Formed at Domestic Airport in Pasay City in 1990 to provide scheduled regional passenger and cargo services. Charles Miller Jr. is named managing director and revenue services are inaugurated with a start-up fleet of 4 Beech 18s.
Operations grow during 1991-1995 and a Douglas DC-3 is placed into service, replacing 2 of the Beechcraft. The concern shuts down in late 1996.
COMMUTER AIRLINES (1): United States (1962-1982). With the most generic of names, this third-level carrier is established by Jerry Winston at Binghampton, New York, in the summer of 1962 to offer nonscheduled passenger and cargo services to Washington, D. C. (DCA). Employing a Beech 18 and several Piper PA-23 Aztecs, the company initiates revenue services on October 12. Operations continue apace through 1963 and, beginning on October 12, 1964, the New York-Wash-ington, D. C., route becomes scheduled.
On March 22, 1970, a Beech 18 fails its takeoff and crashes at Binghampton’s Broome County Airport (three dead). No more fatalities are reported throughout the 1970s. The fleet is altered, with the Beech 18s replaced by de Havilland DH 104 Doves followed by Piper PA-31-10 Navajos and Fairchild-Swearingen Metroliners. A significant northeastern route network is established as Boston, New York (LGA), Utica, Ithaca, Elmira, and White Plains are all visited.
Convair CV-580s are acquired in 1978. On September 23, White House official Midge Shubow reports the opening of a government investigation into the question of why commuter airlines are exempted from CAB over-booking regulations. The action stems from the company’s attempt to bump consumer adviser Esther Peterson from a flight despite the purchase of a ticket four weeks in advance.
A Midwest division is established in 1979 and operated under the name Freedom Airlines. The company’s 12 aircraft transport 10,000 passengers and 6,000 pounds of freight during the year.
By 1980 , President Winston’s eastern company is also serving Elmira, Ithaca, White Plains, New York (JFK and LGA), Newark, Boston, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The fleet comprises 4 Swearingen Metro IIs, 7 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains, and 1 PA-31 Navajo. Collectively, these transport 83,000 passengers during the year, a spectacular increase. A 10-day strike by pilots ends on December 5 with a 9.5% wage increase over the next five years.
In November 1982, Commuter Airlines and its Freedom Airlines subsidiary combine services under the Freedom name, choosing to emphasize flights into the Midwest.
COMMUTER AIRLINES (2): United States (1965-1970). Paul G. Delman sets up the second Commuter Airlines at Sioux City, Iowa, in the fall of 1965 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo flights to Chicago via Marshaltown and Ames. Daily roundtrip Beech B-80 Queenaire revenue services commence on November 17 and continue apace through 1966.
One of the first regional airlines to adopt the hub-and-spoke pattern of airline operations over a traditional linear route network, Commuter transfers its headquarters to Chicago’s Meigs Field in 1967. Employing Beech 99s, the enlarged operator begins flying to Springfield, Elkhart, Detroit, Sheboygan, and Peoria.
The airline is able to remain in business until May 1970.
COMMUTER AIRLINES OF CHICAGO: United States (19661970). Chuck Downey establishes Commuter Airlines of Chicago at Meigs Field in 1966. Employing a Beech B-80 Queenaire and a Beech 99, Downey’s firm inaugurates scheduled daily roundtrips linking its base with Chicago (ORD), Detroit (DET), Elkhart, and Springfield.
Operations continue apace until the carrier is purchased by and merged into Hub Airlines in September 1970.
COMMUTER EXPRESS, LTD.: Canada (1984-1988). Founded in 1979, Soundair, Ltd. (formerly Owen Sound Air Service, Ltd.) undertakes charter services from its base at Wiarton, Ontario. As a result of the USA/Canada Special Air Services Agreement signed in 1984, the company receives government permission to begin a two-year experiment in providing third-level international commuter flights from a base at Toronto.
At the same time, Soundair, Ltd., having purchased the assets of financially distressed Aero Trades Western, Ltd. of Winnipeg, is reconfigured as a holding company for the operation of two airline subsidiaries, Soundair Express, Ltd. and Commuter Express, Ltd.
