Panavia / Panavia Regional Airlines
17th in a Series: Two Fictional Panamanian Airlines
Compañía Panavia de Aviación, SA, operating as Panavia Airlines, is a privately held international airline serving as the primary national carrier for Panama. Headquartered at Punta Colón, Punta Pacifica, Panama City, Panama, Panavia’s central hub is located at Tocumen International Airport (PTY) in the nearby city of Tocumen, Panamá District, Panama.
Founded in 1946 by Alberto Morante (1894-1977) and Leroy Meador (1916-1992), Panavia Airlines has since become a major regional carrier serving about 90 international destinations across North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. The company’s regional subsidiary, Panavia Regional, provides domestic air service to 21 destinations within Panama.
History
Founding and 1940s
Panavia Airlines was established in 1946 by Alberto Morante (b 1894 Panama City, Panama), a successful Panamanian shipping entrepreneur who operated the Morante Shipping Company (Spanish: Compañía Naviera Morante, better known by its Spanish initials CNM) based in Panama City, where he was interested in starting start an airline in Panama; and by Leroy Meador (b 1916 Ancón, Panama Canal Zone), an American-Panamanian transport pilot recently discharged from the US military following World War II.
Mr Meador was born in the Panama Canal Zone with dual US-Panamanian citizenship, because his father was born in Missouri while his mother hailed from western Chiriquí Province near the border with Costa Rica. Both parents became employees of the Panama Canal Company. After spending the war flying Douglas C-54 Skymaster aircraft on combat and transport missions for the US Army Air Force across the Pacific Theater, Mr Meador received his honorable discharge in early 1946. He returned to Panama, where he found work as a civilian supporting and maintaining C-54s at Albrook Air Force Station (also known as Paitilla Point) near Balboa, Panama City.
Mr Meador first met Mr Morante while attending a dinner hosted by the Governor of the Panama Canal Zone. The two men were seated next to each other, and when Mr Meador mentioned he was a pilot, Mr Morante mentioned his own interest in starting an airline in Panama. After sharing an animated conversation about the future potential for commercial aviation in Central America, the next day Mr Morante purchased a single surplus Douglas C-54 Skymaster (the military version of the Douglas DC-4) from the US Government, named it Anyolí after his wife, and then registered an aviation company originally named La Compañía Morante de Aviación.
Mr Morante invited Mr Meador to work for him flying the C-54, and to help run the new airline’s day to day operations. Mr Meador, who truly missed flying and found his current job to be rather boring, readily accepted the offer.
After renaming the company as Compañía Panavia de Aviación to give the airline a more sophisticated sounding name, the company officially began operations on 1 June 1946.
Panavia began flying passenger and cargo charters from Albrook to Houston, Miami and New Orleans for the Panama Canal Company under contract. Mr Meador personally flew the Anyolí on these early flights, until he found other former WWII pilots to help out. A little over a year later, on 1 July 1947, the airline relocated to a newly opened civil airport, Tocumen Intl Airport (PTY), where the company continues to be based today.
Later that year, the company bought a pair of surplus Douglas C-47 Skytrains (military version of the Douglas DC-3), followed by three additional DC-4s, which flew passenger and cargo flights to airfields around Panama, to nearby Central American countries as well as Panama City-PTY «» Havana-HAV, Cuba.
These DC-3s and DC-4s collectively became the early backbone of the Panavia fleet for many years. Even after the company had started using jet aircraft in the 1960s for flights to North America, Panavia’s DC-3s and DC-4s continued to fly throughout Central America well into the 1970s.
1950s
In 1952, Panavia procured the first of three smaller de Havilland DHC-3 Otter aircraft, which were used to fly into smaller and more remote airports in Central America and Colombia. The DHC-3s, alongside the company’s DC-3 and DC-4 freighters, proved to be particularly useful for what would later be known as intermodal freight transport, expediting final delivery of goods first brought to Panama via cargo ship.
In early 1953, the Panama Canal Company expanded its contract with Panavia to fly passengers and freight farther into the USA. The US government arranged for Panavia to receive two Douglas DC-6 prop airliners, which were put on nonstop flights to New York-IDL (now New York-JFK), Washington-DCA and Miami-MIA. The following year (1954) more DC-6s were brought onboard and the airline also added service to Panama City-PTY «» Bogota-BOG in Colombia. By the end of the 1950s routes were added other routes such as Panama City-PTY «» Caracas-CCS and Panama City-PTY «» Maracaibo-MAR in Venezuela, as well as Panama City-PTY «» Tampa-TPA in the USA.
Mr Morante Retires; Mr Meador Takes The Helm
In March 1960, Alberto Morante, age 66, suffered a debilitating stroke, forcing him to retire as President and CEO of Compañía Panavia de Aviación SA, as well as his shipping firm, CNM. Although he retained the titular position of Chairman for both companies, Mr Morante passed control of the shipping firm to his only son, Alejandro Morante, while putting Mr Meador in full charge of Panavia Airlines as the new CEO.
While the elder Mr Morante did recover some of his personal functionality over time, other than making an occasional visit to the company offices or the main hangar at Tocumen Airport, he was rarely seen at work thereafter. He ultimately passed away quietly in his sleep on Christmas Eve 1977.
Panavia Enters The Jet Age
During the summer of 1960, Mr Meador visited the Douglas Aircraft Company near Los Angeles, California and, with a bit of assistance from the Panama Canal Company, he arranged for the carrier to acquire three brand new Douglas DC-8-53 aircraft - the company’s first jet airliner acquisition.
To say the DC-8 was a changemaker compared to the airline’s previous flagship aircraft - the Douglas DC-6 - would be an understatement. The DC-8’s superior speed and its 189 passenger capacity were both very important upgrades for the company.
