President Jeff Mahoney at Iqaluit, NWT, in 1989 to provide charter and bush flights, this, the only local carrier in the eastern Arctic, and also the only to be entirely owned by the Inuits, is renamed late in 1996. After three years of scheduled service that links the company’s base with Broughton Island, Cape Dorset, and Pangnirtung, Mahoney in 19982000 oversees a workforce of 14 and a fleet that includes 1 each Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, Cessna 337 Skymas-ter, and Cessna 206 Stationair.
AIR OCEAN INDIAN, S. A.: Namibia (1989-1992). Air Ocean Indian, S. A. is established on the island of Reunion in 1989 as a subsidiary of the French carrier Air Outre Mer, S. A. Louis Gordon, chief of the parent, is named general manager and revenue services commence and continue with a fleet of 3 Dornier 228-200s. A Douglas DC-10-30 is leased to provide an air link with Paris. The company is merged into its parent when it becomes AOM French Airlines, S. A. in 1992.
AIR OLYMPIA: United States (1981-1982). Air Olympia is formed at Olympia, Washington, in early 1981 as the airline operating division of the FBO Vagabond Aviation. Employing a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, the new entrant inaugurates scheduled passenger and cargo services to Spokane on March 2.
Recession, the PATCO air traffic controllers’ strike, a reduction in traffic, and fiscal difficulties cause President Robert B. McElhose to suspend operations in March 1982.
AIR ONE (1): United States (1981-1985). Founded by Kenneth Wide-man and Mark G. Morris in June 1981, Air One elects astronaut Eugene Cernan chairman, with Morris as president/CEO. The company hopes to acquire 5 DC-9-32s from Delta Air Lines and to provide first-class service at coach fares from Dallas (DFW) and Houston (HOU) to Kansas City beginning on August 1. Unfortunately, the PATCO air traffic controllers’ strike and subsequent ATC restrictions conspire with financing difficulties to delay start-up.
Edward Beauvais becomes chairman in 1982 and while launch plans continue to be laid, unrealized plans are made to transfer the base to Phoenix and seek Boeing 737-200s instead of DC-9s. At year’s end, a fleet is finally obtained: 3 B-727-21s leased from Pan American World Airways (1) and 4 B-727-101s chartered from Piedmont Airlines (1).
The 400-employee new entrant launches charter service on February 18, 1983. Scheduled business-oriented Boeing 727 flights (“First-Class Service at Coach Prices”) are inaugurated on weekdays and Sunday nights from the St. Louis base, beginning on April 1, over initial routes to Dallas (DFW), Washington, D. C., Kansas City, and Newark.
Despite strong competition from Trans World Airlines (TWA), by year’s end, 142,478 passengers have been transported; however, the financial picture is bleak. Revenues earned are $19.9 million and expenses total $40.9 million, leaving an operating loss of $23 million.
Early in 1984, founder Morris is elected chairman/CEO, with James
C. Johnston as executive vice president. Plans are made to expand to Boston, Philadelphia, and New York (LGA) in late spring as the Houston (HOU) and Los Angeles markets are entered in March-April with 2 B-727-2H3s purchased from Tunis Air. As the year wears on, mounting financial difficulties force suspension of the Dallas (DFW) and Houston (HOU) routes.
Two unsuccessful attempts are made to merge with planned new airlines. The most promising would involve the takeover of McClain Airlines in a stock transaction; however, for unstated reasons, the deal is never closed. Another plan would have Scott Spencer, CEO of the Texas-based “paper” airline Southern Express, contribute $2 million for 55% majority shareholding and merge his start-up into Air One. The money does not arrive and this arrangement is abandoned.
Intense competition with TWA, a paucity of passengers, and continued economic loss force Air One to cease operations on October 25 and to declare bankruptcy the next day. Prior to its collapse, the new entrant has flown 211,000 passengers since January. A few charter flights will continue into January 1985, after which all remaining assets are sold to Interstate Airlines.
AIR ONE (2): United States (1998-1999). Air One (2) is established at Ketchikan in the spring of 1998 as a Part 121 “sister” carrier to CEO Jerry Scudero’s Taquan Air Services. A pair of refurbished British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 32EPs are acquired from BAe AMT and 38 additional personnel are hired.
Following receipt of the company’s operating certificate, the new Alaskan commuter opens scheduled service on June 1 with daily flights linking the company base with Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Sitka, and Klawock. Plans are made to acquire a third J-32 in the spring.
Rather than proving a success, Air One becomes nonviable. It is shut down in March 1999.
AIR ONE, S. p.A.: Via Sardegna, 14 00187 Roma, Via Tiburtina Nr. 41, S, Giovanni Teatino, Chieiti, I-66020, Italy; Phone 39 (6) 478761; Fax 39 (6) 4885913; Http://www. flyairone. it; Code AP; Year Founded 1995. Following the deregulation of Italy’s domestic airline industry, Air One is established in the fall of 1995 as the first major domestic challenger to Alitalia, S. p.A. Employing 1 leased Boeing 737-3K2 and 2 B-737-230As, the company inaugurates six-times-per-day roundtrip scheduled passenger services from its Rome base to Milan on November 23. A deep discount carrier, the company offers a $112 oneway fare on weekdays and an $84 tariff on weekends.
