SAM (Sociedad Aeronautica de Medellin)
Operator Identification
October 1945 to March 2003
Colombia
TYPE: Airline
IATA/ICAO CODES: MM / SAM
HEADQUARTERS: Medellin, Colombia
OTHER NAMES: SAM (Sociedad Aeronautica de Medellin) (1945-1962), SAM (Sociedad Aeronautica de Medellin Consolidada)
Operator History
After WWII, veteran pilots had the option of buying a Douglas C-47 as surplus war material for a sum of $5,000 dollars. Engineer Luis H. Coulson decided to buy the right to several American pilots and gave them a contract for a year to come to work in Colombia. This is how SAM was created. Operations began with the arrival of the first cargo C-47, under the command of Captain Dennis Powelson to its base at Medellin Las Playas Airport. Services started with services to Puerto Berrio. At that time, Medellín was quite isolated from the rest of the country, due to the topography and lack of roads. Therefore, air freight was emerging as the best option for transport to and from the city. Soon the first international flight took three tons of cargo to Miami via Barranquilla and Kingston, Jamaica, in a journey that lasted no less than 12 hours.
In 1948, SAM obtained that the National Government authorized the company to transport ordinary mail, following the recent liquidation of the Compania Naviera Colombiana. Aeronautical authorities awarded SAM the routes from Medellín to Bogota, Barrancabermeja, Bucaramanga, El Banco, Cartagena and Barranquilla. In January 1947, 110 hours were flown and 21 tons of cargo were carried, while in January 1949, 1,190 hours were flown and 1,973 tons of cargo were transported. In less than two years the aircraft fleet grew to reach 10 C-47s.
By 1950, the company enjoyed a 17.2% share of the cargo market in the country, on par with LANSA with 17.2% and compared with AVIANCA with 50.9%, its main rival. The network had been extended to serve Cali, Cucuta, Pereira, Otu, Turbo, Monteria, Planeta Rica, El Difícil and San Marcos. With the acquisition of the first Commando of greater capacity, SAM ventured in scheduled operations from Medellin to Panama and from Barranquilla and Cartagena to Miami. As the Commando fleet reached a number of eight, charter flights were made to different international destinations, including San Juan de Puerto Rico, Lima and Talara in Peru, Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica, Caracas, Maracaibo and Havana.
The competition with Avianca grew stiffer, and numerous cargo transport companies appeared. It was clear that the growth of SAM was detrimental to Avianca's expansion interests. In August 1951, Avianca suspended all radio-aids and airport utilization services to SAM, arguing the non-payment of a debt more than ten months late. In those days, Avianca owned not only the majority of airports in the country, but also the aeronautical radio-aids network. SAM's debt amounted to almost 300,000 pesos at the time, which it was willing to cancel with the transfer of up to four of its own aircraft to Avianca. However, the dispute continued and as the parties did not agree on the value of the debt, and Avianca unilaterally decided to suspend all services. SAM was forced to leave its aircraft on the ground for several months. During this same period, and with the consent of the National Government, the gradual merger of Avianca with LANSA was carried out, which culminated in 1954. Shortly after this episode, SAM resumed its services competing against an even stronger Avianca.
On 11 May 1954, Captain Dennis C. Powelson, who had become the majority partner of SAM, died while flying his private plane. SAM's started to decline, while companies such as LATCO, LIDCA, Taxader and Lloyd Aereo Colombiano emerged during the Military Government. In April 1955, the new management under the leadership of Mr. Oscar Mejía presented a plan to change the main commercial activity and enter the field of scheduled passenger transportation. The proposal was unanimously accepted and the company war reorganized with the creation of a scheduled airline subsidiary named RAS (Rutas Aereas de Colombia Ltda). RAS benefited from the technical & operational support of Royal Dutch KLM (Antilles Division). Large passenger aircraft were purchased: three Douglas DC-3 and three DC-4 with 21 and 60 comfortable chairs respectively, configured with luxury interiors. The Military Government supported the company's effort and authorized the operation on the trunk routes from Bogota to Medellin, Cali and Barranquilla in open competition with Avianca. By then, the airports were owned by the State. New destinations were soon included, such as Santa Marta, and in March 1956 the Bogota - Medellin - Cartagena route was inaugurated. At that time, non-scheduled flights to the island of San Andres also began, contributing to its commercial and tourist development.