In addition to adding 100 additional seats per flight versus the DC-6, the DC-8 could fly 1.75 times faster at cruise speed, making it capable of flying nonstop between Panama and Miami in just over 2 hours vs the 3h 40m block time required for the DC-6. Similarly, the DC-8 could fly to New York in only 4 hours, as compared to 7 hours for the DC-6. The DC-8 had a range of over 5800 nm, a 40% increase over the DC-6. Although the DC-8 was more expensive to purchase, its reduced operating costs would clearly make flying less expensive and air travel more accessible for a broader range of customers.
To prepare the way for the incoming DC-8s, in early 1962 Mr Meador decided it was time to revise the company’s livery. The bare metal aluminum skin was painted white to keep aircraft temperatures cooler under Panama’s tropical sunlight, while the flag-based tail layout was replaced by a more simplified design featuring a red star sitting diagonally above a blue star. The traditional red over blue cheatline running down the side of the fuselage was retained, as was the art-deco style font of the Panavia brand name.
On 1 June 1962 Panavia officially entered the jet age when it accepted delivery of its first DC-8-53. The new jet was configured to accommodate 12 first class seats and 174 economy seats, then put to work flying nonstop Panama City-PTY «» New York-IDL and Panama City-PTY «» Miami-MIA. The 2nd DC-8-53 arrived at Tocumen in November 1962 and began flying to the new Panama City-PTY «» Washington Dulles-IAD airport as well as Panama City-PTY «» Houston-HOU. Two more DC-8-53s were delivered in 1963, which were used to upgrade existing including Panama City-PTY «» New Orleans-MSY and Panama City-PTY «» Bogota-BOG, and later on Panama City-PTY «» Caracas-CCS.
Panavia would add smaller jet aircraft to its fleet over the ensuing years, the DC-8 would remain the company’s flagship aircraft for the rest of the 20th century, until the first Boeing 737 NG series aircraft entered the fleet in 2000.
Following the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, in early 1963 the US government began to pressure Panavia to end its Panama City-PTY «» Havana-HAV route in support of the US travel ban on flights to Cuba, or risk losing its ongoing contract with the Panama Canal Company. Panavia voluntarily ended its flights to Havana-HAV in February 1963.
DHC-6 Twin Otters and DC-8-63/73s
Panavia had been using the very rugged and reliable de Havilland DHC-3 Otter to fly into domestic airfields around Panama since 1952. The Otters were getting the job done well enough back in the 1950s, but by the mid 1960s the airline realized it needed a replacement utility transport aircraft. The replacement would need to match the DHC-3’s excellent STOL runway requirements and handle Panama’s more rugged and isolated airports, but ideally carry more passengers and cargo. As timing would have it, de Havilland Canada was already rolling out the new de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, which carried double the number of passengers and was especially designed to be more cargo-friendly as well as capable of using more primitive airfields.
Panavia ordered six DHC-6 Twin Otters to entirely replace its DHC-3 Otters. They began arriving in 1967, and by 1969 the DHC-3 Otter had departed from the fleet after 17 years of service with Panavia. The carrier was so pleased with the performance of the Twin Otters that the company went on to order six more in the early 1970s.
Concurrently, Mr Meador worked closely with a Canadian engineering firm and an American manufacturer to develop a quick change conversion kit for the Twin Otters, allowing the airline to switch between passenger and cargo configurations in under two hours. By the time the last Twin Otter arrived in 1976, all of the DHC-6s were equipped with these innovative QC kits. The kits proved to be so instrumental the DHC-6 remained in the Panavia fleet for several more decades before it was finally retired in 2024.
Mr Meador was also very impressed with the performance and economics of Panavia’s Douglas DC-8-53s, so in 1967 he ordered 4 examples of the DC-8’s newest variant, the stretched-version Douglas DC-8-63 (and later the Douglas DC-8-73). The newer type could carry up to 259 passengers in a high-density single-class configuration, but Panavia chose a more modest 212 seat two class layout, arranging them to seat 18 up front in first class and 194 seats in economy class.
As part of Panavia’s ongoing cargo contract with the Panama Canal Company, one of the company’s new DC-8s was delivered as a Douglas DC-8-63CF Combi, featuring a cargo door at the front of the fuselage to facilitate a mix of passenger or cargo as needed. The -63CF remained in the Panavia fleet for over 45 years before it was retired at long last in 2017.
1970s
By the late 1960s, Mr Meador began searching for a short to medium range jet airliner to complement the company’s Douglas DC-8s. Up until then, the company’s DC-3s and DC-4s were flying routes between Panama City-PTY and nearby Central and South American destinations.
After considering the Boeing 727, BAC One-Eleven and Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident, Mr Meador decided to stick with McDonnell Douglas and ordered 12 of the new McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 airlines, which began to arrive in Panama by early 1970.
The DC-9s were each configured to seat 98 passengers - 12 in first class and 86 in economy class - and the first DC-9s began replacing the carrier’s aging DC-3s and DC-4s, which were pulled from their Central American routes and converted into dedicated freighters. Additional DC-9s were used to open entirely new routes around Central and South America, adding destinations such as Santo Domingo-SDQ, Medellín-MDE, Mexico City-MEX and Guayaquil-GYE.
By 1975, the continuing addition of de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters allowed Panavia to retire the company’s remaining DC-3s and DC-4s after nearly 30 years’ service collectively. In 1976 the company’s first DC-4 aircraft - the Anyolí - was placed on static display near the front entrance to Tocumen airport, where it still resides today.
Panama Canal Treaties
The 1970s were a time of economic stagnation due to oil embargoes and runaway inflation. However, Panavia managed to cope with the times for the most part, using various austerity measures and putting off route network expansions for a few years.