Airline employment stands at 400 in 1996. In February, Alitalia, S. p.A. hires away the independent’s managing director, appointing him vice president operations. The corporate raid triggers a government inquiry into the major’s commercial practices.
Three B-737-3Y0s are leased from General Electric Capital Aviation Services early in the year and the number of daily frequencies is increased to 13. New destinations added to the route network during the year include Bari and Reggio Calabria. In October, service is inaugurated from Turin to Rome and from Milan to Naples.
On November 24, the national antitrust authority, after a nine-month investigation, releases a report finding that Alitalia, S. p.A. has attempted to block competition from Air One and Meridiana, S. p.A. by controlling the allocation of airport landing slots, by monopolizing ticket writing, and by anticompetitive scheduling. The major is ordered to pay a L 415-million (US$277,000) fine.
In December, an arrangement is concluded by the engineering and contracting concern Toto Group (owned by Carlo Todo) with Noman, S. p.A., once known as Fortune Aviation, S. p.A., to lease that aeronautical company’s airline operation for three years, with an option to purchase. Noman is combined with Aliadriatica, S. p.A., to become the airline operating unit of Air One, S. p.A., under new Chairman Giovanni Sebastiani and General Manager Franco Giudice. A total of 98.8% ownership is held by Toto Group.
Noman’s 2 Douglas DC-9-15RCs and 1 Dassault Falcon 10 join a former Aliadriatica, S. p.A. B-737-229A, and the leased B-737-3K2, and 2 B-737-236Es. Also acquired is the maintenance concern Italian Technics, S. p.A. and 12 slots at Milan’s congested Linate Airport.
Enplanements this year total 714,000 and revenues reach $75 million.
The fleet in 1997 includes 7 B-737-300s and 3 B-737-200s. It is not obtained without difficulty as owner Todo, seeking to gain better jetliner prices at a time when an equipment seller’s market exists, is unable to gain needed capacity and thus cannot begin advertised services as scheduled.
In February, a wet-lease agreement is entered into with Palermo-based Air Sicilia, S. p.A. Under its terms, the regional operator will fly its 3 ATR42-320s on behalf of Air One and in competition with Alitalia, S. p.A. over its route from Palermo to Rome. It will also fly services for Air One between Rome and Bari and over a new route from Bari to Bologna. The company also enters into a code-sharing agreement with the Bergamo-based new entrant Azzurra Air, S. p.A. for services from Rome to London and Paris.
By spring, Air One is also able to increase frequencies on its existing routes from Milan to Rome, Naples, and Bari.
In mid-June, the company’s first international route is inaugurated as twice-daily, dual-designator roundtrip frequencies with Azzura Air, S. p.A. begin from Milan (Linate Airport) to London (STN). At the same time, a marketing agreement is signed with Air UK, Ltd.
In September, a preliminary equity agreement is signed with Swissair, A. G., under which the major will sponsor the carrier’s membership in the “Qualiflyer” program jointly operated by the Swiss company, Austrian Airlines, A. G., and Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A.
Destinations visited at year’s end include Aberdeen, Bari, Crotone, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London (STN), Milan, Naples, Reggio Calabria, Rome (Fiumicino Airport), and Turin. A total of 26 daily roundtrips are flown on the main Milan to Rome trunk route.
The embryonic cooperative agreement with Swissair, A. G. is intensified on December 29 under a new memorandum of understanding. Although the two airlines already cooperate in a number of areas, including frequent flyer benefits, the new relationship will provide Swissair with greater access to north Italian markets and give SAirGroup the opportunity to acquire a substantial minority equity stake during the following April.
Enplanements for the year reach 1,382,000. A net loss of L 60 is suffered.
The workforce in 1998 stands at 480. After acquiring a large minority interest in Air One during April, Swissair, A. G. begins daily round-trip services to Bologna and Venice on June 22. The flights to the Swiss major’s destinations are operated in association with Air One, employing a SAAB 2000 wet-leased from Crossair, Ltd.
During the summer, the carrier moves all of its domestic flights (save those between Milan and Rome) to Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport, near Milan. Simultaneously and into the fall, negotiations are held with SAirGroup, parent of Swissair, concerning its acquisition of the remainder of the airline.
Employing one of its BAe 146-200s painted in “Swissair Express” colors, Debonair, Ltd. takes over the major’s route from Zurich to Venice and Bologna on November 5. The service, also flown as a codeshare with Air One, replaces that previously operated with the Crossair, Ltd. SAAB.
Passenger boardings accelerate 14.5% to 1,583,013. The net loss “improves” to L 8.9 billion ($4.9 million) on revenues of $163 million.
Former Italian manager for British Airways, Ltd. (2), Marco Ben-incasa is appointed the carrier’s new managing director on February 15, 1999.
At the beginning of March, a BAe 146-200 is leased from Debonair, Ltd. and placed into “Swissair Express” service.
