Flightways Corporation, based at Philadelphia, establishes a commuter airline division in early 1974 to provide services to New York (JFK), as well as the airport at Wilmington, Delaware. Daily de Havilland DH 114 Heron roundtrips are duly inaugurated, but can only be sustained for a year.
FLINDERS ISLAND AIRLINES (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (19451990). Formed at Moorabbin Airport, Mentone, Victoria in 1945, Flinders Island undertakes charter and contract passenger and cargo services throughout Australia, with emphasis on Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales. Unheralded, flights are maintained on a regular basis during the remainder of the decade and through the next three.
By the early 1980s, the company’s fleet comprises 2 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains, 1 Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, 1 Piper PA-34 Seneca, and 1 Beech 18. Two more Navajo Chieftains plus one more Seneca and one more Navajo are added in the next several years; however, the carrier is unable to maintain its economic viability and is forced to shut its doors in May 1990.
FLIRITE: United States (1984-1985). Marilyn L. Baker establishes Flirite at Kodiak, Alaska, in the fall of 1984 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo service to Old Harbor. Employing a Cessna 206, revenue flights commence in November. Operations continue apace for just over a year, but, unable to maintain viability, the little commuter folds in December 1985.
World History