Then in 1977, the United States and Panama signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaties - referred to in the US as the Panama Canal Treaties - which set in motion the process of dissolving the US-controlled Panama Canal Zone and handing control of the canal over to Panama in December 1999.
The treaty was a major change in the economic and political landscape for Panama. Mr Meador was personally concerned about this turn of events for business reasons, because he knew Panavia’s long standing contract with the Panama Canal Commission would soon be canceled. At the same time, he also understood that the treaty would be in the best interests of Panama in the longer run.
As for himself, Mr Meador had to make a decision about his citizenship status and how it might impact the future of Panavia in light of the treaty. He had always been a dual citizen in his heart if not on paper - both an American like his father, and a Panamanian like his mother. Most persons born in the Canal Zone were considered to be US non-citizen nationals, but having been born to an American father, he was officially sworn in as a US citizen when he entered the US Army Air Force in December 1941.
Mr Meador’s mother, on the other hand, was a native-born Panamanian and she was still alive in 1977 (aged 84 at the time). This fact granted Mr Meador the right to also declare Panamanian citizenship. He had never taken this step only because he didn’t need to so previously. So it was that Mr Meador invoked his mother’s Panamanian birthright to officially take full Panamanian citizenship, thereby becoming a dual Panamanian-US national. In theory at least, Mr Meador’s official citizenship status would now allow him to retain control of Panavia… hopefully.
As expected, in 1979 Panavia’s contract with the Panama Canal Company was allowed to expire and for the first time in its 33 year history to date, Panavia could no longer rely on that contract to sustain the business.
Mr Meador had already begun changing the company’s business model, having already started in 1977 to realign the airline’s various resources into other projects, especially to freight related services. This proactive approach helped to reduce the company’s dependence on US government related funding before that funding ended, softening the blow.
1980s
The 1980s were a turbulent period for Panama, particularly after General Néstor Ortiz gained firm control of the country as its military leader in 1983.
When the country’s military regimes took over de facto control of Panama from 1968, they usually didn’t interfere with Panavia’s operations. The late Angelo Morante, as well as his successor Leroy Meador, both maintained cordial relations with Panama’s military governments. Panavia’s contracts with the Panama Canal Company did help provide the airline with a certain degree of insulation from local politics and machinations. Nonetheless, the carrier went out of its way to nurture a positive relationship with the people of Panama as a whole, and always sought to ensure that its domestic operations were beneficial to the nation as well as to the company.
In time, relations between Panama and the US became increasingly contentious, and by 1985 the Ortiz government became increasingly suspicious of Mr Meador’s intentions and motives. They seemed to be particularly concerned with his Panamanian-US citizenship and the fact that he once served in the US military. Mr Meador tried to assuage these concerns, even offering at one point to even renounce his US citizenship entirely.
In 1987 Mr Meador and General Ortiz arrived at what Mr Meador later described to others as an informal gentlemen’s agreement, whereby the airline would promote Armando Morante, the 40 year old grandson of company cofounder Alberto Morante, to become the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) position, replacing an American airline executive who previously served in that role. This arrangement seemed to settle matters for a time, and business seemed to return to normal.
In 1988, Mr Meador initiated a new livery update. He decided to go with a more modern “billboard” livery with the name “PANAVIA” written very prominently on the front portion of the aircraft fuselage. Meanwhile the tail design color scheme was effectively reversed. The former design featured a white tail and a red star stacked diagonally above a blue star. This was replaced by a more visually conspicuous design, featuring two diagonally stacked white stars popping out from a red and blue background.
The new livery scheme was first introduced with the arrival of Panavia’s newest aircraft: A pair of new Dutch-made Fokker 100s that shipped during July 1988. The Fokker 100s were selected to replace the carrier’s older Douglas DC-9s. From 1993 onwards Panavia began taking delivery of additional Fokker 100s outfitted with extra fuel tanks in the center fuselage area and operated by more powerful Rolls-Royce RB.183 Tay 650-15 engines.
In October 1988 the last of the company’s Douglas DC-8-53 aircraft, which had been converted to a freighter, was sold off to an US cargo airline.
Leroy Meador Killed During 1989 Panama Invasion
During 1989 tensions between the US and Panama flared to the point where the US began stationing soldiers at several military bases around Panama. A failed coup attempt in October 1989 added to the worsening political and economic climate.
Mr Meador, who at 73 was beginning to feel his age, started maintaining a lower profile by working mostly from home and via telephone, while Mr Morante managed the company’s daily operations from Tocumen Airport. Panavia also began placing some of its aircraft into storage in Arizona and furloughed some workers for their protection.
By December 1989 it was clear to Mr Meador that the US was going to invade Panama soon. He began taking further protective measures that drew attention from the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF), who posted soldiers outside his residence and personally escorted him to and from Panavia’s offices.
During the late evening of 19 December 1989, Mr Meador slipped out of his home while PDF soldiers were distracted by a trash fire nearby, and he went to the Omar Torrijos Airport (the name for Tocumen Airport at the time) to convene a meeting, where they discussed shutting down the airline entirely until after New Year’s Day. The meeting extended into the early hours of 20 December 1989 - longer than planned. While Mr Meador took a quick restroom break, US forces suddenly launched the Capture of Torrijos Airport with a nighttime assault on the airfield by US Army Rangers. In response, Panamanian troops scrambled to take armed control of the terminal and proceeded to seize Panavia’s offices there.
When Mr Meador returned from the restroom to find PDF soldiers roughing up a pair of young female Panavia employees, he tried to intercede to stop them and calm the situation. He was promptly killed by a PDF officer who shot Mr Meador from behind.
Less than an hour later, US Army Rangers took control of the terminal building and the Panama Invasion began to run its course over the coming days, with the US ultimately ousting General Ortiz from power and passing control of the country on to recently elected local officials.
