Aeroflot was founded in 1923 and is the flag carrier for the Russian Federation. The obvious Aeroflot nickname of “Aeroflop” (“flop” is slang for “failure”) has been cited in print since at least 1937 and was most popular from the 1950s through the early 1980s, when Aeroflot was poorly run by the Soviet Union.
 
Aeroflot has also been nicknamed “Aerosplat.”
 
     
Wikipedia: Aeroflot
OJSC Aeroflot – Russian Airlines (Russian: ОАО «Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии», OAO Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii) (MCX: AFLT), commonly known as Aeroflot (Russian: Аэрофлот, English translation: “air fleet”), is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation. The carrier operates domestic and international passenger services, mainly from its hub at Sheremetyevo International Airport.
 
Aeroflot is one of the oldest airlines in the world, tracing its history back to 1923. During the Soviet era, Aeroflot was the Soviet national airline and the largest airline in the world. Following the dissolution of the USSR, the carrier has been transformed from a state-run enterprise into a semi-privatised company which ranks amongst the most profitable in the world. Aeroflot is still considered the de facto national airline of Russia. It is 51%-owned by the Russian Government, as of June 2011.
     
Google Books
Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News
1937  
Pg. 144:
The Russian air transport company would also appear to be an “Aeroflop.”
(Signed) G. H. Weston
 
Google Books
The Aeroplane
Volume 95
1958
Pg. 906:
Aeroflot — Aeroflop, naturally — are a standing example of the Sixth Freedom: Freedom from Competition.
 
15 August 1964, Thomasville (GA) Times-Enterprise, “Kiwanis Hears Powell Talk On Russians,” pg. 3, col. 1:
He described the Russian “Aeroflight” passenger plane which brought the tour to Moscow as an “Aeroflop.”
 
Google Books
Life Under Communism
By William F. Settles
Chicago, IL: Adams Press
1969
Pg. 48:
CHAPTER 9
A FLIGHT WITH AEROFLOT
Leaving Odessa I was to travel to Yalta, the Crimean city, by the Soviet Airlines, Aeroflot. (Sometimes the tourist would miss and say “Aeroflop,” which always made the guides frown.)
 
9 October 1974, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), “Soviet Union’s Aeroflot ‘The Only Way to Fly’” by John D. Lofton Jr., sec. 1, pg. 11, col. 1:
There are, of course, perfectly rational reasons for fearing a flight on, as it is sometimes called, Aeroflop airlines.
 
Google News Archive
21 June 1989, Observer-Reporter (Washington, PA), “Opening the mail: just where are those blasted islands anyway?” by Park Burroughs, pg. A-5, col. 2:
Frequent flyers with the Soviet airline Aeroflot (known unaffectionately the world over as Aeroflop for its appalling accident record and much else) can take some comfort in that Korean Air and Aeroflot have agreed in principle on a new service between Moscow and Seoul. This is not just another chance for Soviet crews to be rude to their passengers over long distances.
 
Google Books
Holding on to Heaven with Hell on Your Back
By Sheila Walsh
Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers
1990
Pg. 212:
There was no way I could eat that, so we boarded our Aeroflot flight, and I soon learned why experienced travelers call it “Aeroflop.”
 
Google Books
The Other Side of Russia:
A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East
By Sharon Hudgins
College Station, TX: Texas A & M University Press
2004
Pg. 96:
We joked about flying on “Aeroflop, the world’s worst airline,” where it was all too easy for passengers to earn “frequent crasher points.”
   
New York (NY) Times—Freakonomics
The Miracle of Flight
STEPHEN J. DUBNER
04/18/2007 | 12:22 pm
(...)
It noted that Russia and the other C.I.S. members are still, as in previous years, the most dangerous places in the world to fly, with an accident rate 13 times the global average. (This is why my wife, who spent years in Russia as a photographer, always referred to the national airline as “Aeroflop.”)
     
JetPhotos.Net Forums
CanVoodoo
06-10-2009, 02:41 PM
Airline nickname list
This will not be new to most people here—it is an expansion of a list that has been around for years.
(...)
Aeroflot
Accidents Expected Regularly On F*cking Lethal Old Tupolevs
Aeroflop
Aeroflotsam
Aerosplat
Aircraft Everywhere Run On Fuel Left Over by Tanks
Airline Every Russian Or Foreigner Leaves on Terrified
Almost Everyone Retches Once Finished Landing On This
Ancient Engines, Really Old Fleet, Lots Of Trouble
An Exciting Russian Offer For Lashings Of Terror
AwfulLot
the bus
Cosmoplot
Scareoflot
 
The Moscow Times (Russia)
Aeroflot Makeover to Include A ‘Very Striking’ Cabin Crew
29 July 2009 | Issue 4198
(...)
The changes are not the company’s first makeover. Nicknamed “Aeroflop” in Soviet times for its dour flight attendants and bad food, Aeroflot invested tens of millions of dollars in rebranding itself over the past decade.
 
The Telegraph (UK)
Aeroflot bans alcohol on its flights
Russian national flag carrier Aeroflot has banned the sale of alcohol on selected long-distance flights in an attempt to end alcohol-fuelled violence and debauchery.
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
7:00AM BST 04 Jun 2010
By Ira Iosebashvili
(...)
Aeroflot, which has come a long way from the days when it was scornfully known as Aeroflop, is keen to put alcohol-related trouble behind it.