KENAI HELICOPTERS: P. O. Box 3270, Lihue, Hawaii 96766, United States; Phone 808 329-7412; Fax 808 329-2898; Year Founded 1995. The two divisions of Kenai Air of Hawaii are merged in 1995 under this blanket name. Emphasis is placed on providing aerial sight-seeing and tour flights which, as a company advertisement has it: “combine the personalized service of a family-run business with the sophistication of a large fleet staffed by experienced professionals.” By the end of the decade, the company is operating over 1,400 annual flights that transport in excess of 15,000 passengers.
The fleet in 2000 includes a mix of Bell 206L3 LongRangers, Bell 206B3 JetRangers, and a single Eurocopter AS-350BA A-Star.
KENDELL AIRLINES (PTY.), LTD.: 86 Baylis Street OR, P. O. Box 78, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, 2650, Australia; Phone 61 (69) 220 100; Fax 61 (69) 220 116; Http://www. kendell. com. au; Code KD; Year Founded 1966. Former British European Airways Corporation pilot Donald Kendell returns to farming in southwestern New South Wales in 1959, but a dream of returning to aviation is too strong. In 1965, the former flyer and his wife Eilish Burke Kendell move to Wagga Wagga to operate a small general aviation concern. The operation is purchased in 1966 and incorporated as PremiAir Aviation (Pty.), Ltd. Operations are undertaken with a Piper PA-23 Apache and later, a Piper PA-28 Cherokee Six. Outback locations visited include Coober Pedy, Streaky Bay, Woomera, Yulara, Ceduna, and King Island.
In early 1971, Kendell acquires Inland Aviation, Ltd. and merges it with his previous operation to form KAL; PremiAir Aviation becomes a holding company.
On October 16, the company inaugurates scheduled Piper PA-31-310 Navajo services between Wagga Wagga and Melbourne on a route from which Ansett Australian Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. has withdrawn its Douglas DC-3s and Fokker F.27s. On 10 return flights during the first week, a total of 36 passengers are flown.
In 1972, the first full year of service, flights are added West Wyalong to Sydney and Wagga Wagga to Canberra. A total of 4,000 passengers are flown. Operations continue apace in 1973.
In 1974, a Melbourne-Merimbula frequency is initiated. Within the next five years, Kendell’s route network grows to include these southeastern Australian destinations: Albury, Merimbula, Wagga Wagga, Mount Gambier, Hamilton, Melbourne, and Mildura.
The fleet is upgraded by the addition of a de Havilland DH 114 (Riley) Heron in January 1975. In February, it is placed on the Wagga-Melbourne route. Two years later, in 1977, a second Riley Heron is acquired for the Griffith-Canberra service and in 1978 the decision is taken to upgrade to pressurized turboprop equipment.
Melbourne-Cooma flights begin in July 1979 and from Melbourne-King Island, Tasmania, before the year’s end. During the year, the first Swearingen Metro II is placed into service. Passenger traffic grows steadily, reaching 29,402 in 1980. The Navajos are now overhauled and sold.
The fleet in 1981 comprises 3 Swearingen Metro IIs, with 1 SAAB-Fairchild SF340A on order.
Passenger boardings jump 23.3% to 38,300.
The employee population is increased by 4.7% in 1982 to 45. In early spring, services are started from Melbourne to Portland and Warmam-bool.
The new stops help customer bookings swell 19.5% to 45,160.
A total of 63,600 passengers are carried in 1983. The workforce is increased by 19% in 1984 to 69. A new maintenance hangar is completed at Wagga Airport.
Enplanements jump 34.1% to 84,329.
The workforce is increased 25% in 1985 to 75 and the fleet grows to include 5 Metro IIs. The first SF340A is delivered in February and when it enters service at month’s end, Kendell becomes the first airline to operate the type in the Southern Hemisphere. A new hub is opened at Adelaide and a number of South Australian routes are taken over from the financially distressed Airlines of South Australia (Pty.), Ltd. The acquisition virtually doubles the company’s network.
Passenger boardings accelerate 21.1% to 102,111 and 74,000 pounds of freight are hauled.
