Editing Interflug (section)

===East German national airline===
As a state-owned airline, Interflug and its approximately 8,000 employees were under the control of the [[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defense Council]], in supreme command of the East German armed forces. The majority of Interflug pilots were [[Military reserve force|reserve officers]] of the [[National People's Army]] (and as such were required to be members of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]]), and its aircraft could be requisitioned for military purposes at any time.<ref name=faz>{{cite journal|last=Kern|first=Ingolf|title=50 Jahre Interflug: Was von der DDR-Staatsfluggesellschaft blieb|journal=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]|date=23 June 2008|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/reise/nah/50-jahre-interflug-was-von-der-ddr-staatsfluggesellschaft-blieb-1547977.html|access-date=19 September 2013|language=de}}</ref> [[Klaus Henkes]], who became General Director of the airline in 1978, had previously served as General of the [[Air Forces of the National People's Army|East German Air Force]].<ref name=tsp>{{cite journal|last=Rosen|first=Björn|title=50 Jahre Interflug: Linientreu|journal=[[Der Tagesspiegel]]|date=21 September 2008|url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/geschichte/50-jahre-interflug-linientreu/1328946.html|access-date=19 September 2013|language=de}}</ref> Applicants for flight attendant jobs had to be approved of by the [[Stasi]], which assessed their ''political reliability'', in an attempt to minimize espionage and [[defection]] to Western countries. Interflug crews who associated with employees of airlines from non-socialist countries risked suspension. Each flight crew was assigned a [[Political officer (military)|political officer]] who gave political lectures during flights.<ref name="tsp"/>

The airline's route network and fleet of Soviet-built aircraft grew significantly in the 1960s. The [[Ilyushin Il-18]] [[turboprop]] airliner became the workhorse of Interflug's [[Flight length|short-haul]] flights during that period. The company had been the intended primary operator of the [[Baade 152]], an early [[jet age|jet airliner]] constructed in East Germany.<ref>{{cite journal|title=East Germany and the BB.152|journal=[[Flightglobal|Flight]]|date=27 March 1959|page=426|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%200863.html|access-date=19 September 2013}}</ref> Its development never went beyond the prototype phase and was abandoned in 1961. In 1969, the [[Tupolev Tu-134]] was introduced, the first jet airliner operated by Interflug, used on European routes. The long-range [[Ilyushin Il-62|Il-62]] joined the fleet in 1971. That same year, the number of Interflug passengers reached 1 million. At its peak, Interflug flew to destinations such as [[Havana]], [[Cuba]], [[Singapore]] and [[Conakry]], [[Guinea]].<ref name="spiegel72">{{cite journal |date=21 August 1972 |title=Stotterndes Geheul |trans-title=Stuttering Howling |url=http://wissen.spiegel.de/wissen/image/show.html?did=42872065&aref=image035/E0543/PPM-SP197203500590059.pdf&thumb=false |url-status=dead |journal=[[Der Spiegel]] |language=de |pages=58–59 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105174337/http://wissen.spiegel.de/wissen/image/show.html?did=42872065&aref=image035%2FE0543%2FPPM-SP197203500590059.pdf&thumb=false |archive-date=5 November 2013 |access-date=19 September 2013}}</ref>

As a result of the [[1970s energy crisis]] and increasing fuel prices, Interflug gradually dismantled its domestic route network. The last scheduled domestic flight, to transport prisoners from East Berlin to [[Erfurt]], took place in April 1980.<ref name=spiegel80>{{cite journal|title=Idyllische Ruhe|journal=[[Der Spiegel]]|date=28 April 1980|page=123|url=http://wissen.spiegel.de/wissen/image/show.html?did=14329950&aref=image036/2006/06/16/cq-sp198001801230123.pdf&thumb=false|access-date=19 September 2013|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212010621/http://wissen.spiegel.de/wissen/image/show.html?did=14329950&aref=image036%2F2006%2F06%2F16%2Fcq-sp198001801230123.pdf&thumb=false|archive-date=12 December 2013}}</ref>