By Wassim Chemaitelli

MEA FIGHTS FOR SURVIVAL: 1975-1984

War in Lebanon reached a point of no return by April 1975, and MEA had to adjust to operating in terrible conditions. Beirut's International Airport came episodically under shelling from various fighting protagonists and was closed for traffic at different times. Employees were regularily stranded in MEA's headquarters, which earned the "Cedarjet Hotel" nickname. Lebanon's touristic appeal sounded more like a joke, and transit activity in Beirut dwindled. But MEA's Cedarjets kept flying, and solutions were found for seemingly desperate situations. In sharp contrast with the events in Lebanon, MEA's staff cohesion, regardless of political affinities, and collective effort in order to save their airline, came in defiance to all claims that Lebanon would never survive to the ongoing war. More than airline, MEA became a symbol for a country that refuses to die, like the ever-green cedar of its flag. MEA maintained flights to nearly all of its destinations. When there were fuel shortages in BEY, empty Cedarjets were flown to Damascus and Amman for refueling. Schedules were changed, so that aircraft would avoid flying to BEY at night. MEA was even able to take delivery of its Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets in September 1975, and introduced them on its London and Gulf routes.

 While MEA managed to get through the 1975 turmoils without any passenger casualties, 1976 was a difficult year as of its first day. On January 1st 1976, a Boeing 720B on route to Muscat exploded 1:40 mns after take off from BEY, over Qaysumah in northern Saudi Arabia. The 81 people on board were killed. The investigation that followed this tragedy revealed that the bomb was carried by Omani miltants and was intended to explode at Muscat's Seeb Airport several hours after the airliner's arrival. However, a technical fault in the Boeing 747 that was initially scheduled for the route had led to the passengers transfer to the Boeing 720 and to the significant delay in take-off, ultimately resulting in the aircraft's loss in flight. The crash over Qaysuma remains MEA's worst accident to date. Also in 1976 the political tensions increased in Lebanon and BEY was closed for traffic for 8 days at the beginning of the year, and for what seemed like an undefinite closure by June 1976. Beirut International Airport came under fire on June 27th 1976, MEA' Boeing 720 OD-AGE was directly hit. The airliner was scheduled for a flight to Amman, passengers had been safely disembarked from the plane when the shelling began, but the crew remained on board trying to taxi OD-AGE towards safer premises. The plane burst into flames at that point. MEA captain Zuheir Mikati and first officer Louis Haddad died and flight engineer Jonas Putna was severly injured as a result of this dramatic event. As for the causes of the shelling of OD-AGE, Mr Alammudin in his memoirs refers to them as a "well guarded secret", while Reginald Turnill in his book on MEA "Battle for Survival" implies that OD-AGE had not been specifically targetted, and that the shelling was aimed at Lockheed Hercules planes of the Saudi Army, which were part of the pan Arab dissuasion - peace keeping  force. Nevertheless, after that it was not possible for operations to continue in BEY. MEA transferred its operating base to Paris-Orly airport with the help of partner Air France, flew its Cedarjets on behalf of other airlines and operated charter flights to different parts of the globe. The only part of MEA's network that kept functionning were the Jeddah-Aden-Jeddah and Jeddah-Khartoum-Jeddah sectors for which MEA enjoyed fifth freedom traffic rights. In mid-November 1976, BEY re-opened, and MEA was able to return to Beirut, having accomplished the incredible task of operating during 5 long months deprived of its very own home-base. MEA was able to restitute its Paris-Orly base to Aeroports de Paris by December 1977.

36-MEA's orange and yellow corporate colors accompanied the airline all through the seventies and eighties as reflected by MEA's timetable (left) and ticket cover (right).

 In 1977, operations returned to their pre-war levels, MEA was even able to make profits, and to introduce flights to Ras Al Khaymah and Copenhagen. 2 more Boeing 720s were added to the fleet, whereas MEA's Boeing 747s were leased-out to Saudia and Royal Air Maroc. The jumbo jets' lease was a welcome source of revenue for MEA all through the difficult war years. MEA carried 1,010,036 passengers and made 6.7 million USD profits. On December 2nd 1977, Sheikh Najib Alamuddin resigned from MEA for personal reasons. He headed MEA through the decisive years of consolidation, drove MEA successfully through its merger with Air Liban, preserved the airline during the Intra collapse, and even managed to hand MEA to his successor, Asaad Nasr, as a profit-making enterprise, in spite of Lebanon's leap into war's inferno. To many, Alamuddin's resignation signalled the end of an era in MEA's history.