New daily B-737 roundtrips are inaugurated on October 31 from Turin to both Bari and Naples. Enplanements for the year total 1.4 million.
Eight-times-per-day B-737 return service is inaugurated on February 1, 2000 between Rome and Venice.
Twice-daily B-737 roundtrips from Milan to Catania begin on September 4.
A major marketing and code-sharing agreement is signed with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. on October 5. Under its terms, the German major is able to place its designator on flights to all 15 Air One destinations, while the Italian line will place its code on all DLH flights out of Rome.
AIR ONE SWEDEN, A. B.: Sweden (1989-1994). Air One Sweden, A. B. is established at Ljungby in 1989 to offer regional nonscheduled passenger services. I. Johansson is appointed managing director and he begins revenue charter services with 1 each B-737-200 and Cessna Citation.
AIR ONTARIO, INC.: 1000 Air Ontario Dr., London Airport, London, Ontario N5V 3S4, Canada; Phone (519) 453-8440; Fax (519) 453-0063; Http://www. aircanada. ca/inflight/partners/ifp203a. html;
Code GX; Year Founded 1981. London-based Great Lakes Airlines, Ltd. is reformed at London Airport on April 27, 1981, receiving a new name and corporate identity. The carrier’s 5 Convair CV-580s are given new paint schemes.
All previous routes and services are maintained. In December, the DeLuce family of Timmins, owners of White River Air Service, Ltd. and Austin Airways, Ltd., purchases half interest through its holding company, Delplax Holdings, Ltd. and William DeLuce becomes president.
An interline agreement is signed with Wardair Canada, Ltd. in April 1982 and rights are received allowing direct flights from London to Ottawa and Montreal. Company Convairs fly replacement flights from Montreal to Chatham and Charlo in January 1983 during the Eastern Provincial Airways, Ltd. strike. Later in the year, the carrier begins international services when it inaugurates direct services from London to Cleveland, Ohio.
An unsuccessful bid to acquire Nordair, Ltd. is mounted by Delplax Holdings, Ltd. in early 1984. Following the corporate battle, new aircraft liveries are introduced. Two new routes are opened from Toronto in September: to Hartford, Connecticut and to North Bay. A CV-580 is purchased from Air Cape (Pty.), Ltd. of South Africa in October and is used to start a Toronto-Sudbury frequency in November. Two additional CV-580s arrive from Freedom Airlines in December.
Three more former Freedom Airlines CV-580s are delivered in early 1985 , one in January and two in March. These allow significant domestic expansion of services between Montreal, Ottawa, London, and Windsor and between Montreal, Ottawa, and Sudbury. In July, the Sudbury run is stretched to Winnipeg.
Scheduled service from Toronto to Atlantic City’s casino hotels is inaugurated on October 27; although only six passengers are initially flown, the carrier is confident additional Canadians will travel to the American resorts. Also in October, Delplax Holdings, Ltd., having gained complete control, sells minority interest to Air Canada, Ltd. (24.5%) and Pacific Western Airlines, Ltd. (PWA) (24.5%). The company now provides commuter support to both major operators.
Sault Ste. Marie joins the route network in May 1986. In October, a multimillion-dollar order is made for 15 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-102s and 5 DHC-8-300s. The first DHC-8-102 is delivered on loan in September. Late in the year, Air Canada, Ltd. purchases 75% control from PWA and Delplax. The company is now named a member of the “Air Canada Connector” commuter network.
Air Canada, Ltd.’s schedule designator replaces Air Ontario’s in airline schedules as of early 1987. The DHC-8-102 demonstrator is returned in March and is replaced by the first purchased unit in April; it proudly inaugurates “Air Canada Connector” services to Detroit (DDT). Austin Airways, Ltd., control of which nonunion operation was taken by the state carrier at the same time as that of Air Ontario, Inc., is merged into Air Ontario, Inc. in June.
A pair of leased Fokker F.28s are acquired at the same time. Four more DHC-8-102s are delivered in July and one in November. Meanwhile, August sees the delivery of 28 aircraft: 11 British Aerospace BAe (HS) 748s, 2 DHC-6 Twin Otters, 6 Beech 99s, 4 Douglas DC-3s, 1 Beech King Air 90, and 2 Cessna Citation 501s. All are painted in Air Canada, Ltd.’s red, white, and gray “Air Canada Connector” livery. Four CV-580s are sold, one each in July, August, September, and December.
Airline employment is cut by 22.6% in 1988 to 625. Two more DHC-8-102s are delivered in January-February. Coming as the result of the efforts to integrate union and nonunion flight crews, a pilots’ strike grounds Air Ontario, Inc. from early March to May 4.
On May 7, an agreement for full representation for all pilots is signed with the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association; similar pacts will be signed for the mechanics and ground personnel with the Canadian Auto Workers and for flight attendants with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Some services are not resumed; among those suspended or cancelled are flights to Homepayne, Sachigo, Round Lake, Bearskin Lake, Kasabonika, Geraldton, and Cleveland.
