TIGERES VOLADORES, S. A.: Venezuela (1962-1972). This non-scheduled all-cargo carrier is established at Caracas in 1962. A Curtiss C-46 Commando freighter is acquired, allowing domestic revenue flights to commence in August.
When LEBCA (Lineas Expresa Bolivar, C. A.) fails in April 1968, Tigres is able to acquire four more Commandos from the ruined line’s assets. Flights cease in 1972.
TIGERFLY, LTD.: 3 Badgers Way, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, SL7 3QU, United Kingdom; Phone 44 (0) 1494-447575; Http://ayla. avnet. co. uk:80/tigerfly; Year Founded 1986. Calling itself the “World’s Smallest Airline,” Tigerfly, Ltd. is established by Peter Wyld and five others at Wycombe Air Park (Booker) in July 1986 to provide regularly scheduled weekday flight-seeing services. Employing a restored 1940 de Havilland DH 82A Tiger Moth, roundtrip frequencies (including on-demand aerobatics) are undertaken between Marlow and Henley on the Thames River.
Operations continue apace and by the end of 1994 a total of 4,000 passengers have been transported. Flights continue during the remainder of the decade.
TIGRES VOLADORES, S. A. de C. V.: Mexico (1955-1959). Tigres Voladores (Flying Tigers) is formed at Mexico City in April 1955 specifically to fly citizens deported to the capital city from the U. S. on to the cities of Leon, Aguascalientes, Guaymas, and Durango. Over the next four years, a total of seven Curtiss C-46 Commandos will be operated, although not all simultaneously.
The C-46 contract service continues until disaster strikes. A C-46F, with 5 crew and 21 passengers, is lost at Puerto Kino, Mexico, on April 17, 1959; there are no survivors. Among the victims is the company’s owner. As a result of the tragedy, the carrier is shut down almost immediately.
TIKAL JETS AIRLINE, S. A.: Avenida Hincapie, Zona 13, Hangar 8, 18 Calle Interior, Aeropuerto La Aurora, Guatemala City, 01013, Guatemala; Phone (502) 334-5568; Fax (502) 334-5631; Http://www. tikaljets. centroamerica. com; Code TJ; Year Founded 1995. Fernando Rodriguez sets up Tikal Jets at Guatemala City in 1995 to offer scheduled and charter passenger and cargo services to domestic and regional destinations. Revenue operations commence with 1 each British Aerospace BAe (BAC) One Eleven 400 and Shorts 330. In 1996, six Let L-410 turboprops are acquired; however, in 1997, three of these are withdrawn as another hush-kitted One Eleven 400 jetliner enters service.
Flights continue in 1998-2000. In addition to domestic destinations, company jetliners also visit communities in Panama, Mexico, El Salvador, and Colombia.
TILLAIR (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (1982-1988). Formed at Katherine in the Northern Territory in 1982, Tillair undertakes scheduled commuter flights on behalf of itself as well as the Ansett subsidiary Airlines of Northern Australia (Pty.), Ltd. Destinations visited without support are small towns, tourist spots, and cattle stations, including Groote Ey-landt, Hooker Creek, Kalkgurung, Numbulwar, Roper River, Victoria River Downs, and Wavehill Station.
ANA stops are the larger towns of Darwin, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, and Ayers Rock. The fleet by mid-decade comprises 2 Cessna 402s, 1 Cessna 404, 2 Cessna 441s, and 1 Cessna 310. Three more 402s are acquired between 1985 and 1987.
Another Cessna 310 and a Cessna 441 are purchased in 1988. However, in the tough competitive that marks the Australian airline scene at the end of the decade, Tillair is unable to maintain its viability and is forced to cease operations late in the year.
TIM AIR CHARTERS, LTD.: Tanzania (1959-1976). Tim Air is established by Tim R. K. Bally at Dar es Salaam in 1959 and operates passenger and cargo charters from its base, as well as a secondary airfield at Arusha.
When Kenya-based Campling Bros. & Vanderwal, Ltd. is sold to Blackwell Enterprises of New York in June 1963 and broken up, that small portion that had operated over the border in Tanzania is purchased.
In one fell swoop, Tim Air becomes the nation’s largest nonscheduled airline.
Piper and Cessna lightplane operations will continue for another 12 years. In 1976, the company is taken over by Tanzanair (Tanzanian Air Service, Ltd.).