Employing a fleet of Fairchild-Swearingen SA-226 Metro IIs and Merlin IVs painted in burgundy and gray livery, Commuter Express, Ltd. inaugurates its first scheduled passenger service in the fall linking Winnipeg with Calgary via Prince Albert. Thrice-daily international roundtrip passenger frequencies to and from Columbus commence on December 17.
Thrice-daily flights begin to Dayton, Ohio, in May 1985, followed by service to Toledo in December. Enplanements for the first full year reach 25,000.
Daily flights begin to Akron and Canton in March 1986. Metro III frequencies are also inaugurated to Lansing, Michigan, and Youngstown, Ohio, in late spring and early summer, with twice-daily service to Fort Wayne, Indiana, beginning in November. The fleet now comprises 10 Fairchild Metro IIIs.
Discussions are begun with Air Canada, Ltd. on the possibility of the experimental carrier, which is now deemed a success worthy of expansion, becoming an “Air Canada Connector” code-sharing partner. Meanwhile, bookings for the year climb to 35,000.
The Toledo and Fort Wayne frequencies are suspended in April 1987 for lack of traffic and are replaced by services to the Michigan cities of Saginaw and Grand Rapids. Toronto to Allentown and Harrisburg frequencies commence in August. The operation becomes an Air Canada, Ltd. commuter partner in November; the fleet is now repainted in “Air Canada Connector” livery. Passenger boardings increase by 50% to 60,000.
The company image is further reformed in March 1988 when it is renamed Air Toronto, Ltd.
COMMUTERS AIR SERVICE: United States (1932). Employing a Travel Air 6000, this short-lived New England feeder is formed at Springfield, Massachusetts, in the late spring of 1932. Once a Stinson Jr. S and a Sikorsky S-39B are acquired, the operator inaugurates scheduled passenger and air express services to Hartford, Connecticut, in August.
Traffic is insufficient to justify the continuance of operations beyond October.
COMPAGNIE AERIENNE DU LANGUEDOC, S. A. (CAL): France (1976-1988). CAL is formed at Aerodrome d’Albi in 1976 to provide scheduled regional passenger flights; Robert De Ros is appointed chairman. With a fleet of 4 Swearingen Metro IIs and 2 Beech 99s, twice-daily flights are inaugurated linking Le Puy and Paris and Clermont-Ferrand with Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Lyon. These services are maintained throughout the remainder of the decade.
In the early 1980s, the fleet is upgraded to include 3 Metro IIs, 2 Nord 262s, and 1 Embraer EMB-110. Additional destinations are added in southern and central France, including Marseilles, Nice, and Bergerac.
In 1986, Managing Director Rene Mauries acquires another Nord 262 and three additional Metroliners. Epinal and Clermont join the route network in 1987. Expenses outrun income in 1988, forcing the carrier to stop flying.
COMPAGNIE AERIENNE FRANCAISE, S. A. (CAF): France (1919-1922). This company is formed at Paris in early 1919 and launches service between Nimes and Nice on April 17. In cooperation with the British carrier Aircraft Transport and Travel, Ltd. (AT & T)
And the French railroads, air and rail operations begin in February 1920, allowing passengers the possibility of flying or riding from London to Nice. Following the arrival of an AT & T aircraft at Paris, customers ride the rails to Avignon before boarding a CAF airliner for Nice.
A similar service is opened in 1922, Paris-Cherbourg. However, the carrier ceases operations before year’s end.
COMPAGNIE AERIENNE FRANCO-CANADIENNE, LTD.: Canada (1927-1930). The Compagnie Aerienne Franco-Canadienne is established at Gaspe (Quebec) in 1927 to undertake aerial mapping flights over the Gaspe Peninsula on behalf of the provincial government. The noted World War I French squadron commander, Count de Lesseps, is persuaded to become general manager and chief pilot.
A base is established at Gaspe Basin and another at Goose Lake and the operation is outfitted with 5 Schreck FBA-17 amphibians. While photographing the Gaspe shoreline on October 18, de Lesseps is forced down in a storm near Mont Joli. Seven weeks later on December 4, his body is found at Clambank Cove, Port au Port Peninsula, Newfoundland.
Operations continue in 1928 and, during 1929, this Quebec-based pioneer employs a Schreck FBA-17 amphibian to inaugurate passenger flights along the St. Lawrence River. A weekly contract mail route between Oskelaneo and Chibougamau begins on December 20. When the mail subsidy ends in 1930, the carrier stops flying.