Aircraft deliveries continue. Two Fokker F.28-1000s, leased from TAT (Transport Aerien Transregional, S. A.), arrive in April and May and are employed on the route from Toronto to Winnipeg via Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay. A Toronto-Albany via Syracuse route is started. A total of 8 more DHC-8-102s will be delivered by year’s end, together with 7 Commuter Air Transport Catpass 200s (modified Beech Super King Air 200s).
As a result of all the deliveries, the carrier is able to withdraw large numbers of aircraft, including 1 Catpass 200, 2 Citation 501s, 4 DC-3s, 1 Beech 99, 1 Twin Otter, and 3 CV-580s.
While hauling a shipment of diesel fuel out of Red Lake on November 1, a DC-3C with 2 crew and 1 passenger crashes nose first into Pikangikum Lake (2 dead).
Late in the year, the routes in northern Ontario are sold to Air Cree-bec, Ltd. while those emanating out of Thunder Bay are passed to Bearskin Lake Air Service, Ltd. Air Creebec, Ltd. also purchases the Air Ontario, Inc. facilities at Pickle Lake and Timmins, Ontario. Flights from Thunder Bay to Minneapolis (MSP) are withdrawn. Enplanements climb 5.3% to 593,000.
The workforce is cut by 34% in 1989 to 549. The final ordered DHC-8-102 is delivered in January. Seven of the last eight HS 748s are sold to Air Creebec, Ltd. in February; the eighth is withdrawn in March. Also in February-March, the last Twin Otter, four Beech 99s, and the King Air 90 are sold.
Flight 1363, an F.28-1000 with 4 crew and 65 passengers, arrives at Dryden, Ontario, on March 10 following a flight from Thunder Bay. There, in preparation for departure on a continuing service, the aircraft is refueled with one engine running, there being no serviceable auxiliary power unit (APU). As both the company and the manufacturer prohibit deicing with either engine running, this procedure is omitted, while up to one-quarter inch of snow accumulates on the wings. Just after noon, the aircraft starts its takeoff roll, but is unable to gain altitude, settles back, strikes trees, and comes to rest in a wooded area 3,156-ft. past the end of the runway, catching fire (24 dead).
The disaster is the first fatal crash of a scheduled commercial plane in Canada since the Quebecair, Ltd. crash of 1979. The government appoints a special commission to inquire into the crash and eventually publishes its Final Report in two volumes (Toronto, Ont.: Canadian Minister of Supply and Services, 1992) with a volume of Technical Appendices (Toronto, Ont.: Canadian Minister of Supply and Services, 1992).
Service to Elliot Lake, Ontario, is suspended on April 2 and taken over by Voyageur Airways, Ltd. of North Bay the same day. Also in April, 4 more Beech 99s are withdrawn; the remaining F.28-1000 is returned to TAT (Transporte Aerien Transregional) in the fall.
The fleet at year’s end comprises 3 Beech 99s, 7 Beech Super King Air 200s, including 3 Catpass 200s; 5 CV-580s, 18 DHC-8-102s, with orders outstanding for 10 more; and 1 F.28-1000. Of the DHC-8-102s, 4 are leased to Air Alliance, Inc. and 1 to Air Nova, Inc.
Passenger boardings for the 12 months jump 17.8% to 699,795.
The payroll jumps 20% in 1990 to 660. The last F.28-1000 is withdrawn as 7 more DHC-8-102s join the fleet; the leases to Air Alliance, Inc. and Air Nova, Inc. are increased to 5 and 4 units, respectively. Four new DHC-8-300s are also delivered, with leases let for 5 more.
In February, the “Air Canada Connector” expands services to four markets yielded over by its parent. On March 30, a court issues denies a request from the Toronto City Council for an injunction from prohibiting the airline from starting Rapidair Metro services from Toronto Island Airport in competition with City Express, Ltd. As a result, Rapidair Metro flights commence on April 1 to Ottawa and Montreal. A second attempt to enjoin the service is likewise unsuccessful.
In December, a cooperative agreement, including joint fares and scheduling, is signed with Air Creebec, Ltd.
Customer bookings increase 31.4% to 920,000. Revenues climb 37.7% to C$95 million and expenses allow operating income to reach C$13.9 million.
Two of the five CV-580s are leased to Canair Cargo, Ltd. in 1991. Two more DHC-8-102s arrive. Six of this type are now chartered to Air Alliance, Inc. and three to Air Nova, Inc.; the machine formerly leased to Air Nova, Inc. is chartered to Air Creebec, Ltd., which, beginning in January, feeds Air Ontario’s hub at Timmins. Thrice-week-day flights begin from Toronto Island Airport to Newark in September, the same day thrice-weekday roundtrip flights also begin from Ottawa to Windsor.
Like its parent, the regional is visited by recession. Passenger boardings drop 8.9% to 838,865 and revenues slip 0.3% to C$78.5 million. Costs increase and cut the operating profit to C$11.5 million.