Employment increases 51.9% in 1986 to 120 as two additional SF340s and a sixth Metroliner join the fleet. When Ansett’s Airlines of South Australia (Pty.), Ltd. shuts its doors, Kendell moves in to assume the remainder of its routes, including those to Broken Hill, Whyalia, Ceduna, Port Lincoln, and Streaky Bay. When the South Australia operator Opal Air, Ltd. ceases trading in October, Kendell is able to initiate service to four more markets, Coober Pedy, Olympic Dam, Woomera, and Ayers Rock.
Enplanements total 151,698.
Thirteen new employees join the airline in 1987 as the second SAAB-340A joins the fleet.
Passenger boardings shoot up by 35.6% to 235,555 and freight climbs 8% to 85,000 pounds.
The payroll grows by 9.8% in 1988 to 146 as orders are placed for a 4th SAAB 340. Hub and spoke operations are consolidated on Adelaide and Kendell becomes Australia’s largest regional airline.
Customer bookings ascend a more modest 1.2% to 241,844 as cargo dips by 2.4% to 83,000 pounds.
In 1989, employment at this Australian third-level operator grows by 19.9%, to 175. Largely unaffected by the pilot job actions afflicting the larger domestic operators, Kendell is able to employ its 4 SAAB 340As (the last is delivered in August) and 8 Metro IIs to gain a traffic boost. Among the new markets now entered are Devonport and Burnie on Tasmania.
Enplanements rise 7.1% to 261,829 passengers flown on the year, picking up the slack from Ansett Airlines of Australia (Pty.), Ltd.
And operating the only frequent service from Melbourne to Burnie and Devonport, Tasmania. Freight traffic is up 28.2% to 108,000 FTKs. On revenues of A$24.5 million, an operating profit of A$1.5 million is generated.
The number of workers is cut by 27.2% in 1990 to 127 and 1 SAAB 340A is withdrawn. When Lloyd Aviation (Pty.), Ltd. is forced to stop operating in the fall, its scheduled Adelaide to Kangaroo Island route is taken over. TNT/News Corporation, Ltd., parent of Ansett Airlines of Australia (Pty.), Ltd., acquires 100% ownership on October 1, three months after negotiations are completed. Geoffrey Bruest becomes general manager, but the company is allowed to operate as an independent subsidiary. Kendell wins the Civil Aviation Authority’s inaugural “Airways Award for Excellence” as best Australian airline of the year. It will be a runner-up the following year.
Passenger boardings leap skyward by 21.8% to 319,016, but freight slides 3.9% to 103,470 FTKs. An A$1.01-million net profit is earned.
Company employment is increased by 10.7% in 1991 to 197 and the fleet now includes 5 SAAB 340As, 1 Fairchild-Swearingen Merlin IV, and 7 Metro IIs. Kendell joins both the Ansamatic and Galileo computerized reservations systems. Company headquarters are moved to larger premises in Wagga Wagga in August and the sixth SAAB 340A arrives in December.
Customer bookings ascend another 6.6% to 337,864 and cargo climbs 23.5% to 128,000 FTKs. Revenues jump 7.1% to A$29 million and the net profit is up to A$1.86 million. The company’s assets are now worth A$50 million.
In 1992, the carrier is flying 6 SAAB-340As, 8 Metro IIs, and 2 Metro 23s. The SAAB 340A received in December is employed in January to inaugurate a new service from Melbourne to Devonport. Also during the year’s first month, Kendell is named the 1991 “Regional Airline of the Year” by Air Transport World magazine. Kendall is the first airline in Australia to win this prestigious award.
In February, orders are placed for two Saab 2000s. Founder Kendell is made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honors for his services to aviation.
Passenger boardings rise 19.1% to 402,348 while freight declines 7.7% to 117.99 million FTKs.
In 1993, Don Kendell oversees a workforce of 210 and adds 2 more Fairchild 23s in September. The company continues to operate services that link Adelaide with Kingscote, Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Ceduna, Broken Hill, Woomers, Olympic Dam, Coober Pedy, and Ayers Rock. In addition, flights are made from Melbourne to Albury, Wagga Wagga, Merimbula, Cooma, King Island, Mildura, Portland, Mount Gambier, Burnie, and Devonport.
