According to R. E. G. Davies’s Airlines of the United States since 1914 (London, Eng.: Putnam, 1972, p. 631), this company, at one point, is America’s sixth-oldest third-level airline. By the time of its conclusion, it will rank first in years of continuous service. Montford R. and William R. Fischer organize Galion Commuter Service at the north central Ohio community of Galion in 1951. Located at Galion’s airport, it is the air transport division of their three-year-old FBO, Shelby Sky Haven, Inc., and is to provide thrice-daily roundtrip, Stinson 108 service to nearby Marion and on to Mansfield and Cleveland.
In 1957, elements of both the FBO and airline name is given to a new holding company, GCS (the initials of Galion, Shelby, and the nearby town of Crestline), which now operates its airline as a subsidiary. A Lockheed Model 12 and Piper PA-23 Aztec are acquired late in the decade.
In 1960, the carrier begins flying a de Havilland DH 104 Dove and in 1963 it is renamed Fischer Brothers Aviation. The small privately held regional reaches the “big time,” so to speak, on July 1, 1969 when it becomes part of the “Allegheny Commuter” network.
Fischer Brothers employs a mixed fleet during its first two decades, mostly small single - or twin-engine Pipers, the Dove, and two de Hav-illand DH 114 Riley Herons.
By 1975, enplanements are 23,196. Passenger boardings accelerate 13% in 1976 to 26,662. Flights continue with unknown figures in 19771978.
Service to the Michigan cities of Flint and Detroit begins in September 1979. Enplanements total 33,000, a growth of 58%.
In mid-1980, the carrier takes delivery of three Spanish-built CASA C-212 Aviocars. Routes are stretched to Detroit and Flint, Michigan, in spring 1981 and another Aviocar is ordered.
Despite the PATCO air traffic controller’s strike and subsequent ATC restrictions, 96,824 customers and 71,326 pounds of freight are flown. The fourth C-212 is delivered during the fourth quarter of 1982.
Passenger traffic climbs 23% as 119,097 passengers are transported, along with 169,000 pounds of cargo, a spectacular 136.5% boost.
Traffic remains good for the Ohio airline in 1983. Customer bookings increase 41.7% to 168,719 and cargo climbs to 212,693 pounds, a 26.1% boost.
The employee total is now 140 and service is launched to Pittsburgh in early 1984. To handle the increasing passenger loads, a Shorts 330 and two Shorts 360s are acquired during these two years. Enplanements jump 14.2% to 192,635; however, freight is off 13% to 185,062 pounds.
By 1985, the nation’s oldest commuter is providing scheduled service to seven cities in Michigan and Ohio. The longtime affiliation with US-Air’s “Allegheny Commuter” network is now severed, as the company becomes a unit of the Northwest Airlines’ “Northwest Airlink” commuter network.
Passenger boardings fall off 1.4% to 189,921.
Operations continue apace in 1986 until events of the summer bring crisis. On August 12, Northwest Airlines purchases Republic Airlines, with the latter integrated into the Minneapolis-based major on October 1. At this point, officials at Northwest are faced with a decision as to which of two regional airlines will provide the single feeder service necessary at Detroit. The choice is between the incumbent small regional Fischer Brothers, the Republic Airlines carrier, and large regional Simmons Airlines of Chicago.
Meanwhile, Ohio-based GCS sees its passenger traffic for the year fall 7.1% to 176,397 passengers flown.
Tragedy strikes the company during the first quarter of 1987. A CASA C-212, on a training flight near Springfield, Ohio, on February 10, crashes, killing the three persons aboard. While landing at Detroit (DTT) on March 4 after a service from Cleveland, “Northwest Airlink” Flight 2268, a CASA C-212-200 Aviocar with 3 crew and 16 passengers, strikes the ramp area 1,101 ft. inside the Runway 21R threshold. The aircraft skids 398 ft., hits three ground support vehicles in front of Gate F10 of Concourse F, and comes to a stop just short of striking the terminal building itself. The turboprop catches fire and 9 aboard are killed; the 13 survivors are all injured, 7 seriously.
Later in the month, Northwest Airlines removes its “Northwest Air-link” affiliation from Fischer Brothers and assigns it to Simmons Airlines. The Galion-based commuter is devastated and shuts down operations for a month. During the hiatus, a $150-million antitrust suit is filed against both Northwest and Simmons.