Only 1 Beech 99 and 7 Beech Super King Air 200s remain in the fleet in 1992. Only the 2 CV-580s out on lease to Canair Cargo are retained as 2 DHC-8-311s and 1 more DHC-8-102 are obtained. The charter to Air Alliance now covers 9 DHC-8-102s. New service is inaugurated from Toronto to Baltimore (BWI) in July.
Airline employment in 1993 stands at 700. Destinations served by President Tom Syme’s company include Baltimore (BWI), Cleveland, Hartford, the Ontario towns of London, Montreal, North Bay, Ottawa, Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins, Toronto (Pearson/Toronto Island), Windsor, and Winnipeg. A new route is stretched from Ottawa to Newark and enplanements for the 12 months total 915,800.
In January-February 1994, the company begins to adopt Air Canada’s new color scheme, complete with “evergreen” tails that serve as background for red maple leaves. Following a two-week summer strike by station and maintenance personnel, a two-year collective bargaining agreement is signed with their representative, the Canadian Auto Workers Union, in September. During the same month, service ceases between Newark and Toronto Island Airport. Late in the year, plans are made to initiate scheduled roundtrips to Columbus and Indianapolis the following May.
David McCamus becomes chairman with Stephen C. Smith as presi-dent/CEO. The fleet now comprises 6 DHC-8-311s and 17 DHC-8-102s. Bookings grow to 936,876.
Four-times-per-day DHC-8-311 roundtrips commence in April 1995 between Toronto and Columbus, Ohio. The service to Indiana, with similar frequencies, is started as scheduled in May.
Flights continue without much change in 1996. In December, the carrier’s 146 flight attendants, operating without a contract since August, go out on strike, seeking the same wages, benefits, and working conditions as their counterparts at Air Canada, Ltd. The company hires 85 replacement workers. There are a total of 61,594 scheduled departures and 1,183,097 enplanements.
On January 10, 1997, the company’s pilots join their 900 colleagues from the other “Air Canada Connector” carriers in a strike over merged seniority lists. The action forces a suspension of service to several destinations, including Baltimore (BWI), and six of nine flights from Toronto.
The company, on January 17, resumes four of its five daily roundtrips from Toronto to BWI using replacement pilots. The company continues to operate with replacement workers and charter aircraft, but many flights must be cancelled.
The job action ends on March 8 following a marathon 24-hour negotiating session in a downtown Quebec City hotel. It is decided to leave it to the Canada Labor Relations Board to decide whether Air Canada is to be considered a common employer of both regional and Air Canada, Ltd. pilots.
After months of negotiation, the company’s pilots, on March 10, ratify a new four-year contract with Air Canada, Ltd. Initially tentative, the pact, providing increased benefits and income, is approved by 88% of the eligible flyers voting in a special election. Pilots for the four “Air Canada Connector” airlines begin to return to work on March 10, although flight attendants at this carrier remain on strike until March 26, on which date they ratify a new contract. A tentative agreement had been negotiated two days earlier.
As the result of a loss of both federal grants and provincial subsidy, Toronto City Centre Airport now has only Air Ontario, Inc. as a customer. The carrier completes 44 DHC-8-102 movements from the destination each day.
On June 15, Chautauqua Airlines, a USAirways affiliate, challenges dominance of Air Ontario’s service from Toronto to Columbus when it launches thrice-daily nonstops. Thrice-daily “Air Canada Connector” DHC-8-311 roundtrips begin on July 20 from Toronto to Richmond, Virginia.
Thrice-daily nonstop DHC-8-311 roundtrips commence on October 5 from Toronto to Providence, Rhode Island. These are the first direct, regularly scheduled services between Rhode Island and a foreign country.
Air Ontario adds 2 more nonstops from Toronto to Baltimore (BWI) on October 20, increasing its daily frequencies over the route to 6; 1 more daily roundtrip is simultaneously added from Toronto to the Ontario communities of London (to 16), to Windsor (to 13), and to Sault Ste Marie (to 8).
The number of scheduled departures are down to 57,587 during the year and passenger boardings slip to 1,146,048. Financial statistics are not released at the end of the year, but like all of the stricken “Air Canada Connector” partners, they are expected to be down.
Flights continue in 1998. In a holdover rule from the time it was a crown corporation, Air Canada, Ltd. and its regional affiliates continue to be required to provide bilingual service on flights to and from Montreal, Moncton, and Ottawa. In early April, Commissioner Victor Gold-bloom, head of the Office of Official Languages, files suit against the major and its affiliates after the agency received 24 complaints, primarily against Air Ontario, that flight attendants on the those routes fail to offer passengers their choice of beverages in both official languages. Air Canada, which treats its regionals as separate entities, refuses to acknowledge the complaints.
A significant air travel crisis occurs at Detroit (DDT and DET) on August 29 as Northwest Airlines pilots go on strike. To assist those who would fly between the Detroit and Toronto, Air Ontario increases its capacity between Windsor, Ontario, and Toronto to 900 seats on August 30. That figure is increased to 1,200 seats on September 1 and each day thereafter until the Northwest job action is settled.
