Is set up at San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1983 to offer scheduled passenger and cargo flights linking its base with the Virgin Islands and Dominica. President Robert Murray assembles a fleet of Piper PA-23 Aztecs that are employed to inaugurate nonstop weekday flights to Cane Field Airport in Dominica plus the Virgin Island destinations of St. Thomas and St. Croix.
Operations continue apace during 1984-1987. The company is reorganized in 1988 and flies from San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin Airport with four newly acquired Piper PA-31-310 Navajos. While seeking a major code-sharing partner, the small regional transports a total of 6,000 passengers on the year.
Operations continue apace in 1989-1990, but the company is unable to survive recession and folds in 1991.
AIR CAROLINA: United States (1977-1980). AC is established by William E. Smith at Florence, South Carolina, in 1977 to succeed Florence Airlines and to provide scheduled commuter service to Hickory, Charlotte, and Augusta employing a mixed fleet of Pipers (4 PA-31-310 Navajos, 1 PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, 1 PA-34 Seneca, and 1 PA-23 Aztec) plus 1 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander. Bookings for the first year are 20,969. They will increase by 21.5% in 1978 to 26,711. Freight, on the other hand, will drop a full 50% to 31,590 pounds carried.
The workforce is increased by 9.5% in 1979 to 46. The fleet now includes 2 Navajo Chieftains, 1 Navajo, and the Islander. Passenger boardings jump 10.9% to 30,000, while freight declines another 13.6% to 27,000 pounds. The company is purchased by and merged into Atlantis Airlines in September 1980.
AIR CARRIERS, LTD.: Southern Rhodesia (1946-1960). Coleman Myers establishes AC at Salisbury in 1946 to provide passenger charters, primarily for those wishing to visit Victoria Falls and other bush destinations. Employing a mix of British and U. S. lightplanes, the company visits Bulawayo, Livingstone, and Lusaka, while flying tourists over the falls and areas of big game population.
On behalf of the government of Bechuanaland, a weekly scheduled service is offered from Bulawayo and Mgamiland. A subsidiary, Bechuanaland Protectorate Air Service, Ltd. is formed to operate this route under contract.
The company’s aerial capacity is significantly increased in 1956 by the addition of several Piper PA-23 Apaches. Operations continue apace until December 1960, when Air Carriers is merged with several other small companies to form United Air Carriers, Ltd.
AIR CASTLE: 501 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 703, Santa Monica, California 90401, United States; Phone (800) 354-4481; Fax (310) 899-5259; Year Founded 1982. Air Castle is set up as an FBO at Santa Monica Municipal Airport in 1982. Over the next 15 years, it also moves into the local and transcontinental executive passenger charter business.
In 2000, the company has one each lAI 1124 Westwind I, Canadair CL-600 Challenger, Cessna 500 Citation I, and Piper PA-34 Seneca II at Santa Monica. Further north in the Golden State, the company also flies a Challenger from San Francisco. Air Castle also bases a Challenger and a Westwind in New Jersey.
World History