The company resumes limited services in May and eagerly seeks a new code-sharing partner. On May 27, the airline assets of GCS are purchased for $2.5 million by Midway Airlines (1) and are reconstituted as Midway Commuter. GCS now proceeds to establish a new Essential Air Service airline, GCS Air Service, to offer Cessna 402C and Beech B-80 Queen Air service from Mansfield to Cleveland.
FIT AVIATION: Melbourne International Airport, 640 Harry Sutton Road, Melbourne, Florida 32901, United States; Phone (407) 727-0461; Fax (407) 768-2136; Year Founded 1968. This subsidiary of the Florida Institute of Technology is established at Melbourne in 1968. Over the next 40 years, the company becomes established as a charter operation, which rents aircraft and operates a flight school, while also becoming FAA repair station #5403.
Michael F. Wilson is president in 2000 and he oversees a 42-person workforce. Nonscheduled charters and instruction are undertaken with a fleet that includes 14 American General Tigers, 1 Bellanca Super Dechathalon, 6 Mooney M20Js, 4 Piper PA-34 Senecas, 1 PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, and 17 Piper Warrior/Cadets. Revenues reach $2 million.
FIVE STAR AIR (FIVE STAR AIRCRAFT): United States (19851995). Having obtained two Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1s from Trans World Airlines (TWA) , Five Star is established in 1985 as the flight department of GWV Travel, based at Needham, Massachusetts, as a division of the Interface Group. Seasonal charter and tour group services are undertaken in the fall, primarily between Boston and other northeastern cities and the resort areas of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Without its own certificate, the inaugural season is operated under contract with IASCO.
A third TriStar 1 is acquired in 1986 as the company, having received its own operator’s permit, continues its seasonal tour operations, again returning the chartered TriStar 1s when its charter schedule is finished.
In 1987, the company runs into financial difficulties and reports statistics for only the first five months. Through May, a total of 94,000 passengers are transported. Revenues are $14 million and although an operating profit of $652,000 is earned, there is a net loss of $302,000.
The three TriStar 1s of the 218-employee carrier transport a total of
106,000 passengers in 1988, down 3.6%. Revenues rise slightly to $14.35 million. Again there is an operating profit, $616,181, but a net loss of $81,230.
Late in the year, the carrier’s Interface Group parent purchases the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. The airline will now begin dedicated charter flights to the Nevada city.
After operating for the first five months of 1989, the TriStars are leased back to Trans World Airlines (TWA) between May and October in what has become an annual leasing practice. This sporadic operation finally leads to revocation of the carrier’s operating certificate in November, a move that is successfully opposed.
Revenues for the year total $9.9 million and allow profits of $549,038 (operating) and $585,576 (net).
The fleet is enlarged during the next 8 years to include 3 TriStar 1s and 1 TriStar 50; however, by 1994 these are usually leased to other carriers, such as Air Transat, Ltd. or American Trans-Air. Operations cease in 1995.
FLAGSHIP AIRLINES: United States (1991-1998). AMR Eagle forms this new subsidiary on June 1, 1991 through the merger of Nashville Eagle and Command Airways. Former Nashville Eagle President John Hayes remains in charge and his fleet includes 88 turboprops: 2 Shorts 330s, 10 Shorts 360-300s, 19 SAAB 340Bs, 5 Avions de Transport Regional ATR42-300s, 34 British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31s, and 18 Fairchild Metro IIIs.
Service is inaugurated to 57 destinations from hubs at the company’s headquarters in Nashville, as well as Miami, Raleigh/Durham, and New York (JFK). Daily SAAB 340Bs begin daily flights from Nashville to New York and twice-daily roundtrips from Nashville to Pittsburgh. In October, thrice-daily roundtrip SAAB 340B services commence from Atlanta to Nashville, along with thrice-daily flights from Nashville to Dayton and daily nonstops from Nashville to Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Enplanements total 2,364,839, a figure 46.4% higher than the combined boardings of the two partners a year earlier.