TIMBERLINE AIR, LTD.: Canada (1989-1997). Timberline Air is established at Chilliwack, British Columbia, in 1989 to provide transportation support to the logging industry. Due to an increased demand for air services, the company, at the beginning of 1990, starts to diversify into charter services.
Flights continue in 1991-1997, during which years the company opens a base at Nanaimo and an office at Bella Bella. Employing the two Beech King Air 100s and Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, Timberline also introduces daily scheduled services to and between Chilliwack, Nanaimo, Bella Bella, Vancouver, Campbell River, and Port Hardy.
TIME AIR: United States (1968-1969). Time Air is established in 1968 as the airline division of Hunter Aviation Corporation, the FBO at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Employing a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100 Twin Otter, the company duly inaugurates scheduled daily roundtrips linking its base with Boston. These flights continue into 1969.
TIME AIR, LTD.: Canada (1966-1993). Organized at Lethbridge, Alberta, by Walter R. “Stubb” Ross in early 1966, Lethbridge Air Services, Ltd. is initially equipped with a Beech 18 and a Cessna 402. These are employed, beginning in May, to link the company’s base with Calgary and Medicine Hat.
Within three years, the fleet has been upgraded by the addition of a second Beech 18, another Cessna 402, and a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100 Twin Otter.
Routes are expanded in 1969 to connect Lethbridge with Edmonton via Calgary and Red Deer and with Calgary via Medicine Hat. The carrier’s name is now changed to Time Air, Ltd.
Service is continued without significant change during 1971-1973. Several efforts to provide Edmonton to Red Deer flights prove uneconomical and are given up. A Cessna 402 and Beech 18 are withdrawn and replaced by three additional DHC-6-100s, one of which is sold in 1973.
The last Beech 18 and Cessna 402 are sold in July and August 1974, respectively. They are replaced in October by Fairchild Hiller FH-227J, which is placed into competition with Pacific Western Airlines, Ltd. (PWA) on an Edmonton-Calgary route. Unlike the PWA service, Time Air stretches its Calgary flights on to Lethbridge. The route is a success and an FH-227A is purchased in July 1975 to provide additional capacity for it.
To upgrade its fleet, Time Air also orders three Shorts 330s, the first of which is delivered in early August 1976 and placed into service on the Edmonton-Calgary-Lethbridge run on August 24. Two additional Ulster-made turboprops are received, one each in October and November.
A Twin Otter is sold in January 1977 and a Beech 18 in February. In June, the FH-227A is passed to Norcanair, Ltd. One of the company’s Shorts 330s becomes, on November 29, the first aircraft to arrive at Calgary’s new international terminal.
Also in November, the FH-227J is sold to Pacific Alaskan Airlines. Edmonton-Pitcher Creek DHC-6 flights begin in May 1978 and are followed by an Edmonton-Grand Prairie service in December 1979. Meanwhile, the Pitcher Creek frequency is suspended in October of the latter year.
Early in 1980, orders are placed for three DHC-7-102s, the first of which is delivered in May and the second in September. Also in May, Norward Aviation, Ltd.’s Edmonton to Peace River and Rainbow Lake service is temporarily acquired as its owner plummets toward liquidation. Cold Lake is now briefly visited, but is abandoned when the frequency proves unprofitable.
With Northward Aviation, Ltd. now bankrupt, the assets of its Gateway Aviation, Ltd. subsidiary are purchased in November for
C$1.8 million. These include the temporary Alberta routes flown since May and a Convair CV-640 dedicated to them.
Fleet rationalization begins to occur in 1981 as the decision is taken to sell both the Twin Otters and Shorts. The former two are sold in January and June, respectively. The last of three DHC-7-102s ordered in early 1980 arrives in September and one of the Shorts is withdrawn in December.
In February 1982, the carrier inaugurates its first service outside of Alberta, flying a DHC-7-102 from Lethbridge to Vancouver via Kelowna. This route had originally been awarded to PWA but is now given to Time Air by order of the federal cabinet. In June, Time Air avails itself of a new strategy that becomes common in the industry; all of its DHC-7-102s are sold to a leasing firm and then chartered back. A second Shorts 330 is sold in September.
Stubb Ross sells a 40% interest in Time Air to PWA in October 1983 for C$4.3 million. Ross remains board chairman and Richard Barton is named president. The company’s DHC-7-102s now replace the larger carrier’s Boeing 737-2T2Cs on Connector services from Vancouver to Victoria and to Campbell River via Comox.