COMPAGNIE AERIENNE GABONAISE, S. A. See AIR GABON (COMPAGNIE AERIENNE GABONAISE, S. A.)
COMPAGNIE AERIENNE GABONNAISE, S. A. See TRANS-GABON (COMPAGNIE AERIENNE GABONNAISE, S. A.)
COMPAGNIE AERO AFRICAINE, S. A. See AERO AFRICAINE (COMPAGNIE AERO AFRICAINE, S. A.)
COMPAGNIE AERONAUTIQUE EUROPEENNE, S. A. (CAE): Aeroport Marseilles, Provence BP127, Marcella, F-13729, France; Phone 04.42.79.70.40; Fax 04.42.89.96.09; Http://www. com2i. fr/cae; Code C9; Year Founded 1991. CAE is established at Liege in May 1991 to offer regional charter services and to undertake a scheduled service to Paris (CDG). Charles Petiteau is appointed chairman and revenue flights commence in September with a pair of Fairchild Metro IIIs.
Asis upon cargo services. The carrier begins daily delivery of Italian newspapers into France.
Flights to Maastricht are started in 1993 and to Orly Airport at Paris in 1994. For the latter service, a Beech Super King Air 200 is placed into service. Air ambulance services are also introduced.
Operations continue apace in 1995-2000. During these years, capitalization reaches FFr 1.9 million and the Super King Air 200 is replaced with another Metro III and orders are placed for 2 British Aerospace (BAe) Jetstream 32s. The workforce reaches 25, including 15 pilots.
The company also comes to specialize in the transport of dangerous goods, flying over 80% of all such services in France during 1996 alone.
Charters are operated further abroad, particularly along the Mediterranean coast and in Northern Europe. In mid-1997, scheduled flights are inaugurated from Paris to Maastricht via Liege.
COMPAGNIE AIR LITTORAL, S. A. See AIR LITTORAL, S. A.
COMPAGNIE AIR PROVENCE INTERNATIONAL, S. A. See AIR PROVENCE INTERNATIONAL, S. A.
COMPAGNIE AIR TRANSPORT, S. A.: France (1946-1953). Asub-sidiary of Air France and Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, S. A., CAT is set up in 1946 to provide scheduled Douglas DC-3 services to North Africa. Revenue flights commence from Paris, Lyon, Marseilles, Toulouse, and Basel to Algiers, Constantine, and Oran. During the summers, charter flights are offered to vacation travelers between London and Deauville and Le Touquet.
Services continue apace, but, as profits decline in the early 1950s, the carrier appears headed for bankruptcy. Instead, on May 23, 1953, the airline is merged with Compagnie Generale de Transport Aeriens, S. A. to form Air Algeria (Compagnie Generale de Transport Aeriens, S. A.).
COMPAGNIE ALGERIENNE DE TRANSPORT AERIENS, S. A. (CATA): France (1947-1950). CATA is set up at Philippeville in 1947 to provide Algerian local services. Employing a fleet of 4 Douglas DC-3s and 4 Nord NC-702 Martinets, the company undertakes scheduled flights from Algiers to Biskra, Constantine, and Setif.
Service continues apace until January 1950, when the airline is taken over by Societe Aigle Azur, S. A.
Two Fairchild Merlin IVs join the fleet in 1992, allowing further emph2105. COMPAGNIE BELGE DE TRANSPORTS AERIENS, S. A. (COBETA): Belgium (1945-1950). This independent is formed at Brussels in 1945 to provide contract services. Employing Douglas DC-3 aircraft leased from Scottish Aviation, Ltd., twice-weekly flights are undertaken between the Belgian capital and Manchester and Glasgow, beginning on July 12, 1947. Operations continue apace in 1948-1949.
Unable to successfully compete against the state-owned Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A. the airline ceases trading in 1950.
COMPAGNIE CHERIFIENNE DE L AIR, S. A. See AIR ATLAS (COMPAGNIE CHERIFIENNE DE L’AIR, S. A.)
COMPAGNIE CHERIFIENNE DE TRANSPORT AERIENS, S. A. See AIR MAROC (COMPAGNIE CHERIFIENNE DE TRANSPORT AERIENS, S. A.)
World History