Customer bookings ascend 6.3% to 427,775 and cargo is up half that percentage, 3.1%, to 121,600 FTKs.
The fleet in early 1994 includes 6 340As, 6 Metro 23s, and 2 Metro IIs; both of the latter type are retired as another new Metro 23 is delivered.
Passenger boardings jump 5% to 449,336 while freight balloons by 19.6% to 145,000 FTKs. An A$2.6-million net profit is reported.
Airline employment is dramatically increased in 1995; 70 new workers arrive, a 24.4% increase. The seventh and eighth SAABs join the fleet in June and new routes are opened in July to Sydney from Wagga and Albury.
The new services replace Fokker 50 services previously provided by parent Ansett Australia (Pty.), Ltd. A fourth SAAB 340B is delivered during the fourth quarter and begins flying from Wagga Wagga to Al-bury, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Customer bookings accelerate 12.3% to 525,600.
There are no changes in the workforce during 1996, but five SAAB 340Bs do enter service and the two Metro IIs are retired. In March, a new program of cooperation with Ansett Australia (Pty.), Ltd. begins with initiation of the Capital Shuttle from Sydney to Canberra. Complementing the major’s jet service, Kendell provides 11 return turboprop flights per day. Cooperative flights with Ansett are extended in July from Sydney to Coffs Harbour and from Sydney to Ballina in August.
On October 17 the company celebrates 35 years of service to Melbourne, noting that bookings have increased during those years to 17,000 per week on 900 flights.
Flights over the new routes help to send overall passenger traffic upwards by 47.2% to 772,812 passengers flown. Additionally, 184,000 freight FTKs are operated, a 23.6% growth.
Two more SAAB 340Bs are acquired in early 1997 and service begins on two new routes. Acting on behalf of Kendell, Ansett Australia (Pty.), Ltd. agrees in May to trade four Fokker 50s to Skyways, A. B. of Sweden in exchange for four SAAB 340As.
Customer bookings increase 26.5% to 978,184, while cargo rises 27.4% to 234,000 FTKs.
Services continue apace in 1998. After some months of negotiations, Ansett Australia (Pty.), Ltd. Chairman/CEO Rod Eddington announces, during the third week of September, that the major will turn over most of its regional routes to Kendell over the next two years. Among the regional markets to be completely turned over are Mackay,
Rockhampton, Launceston, and Coffs Harbour, while Kendell will pick up many of Ansett’s services into Hobart and Canberra.
To handle the increased responsibility, Kendell begins to assess the possibilities of regional jet acquisition. Both the Canadair CRJ-200ER and the Embraer ERJ-145 undergo evaluation during the remainder of the month and into October. On October 21, Kendell places an order with Bombardier Aerospace for 12 Canadairs, plus 12 options, with deliveries scheduled to begin during the last quarter of 1999.
While on a November 11 night service, a SAAB 340B with 30 passengers, encounters turbulence, stalls, and rolls almost inverted in light icing conditions, losing 2,500 ft. before the stall is recovered. The flight attendant is slightly injured. The Australian Bureau of Air Safety Investigation immediately launches an inquiry.
Passenger boardings inch up 1.3% to 973,000, while cargo traffic increases 13% to 260,000 FTKs. Revenues shoot up 15.2% to A$82 million and there is an A$5.7-million net profit.
Airline employment at the beginning of 1999 stands at 430.
In October, a $40-million deal is signed with GE Engine Services for the maintenance and service of the new GE CF34-3B power plants of Kendell’s new CRJs.
Customer bookings dip 0.4% to 969,000 while freight falls 13.5% to 225,000 FTKs. Revenues inch up 1% to $80.84 million, while costs jump 6.5% to $75.77 million. The operating profit falls to $5.07 million.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 780. The fleet now includes 16 SAAB 340Bs and 7 Metro 23 s.