The last Shorts 330 is sold in February 1984 and a second CV-640, acquired from Worldways Canada, Ltd., joins the fleet on May 21. Also in May, Walter Ross retires and Richard Barton becomes CEO. Calgary-Castlegar flights begin in June and are followed in September by two ex-PWA services out of Edmonton: to High Level via Peace River and to Fort Chipewyan via Fort McMurray.
In May 1985, Inter City Air, Ltd. is acquired, together with its CV-580, for C$2 million. Two other Convairs are leased from Air Ontario, Inc. during the summer and a second CV-580 is purchased in September. Meanwhile, in June, Calgary-based Southern Frontier Airlines, Ltd. is taken over, together with its CV-440 and routes to Cold Lake, Saskatoon, and Lloydminster. Time Air takes over the routes with the two ex-Southern Frontier Beech 99s as the Convair is parked.
The new acquisition’s charter division is allowed to continue and during the fall, the carrier is given approval to inaugurate a number of new services (as replacement for abandoned PWA stops) out of Edmonton and Prince George. New destinations visited include Dawson Creek, Williams Lake, Kamloops, and Penticton. Two Shorts 360s are ordered in October and delivered in November. These are placed on the flights emanating out of Vancouver.
In order to place more capacity on routes into Vancouver during Expo ‘86, service to Saskatoon is suspended early in 1986. Another CV-580 is acquired in February and in June the company joins Air BC, Ltd. in announcing a major order for DHC-8-100s and Dash-8-300s. Three new routes out of Vancouver are initiated during the summer: to Port Hardy, Kamloops, and Penticton and Castlegar.
In September, the company joins PWA commuter network, the Spirit Service. Two routes out of Prince George are halted in October: that to Dawson Creek and that to Kelowna and in December, Pacific Western Airlines, Ltd. purchases Canadian Pacific Airlines, Ltd. Enplane-ments for the year total 575,000. Revenues advance to C$33 million and with costs kept down, a C$3.89-million operating profit is generated, along with net income of C$773,000.
Airline employment increases 60% in 1987 to 639. A fourth DHC-7-102 is acquired from Air Atlantic, Ltd. in February. On March 16, Time Air purchases Saskatoon-based Norcanair, Ltd. and its two CV-640s and two Fokker F.28-1000s. The new acquisition will be allowed to maintain its separate identity during a yearlong integration process.
Also in March, two Fokker F.27s arrive and the first of five DHC-8-102s to be received on the year is delivered. In April, CPAL and PWA are integrated into Canadian Airlines International, Ltd. The commuter now adopts its new parent’s code and as a member of the “Canadian Partner” commuter alliance, begins to paint its aircraft in a similar livery. Two more DHC-8s arrive in April and the last two in June and July.
The new turboprops are placed on services out of Lethbridge to Kelowna and Vancouver. A CV-580 is sold to Air Ontario, Inc. in August. In September and October, Vancouver-Williams Lake and Quesnel flights begin and frequencies from the capital of British Columbia to Comox and Campbell River are increased.
A second CV-580 is sold to Air Ontario, Inc. in December, the same month the ex-Norcanair F.28-1000s are integrated and a Dash 7 begins a six-month lease to Wideroe’s Flyveselskap, A. S. The integration of Norcanair is completed at year’s end.
Passenger boardings swell 34.5% to 770,783 and revenues ascend by 59.4% to C$49.7 million. Expenses are kept under control, allowing the operating profit to reach C$5.86 million and net gain to grow to C$2.6 million.
The workforce is increased by 37.4% in 1988 to 878. Norcanair, Ltd. is fully absorbed on January 1. Time Air is now affiliated with Canadian Airlines International, Ltd., owned by the carrier’s minority shareholder, PWA. A third F.28-1000 is acquired in March. When CAI drops its services to Castlegar, Dawson Creek, Quesnel, Williams Lake, and Penticton in May, they are assumed by Time Air. The carrier’s flights to Great Falls, Montana, are dropped. Two more Beech 99s are received in June, followed by former Maersk Air, A. S. Dash-7s, one each in October and December.
Meanwhile, a CV-640 is sold to Canada West, Ltd. in August and Vancouver-Seattle DHC-8-100 service is kicked off in October. An F.27 is sold in November and is replaced on its Saskatchewan routes by Dash 7s.
Customer bookings accelerate by 35.9% to 1,048,000 and revenues swell 43.2% to $C77.8 million. Operating income rises to $C11.7 million and net profit surges to $C4.3 million.