Airline employment in 1992 stands at 3,615 and the fleet is increased to 137 aircraft: 56 SAAB 340Bs, 47 Jetstream 31s, 19 Shorts 360-300s, and 15 ATR42-300s. Collective bargaining begins between the regional and its unions in May, but no accords are reached.
Passenger boardings shoot up 50.7% to 3,564,954.
The payroll grows by 6% in 1993 to 3,831 and the fleet is altered to include 42 Jetstream 31s, 59 SAAB 340Bs, 23 Shorts 360-300s, and 14 ATR42-300s. During the year, the Shorts begin transfer to Executive Airlines, to be replaced with additional SAABs.
In March, the third attempt to reach accord since the previous spring is successful, at least in so far as negotiations with the 1,105 mechanics of the carrier’s Transport Workers Union chapter are concerned. The new contract is ratified in April. Unknown to company officials at the time, the carrier’s services from Nashville peak in August, when 146 daily departures are offered to 41 destinations. After a year of negotiations, an accord is reached with the pilots union in September.
Customer bookings advance by another 16% to 4,138,387.
Leaders of the company’s 350-member chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) win a new labor contract in April 1994.
During the spring, American Airlines withdraws jet service from a number of cities, including several large markets in the Northeast, Midwest, and South. Flagship, the largest Eagle partner, is called upon to replace these frequencies with turboprop flights; among the cities joining the company’s network are Philadelphia, Cleveland, Birmingham, Orlando, and Tampa. At the same time, services from Miami to the Bahamas and from Washington to Boston via New York are increased to meet demand.
Reacting to the October 31 Simmons Airlines ATR72-210 crash, the FAA on December 9 places a prohibition on the operation of ATR turboprops—much of the American Eagle fleet—into known icing conditions. Fortunately, American Eagle President Robert Martens is meeting at AMR Corporation headquarters in Dallas with the presidents of the four confederated regionals and they are quickly able to come up with a plan to reconfigure the combined Eagle fleet around the country.
Two Flagship SAAB 340Bs are dispatched to Chicago (ORD) to resume services; however, in the light of media attention on commuter airlines, the decision is taken to stop American Eagle flights out of the Windy City on December 14 and resume them in early January. In the interim, Flagship contributes significantly to the transfer of aircraft around the American Eagle network. Flagship virtually stops flying from its parent’s Raleigh/Durham hub when it dispatches 23 SAAB 340 to Dallas (DFW) to support the flights of Wings West Airlines and Simmons Airlines. Ten Jetstream 31s are sent from Raleigh/Durham to Baltimore as 6 Shorts 360-300s are sent to Nashville; 15 SAABs based at Miami are sent to New York (JFK).
In the early evening of December 13, Flight 3379, a Jetstream 31 en route from Greensboro to Raleigh/Durham with 20 aboard, crashes in fog and rain while on approach to Raleigh/Durham (15 dead). The NTSB will later hold pilot Michael P. Hillis largely responsible; Hillis had joined Flagship just four days after failing his one-year probation with Comair.
The next day, Transportation Secretary Federico Pena summons chief pilots and operations officials from U. S. airlines to meet with him and FAA Administrator David R. Hinson at Washington, D. C., on January 9-10 for the largest air safety conference in recent memory.
On December 13, Flight 3379, a Jetstream 31 with 10 aboard en route from Nashville to Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina, develops engine trouble and makes a safe emergency landing at Knoxville, Tennessee.
Passenger boardings jump 11.2% during these 12 months to 4,603,367. At this point, the Nashville hub has only 18 months left before closure.
The workforce stands at 2,957 in 1995.
The scattered fleet is gradually returned to its previous hubs between January and the start of the April 2 summer schedule.
After its front landing gear fails to deploy, a SAAB 340B makes a safe landing on its back wheels at its scheduled destination of Rochester on April 6; no casualties are reported.
As American Airlines continues to shut down hub operations at Nashville and several other cities in the regional’s network, opportunities shrink for this American Eagle carrier.
The company’s huge 81-unit fleet transports a total of 3,411,837 passengers, a 26.3% decline. What little freight traffic there is also falls, dropping 17.8% to 748,000 FTKs.
The employee population is increased by 21.2% in 1996 to 3,583.
By the year’s end, American Airlines has shut down its Nashville hub and all 25 Jetstream 32s are retired.