Leroy Meador, who never married and had no children, was quietly buried at a cemetery near his birthplace in Ancón, Panama. In 1999 his remains were subsequently transferred to the World War II veterans’ section of the Corozal American Cemetery at the request of some distant relatives.
Armando Morante took control of Panavia Airlines.
1990s Expansion
While the untimely death of Leroy Meador was obviously a tragedy, the 1990s were a time when Panama began a long period of considerable economic recovery and growth, spurred on by economic reforms and the formation of a robust banking sector. Within a few years, Panama City transformed itself into a major economic and commercial hub, and Panama became the most economically advanced country in Central America.
Panavia quickly found itself to be well positioned to ride this new wave of prosperity.
Prior to his death, Mr Meador had been working with Armando Morante to acquire three new Bombardier Dash 8-300 aircraft. The operating costs of flying jets to other Panamanian cities outside of Panama City-PTY - namely David-DAV, Colón-ONX and Bocas del Toro-BOC - were simply not favorable. At the same time, the passenger demand on these routes was greater than its 19-seat capacity de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters could handle. The airline decided to purchase the 50-seat Dash 8-300 turboprops to upgrade capacity to these domestic destinations, meanwhile reallocating the Twin Otters to service other smaller, more remote airfields along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts.
In early January 1990, Mr Morante also took the first steps to set up the company’s new domestic subsidiary carrier, Panavia Regional Airlines (Spanish: Aerolíneas Regionales Panavia). Panavia Regional would handle all of the company’s flights within Panama, and the carrier’s Twin Otters were transferred over to the new subsidiary, as were the incoming Dash 8s.
Panavia Regional took delivery of the first Bombardier Dash 8-300 in May 1990, which was assigned to fly the Panama City-PTY «» David-DAV route. A second -300 received in September 1990 was assigned to fly the Panama City-PTY «» Bocas del Toro-BOC route, while a new Panama City-PTY «» Colón-ONX route was established for the 3rd and final -300 when it arrived in March 1991.
By 1993 Mr Morante was so pleased with the Dash 8-300 turboprops that he ordered a set of seven Bombardier Dash 8-200s to be placed on several other Panavia Regional routes. The company also took the opportunity to order 10 new Fokker 70 regional jets to complement the airline’s growing fleet of Fokker 100s, serving on several routes across Central America and Colombia.
When the Fokker 70s began to arrive in April 1995, they were configured with 72 seats in two classes. The first Fokker 70s was used to resume air service to Panama City-PTY «» Havana-HAV, which had been suspended since 1963, while others were assigned to fly new routes to Panama City-PTY «» San Andrés-ADZ, Panama City-PTY «» Barranquilla-BAQ in Colombia, and Panama City-PTY «» Flores-FRS in Guatemala.
The Dash 8-200s began arriving in June 1995. They were configured with 37 single class seats and assigned to fly domestically, starting with destinations like Panama City-PTY «» Changuinola-CHX, Panama City-PTY «» Chitré-CTD and the touristic Panama City-PTY «» Contadora Island-OTD.
After the last of the carrier’s Douglas DC-9-30 aircraft left the fleet in October 1997, Panavia Airlines had a total of 34 aircraft. It operated 20 Fokker 100s and 10 Fokker 70s to fly regional routes, to Mexico and to the southern US, along with 4 older Douglas DC-8-63/73s flying longer routes to New York-JFK, Washington-IAD, Miami-MIA and Houston-IAH. Meanwhile, Panavia Regional had 3 Bombardier Dash 8-300s, the first of its Bombardier Dash 8-200s, and 10 aging de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters to service its domestic network.
The arrival of Armando Morante’s ambitious young son, Gabriel Morante, would soon begin the transformation of Panavia Airlines from a regional airline into a major intercontinental carrier.
Gabriel Morante’s Big Plan: The InterAmerican Hub
Armando Morante was always a somewhat cautious fellow. During the 1990s, Mr Morante generally emulated the ways of his grandfather, Panavia’s cofounder Angelo Morante, positioning Panavia Airlines as Panama’s flag carrier, seeking to retain strong connections within Panama and Central America while maintaining more modest connectivity elsewhere. Armando Morante had grown the company’s network well enough, but he had never been so ambitious as to remake Panavia into a dominant force in Central America’s airline market.
However, Armando’s enthusiastic 29 year old son, Gabriel Morante, had more ambitious plans when he returned from abroad to join the airline in 1997 and became the company’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
The younger Mr Morante had already worked for two airlines after attending college in the US: First as an operations manager for Busy Bee Airlines in San Antonio, Texas (1990-93), then as an operations executive for Canario Airlines in Tenerife, Spain (1993-97). He gained experience helping to run low cost carrier (LCC) operations via Busy Bee, and in running efficient turboprop operations via Canario, which would prove helpful to Gabriel as he settled in to work with his father.
Gabriel Morante was given several tasks to handle as the new CCO, but the most important one - and the one he cared most deeply about - was to develop a long range business plan for Panavia Airlines and Panavia Regional going into the 21st century.
The junior Mr Morante responded to the latter task by devising an ambitious strategy he called The Interamerican Hub Plan.
Under this plan, Panavia would transform its route network to reach across the entire Americas as far as possible - from Vancouver to Buenos Aires at the least - using Panama City-PTY as a megahub.
He intended to achieve this over a period of several years by doing the following:
Taking full advantage of PTY’s central location in the Americas and its favorable climate, which would allow flights to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year;
Taking advantage of Panavia’s now-favorable relations with the Panamanian government;
Appealing to both leisure and business customers, as well as to retirees and expats traveling wherever they wish to go within the Americas with at most a single change of aircraft at Panama City-PTY;
Scheduling flights so they would converge on Panama City-PTY several times each day, with each occasion consisting of an inbound arrivals wave, followed by an outbound departures wave that would allow passengers to make most connections to their final destination within 90 minutes of arrival.
