BARD AIRLINES: United States (1980-1981). Bard Airlines is set up at Cortland, New York, in 1980 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services. Employing Piper lightplanes, daily roundtrips are duly inaugurated to Erie, Ithaca, and Newark International Airport.
When the PATCO air traffic controllers’ strike of summer 1981 brings ATC restrictions at the New Jersey airfield, Bard is unable to earn sufficient income to last out the year.
BARKEN INTERNATIONALAIRLINES: Salt Lake City International Airport, Salt Lake City, Utah 84122, United States; Phone (801) 539-7700; Fax (801) 596-8741; Year Founded 1980. Established at Salt Lake City in 1980, BIA undertakes contract service as well as passenger and cargo charter flights to various western U. S. destinations with a fleet of Gates Learjet 35As and Mitsubishi Mu-2s.
Operations continue apace for the next 13 years and in 1993-1994, President Barbara Heptner employs 40. A fleet of 6 Learjets, 5 Mitsubishi Mu-2s, and 4 Pipers are operated to destinations in both North and South America.
Flights continue in 1995-1999, during which years 29 pilots are employed and the fleet is broken into 2 divisions, 1 based at Salt Lake City and the other at Hailey, Idaho. At Utah’s capital, Barken stations 2 each Grumman G-1159 Gulfstreams, IAI-1124 Westwinds, Learjet 25s, and Mu-2s, and 1 each Learjet 35A, Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, and Cessna 182 Skylane. A second Chieftain is stationed at Friedman Memorial Airport at Hailey.
While on final approach into Lewiston on a February 11,2000 service from Boise, a Mitsubishi Mu-2B with one pilot and a cargo of banking papers for American Check Transport, suffers a dual engine flameout and crashes two miles eat of the runway. The pilot is fatally injured.
BARNAUL STATE AVIATION ENTERPRISE: Russia (19931997). BSAE is established at Barnaul Airport in 1993 to offer domestic passenger and cargo flights on both a scheduled and charter basis. Andrei A. Frolov is appointed general director and he begins services with an unspecified number of Antonov An-2s and An-26s, Tupolev Tu-154A/Bs, Yakovlev Yak-40s, Ilyushin Il-76TDs, and Let 410s, plus Mil Mi-2 and Mi-8 helicopters.
Flights continue in 1995-1997. During the latter year the carrier is renamed Altai Airlines.
BARNAX AIRLINES, LTD.: Nigeria (1991-1992). Barnax Airlines, Ltd. is established at Port Harcourt in the spring of 1991 to offer passenger charter and inclusive-tour flights to African regional destinations. Two Boeing 737-222s, including one christened Sagittarius, are leased and allow the company to inaugurate revenue operations in June.
Recession and high costs prevent the airline from achieving profitability and it is forced to close down a year later in 1992.
BARON AVIATION SERVICES: P. O. Box 518, Rolla National Airport, Vichy, Missouri 65580, United States; Phone (314) 299-4744; Fax (314) 299-4744; Code BVN; Year Founded 1978. Baron is founded by C. E. Schmidt at Rolla National Airport, Vichy, Missouri, in 1978 to offer charter and contract freighter services throughout the U. S. middle west with a fleet of 4 Douglas DC-4s.
Operations continue apace with little change for the next decade as the company becomes a subcontractor to Federal Express. In 1989, the fleet includes 5 Cessna 208A Caravan Is, all operated exclusively for Federal Express.
In 1990, a C-208A is replaced by a new C-208B. With the national recession deepening in 1991, the fleet includes just 1 C-208As and 2 C-208Bs. With the change in national administrations in November 1992, Baron sees its business expand and, with it, its fleet, which now includes the 1 C-208A and 23 C-208Bs. Sixteen more C-208Bs are acquired in 1993-1996 as the FedEx contract is expanded.
Flights continue apace during the next two years, but at some cost. While on final approach to Cincinnati after a February 14, 1997 FedEx charter from Memphis, a Cessna 208B with one pilot strikes a utility pole and crashes. Although the aircraft is badly damaged, the flyer is unhurt.
Another Cessna 208B flown on behalf of FedEx, makes a hard landing at Grand Island, Nebraska, on January 20, 1998; the aircraft veers to the left, departs the runway, and makes a 180-degree-turn into a field before coming to a stop. The pilot is not injured.
Flights continue apace during the remainder of the year and into 1999. By this time, the fleet has been expanded to comprise 41 C-208Bs. Two are removed in 2000.
World History