Airline employment is increased by 19.2% in 1989 to 4,600. The world’s first production DHC-8-301 is delivered in February. It does not enter airline service right away; rather, its manufacturer takes it on a demonstration tour. During late winter, the company’s maintenance base is shifted to Calgary from its previous Lethbridge facilities.
The fleet at year’s end includes 6 DHC-8-301s, plus 4 DHC-8-102s, 5 DHC-7-102s, 5 Beech King Air 90s, 3 Fokker F.28-1000s, 4 Beech 99s, 1 Cessna Citation, 2 Shorts 360s, and 2 Convair CV-580s. Orders are outstanding for a pair of DHC-8-300s and a CV-580.
Passenger boardings swell 19% to 1,250,000 and revenues jump 24.5% to C$97 million. Costs are held in check and allow operating profit to reach C$11.9 million. Net gain is $6 million.
PWA, Inc.’s new Canadian Regional Airlines division acquires 46% minority ownership of this large regional in 1990. Airline employment remains unchanged; however, the five DHC-7-102s are sold.
Enplanements for the year reach 1.5 million.
In 1991, 1,300 employees are overseen by General Manager Glenn Pickard, who also operates a fleet that includes 6 F.28-1000s, 14 DHC-
8-301s, and 6 DHC-8-102s.
In January, the remaining 54% shareholding is taken by PWA, Inc. in consideration of C$11 per share. Under the label Skybus, new 10-times-per-day DHC-8-102 service is inaugurated on January 13 between Kelowna and Vancouver, replacing the B-737 service previously provided by Canadian Airlines International, Ltd.
Operations continue apace in 1992 as the carrier participates under auspices of the new Canadian Regional Airlines holding company. In March 1993, the airline is amalgamated with Ontario Express, Ltd. to form an enlarged regional under the holding company title, Canadian Regional Airlines, Ltd.
TIME AIR SWEDEN, A. B.: Sweden (1991-1993). Thomas Johann-son’s air taxi Time Air Sweden, A. B. is established at Stockholm in March 1991 to provide both domestic and regional charter flights, the latter under the name Air Sweden, A. B. Local services are maintained with 1 Beech Super King Air 200C, 2 Israel Aircraft Industry 1124 Westwind 1s, and 1 Piper PA-31-310 Navajo. Air Sweden passenger charters are inaugurated to Caribbean and Canary Island holiday locations with a Boeing 737-205 leased from Transwerde Airways, A. B. The success of these flights leads the company to charter 1 each Boeing 737-205A and B-737-3Q8. In December, a Douglas DC-8-71F is leaseed from GPA Group, Ltd. and is employed to fly cargo around Europe on behalf of Air India, Ltd.
To improve business in 1992, the Air Sweden, A. B. fleet is dramatically increased. Added under charter are one each Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1, DC-8-71F, and two B-737-3G7s.
The GPA Douglas is returned in March as an owned DC-8-71F is acquired. Christened Italian Rainbow, the narrow-body immediately undertakes a weekly roundtrip all-cargo service from Stockholm to Bombay, India, via Ostend and Dubai.
The capacity-enhancement gamble of the previous year does not pay off as recession impacts holiday travel and causes significant financial distress for TAS, as well as several other Scandinavian charter operators. Despite a poor winter season, the company, in an effort to boost business, charters a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1 to transport passengers from Stockholm to the Canary Islands during the high summer season. This idea is equally unsuccessful. The fall schedule, which begins at the end of October, brings more disappointment.
With few prospects for passenger contracts from tour operators for the upcoming summer season, TAS owners shut the company’s doors in February 1993. The leased aircraft are returned and all other inventory is liquidated.
TIME AIRLINES: United States (1968-1969) . Time Airlines is set up by Gene Cramer at Benton Harbor, Michigan, during the first week of January 1968 to offer scheduled passenger and cargo services to regional destinations. Employing 1 each Beech 18 and Beech 99, the company starts daily roundtrips on January 22 linking its base with Detroit and the 2 smaller airports at Chicago (Meigs Field and Midway). Operations continue until July 1969.
TIME MACHINE: United States (1982-1984). The Time Machine is established at Atlanta in 1982 to provide scheduled helicopter flights linking its base with heliports at Galleria, Perimeter Center, and Beaver Rim. Service is inaugurated with a Bell 206B JetRanger and a Bell 222.
Recession and high operating costs force the company to shut down in early 1984.
World History