The end in Tennessee and the reduction in capacity contribute to another traffic downturn. Customer bookings fall 11.5% to 3,020,881 and figures for cargo are not provided.
The workforce is reduced by 5.7% in 1997 to 3,377.
On February 7, four 113th Fighter Wing Air National Guard F-16s from Andrews Air Force Base make an unauthorized close approach to a fully loaded company SAAB 340B. The fighters are within 2,000 feet above and below the SAAB as it flies north just off the Maryland coast from Washington, D. C., en route from Raleigh to New York (JFK). The pilot of the commercial turboprop is not required to take evasive action. The incident, along with similar ones involving Nations Air, American Airlines, and Northwest Airlines the same day, brings a series of investigations from the U. S. Air Force, the FAA, and the NTSB.
Under terms of the May agreement between the Allied Pilots Association (APA) and American Airlines, American Eagle pilots will be offered one of every two new-hire positions, but places limits on the stage length Eagle regional jet pilots may fly (550 nm.). Meanwhile, negotiations between representatives of ALPA and AMR’s American Eagle subsidiary are completed and sent to the 1,900 pilots of Flagship, Simmons Airlines, Executive Airlines, and Wings West Airlines for ratification.
The new ALPA contract is ratified during the third week of August by a vote of 773 to 473. The 16-year compact provides for guaranteed annual pay increases of 7%, improved crew scheduling and reserve conditions, replacement of the four individual company contracts with one master American Eagle document, and a no-strike, no-lockout agreement.
In addition to 10 daily roundtrips between Miami and Nassau, Flagship, on September 3, inaugurates daily SAAB 340B return service to Nassau from Orlando.
Passenger boardings slide 6.6% to 2,822,482.
On January 15, 1998, AMR Eagle officials, led by President Daniel P. Garten, announces that the availability of regional jets, combined with the previous August’s single Eagle pilot contract and changes in the economics of the regional airline business, dictate consolidation. Consequently, AMR will integrate all four of its airlines into a single carrier by year’s end.
En route from Tampa to Miami on March 10, American Eagle Flight 5634, an ATR42-320 with 3 crew and 44 passengers, experiences an inflight electrical malfunction. The pilot declares an emergency and diverts to Fort Myers, where a safe emergency landing is made. No injuries are reported.
During the second quarter, the new carrier’s field services organization begins to take shape. A number of appointments are made at the end of April, effective July 1. David D. C. K. Kennedy becomes senior vice president-operations, while Flagship vice president-flight operations Ed Criner is named AEA’s vice president-flight operations.
In May, the company’s four semiautonomous carriers (Simmons Airlines, Flagship, Executive Airlines, and Wings West Airlines) begin a seven-month period of amalgamation into the single mammoth American Eagle Airlines, now viewed by AMR as a sister of American Airlines. Simmons is the core, with Flagship joining the merger during May and Wings West in June. During the latter month, the decision is taken to postpone integration of Executive Airlines. The presidents of Simmons, Flagship, and Wings West are provided with appointments elsewhere within AMR and are replaced with vice presidents at each of the new airline’s hubs.
At the same time, agreement is reached with the Transport Workers Union of America for a new single-carrier contract. The agreement covers flight dispatchers, mechanics, and ramp-service personnel.
FLAGSHIP EXPRESS (FLAGSHIP EXPRESS SERVICES): United States (1990-1991). The air transport division of Ypsilanti, Michigan-based Rosenblam Aviation is renamed Flagship Express in late 1990. Operations from the municipal airports at Detroit and Medford, Oregon, continue as before. The company’s principal business remains air cargo and express service under contract to other carriers, including Emery Worldwide and Burlington Air Express.
In 1991, the fleet is made up of 19 DC-8-63Fs, including 15 leased from Emery and 4 from Burlington, plus 7 DC-8-73s leased from Emery. In an effort to gain some independence from the forwarders who have provided most of the carrier’s previous business, the airline moves from Detroit to Chicago. The move in time of recession is a failure and freight traffic falls by 31.2% to 605.85 million FTKs. Operations cease and the company files for Chapter XI bankruptcy on December 13. Assets are liquidated in early 1992 as the Douglas freighters are returned.
World History