Establishing the Panavia terminal as a transit lounge, so that passengers could make fast connections without having to clear customs and immigration;
Using larger narrowbody airliners to connect PTY with major cities in North and South America, while using smaller narrowbody aircraft to connect with smaller cities and/or fly thinner routes, especially to destinations within Central America and the Caribbean; and
Retaining Panavia Regional as its own entity, separate from the transit lounge but ideally located near the customs and immigration gateway.
The plan also envisioned the creation of a new 3 class passenger service model:
Clase Economia for passengers wanting to pay the lowest possible airfare, who would receive unbundled, low cost carrier type services on a strict pay as you go basis;
Clase Plata for passengers looking for better seats, who would receive upgraded economy class services for a single bundled fare priced roughly 25% above the Clase Economia fares; and
Clase Dorada for passengers wanting the best seats and the best service, who would receive bundled business class style service for the highest fare.
Gabriel’s plan also envisioned narrowing down the main Panavia fleet to just three aircraft types from the same manufacturer. The company’s remaining Douglas DC-8s would either be retired or converted into dedicated freighters, while the Fokker aircraft would be phased out as the new small-narrowbody jets replaced them.
Gabriel had identified the Airbus A319, Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 as his preferred aircraft to be used in this scheme. Meanwhile, Panavia Regional would continue operating its Bombardier Dash-8 equipment, while perhaps using a couple of the youngest de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters to connect to Panama’s more primitive and remote airfields. The Twin Otters would eventually be replaced by newer generation aircraft.
Gabriel Morante and his father Armando Morante debated the merits of the younger Mr Morante’s audacious scheme very extensively over several weeks, working with company executives to nail down its particulars as well as gauging the reactions of Panamanian government officials to the plan. The central government proved to be mostly supportive of the plan, and discussions soon began on how to efficiently redesign the Tocumen terminal to accommodate Panavia’s Interamerican Hub Plan.
However, rather than accept Gabriel’s plan to use Airbus jets, the elder Mr Morante wanted to solicit bids from Boeing and other manufacturers before fully committing to the project. Boeing ultimately provided the most attractive offer with a very attractively priced bid to deliver a combination of Boeing 717-200s, Boeing 737-700s and Boeing 737-800s. The 717s would replace the Fokker aircraft and help service the carrier’s Central American and Caribbean routes, while the 737-700s and 737-800s would propel the company’s expansion efforts into North and South America.
A major Panamanian bank agreed to finance the deal, and in November 1997 the Boeing offer was accepted and orders were placed.
InterAmerican Hub Expansion Begins
The first of the new Boeing aircraft, a Boeing 717-200, arrived in April 2000. Due to its lower seating capacity, the type was outfitted with 106 seats across two classes - Clase Economia and Clase Plata. The first new 717 began service to Panama City-PTY «» Orlando-MCO on 3 May 2000.
In August 2000 Panavia received the first of 17 ordered Boeing 737-700s. This type was outfitted with 124 seats across 3 classes of service, featuring 12 reclining seats in Clase Dorada, 18 standard seats in Clase Plata, and 94 standard seats in Clase Economia. This initial 737-700 began service on 4 October 2000 flying Panama City-PTY «» Bogota-BOG.
The following year the first of 48 new Boeing 737-800s arrived at Tocumen Airport in March 2001. It was configured with 159 seats, across three classes like the 737-700: 12 reclining seats in Clase Dorada, 30 regular seats in Clase Plata, and 117 regular seats in Clase Economia. This aircraft entered revenue service on 4 May 2001 flying Panama City-PTY «» Miami-MIA, while additional 737-800s arriving later in 2001 began flying Panama City-PTY «» New York-JFK and Panama City-PTY «» Washington-IAD.
In 2002 Panavia accepted delivery of 8 additional Boeing aircraft - three more 737-700s, three 737-800s and two 717-200s - which were used to initiate the InterAmerican Hub expansion plan in earnest. The carrier started new service from Panama City-PTY «» Los Angeles-LAX, Panama City-PTY «» Chicago-ORD and Panama City-PTY «» Toronto-YYZ.
The last two of Panavia’s Douglas DC-8-63s were retired after about 40 years with the fleet, while the company’s singular DC-8-63CF Combi continued flying mostly as a freighter for the aircraft’s remaining years with the airline. It had originally been planned to retire the DC-8-63CF by 2008, but the -63CF would in fact stay in service with Panavia until 2017.
The rest of the 2000s saw several more Boeing deliveries and further route expansions, as well as the total redesign of the Panama City-PTY terminal to accommodate the newer generation aircraft. Construction and renovation of the terminal area dragged on for many years, from 2006 all the way until 2022, although most of Panavia’s portion of the terminal was finished by 2012. As terminal gates were added or replaced, new Panavia routes were gradually added to new destinations like Panama City-PTY «» San Francisco-SFO, Panama City-PTY «» Denver-DEN, Panama City-PTY «» São Paulo-GRU, Panama City-PTY «» Rio de Janeiro-GIG, Panama City-PTY «» Acapulco-ACA, and Panama City-PTY «» Buenos Aires-EZE, among others.
2010s
The fleet modernization process continued to play itself out until the mid 2010s, when Panavia accepted delivery of its final 3 Boeing 737-800s and the last Fokker 70 aircraft was sold off after 19 years of service.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Morante was promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2011, and he began to gradually take further control of the company while his father Armando Morante began to spend more time at the family villa on Contadora Island, perhaps contemplating retirement.