In mid-February, the aviation media reports that Ansett Australia (Pty.), Ltd. is considering a merger of its regional carriers Skywest Airlines (Pty.), Ltd., Aeropelican Air Services (Pty.), Ltd., and Kendell into a super regional airline; the enlarged Kendell would be led by Ansett executive Ronald Roalky. This move would take the major’s two-year campaign to cut A$55 million ($31 million) in costs across its regional network to a new stage.
Upon their delivery the previous September, the first CRJs were scheduled to enter service on the airline’s routes from Melbourne to Launceston and to Hobart. This start is, however, delayed because of unexpected difficulties experienced by the airline in gaining its High Capacity Air Operators Certificate from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Additionally, with the CRJ transitional training of its designated SAAB 340 pilots taking longer than anticipated, a number of those flyers are seconded to SA Express Airways (Pty.), Ltd. to gain practical experience. These delays cause Ansett Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. to replace the entire senior management at Kendell.
The official domestic carrier of the Olympic flame, one of the new Canadairs makes a short Outback tour during the last week of April with the miner’s lantern in which the flame will be carried on its flights around the country. The practice flight from Melbourne lands at Adelaide, Ayers Rock, Alice Spring, Mt. Isa and Longreach.
Kendell picks up the Olympic flame when it arrives in Ayers Rock from Auckland aboard an Ansett Australia (Pty.), Ltd. jetliner on June 8 on the last international leg of its journey from Olympia, Greece. With the flame safely in the miner’s lantern, the company CRJ transports it on to Alice Springs, Mt. Isa, Longreach, and Dalby in Queensland, where it is handed over to the Sydney Olympic Committee convoy, which travels by road to Cairns.
On July 12, a company jet again collects the Olympic flame, this time at Port Lincoln, in South Australia, and flies it on via Port August, Mil-dura, Broken Hill, Bourke, and Lightning Ridge, to Mooree, where it is turned over to runners for the final sprint to the Olympic stadium.
Beginning on October 12, passengers are able to employ the Ansett Australia (Pty.), Ltd. E-check in machines which were installed at the domestic terminals at Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane in August.
Twice-daily nonstop CRJ200ER roundtrips commence on October 30 from Adelaide to Canberra. CRJ200ER return service is inaugurated between Melbourne and Rockampton on November 6, with flights operated four times a day Sunday through Friday and twice daily on Saturdays.
KENMORE AIR HARBOR: P. O. Box 82064, Kenmore, Washington 98028, United States; Phone (206) 486-1257; Fax (206) 4865471; Http://www. kenmoreair. com; Code M5; Year Founded 1940.
Founded to undertake floatplane services exclusively, Kenmore begins operations in 1940 from bases on Lake Union and at Kenmore on the northeast end of Lake Washington, near Seattle. In early 1946, Bob Munro, Jack Mines, and Reg Collins establish an “air harbor” or FBO seaplane base at the northeast end of Lake Washington at the town of Kenmore.
The site chosen is a former lumber mill located on a swampland; tons of fill are required to make it useable. The company is initially named Mines Collins Munro, but that name proves so cumbersome that it is quickly scrapped and the concern is renamed in honor of the community.
Kenmore Air officially opens for business on March 21 with the flight of an Aeronca Model K seaplane that Collins and Munro have restored. During the second quarter, the fleet is increased by the addition of an Aeronca Champ and two Taylorcrafts.
The company’s first crisis occurs in July when cofounder Mines is killed while flying supplies to a search and rescue team in the Cascade Mountains. His widow sells her interest to Collins and Munro; shortly thereafter, Collins also turns over his share to Munro and leaves for an aviation job in California.
After his partners’ departure, Munro, through the remainder of the decade, continues to develop his operation. An FBO and maintenance facility is constructed and air taxi flights become increasingly frequent. Kenmore develops modifications for the popular Republic Seabee aircraft and sets up a parts department to service other operators. Munro and his staff develop a reputation for their expertise in seaplane restoration.
In 1951, Munro signs his first U. S. government contract and leases a restored seaplane to the Bureau of Land Management for a mapping survey in Alaska. A number of bush charters are also operated.
