Dear Fellow Portu-philes,
Many countries can be called aviation powers. Whether for cultural, historical, or economic reasons, aviation plays a prominent role in some societies, reflected in a rich heritage of designers, industries, and operators. Unfortunately, Portugal is not one of those countries. I love Portugal, and fortunately, this is where we took our vacation this year. But there’s not a lot of aviation content there. Just lots of pre-Wright Brothers history.
Portugal, a country just slightly bigger than Indiana, once ruled a significant percentage of the planet. They were a major naval power, but by the time aviation was invented, Portugal had become much less relevant and much less involved in the outside world. The most celebrated Portuguese “aviators” are actually Precursors da Aeronáutica, who came up with the usual seventeenth century bat wing, balloon, or flying sailboat contraptions. This isn’t surprising – Portugal’s glories peaked around the Renaissance.
One writer called Portugal The Last Old Place. It has a tremendous sense of history, most of which pre-dates aviation and reflects an imperial and maritime era. The best US architecture (art deco) reflects aeronautical influences. The best Portuguese architecture (Manueline) reflects nautical influences. The only aircraft I’ve seen prominently displayed in Portugal is a full-scale cast model of the first Portuguese plane to fly to Brazil, their long-lost colony (it’s at Lisbon’s Torre de Belém, a lovely spot to visit).
That long-lost colony, of course, has eclipsed its former master on the world stage. Brazil contributes the first letter of BRIC, the fast-growth emerging powers’ acronym. Portugal contributes the first letter of PIGS, Europe’s fiscally-challenged unfortunately-termed problem case acronym. In another twist, Portugal’s only aerospace asset of any note, OGMA, has as its largest private shareholder Brazil’s Embraer. As with India’s Tata purchase of Britain’s Jaguar, that’s a rare example of industrial reverse colonization.
Portuguese aviation today stands as a model of how to maintain status as a small but respectable civil and military player. TAP-Portugal somehow survives as a government-owned flag carrier. They’re talking privatization, and until then service is actually respectable by government-owned standards. As for OGMA, it went from typical offset shop to private enterprise and today focuses on modest goals – maintenance and support for the nation’s military fleet, and some civil types, too.
Portugal’s military followed the Spanish pattern and successfully transformed itself from a fascist legacy force to a NATO-standard professional organization. Spain went through a similar post-imperial process, but when the country became a pre-World War 2 proving ground for strategic bombing and other brutal manifestations of air power, it got aviation-conscious, fast. By contrast, Portugal stayed isolated. It was neutral during the war. It also managed to fight a series of miserable counterinsurgency wars in Africa without relying heavily on air power. While the Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea conflicts were fought in the same time as the Vietnam War, Portuguese COIN helicopter usage was relatively minimal. The largest Portuguese air power asset was a small force of hand-me-down Fiat G.91s.
The Portuguese military today has the tools needed to maintain a basic coalition warfighting capability and to preserve air and maritime sovereignty. Weapons procurement decisions are largely de-linked from goofy offset goals or techno-nationalist dreams of indigenous systems. However, in September 2010 Portugal’s MoD signed a declaration of intent to buy six Embraer KC-390s, to be accompanied by some kind of production role for OGMA. Anything that confuses military requirements with industrial desires is a bad thing.
Portugal represents a best-case scenario for any faded, has-been global power. It went from mastering the oceans to slow growth, minimal military capabilities, and a flag carrier that will likely be absorbed by someone else. But being in the super-non-elite PIGS pen isn’t so terrible. When not in a fiscal crisis, there’s a sense of contented stability in these countries. As my well-traveled colleague Joel Johnson points out, many Americans criticize Europe’s huge economic problems, but then they wind up sipping wine in a café on some charming square and finding that European life has its charms.
Life in Europe is also pleasantly stable. Portugal’s government fell apart when we were there, but we certainly didn’t notice, aside from the larger newspaper headline fonts. In fifty years the PIGS will have the same form of government that they have today. Two of the four BRICs probably won’t. China enjoys very fast economic and air travel growth, but if that economic growth falls below 6% they run the risk of serious social and political unrest. In Portugal, if the economy shrinks by 6% there’s a risk that port wine consumption drops commensurately. China’s government seems to think that a useless national jet is needed to ensure national pride. Portugal is content to find national pride, well, with Precursors da Aeronáutica.
Most of all, Portugal is a lovely country with great people, food, wine, and culture. We stayed in apartments, so I can’t recommend any hotels, but for restaurants in Lisbon I’d recommend Pinoquio, Alfaia, and, for amazing views (and very good food), Casa do Leão in the Castelo de São Jorge.
And now, back to my day job. March WMCAB reports include the F-35 JSF, Airbus’s A320 series, A300, A330, A340, A380, A400M, Boeing’s 767/KC-46, all the Gulfstreams, the newly-dead Nimrod, Sikorsky’s S-76, and Bell’s 206/407/429 family. Have a great month.
Yours, ‘Til TAP Gets A Dulles-Coimbra Route,
Richard Aboulafia