Caribair (Puerto Rico)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Airline |
| Predecessor | Powelson Airlines |
| Founded | 1939 |
| Founder | Dennis Powelson |
| Defunct | 1973 |
| Fate | Purchased by Eastern Air Lines |
| Headquarters | San Juan , Puerto Rico |
Area served | Caribbean, Miami |
Key people | Dionisio Trigo, Benigno Trigo, Juan Trigo (owners from 1946) |
| Products | Scheduled passenger air service |
| Parent | Eastern Air Lines (from 1973) |
Caribair was an airline headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, providing service to more than a dozen Caribbean locations along with Miami. By 1970, it maintained scheduled flights to 16 destinations across 14 Caribbean islands as well as Miami, featuring nonstop jet service between Miami (MIA) and Port of Spain, Trinidad with a stopover in San Juan (SJU). Notably, Caribair was the pioneer Puerto Rican airline to operate jet aircraft on regular passenger routes. The airline was eventually purchased by Eastern Air Lines in 1973.
History
The origins of Caribair trace back to Powelson Airlines, established in 1938 by Dennis Powelson, who had previously been a pilot for Destileria Serralles based in Ponce. On February 27, 1939, the company incorporated and changed its name to Caribbean-Atlantic Airlines (Caribair). In 1946, control passed to the Trigo brothers—Dionisio, Benigno, and Juan—Puerto Rican entrepreneurs involved in import-export and business ventures in Spain. Caribair officially became part of Eastern Air Lines on May 15, 1973.
Caribair gained popularity among both local passengers and tourists, steadily expanding through the 1950s and 1960s. By 1950, it formally adopted the Caribair name and initiated routes to the Dominican Republic. By 1962, its route network had grown to include international spots such as Santo Domingo, Guadeloupe, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. Maarten in addition to domestic flights serving Mayaguez and Ponce. During the early 1960s, Caribair also operated certain flights on behalf of Eastern Airlines utilizing Convair 640 turboprop aircraft. To remain competitive against emerging regional carriers like British West Indian Airways (BWIA) and Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT), Caribair introduced McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets—the first Puerto Rican airline to offer scheduled jet service.
Destinations
As per the Caribair timetable dated April 1, 1970, all scheduled passenger services were conducted exclusively with McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets after retiring its Convair 640 turboprops. The primary destinations served at that time included:
- Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI)
- Castries, St. Lucia - Vigie Airport (SLU)
- Fort-de-France, Martinique (FDF)
- Kingston, Jamaica (KIN)
- Miami, Florida (MIA)
- Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ)
- Oranjestad, Aruba (AUA)
- Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe (PTP)
- Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP)
- Port of Spain, Trinidad (POS)
- Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ)
- St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (STX)
- St. John's, Antigua (ANU)
- St. Maarten (SXM)
- St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (STT)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) - Main Hub
- Willemstad, Curacao (CUR)
In 1968, Caribair operated a combination of DC-9 jets alongside Convair 640 turboprops; turboprops were deployed on routes where jet operations were impractical due to runway constraints or lower passenger volumes. Transitioning to an all-jet fleet resulted in discontinuing services to several destinations such as Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Kitts as well as Puerto Rican cities including Mayaguez, Dorado, and Ponce.
Fleet
As of September 1961:
The known aircraft types operated by Caribair included:
- Douglas DC-3 (11 units) – served as the principal aircraft throughout the 1960s on routes like San Juan–Ponce–Mayagüez before improved road infrastructure reduced demand for air travel on these legs.
- McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 (3 units) – represented the airline’s exclusive jet fleet type.
- Convair CV-340 (9 units)
- Convair CV-440 (leased; 2 units)
- Convair CV-640 (7 units) – the only turboprop aircraft type used by Caribair.
- Lockheed Model 50 (leased; 2 units)
- Stinson SM-6000-A/B (5 units)
Reported UFO Encounters
In June 1970, aviators from Caribair and Pan American World Airways observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon close to Isla Verde International Airport in San Juan. These accounts were communicated to the Puerto Rican Air National Guard, and the Federal Aviation Administration released a formal statement about the event in 1977.