FORT VANCOUVER AIRLINES: United States (1979-1981). Established at Vancouver, Washington, in 1979, FVA undertakes scheduled lightplane commuter flights to Seattle. Light traffic and the PATCO air traffic controller’s strike cause the company to fail in 1981.
FORT WAYNE AIR SERVICE: United States (1963-1967). FWAS is set up at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in January 1963 to offer scheduled air taxi services to Detroit. Employing a Beech 18, the company inaugurates daily roundtrip frequencies on February 4 and maintains them into 1967.
FORT WORTH AIRLINES: United States (1984-1985). Established at Fort Worth’s Meacham Field in the fall of 1984, Fort Worth is provided with a fleet of four Japanese-made NAMC YS-11A turboprops leased from Mid-Pacific Airlines. These are employed to inaugurate scheduled passenger and cargo services to Austin, Houston (HOU) and San Antonio on December 12.
The workforce in 1985 totals 150 and the route network is expanded to include stops at Austin, Abilene, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa. Enplanements average 18,000 per month, but do not bring sufficient revenue to keep the airline aloft. Operations cease in September and the carrier files for bankruptcy.
FORTUNAIR CANADA, LTD.: Canada (1994-1995). FC is established at Montreal in the spring of 1994 to offer passenger charter and inclusive-tour passenger services from Montreal and Toronto to Florida and France. A leased Boeing 747-212B is leased from Air France on May 24 and the first revenue flight, from Montreal to Paris (CDG), occurs on June 30.
Unable to achieve fiscal viability, the carrier is ordered by a Quebec court to suspend operations on August 19, just five weeks after start-up. A new investor steps forward to rescue the company at the beginning of September and arrangements are made to resume nonscheduled services with the beginning of the winter holiday schedule at the end of October.
Flights are undertaken to Fort Lauderdale and points in the Caribbean, but once more, great sums of money are lost. On January 23, 1995, the company shuts down for a second time and goes into voluntary liquidation. The Jumbojet is returned and the brief saga of this company ends.
FORTUNE AVIATION, S. p.A.: Italy (1994-1995). Fortune is established at Rome in January 1994 to offer nonscheduled passenger services to Trieste and other regional destinations. Revenue flights commence with 4 Cessna Citations, 1 Boeing 737-200, and 2 Douglas DC-9-32s. Plans are made during the fall to begin scheduled services and the company name is changed to Noman, S. p.A. in January 1995.
World History