The SAM-RAS consortium offered the cheapest fares to travel from Miami to Panama, Lima and Santiago de Chile. The passenger connected twice a week in Panama to Guatemala, Mexico and Los Angeles with Guest Aerovias; to Miami with APA and south to Lima and Santiago with ALA. In turn, RAS brought passengers from the north to Colombia and Brazil. Soon a contract was signed to serve as a feeder airline for the KLM services to Amsterdam and Europe, embarking on Curaçao. The flight from Panama to Miami was operated under contract with APA and connections were offered from Miami to Washington, Chicago and New York with the National Airlines and Eastern Air Lines.
By the end of 1959, the possibility of bringing tourists originating in Europe from Curaçao and Aruba and increasing tourism from the United States was promoted, and tourist packages were promoted to oil companies. The plan projected to bring a total of 20,000 tourists annually and finally germinated in the early 1960's. RAS strengthened its association with the KLM, and two Douglas DC-6B aircraft were acquired from that company as lease. These aircraft of greater capacity had 72 chairs; they were pressurized and faster. The long trip to Brazil was shortened by more than two hours.
Meanwhile, the consortium of airlines of the Shelton group was accused by the North American aeronautical authorities (Civil Aeronautics Board) of violating the transportation permit granted to some of its associates. The pressure exerted by the Pan American group in the Department of State, gave results and forced the dissolution of the consortium. RAS lost its strategic partners abroad and the airlines lost the right to enter the United States. Although prospects were good, especially in the domestic field, the company began to decline and in October 1961 returned the Douglas DC-6Bs to KLM, which also decided to withdraw support and terminate the cooperation agreement. The route to Brazil was not very profitable and was suspended, while the company was going through a serious financial crisis.
Meanwhile, SAM had continued its operations with the Commandos. Unfortunately, several fatal accidents occurred that influenced the company's economic destabilization. HK-513 crashed in Guarne on 26 June 1957. One year later, HK-514 had an accident in Medellin on 17 August 1959. Likewise, HK-515 disappeared while flying between San Andres and Cartagena on a special flight on 8 December 1959 with 45 occupants on board. At that point, in June 1962, Avianca purchased the shares from the majority stakeholders Mrs. Maria, the widow of Captain Powelson, and of Oscar A. Mejia. With the purchase of 79% of its shares, SAM became an indirect subsidiary of Avianca, but it maintained its autonomy and operated commercially under the former name of SAM, under the corporate name of Sociedad Aeronáutica de Medellín Consolidada SA. Once again, Avianca had managed to overcome competition.
In August 1962, activities were restarted with the acquisition of four DC-4 airplanes conditioned for the transport of passengers. Trunk routes parallel to those operated by Avianca from Medellín to Bogota, Cali and Barranquilla were established. Cargo transportation services were also established from Medellín with Commando HK-388. Later, regional services were included from Medellin to El Bagre and Planeta Rica. The network soon expanded to include Pereira, Cartagena, San Andres, Santa Marta and Cucuta. SAM's new strategy was to provide a tourist class service with lower rates than those offered by Avianca, especially to the cities of the Atlantic Coast and the island of San Andres. Soon four additional aircraft were acquired to complete a fleet of eight units, to meet the demand of both passengers and cargo. By 1968, SAM had transported a total of 268,000 passengers and received a new capitalization by increasing the social capital to $ 10,000,000 pesos, which demonstrates its great economic solvency.
In 1969, to continue providing an efficient service, and given the good economic results of the company, the first four Lockheed Electra turboprops were imported, configured to carry 86 passengers. A cooperation agreement was signed with Eastern Air Lines. It was the initiation of the plan to replace the old DC-4s. With the arrival of the Electra a new corporate image with red and blue colors was introduced, the logo designed with squares and new and elegant uniforms were presented for the flight and ground staff. That same year, international passenger services were restarted with a service from San Andres to San José de Costa Rica.
In the 1970's, SAM expanded slowly and entered the jet age with Boeing 727s and 737s. However, by 1976, it has contracted a massive 140-million pesos debt towards Eastern Air Lines, so its structure had to be streamlined. Avianca's old aircraft started to be transfered to SAM, a practice which started with the Boeing 720B and continued on in the following decades. SAM kept on operating profitably until the bankruptcy of Avianca on 31 March 2003.
Commando Operations
May 1950* to July 1964*
SAM operated 8 Commandos in cargo configuration, both in scheduled and charter services.
Last edited: 29/10/2022