Unfortunately, in September 2014 CEO Armando Morante passed away at age 67 due to a sudden illness. He was replaced as CEO Gabriel Morante, who was 46 at the time. The younger Mr Morante was already running the company’s day to day affairs by then, so his transition into the CEO position was generally smooth.
In June 2015, Gabriel’s daughter Ana Morante (b 1989), a recent graduate from a US medical school, decided to join Panavia Airlines and was appointed as the company’s new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). She was assigned to continue overseeing the ongoing implementation of the company’s InterAmerican Hub Plan.
While attending the 2015 Paris Air Show, Gabriel Morante placed an order for 35 new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with options for up to 35 more, laying out plans to use them as replacements for the company’s existing fleet of Boeing 737-800 airliners. He also signed a letter of intent to purchase up to 15 new Boeing 737 MAX 7 jets, once the MAX 7 officially entered the certification process and an expected approval time frame for the type could be set.
Golden Frog Livery
In 2017, Gabriel Morante decided it was time to completely remake Panavia Airlines’ livery, which had seen but a few changes during the company’s 71 year history to date. He and CCO Ana Morante commissioned an American design studio to develop a completely new livery - something Gabriel had wanted to do since joining Panavia in 1997.
After considering roughly a dozen different designs, Gabriel and Ana settled on a design known as the Golden Frog livery. It was a radical departure from the company’s traditional red and blue, Panama flag based designs. The Golden Frog livery was relatively simple in design and featured a stunning tangerine-yellow fuselage with a contrasting anthracite-gray empennage (tail). Doing away with the 1988 “billboard” display of the airline’s name in all capital letters, the new brand name design was colored to match the tail in a crisp, Helvetica style font written in proper case. On the tail was an entirely new logo: A simple, modernized drawing of a Panamanian Golden Frog, a poisonous amphibian that serves as a national symbol of Panama, and has been long considered by many Panamanians to be a symbol of good luck and fortune (as long as you don’t touch it!).
Both Gabriel and Ana Morante loved the new livery at first sight. It was immediately adopted, first appearing on the carrier’s new Boeing 737 MAX 8s, which entered the fleet in May 2018. The first three new MAX 8s were placed on new routes connecting Panama City-PTY «» Seattle-SEA, Panama City-PTY «» Vancouver-YVR and Panama City-PTY «» Montevideo-MVD, which collectively became Panavia’s most distant destination airports.
In 2017 the last of the company’s Douglas DC-8 aircraft was retired when its remaining Douglas DC-8-63CF Combi was sold off to the American charitable organization Helping Hands Society. This ended Panavia’s 55 year relationship with the DC-8, as well as its 71 year history as an operator of Douglas airliners.
Aria Aircraft Adopted As New Standard
Despite his previous preference for Airbus airliners, by 2018 Gabriel Morante had been reasonably satisfied with the economics and performance statistics of the Boeing 737-800, and he considered its follow-up product, the Boeing 737 MAX 8, to be a good investment as Panavia’s next flagship aircraft.
This attitude changed, however, when two Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft crashed within a few months of each other in late 2018 and early 2019 due to problems with the 737 MAX’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. After the 2nd crash all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were grounded, casting a shadow over the entire program.
The two crashes and the consequential grounding of the 737 MAX airliners shook Mr Meador’s previous confidence in the aircraft types. At the time Panavia held 8 such aircraft, all of which were parked in a remote corner of Panamá Pacífico Airport (BLB) while Boeing and aviation regulators hammered out a resolution to the matter.
Given the costs involved, Panavia found it to be impractical to outright cancel the company’s 27 remaining 737 MAX orders. Nonetheless, Gabriel Meador immediately began considering replacement options.
After extensive discussions with two manufacturers - Airbus SE and the newer Aria Aircraft - during the 2019 Paris Air Show, Mr Meador settled on Aria Aircraft as his airline’s future aircraft provider. He announced that Panavia Airlines and Panavia Regional would be switching over Aria aircraft, and then signed a series of orders to lease 125 new aircraft of the following types, with options to purchase:
Aria T202 Transonic x 25
Aria T152 Transonic x 50
Aria T102 Transonic x 20
Aria T42 Transonic x 10
Aria V42 VTOL x 7
Aria V12 VTOL x 10
Deliveries of the Aria aircraft were set to begin around 2022.
2020s
As was the case elsewhere throughout the world, the Covid-19 Pandemic struck in Panama. The first of over 1,044,000 known cases was reported in early March 2020 and at least 8,706 deaths were recorded.
The pandemic affected Panavia Airlines heavily, forcing huge reductions in passenger air services to North America in particular. Some aircraft were converted into improvised freighters to help facilitate transport of supplies in and out of the country. Panavia also provided its aircraft to help repatriate citizens both to and from Panama.
During 2021 the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft finally resumed service, and Panavia resumed taking delivery of the type, though several remained parked elsewhere while air service gradually tried to return to normal.
Also in 2021, Ana Morante was promoted from Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) to Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Aria Aircraft Deliveries Begin
The first Aria aircraft began to arrive at Panama City-PTY in early 2023.
The first two aircraft arrived in March 2023: An Aria T42 Transonic and an Aria T102 Transonic. The T42 entered service on 3 April 2023 flying alternately between Panama City-PTY «» San Andrés Island-ADZ and Panama City-PTY «» Leticia-LET in Colombia. Meanwhile the T102 began revenue service on 5 April 2023 flying alternately between Panama City-PTY «» Montego Bay-MBJ, Jamaica and Panama City-PTY «» Cartagena-CTG, Colombia.
Two months later, on 1 May 2023 Panavia Regional Airlines accepted delivery of its first Aria V12 VTOL and Aria V42 VTOL aircraft. The V42 entered service flying the Panama City-PTY «» David-DAV route on 22 May 2023, while the V12 started flying between PTY and several smaller airfields around Panama, beginning with an inaugural flight on the Panama City-PTY «» El Real-ELE route to Darién Province.