Kenmore is hired by the Canada-based Granby Mining, Power, and Smelting Company in 1953 to fly much of the equipment needed to build a mining camp at LaDuc Glacier, 50 mi. N. of Ketchikan, Alaska. A Republic Seabee and two Norduyn Norsemen are used to complete the two-month operation.
Charters continue during the 1950s and destinations visited include Seattle and Friday Harbor, Washington, and Pender Harbour, British Columbia. Kenmore also becomes a Cessna dealer late in the decade.
The Air Harbor sees accelerated growth during the early to mid-1960s as a flight school is added and new contracts undertaken. A new hangar and office building is opened at Kenmore and in 1963 the carrier acquires its first de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. President Munro and Bill Peters now establish a rebuilding and modification program for the popular floatplane and by 1998 they will have rebuilt 125 DHC-2s, delivered to operators all over the world.
During the next 20 years, President Munro’s fleet comes to comprise 12 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers of its own, several Grumman G-21 Geese, 2 DHC-3 Otters, and nearly every type of single-engine Cessna. Almost all flight equipment is float-equipped. Charters are flown as far north as Alaska and as far south as California.
In the early 1970s, Kenmore transports unarmed torpedoes to a joint U. S.-Canadian test range facility on the Strait of Georgia off Canada’s Vancouver Island; the weapons are flown attached to Beaver floats. Geological survey teams exploring Mt. Olympia for five years during the 1970s are all supplied by company Beavers, which land in the snow at a 6,800-ft. altitude Snow Dome on floats. To takeoff from the glacier, planes are run down a 4,000-ft. downhill “runway” which ends as a cliff to the valley floor below.
Scheduled commuter services are inaugurated in the spring of 1981, linking the company’s base with Seattle, Big Bay, British Colombia, Victoria, Friday Harbor, Roche Harbor, Rosario, and Lopez. Also in the 1980s, new return services are introduced to British Colombia’s many fishing resorts. Three - and five-day summer fishing packages prove so popular that they will remain a staple of the carrier’s product ever after.
Seattle-based Otter Air is acquired in 1986, along with its scheduled route from Seattle to Victoria, British Colombia, which is flown until 1988, when it is sold to Lake Union Air. Kenmore’s operations continue apace throughout the remainder of the decade and into the next. Not only does the company fly scheduled and nonscheduled services, it also continues to build on its reputation for DHC-2 modification work. It also provides FBO services to local and transient floatplanes. Two Turbo Beavers are acquired in 1989.
As in the past, the company through the remainder of the decade and into the 1990s prides itself on the uniqueness of its airline. As it will later note on its World Wide Web page, “our airline is different.” Tickets are not necessary; passengers need only give their name. There are no departure gates. Customers are directed to a picnic table where they meet their pilot and fellow passengers. The panorama from the window is the main in-flight entertainment; if a pod of whales or a Trident nuclear submarine is spotted, the pilot does not mind a slight diversion for a better view.
One hundred workers are employed by the company in January 1993 when it acquires Lake Union Air Service, its only seaplane competitor in the Seattle region. Included in the acquisition is a downtown Seattle terminal at Lake Union.
From Lake Washington and Lake Union, company aircraft in 1994 provide services to Victoria, Canada, the San Juan Islands, and many tiny communities along the shores. The fleet is increased by the addition of 1 each rebuilt Beaver and DHC-3 Otter; 2 DHC-2s are also refurbished for other operators.
Enplanements total 50,000.
Operations continue apace in 1995 as two more Otters are acquired. During the peak summer season, the tiny airline offers four daily roundtrips from Seattle to the San Juan Islands and four daily roundtrips from Seattle to Victoria. Traffic is level with the previous year and estimated revenues of $11 million are generated.
The employee population stands at 72 in 1996 and the fleet now includes 12 Beavers, 5 Otters, 4 Cessna 180s, and 2 Cessna 172s. The aircraft serve 30 points in the Puget Sound and Inside Passage areas of Washington State and British Columbia. Chatterbox Falls at British Colombia’s Princess Louise Inlet is a new destination.
A total of 35,659 passengers are transported as the 50th anniversary is celebrated.
