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When local Honduran carrier SAHSA abandoned the San Pedro Sula-San Salvador route , Shelton stepped in to have TAN take it over . To make it successful , he amended the carrier ’ s CAB authorization to include San Salvador as a point on the San Pedro Sula-Miami route . This provided TAN with an additional source of revenue .
It was during this time that Shelton was planning to expand his airline into South America . He knew that his heavily-loaded C-46s could not take off from the airport at Tegucigalpa , with its short runway and high elevation , and make it nonstop to a South American destination . However , Managua — the capital of Nicaragua — lay in the southerly flight direction and the airport there was at sea level and had an adequately long runway .
Shelton paid a visit to Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Garcia ( who was also majority owner of LANICA ) and coordinated air rights for TAN to serve not only Tegucigalpa from Managua , but Ecuador and Peru as well . To sweeten the deal , TAN contracted to fly cargo consigned by LANICA between Managua and Miami , allowing
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11 Shelton created Aerolineas Peruanas , SA ( APSA ) and Ecuatoriana de Aviacion ( CEA ) for his Latin American expansion . TAN supplied the two carriers with their first C-46 aircraft , which all had hybrid liveries . // DRAWINGS : SCOTT STACHE |
the Nicaraguan carrier to make extra money as it did not yet serve the United States .
In June 1954 , with Honduran government approval , TAN inaugurated service to South America using slow , antiquated C-46 aircraft flying from Miami to Tegucigalpa , then on to Managua , Guayaquil ( Ecuador ), and Lima ( Peru ). Shelton charged rates 30 % lower than Braniff and PANAGRA . Operating old , uncomfortable airplanes was what enabled TAN to undercut the ‘ Big Boys ’. TAN ’ s service soon developed into a profitable longhaul passenger business ; a lowcost alternative to the expensive US carriers .
Not only did Shelton develop routes to South America , but he also expanded TAN ’ s Central American flights , first to Belize in 1955 , then to Guatemala City in 1957 .
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CAB CONFLICTS
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Shelton ’ s bold plan to penetrate the domain of PANAGRA and Braniff was paying off handsomely . Of course , this irritated Pan Am ’ s Juan Trippe , who became furious and embarrassed that , despite their better operations , better route systems , and better aircraft , his companies could not make money without government subsidies . Trippe began to attack TAN Airlines , contending that the Honduran carrier had misused its CAB permit by carrying a disproportionate amount of US-to-South America fifth-freedom traffic .
But the competitive Shelton argued that TAN had CAB permission to fly from Miami to Tegucigalpa and , by authorization from the Honduran Government , to fly from Tegucigalpa to Ecuador
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