37-MEA's flight guide editions in 1979 (left) and 1980 (right).
MEA continued publishing promotional postcards in the early eighties (right).

38- MEA Boeing 720, OD-AFZ, inflight photo, 1982 (right). From Jamil Itani's collection@Airliners.net.

In 1978, MEA continued its adjustment to political turmoil, reducing frequencies and combining flights for some destinations. 1979 witnessed greater stability, and MEA made significant profits,around 15 million USD , having carried more than a million passengers. The Iran-Iraq gulf war led to the suspension of the long established Baghdad services.

39-MEA announces its order of 5 Airbus A310s in its Cedarjet magazine (No4, Winter 1981) (left). Click on the image for more on MEA and the A310. MEA celebrates Beirut on the cover of a Cedarjet issue (middle), MEA hostess, eighties style (right).

MEA welcomed the eighties with the edition of "Cedarjet", its high quality in-flight magazine.It also added 2 Boeing 707-320Cs to its fleet in 1980, opened routes to Tunis and Nice, and resumed flights to Kano, Lagos and Monrovia. The airline, after much hesitation with the Boeing 767, chose the Airbus A310 as a replacement for its Boeing 707s, ordered 5 Airbus A310s, and took options on a further 14 in October 1980. This hypothetical fleet-modernization scheme was established in a highly unfavourable climate. Political tensions were rising again (BEY was closed for traffic during 3 weeks in 1981), and the airline had made significant losses by the end of 1981, approx 22 million USD, despite carrying 936,618 passengers.

 1982 was one of Lebanon and MEA's darkest years, as it signalled the country's invasion by Israeli troops. BEY was closed for a total 115 days. Its shelling by the Israeli army cost MEA 6 of its Boeing 720s, and the airline re-initiated its emergency conversion plan to a charter carrier for other airlines as long as BEY was closed to traffic. It was only by September 1982 that operations could be resumed in BEY. MEA replaced its destroyed aircraft with 3 Boeing 707-320Cs bought from American Airlines. Salim Salaam replaced Asaad Nasr as MEA's chairman and president in October 1982. Despite all these events, MEA carried around 634,000 passengers in 1982, but losses incurred reached 41 million USD. The airline was able to restore its operations network, and re-introduced its Boeing 747s in the fleet, as it finally inaugurated trans-Atlantic services to New York via Paris-Orly on March 1st 1983. The Boeing 747s were also used on behalf of Gulf Air in the extension of the Beirut-Bahrain route to Bangkok and Manila. In 1983, MEA carried 795,961 passengers and reduced its losses to 28 million USD. 

43-One of MEA's Boeing 747s, seen in Paris-Orly in 1983. Copyright Steve Williams@Airliners.net.

Optimistic prospects for a renewal of the legal governmental institutions were shattered as the conflict in Lebanon entered in its post-Palestinian phase. The government was militarily challenged by opposition to a U.S. sponsored agreement with Israel ( the May 17th accords ), and lost its international support after the bloody attacks on the multi-national peace-keeping force headquarters in Beirut. War raged in the mountains and Beirut was divided again. The western part of Beirut, including the airport was held by rival Muslim and Druze armed factions, while the eastern part of the city was controled by Christian armed factions. BEY was closed for traffic for 154 days in 1984 (from February to July), MEA ended the year, with a traffic drop to 486,598 passengers, a 293,413,000 L.L (approx 37 million USD) loss, and dim prospects for the years to follow. Lebanon was as divided as ever, denying MEA half of its market, as the roads leading to BEY became notoriously risky for residents of East Beirut. They used Larnaca airport in Cyprus instead for their air-travel requirements. The Lebanese economy as a whole started an impressive slide, reflected by intense speculation over the local currency ratings. MEA was still to witness its darkest days.

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