Frequencies and schedules for the “Air Canada Connector” are enhanced in the days following the strike by Air Canada, Ltd. pilots on September 2. Daily service is increased from Toronto’s City Centre Airport to Ottawa (20 flights) and Montreal (19 flights).
On September 8, the daily return frequencies of certain transborder flights from Toronto are also increased, through September 11. These include services to Allentown, Pennsylvania (to 4), Baltimore (to 7), and Providence (to 5).
The carrier announces on November 4 that it will launch thrice-week-day DHC-8-311 roundtrips between Toronto and Syracuse on January 4. On November 25, it is announced that four-times-a-day roundtrips from Kingston to Toronto will begin on January 17.
Coincidence and a pair of Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) miscues nearly cause a tragic midair collision at a point 30 mi. SW of Albany on December 1. Misreading the movements of a US-Airways flight, the TCAS aboard an Air Ontario DHC-8-311 en route from Providence to Toronto inadvertently sounds, directing it to climb so as to avoid a Northwest Airlines DC-9-41. The TCAS aboard Northwest’s Douglas transport has directed the aircraft to descend. An air traffic controller notices the difficulty and calls out a warning as the two planes speed toward one another on a collision course. The jetliner and the commuter plane come within less than a mile (800 meters) of each other horizontally and within 300 feet (90 meters) vertically. FAA regulators launch an immediate investigation.
The thrice-weekday DHC-8-311 service from Toronto to Syracuse, scheduled to commence on January 4, 1999, must be postponed due to unusually heavy snowfalls that prevent travel in the region of the city-pair. The flights commence on January 10, with ceremonies at
Syracuse, and represent the only nonstop air service available between the two communities.
A severe winter storm assaults Toronto on the evening of January 14, forcing the airline, together with Air Canada, Ltd., to cancel over 30 departures. Additional manpower is laid on at Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver to accommodate customer inquiries. Blizzard conditions continue at Toronto the next day forcing the two carriers to cancel all of their departures.
Air Ontario President/CEO Smith is appointed on February 11 to the same posts with Westjet Airlines, Ltd. On March 1, Air Ontario Chairman McCamus and Air Nova, Inc. President/CEO Joseph Randell agree to discuss with Air Canada, Ltd. a consolidation of their two airlines. Toward that end, Mr. Randell is immediately appointed interim president of Air Ontario, while maintaining his current Air Nova post.
Air Ontario Vice President-Human Resources and Administration Ruthe-Anne Conyngham is named interim chief operating officer on March 4.
With the consolidation of Air Nova and Air Alliance proving successful, a review of the additional opportunities to be derived from a further consolidation of those two with Air Ontario and AirBC, Ltd. is undertaken during the remainder of the year.
On January 20, 2000, Air Canada announces that the process of consolidating Air Nova, Air Ontario, and AirBC, Ltd. will begin immediately under the leadership of former Air Nova CEO Joseph Randell. It is anticipated that the integration process, which will be facilitated by representatives of the three lines, will require a number of months. In the interim, the three will continue operations under their original names.
On February 9, the Oro Station-based commuter Air Georgian, Ltd. enters into a pact with the large regional, under which it will continue its previous “Canadian Partner” service in new colors to points in southern Ontario and expand flights into the northeastern U. S. The partnership begins on April 2.
Thrice-daily return service is inaugurated on April 3 from Windsor to Montreal and Ottawa.
During the summer, the three regionals, Air BC, Ltd., Air Nova, and Air Ontario take a major step towards their consolidation into a single unit when a head office for a joint carrier is established in Halifax and a western hub at Calgary. Having failed to find a buyer, Air Canada, Ltd. is permitted to take over Canadian Regional Airlines, Ltd. on August 30 and add that feeder into its regional airline consolidation process. When the integration process is completed at year’s end, it is anticipated that the (as yet) unnamed airline will be one of the largest regional airlines in the world, with over 5,000 employees and some 135 aircraft, mostly Dash-8 turboprops.
AIR OPEN SKY, S. A.: Frei 4, Bat 3514, Rue des Voyellles, BP 10256, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle International Airport, F-95704, Paris, France; Phone 33 (1) 48161111; Fax 33 (1) 48161192; Code OPN; Year Founded 1998. Among the last new entrants to become operational in the time frame of this book, Air Open Sky is established at Paris in November 1998 to offer passenger and cargo services. A pair of Avions de Transport Regional ATR42-320s are ordered by President Stephen Brun and a marketing agreement is signed with Air Lib-erte, S. A. In addition, negotiations are undertaken with a major freight company for the operation of night cargo charters from an unnamed European airport.
With the receipt of the first ATR painted in a modified Air Liberte color scheme, revenue flights commence in December linking Brive with Paris (ORY) and Metz with Marseilles and Nice.
A second ATR42-320 is delivered in January 1999 followed by a third later in the year. Flights continue into the new millennium.
AIR OPERATIONS OF EUROPE, A. B.: Sweden (1993-1996). Captain Thomas Johansson founds this Swedish ad hoc charter operation, headquartered at Sollentuna, in February 1993. Shareholding is divided between Johansson and ING Aviation Lease Amsterdam. A workforce of 75 is assembled and revenue services are inaugurated in May with a pair of Lockheed L-1011 TriStar-1s leased from Electra Aviation. An order is placed for several L-1011-50s.