The workforce is reduced by 2.8% in 1997 to 70. The fleet of 22 planes annually logs more than 2 million miles for the largest full-service seaplane operation in the world.
Customer bookings accelerate 34% to 47,785.
Airline employment is increased by 2 in 1998, back to 72. Service is maintained without fanfare.
Enplanements climb 18.9% to 57,000.
Customer bookings ascend 5% in 1999 to 60,000.
KENN BOREK AIR, LTD.: 290 McTavish Road, NE, Hangar 4, International Airport, Calgary, Alberta T2E 7G5, Canada; Phone (403) 291-3300; Fax (403) 250-6908; Http://www. borekair. com; Code 4K; Year Founded 1971. In 1971, Borek Construction takes over Vic Turner, Ltd., which is renamed. Operations are undertaken from a head office in a Calgary Airport hangar built in 1941 for the British Commonwealth Air Traning Plan (the Aero Space Museum of Calgary is now located just in front of it) and branch bases at Dawson Creek, In-uvik, and Resolute Bay. KBA maintains or initiates scheduled and charter services to Aklavik, Arctic Bay, Coppermine, Ft. McPherson, Grise Fiord, Holman Island, Inuvik, Nanisivik, Paulatuk, Pond Inlet, Resolute Bay, Sachs Harbour, and Tuktoyaktuki in the Northwest Territories, and to Prince George, Prince Ruper, Smithers, and Terrace in British Columbia.
In 1975, the fixed-wing operations of Kenting Aviation, Ltd. are purchased and operated as the subsidiary Kenting Earth Sciences, Ltd.; later in the decade, Reindeer Air Service, Ltd. is also acquired.
Initially hired in 1973, Steve Penikett becomes general manager in 1976; this air division leader will remain in charge of the concern’s flight operations for the remainder of the century.
A de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 with two crew and six passengers, loses control while on final approach and crashes 2,200-ft. short of the runway at Nanisivik on December 21; there are no survivors.
Airline employment is 45 at General Manager G. H. Stevenson’s company by 1978 and the fleet consists of 4 Douglas DC-3s, 1 Curtiss C-46, and 6 DHC-6 Twin Otters.
While landing in heavy winds at Komakuk on September 18, a DC-3 freighter with two crew, goes off the runway and over a 5-ft. embankment, ending up on its nose. No serious injuries are reported.
In late 1981, a decade after the company’s rebirth, President Borek oversees a workforce of 52 and operates a fleet comprising 3 Douglas DC-3s, 8 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters, 2 Beech 99s, 1 Piper PA-23 Aztec, and several light Cessnas.
Unable to gain takeoff speed from a slush-covered runway at Calgary on May 7, 1982, a DC-3 aborts its departure, but runs off the runway into a ditch; the aircraft is damaged beyond repair, but there are no injuries to its two-person crew.
By 1985, the DC-3s are gone, replaced by 1 Douglas C-54G (military DC-4), 4 additional Twin Otters, 1 DHC-5 Caribou, 2 Beech King Air 100s, and 4 Bell 206B JetRanger helicopters. Airline employment is up to 55.
Operations continue apace in 1986-1988. There are two fatal accidents during these years.
En route from Fort Nelson to Ross River on January 15, 1987, a DHC-4 Caribou, with two crew and two passengers, suffers an engine failure and crashes while executing a missed approach procedure at its destination; both pilots are killed.
While on a flight from Redmond, Oregon, on July 14, 1988, a DHC-6-300 and its pilot, crashes into trees at the 5,900-ft. level on a ridge on the E side of Battle Creek Mountain, 50 km. W of John Day, Oregon; the flyer is killed.
In 1989, Englewood, Colorado-based Antarctic Support Associates, prime contract for the U. S. National Science Foundation, provides the funding that allows the company to send a pair of ski-equipped DHC-6s to Antarctica to support the work of the American NSF scientists.
With the top halves of their fuselages painted bright red-orange for easy identification at a distance, the aircraft lift scientists to remote, small camps outside helicopter range. Occasionally, they are sent aloft with instruments to gather various data, and are also requested to provide flights to and from New Zealand’s Terra Nova Station.