As more V42 and V12 aircraft began arriving throughout 2023 and 2024, Panavia Regional accordingly expanded its domestic route network to include several new, smaller airports that could be readily accessed using the new VTOL-capable Aria V Series aircraft. The in-country network grew in size from 13 to 21 destinations nationwide.
On 30 June 2024, the company held a special ceremony to retire the last of its de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otters, which made its final flight that morning from Garachiné-GHE «» Panama City-PTY, concluding the Twin Otters’ 57 years of service with the fleet.
Future Plans
Panavia Airlines’ plans to transform its Panama City-PTY base into an InterAmerican Hub have been mostly realized. The carrier plans to continue expansion of routes into more US and Canadian cities over the next couple of years - Panama City-PTY «» Dallas/Ft Worth-DFW and Panama City-PTY «» Phoenix-PHX are frequently mentioned as near-future additions - while further expansion into Brazil to cities such as Panama City-PTY «» Curitiba-CWB are being entertained as well. Resumption of service to Panama City-PTY «» Acapulco-ACA and Panama City-PTY «» Merida-MID - which were suspended in 2020 due to Covid-19 but never restarted - as well as new service to places like Panama City-PTY «» Manta-MEC, Ecuador; Panama City-PTY «» Salta-SLA, Argentina; Panama City-PTY «» Armenia-AXM, Colombia; Panama City-PTY «» Holguín-HOG, Cuba; and Panama City-PTY «» Puerto Plata-POP, Dominican Republic are all being contemplated.
Adding Panama City-PTY «» Mexico City-NLU and Panama City-PTY «» Tulum-TQO, Mexico are also high on the list, and Panama City-PTY «» Valencia-VLN, Venezuela has been discussed as well.
The introduction of the new 152-seat Aria T152 Transonic and the 202-seat Aria T202 Transonic airliners is imminent, both having been recently approved for commercial service. The carrier will use them to replace its entire Boeing fleet by 2027. Deliveries of Aria V12 and V42 VTOL aircraft continue to proceed as well, with plans to retire the carrier’s three remaining Bombardier Dash 8 Q200 turboprops in 2025.
Gabriel Morante, now aged 56, continues to lead Panavia and Panavia Regional with much the same vigor he had when he started with the company in 1997. Ana Morante, now 35, remains the Chief Operating Officer of the airline and will be Mr Morante’s likely successor to someday.
Destinations
Panavia Airlines
Panavia Airlines offers nonstop international air service to the following destinations across the Americas.
Aruba-AUA
Asunción-ASU, Paraguay
Atlanta-ATL, Georgia, USA
Austin-AUS, Texas, USA
Baltimore-BWI, Maryland, USA
Barbados-BGI
Barranquilla-BAQ, Colombia
Belize City-BZE, Belize
Belo Horizonte-CNF, Brazil
Bogotá-BOG, Colombia
Boston-BOS, Massachusetts, USA
Brasilia-BSB, Brazil
Bucaramanga-BGA, Colombia
Buenaventura-BUN, Colombia
Buenos Aires-EZE, Argentina
Cali-CLO, Colombia
Cancún-CUN, Mexico
Caracas-CCS, Venezuela
Cartagena-CTG, Colombia
Chicago-ORD, Illinois, USA
Chiclayo-CIX, Peru
Comayagua-XPL, Honduras
Córdoba-COR, Argentina
Cozumel-CZM, Mexico
Cúcuta-CUC, Colombia
Curaçao-CUR
Cusco-CUZ, Peru
Denver-DEN, Colorado, USA
Florianopolis-FLN, Brazil
Fortaleza-FOR, Brazil
Grand Cayman-GCM, Cayman Islands
Guadalajara-GDL, Mexico
Guatemala City-GUA, Guatemala
Guayaquil-GYE, Ecuador
Havana-HAV, Cuba
Houston-IAH, Texas, USA
Kingston-KIN, Jamaica
Las Vegas-LAS, Nevada, USA
Leticia-LET, Colombia
Liberia-LIR, Costa Rica
Lima-LIM, Peru
Los Angeles-LAX, California, USA
Los Cabos-SJD, Mexico
Managua-MGA, Nicaragua
Manaus-MAO, Brazil
Maracaibo-MAR, Venezuela
Medellín-MDE, Colombia
Mendoza-MDZ, Argentina
Mexico City-MEX, Mexico
Miami-MIA, Florida, USA
Montego Bay-MBJ, Jamaica
Monterrey-MTY, Mexico
Montevideo-MVD, Uruguay
Montreal-YUL, Quebec, Canada
New Orleans-MSY, Louisiana, USA
New York-JFK, New York, USA
Orlando-MCO, Florida, USA
Pereira-PEI, Colombia
Panama City-PTY, Panama - HQ and Central Hub
[ InterAmerican Map Link - Central America/Caribbean Map Link ]Porto Alegre-POA, Brazil
Providenciales-PLS, Turks and Caicos Islands
Puerto Vallarta-PVR, Mexico
Punta Cana-PUJ, Dominican Republic
Quito-UIO, Ecuador
Raleigh-Durham-RDU, North Carolina, USA
Recife-REC, Brazil
Rio De Janeiro-GIG, Brazil
Rosario-ROS, Argentina
Salvador-SSA, Brazil
San Andrés-ADZ, Colombia
San Francisco-SFO, California, USA
San José-SJO, Costa Rica
San Juan-SJU, Puerto Rico (USA)
San Pedro Sula-SAP, Honduras
San Salvador-SAL, El Salvador
Santiago-SCL, Chile
Santiago-STI, Dominican Republic
Santa Clara-SNU, Cuba
Santa Cruz-VVI, Bolivia
Santa Marta-SMR, Colombia
Santo Domingo-SDQ, Dominican Republic
São Paulo-GRU, Brazil
Seattle-SEA, Washington, USA
Sint Maarten-SXM
Tampa-TPA, Florida, USA
Trinidad-POS, Trinidad and Tobago
Toronto-YYZ, Ontario, Canada
Vancouver-YVR, British Columbia, Canada
Varadero-VRA, Cuba
Washington-IAD, DC/VA, USA
Panavia Regional Airlines
Panavia Regional Airlines offers nonstop domestic air service to the following destinations within Panama.