Three L-1011-50s, previously employed by Hawaiian Airlines (HAL) , arrive under charter in 1994, allowing one of the earlier TriStars to be leased to Impala Air, Ltd. The company, yet to standardize on a livery, flies its routes with aircraft displaying the varied color schemes of previous operators with Air Ops markings.
The company continues to expand both its capacity and worldwide destinations in 1995. Early in the year, an L-1011-50 TriStar is purchased from Trans World Airlines (TWA) and two leased Airbus Industrie A300B4s also enter service. A standard all-white livery, with red markings, is adopted. One of the ex-Hawaiian Airlines (HAL) TriStars is leased to Sudan Airways, Ltd. to operate that carrier’s weekly service from London (LGW) to Johannesburg via Khartoum.
Overextended, the company fails in May 1996. Still, it will have one more glorious operation. At the end of November 1998, one of its former TriStars, in storage at Manchester, England, is fixed up enough to be flown to Manston on just two engines and at an altitude of 6,000-ft. with its flaps down. After its safe arrival, the wide-body is scrapped.
AIR OREGON: United States (1980-1982). In 1980, the two-year-old Portland-based charter operator Executive Flight Services elects to establish a scheduled airline subsidiary Air Oregon, giving it a new and independent logo and its leased aircraft new liveries. At this point, the fleet comprises 6 Metro IIs, 1 Metro IIA, and 1 Piper PA-31-310 Navajo.
Plans are made to affiliate with Golden Gate Airlines and Swift Aire in a large commuter network serving points in California, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and the Northwest. However, with the collapse of Golden Gate Airlines, the possibility of a union dissolves.
Meanwhile, destinations include Seattle, Salem, Medford, Reno, Boise, San Francisco, and Sacramento.
Passenger boardings climb 31.9% to 158,050; freight, however, falls by 37% to 787,000 pounds. Expenses, led by fuel costs, outpace income, rising 67.6% to $10.1 million on revenues of $9.8 million. The loss skyrockets by 231% to $356,398.
Airline employment in 1981 totals 218. Bookings climb a slim 2.4% to 161,862, but cargo is down 11.3% to 697,810 pounds. Still, optimism remains as shown by orders for 2 SAAB-Fairchild SF340s for middecade delivery. The reservoir of red ink continues to deepen as expenses jump 19.7% to $12.1 million on revenues, up only 12.5%, of $11 million. The loss is $1.13 million.
Strapped for cash as a result of the PATCO air traffic controllers strike and subsequent air traffic control reductions, the carrier sells out to Horizon Air in June 1982.
AIR ORIENT, S. A.: France (1929-1933). This airline is created in 1930 through the merger of Air Union-Lignes d’Orient,
S. A. (founded in 1927) and Air Asie, S. A. (formed in Indo-China in 1926); its mission would be the continued development of regular services to the nation’s Southeast Asian colonies. In December, the company’s Marseilles-Syria mail route, started in June 1929, is extended to Baghdad.
Early in January 1931, Saigon-based Air Asie, S. A. is acquired, together with its fleet of 4 Potez 32s, 1 Liore et Olivier LeO 198, and its mail route from Saigon to Bangkok. On January 17, a 10-day multistop route is opened by Air Orient to Saigon with full passenger service from Paris to Baghdad. The Mediterranean segment is flown by LeO 242s and CAMS 53s and the remainder by Bruguet 280Ts.
A new corporate emblem, “L’Hippocampe,” is created in 1932; it will be transferred to Air France and worn thereafter.
On August 30, 1933, Air Orient, S. A. and three other companies join under the label of Societe Centrale pour l’Exploitation de Lignes Aeriennes, S. A. (SCELA), negotiate with the government, and are merged to form Air France.
AIR ORLANDO CHARTER: 400 Herndon Ave., Suite 110, Orlando, Florida 32803, United States; Phone (407) 896-1368; Fax (407) 896-6027; Year Founded 1987. AOC is set up at Orlando Executive Airport in 1987 to provide on-demand passenger charters; the operator is certified to offer service throughout the U. S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Revenue flights begin, with emphasis on service to the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.
Operations continue apace without incident until 1995. Just after takeoff from Orlando on June 23, a Beech 58 Baron, with two passengers, loses power to its left engine. While attempting to return for an emergency landing, the plane strikes trees and crashes, killing both passengers.
By 1998-2000, the fleet includes 1 each Cessna 550 Citation II, Beech King Air 90, and a replacement Beech 58 Baron.
AIR OSTRAVA SPOL, S. R.O.: Czech Republic (1994-2000). Ostrava-based Air Vitkovice undergoes a change in its corporate identity during 1994, choosing to identify with its base city as a public limited company (S. R.O.).
With continued financial backing from the Chemapol Group, Managing Director Josef Homak makes plans to replace his 3 Let-410s with 3 British Aerospace Jetstream 31s. Revenue flights are continued from Ostrava to Prague, Nuremberg, Brno, and Vienna.
