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"The passenger doesn’t depend of us, we depend of him. We don’t do any favor when we serve him, he makes a great favor when request us to serve him." Ruben Berta

So far, most VARIG’s fleet was consisted of German aircraft, and with the Second World War it was increasingly difficult to get parts for these aircraft, forcing a fleet renewal. The first new aircraft acquired was the De Havilland Dragon Rapide, an airplane from England. With it VARIG started its first international flight between Porto Alegre and Montevideo, on August 5, 1942.

When Brazil entered into the War, Otto Meyer resigned VARIG to protect it from his German origin. In his place entered Rubem Martin Berta, VARIG’s first employee, hired by Otto Meyer himself. Rubem Berta began working at 19 years and became president in December, 1941. Berta's dream was see VARIG circle the world, but its most daring and innovative contribution to the company was Fundação de Funcionários da VARIG (VARIG’s Employees Foundation) creation, which was later renamed to Fundação Rubem Berta. All VARIG’s employees belonged to the foundation, which now have 50% of company’s shareholding. The main inspiration for Foundation creation was "Rerum Novarum" from Pope Leo XIII , which proposed a social structure where part of the profits were divided among the employees, thus reducing social inequality between rich and poor. Ruben Berta was also inspired by the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau "The Social Contract" and the "Quadragesimo Anno" by Pius XII. The General Assembly, in 1945, unanimously approved the transfer of shares and the creation of Varig's Employees Foundation. The Article 1 of the Foundation defined that it was created to ensure social welfare, protection against disability, among others, and benefits such as pensions, pensions, among others, for all VARIG's employees and their families.

In 1943 VARIG ordered eight Lockheed Electra for expansion and fleet renewal. With Electra VARIG began the on board service. A box with snacks was distributed to passengers by the copilot, because there were no flight attendants yet.

After the end of World War II, VARIG acquired a large amount of remaining War aircraft Douglas DC-3/C-47 and Curtiss C-46. VARIG's first DC-3 was acquired in 1946 and operated virtually all VARIG lines, including to Montevideo and Buenos Aires. DC-3 were responsible for VARIG expansion beyond Rio Grande do Sul state. On August 27, 1946 was inaugurated Porto Alegre - Sao Paulo - Rio de Janeiro line, with Douglas DC-3. In 40s VARIG also expanded its routes to Santa Catarina and Parana states.

The first Curtiss C-46 was incorporated 1948. They were larger than the DC-3 and had three basic configurations: Luxo (luxury), Mista (mixed) and Cargueiro (freighter). The "Luxury" version had larger and more comfortable seats, so flights operated with this configuration had a more expensive fare. The Curtiss C-46 Freighter version was the first purely cargo aircraft operated by VARIG. At that time freight transport by air was still developing and allowed things before impossible such as being able to deliver a newspaper the same day in another region of the country or transporting extremely perishable foods.

 

 

 

40s

Fleet: 2xCurtiss C-46 1xDe Havilland Dragon Rapid 4xDouglas DC-3 1xFiat G2 1xJunkers A-50 2xJunkers F-13 1xJunkers Ju-52/3 4xLockheed L10 Electra I 1xMesserschmitt M20 1xNordwyn UC/641 TOTAL: 18 President: Rubem Martin Berta Destinations: 22

Fleet evolution:
 

VARIG's 40s route map / De Havilland Dragon Rapid

Douglas DC-3

Curtiss C-46

 

HOW WAS FLYING IN THE 1940s? In the 1940s Brazilian aviation began to be more mature. VARIG acquired more modern aircraft, with more comfort to passengers. The Messerschmitt M20 was the first to have a closed cockpit. At that time also began the concept of fleet standardization, with Lockheed Electra I aircraft. In the 40's it was also started on-board service, a box of cold snacks was distributed to the passengers by the co-pilot. From 1946 a new era began in commercial aviation with the introduction of the Douglas DC-3. These aircraft revolutionized aviation around the world for being cheap and extremely versatile. The DC-3 made several routes viable and profitable. After the end of World War II, thousands of units of the military version (C-47) were converted to commercial aviation (DC-3). The great offer made the DC-3 an extremely cheap aircraft, becoming part of almost all airlines fleet, and responsible for the emergence of hundreds new airlines. The same happened in Brazil, the DC-3 was present in the fleet of almost all airlines and still gave viability for the emergence of new airlines. With the offer excess, VARIG and other airlines began to face a fiercer competition in the domestic market, leading to the fall of tickets prices. In 1948 the first Curtiss C-46 arrived, until that moment, the largest aircraft ever operated by VARIG, capable of carrying up to 46 passengers. Since then, DC-3 and C-46 became VARIG's main aircraft and those that the company had in greater quantity. Both operated in the company's fleet for about 25 years.