In 1990, the fleet includes 1 C-54G, 10 DHC-6-300s, 4 DHC-6-100s, and 2 DHC-6-200s; of these, 3 are leased to Harbour Air, Ltd., 2 to Empire Airways, and 1 each to Aerpoerlas, S. A. and one to ACES (Aerolineas Centales de Colombia, S. A.). Two Beech 99s are also flown.
While landing at an Arctic Circle LOD on March 29 after a service from Rae Lakes, the C-54G with three crew, strikes a 4-ft. high snowbank on the edge of the ice landing strip with its left main landing gear. The Skymaster is spun 180 degrees and the nosegear collapses. There are no fatalities.
The number of DHC-6-300s is reduced to nine in 1991 and one Beech 99 is leased to Empire Airways. The Empire and Harbour leases cease in 1992 and one more DHC-6-100 is acquired.
Flights to various northern points continue in 1993 as the fleet is increased by the addition of one each DHC-6-100 and DHC-6-300.
While taking off from Baffin Island on March 6, the nosegear of a DHC-6-100 with two crew, strikes an ice ridge, causing the plane to hit a river bank and do a ground loop; although the Twin Otter is damaged beyond repair, there are no fatalities.
Six more DHC-6-300s are acquired in 1994 along with two DHC-6-200s. Heavy emphasis on aircraft leasing continues as Aeroperlas, S. A. charters a Beech 99 and DHC-6-300. Harbour Air, Ltd. takes three of the four DHC-6-100s, and two of the five DHC-6-200s.
In June, a joint venture is established with Inuvik-based Aklak Air, Ltd. Under terms of this agreement, Kenn Borek provides Twin Otter or Beech 99 equipment to operate Aklak’s scheduled flights to Fort Mcpherson, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, and Tuktoyaktuk, as well as its charters to bush locations. Aklak provides ground and management support for a Borek Douglas R4D8 (USN designation for the DC-3) which provides it with all-cargo capacity.
While taking off from Rhotera Adelaide Island Station for a flight to Terranova Bay, Antarctica on November 24, a DHC-6-300 with two crew and four passengers, fails to gain altitude and crashes; there are no survivors.
Service to various northern points from Calgary, Inuvik, Norman Wells, and Resolute Bay continues in 1995 as another Beech 99 is placed into service. A replacement Twin Otter is sent to the South Pole.
The fleet in 1996-2000 includes 35 Twin Otters, 2 Cessna 185s, 1 Beech 55 Baron, 2 Beech King Air 90s, 3 Beech 99s, 5 Beech King Air 100s, 3 Super King Air 200s, 2 Embraer EMB-120P1 Bandeirantes, 1 R4D8, and 2 Bell 206L LongRanger helicopters. Both the NSF Antarctic and Aklak Air contracts continue and beginning on September 21, 1998, the company operates a DHC-6-300 on behalf of the new Nepalese carrier Yeti Airlines (Pty.), Ltd.
KENNEDY AIR SERVICE: United States (1978-1979). KAS is established at Valdez, Alaska, in 1978 to offer scheduled passenger and cargo flights to Anchorage. Revenue services commence with a single Piper PA-31-310 Navajo and a Beech 58 Baron and continue until November 1979 when the owner disappears, forcing the company to cease.
KENOSHAAERO: United States (1980-1982). This tiny commuter is set up by Jim Beardsley at Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1980, as an outgrowth of an FBO. Kenosha employs a fleet of 2 Cessna 172s, 1 Cessna 207, 1 Cessna 182, and 1 Piper PA-23 Aztec to inaugurate both scheduled and nonscheduled passenger and cargo flights to Madison and Milwaukee. Enplanements on the former service for the year total 55.
The route network is increased in 1981 and destinations visited now include Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Minneapolis, Madison, and Rochester. A Cessna 414 joins the fleet and assists the carrier to increase its scheduled traffic by 36% to 75 passengers carried.
Unable to combat either the ATC effects of the previous summer’s PATCO air traffic controller’s strike or the recession, the carrier is unable to continue far into 1982.
World History