Pavel Hradec becomes managing director in early 1995 following the company’s purchase in April from the Vitkovice Iron & Steel Company by the Chemapol Group, a large Czech chemical and pharmaceutical trading concern. The new executive’s fleet now includes the 3 Lets, 1 Cessna Citation III, and 2 SAAB 340As. Although 2 BAe Jetstream 31s arrive during the year, they do not replace the Lets; the order for the third is cancelled.
Return flights commence in June from Ostrava to Amsterdam via Prague seven-times-a-week. Also during late spring and summer as CSA Czech Airlines withdraws from the Ostrava to Prague route, it enters into a block-seat, code-sharing agreement on Air Ostrava’s six daily return flights between the two cities.
Scheduled flights begin to Salzburg and Poprad/Tatry, the airline’s third and fourth international destinations, and holiday charters to Mediterranean points commence in late fall.
Operations continue apace in 1996 as a pair of SAAB 340As are acquired. Airline employment stands at 160 in 1997. During the summer, additional code-sharing flights commence with CSA Czech Airlines. Principal destinations visited now include Cologne, Kosice, Ljubljana, Prague, Strasbourg, Vienna, and Zilina.
Flights continue without fanfare in 1998. During the first quarter of 1999, a SAAB 340A becomes a logo-turboprop, painted in a color scheme designed to promote Skoda’s latest automobile, the Felicia.
Fiscal difficulties for the regional force it to shut down and seek bankruptcy protection on March 2, 2000. The company’s 4 leased SAAB 340As are returned and website closed. On March 10, CSA Czech Airlines launches replacement service between Ostrava and Prague.
AIR OUTRE MER, S. A.: France (1987-1992). Air Outre Mer, S. A. is founded by Rene Micaud, in association with the Les Creolies hotel chain, on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion on July 1, 1987. Naming his carrier for the first Air Outre Mer, S. A., which operated in Indochina between 1950 and 1954, Micaud makes plans to offer luxury air service between Reunion and France, but start-up plans are delayed in 1988.
In a public ceremony at the Paris Salon in June 1989, Micaud and his associates sign an order with McDonnell Douglas for the purchase of 4 MD-11s. Pending their delivery, the company signs a lease/purchase agreement with SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) for the acquisition of 3 DC-10-30s.
AOM employs the first Douglas wide-body, received on May 21, to commence thrice-weekly roundtrip revenue flights between Paris and
St. Denis de la Reunion on May 28, 1990, just after Air Ocean Indien, S. A. is established as a domestic subsidiary. Three Dornier 228s are purchased for AOI in November.
Another pair of leased DC-10-30s is acquired in 1991 and charter authority is granted to Guadeloupe and Cairo, the latter city already a technical stop on the return flight from Reunion to France. As a result of the recession that has occurred in the wake of the Gulf War, company efforts to sell its luxury service are frustrated and financial losses mount. Twice-weekly Paris to Miami roundtrips commence on October 5; however, the service is suspended in December.
Following the resignation of founder Micaud late in the year, the airline is purchased by the Credit Lyonnais subsidiary Sega, a banking group.
Still, during this first full year of service, a total of 111,197 passengers and 32 million FTKs are flown. Revenues total $72.2 million, but expenses are more and leave an operating loss of $40 million.
On January 1, 1992, Sega joins the company with another independent carrier, Minerve, S. A., reforming the enlarged aerial enterprise into AOM French Airlines, S. A.
AIR PAC AIRLINES: United States (1978-1986). Formed in Anchorage in August 1978, privately owned AirPac begins charter and contract service operations in the fall. In cooperation with Alaska Airlines, the carrier inaugurates scheduled service to Dutch Harbor in March 1982. The fleet now includes Cessna 441s, a Grumman G-21 Goose, and a Fairchild Hiller FH-227B. The company name is changed to Air Pacific Airlines in December.
A British Aerospace BAe 146-100 is now acquired and employed, beginning in 1984, to provide replacement services for its national associate to the following destinations: Adak, Akutan, Cold Bay, Dillingham, Dutch Harbor, King Salmon, Kodiak, Nikolski, St. George Island, St. Paul Island, and Sand Point. This is the first pur-jet service to the Aleutians. The jetliner is supplemented by the fleet’s propeller equipment, which includes 1 Fokker F.27, 1 Fairchild Hiller FH-227, 1 Cessna 441, and 3 Grumman G-21 Geese.
Operations continue apace in 1985 as enplanements jump 53.1% to 49,000.
During the first quarter of 1986, plans are made to change the company name to Alaska Pacific Airlines (so as not to confuse its identity with that of the Seattle-based Airpac Airlines, launched two years earlier) and initiate a jet service from Anchorage to Seattle, via Dutch Harbor and Sitka. Notice of rising insurance costs received in May, however, forces the company to return its BAe to its manufacturer in June.
AirPac files for Chapter XI bankruptcy on July 11. Plans made to reorganize and reemerge are not realized.
World History
