979.

the carrier began steep decline during decade, after ″africanisation″ of airline, i.e. africans holding top positions, completed. since time, overbooked flights became frequent, tickets reserved member states never paid, , schedules missed such extent flights arrived half day later or departed ahead of schedule without explanation. losses mounted frf 68 million , frf 6,8 million 1983 , 1984, respectively; contrast, carrier made frf 17.6 million (us$2.47 million) profit during 1985. number of passengers carried year 757,000, 9.5% increase previous year. largely due acquisition of new aircraft or wet-leasing planes other companies, @ 1985 carrier had total debt of us$250 million, approximately fifth of amount being unpaid contributions member states. director-general koffi aoussou attributed losses rise in fuel prices (air afrique spent us$35 million in fuel in 1978 , us$63 million in 1984), overstaffing, increase in competition (mainly uta in european routes), , poor performance of member countries economies. during 1985, auxence ickonga, former head of congolese state-owned oil company hydrocongo, succeeded ivorian aoussou koffi president , director general of airline plans reduce salaries, shrink 5,600-strong staff 515, , sell boeing 747 us$60 million in order make company economically viable. july 1986 (1986-07), debt-to-equity ratio 8:1, obligations rising frf 1,800 million. @ same time, fleet comprised 3 a300s, 2 boeing 727s (one chartered air france , other jat), 2 dc-8s , 3 dc-10s; boeing 747 cargo ickonga intended sell alleviate financial crisis acquired korean air lines us$60 million.

by late 1980s, air afrique had accumulated debts on 200 billion cfa francs. consortium members (benin, burkina faso, central african republic, chad, congo, ivory coast, mauritania, niger, senegal , togo) sought assistance france. on 2 march 1989, rolland billecart —a high-ranking official of french government— entered company, becoming first non-african chairman , ceo of air afrique plans keep company afloat included reduction of workforce 2,000. company carried 710,498 passengers in 1988 , recorded frf 288 million net loss year, whereas frf 7.3 million (us$1.3 million) net profit posted following year, 754,314 passengers carried. workforce cut 1,600 in june 1989. new management lobbied restrict foreign airlines serve member countries in order air afrique take advantage of situation. agadez made part of route network in fall of 1989. short period of time starting in late 1989, 302-seater lockheed l-1011, 137-seater boeing 737 , boeing 707 freighter leased american trans air, aeromaritime , naganagani, respectively, in order supplement fleet.