Achutupo-ACU, Panama
Bahia Piña-BFQ, Panama
Boca de Sábalo-SAX, Panama
Bocas Del Toro-BOC, Panama
Changuinola-CHX, Panama
Chitré-CTD, Panama
Colón-ONX, Panama
Contadora Island-OTD, Panama
Corazón de Jesús-CZJ, Panama
David-DAV, Panama
El Porvenir-PVE, Panama
El Real de Santa María-ELE, Panama
Garachine-GHE, Panama
Jaqué-JQE, Panama
La Palma-PLP, Panama
Mulatupo-MPP, Panama
Panama City-PTY, Panama - HQ and Central Hub [ Domestic Map Link ]
Playon Chico-PYC, Panama
Puerto Obaldia-PUE, Panama
Tubualá-TUW, Panama
Ustupo-UTU, Panama
Fleet
Current Fleet - Panavia Airlines
Panavia Airlines currently operates the following aircraft types.
† = JStream original aircraft
Aria T42 Transonic - 2023-Present †
Aria T102 Transonic - 2023-Present †
Aria T152 Transonic - 2024-Present †
Aria T202 Transonic - 2024-Present †
Boeing 737-700 - 2001-Present - Retiring 2025
Boeing 737-800 - 2001-Present - Retiring 2025
Boeing 737 MAX 8 - 2018-Present - Retiring 2026
Current Fleet - Panavia Regional Airlines
Panavia Regional Airlines currently operates the following aircraft types.
† = JStream original aircraft
Aria V12 VTOL - 2023-Present †
Aria V42 VTOL - 2024-Present †
Aria V42qc VTOL QC Combi - 2024-Present †
Bombardier DHC-8 Q200 - 1995-Present - Retiring Late 2024
Former Fleet
Panavia Airlines and Panavia Regional Airlines previously used the following aircraft types.
† = JStream original aircraft
Boeing 717-200 - 2000-2024
Bombardier DHC-8 Q300 - 1990-2023
de Havilland DHC-3 Otter - 1952-1973 †
de Havilland DHC-6-300 - 1967-2024 †
Douglas DC-3 - 1947-1975 †
Douglas DC-4 - 1946-1975
Douglas DC-6 - 1953-1967 †
Douglas DC-8-53 - 1962-1987
Douglas DC-8-63/73 - 1967-2002
Douglas DC-8-63CF - 1968-2017
Douglas DC-9-30 - 1969-1997
Fokker 70 - 1995-2014
Fokker 100 - 1988-2024
=Nota Bene=
This article required a lot more research and development than any of my previous articles did. It’s also the longest post I’ve written to date. Whew.
Panavia Airlines and its subsidiary Panavia Regional Airlines are not based on any particular real life carrier.
However, there was once a real life Panamanian airline named Panavia, which existed from 1994 to 2006. It had a pair of Boeing 727 freighters and ran chartered and scheduled cargo flights out of Tocumen airport in Panama. It was shut down by 2006.
I did kind of emulate a bit of the real life Copa Airlines 21st century expansion stratesy, but unlike Copa I kept Panavia’s domestic route network intact. I figured the government of Panama would want to preserve it in exchange for helping the airline get its shiny new terminal.
I try to stay away from identifying real life people by name - especially government leaders - in my stories. Instead I make generic references to a given country’s “central government” or whatever. I do this primarily because I’m writing alternative aviation fiction, not political history. I choose to leave history to the historians.
When I started writing about Panavia, I picked 1946 as the company’s year of founding so it would coincide with the disposal of surplus Douglas C-54 aircraft following the end of World War II. This resulted in Panavia also joining the story while the US-controlled Panama Canal Zone still existed and bisected Panama in half. The Canal Zone was very central to Panama’s economy and politics during that time, and in many ways its impacts are still felt today. I tied Panavia’s rise during the 20th century to the Canal Zone because it was the most massive infrastructure project of the 20th century, and it made sense for Panavia to live off its Canal related contracts early on.
My depiction of the Panama Canal Zone and Panavia’s role in it should not be interpreted as anything more than a fictional portrayal. As stated above, I’m a writer, not a historian.Which brings me to the year 1989 - the year of the US Invasion of Panama. I found there was no way I could portray that part of Panavia’s history without bringing in some version of the real life General Manuel Noriega. I didn’t want to get into Noriega’s own history, so I decided to simply create General Néstor Ortiz as a stand-in character for him. Again, I will leave it to the historians and the people of Panama to judge Noriega as they will.
One thing seems certain, however: In the long run, Panama did come out ahead in most respects after the Panama Canal was (rightfully) returned to their control.
All liveries depicted in this article were conceived and drawn by the Author.
Aria aircraft templates displayed in this article are fictional aircraft, whose original templates were drawn by the Author.
The de Havilland DHC-3 Otter, de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, Douglas DC-3, and Douglas DC-6 aircraft templates are all original, in-house created content created by the Author.
All other aircraft templates shown in this article were licensed from Norebbo and augmented by the Author for display. Blank side view templates of these aircraft are available for purchase through ShopNorebbo.
Route Maps were created using Great Circle Map.