OKI AIRWAYS: Lamela 4/1 (Stari Airport), P. O. Box 73, Podgorica, 81000, Montenegro; Phone 381 81 37 704; Fax 381 81 52 648; Code OKI1; Year Founded 1993. Dr. Jusuf Hodzic founds OKI at Podgorica on April 28, 1993 to offer international and regional charters, both passenger and cargo. His concern is the second airline to be formed in the new Republic of Montenegro. A workforce of 10 is recruited and revenue flights commence with a pair of Yakovlev Yak-40s.
Services continue in 1994-1998, a number of which are flown on behalf of Montenegro Airlines. Destinations visited include Bari, Belgrade, and Istanbul. Plans are made to stretch links during the new year to Sofia and Naples.
In anticipation of air strikes by NATO countries against Serbian military targets in a campaign to compel Belgrade to accept a peace agreement with the ethnic Albanians fighting for an independent Kosovo, OKI Airways, on March 24, 1999, halts all service into Belgrade as Yugoslav airspace is closed. A spokesman, in making the announcement, indicates that the situation will be evaluated further; however, that evening, Operation Allied Force, the bombing attack on targets in Serbia and Kosovo, begins.
Flights to Belgrade, as well as to Sarajevo, Mostar, Zagreb, Split, Skopje, Tirana, Ljubijana, Timisoara, and Sofia remains halted on March 25-31 and for much of the duration of the NATO bombing campaign.
Although the fighting requires that OKI Airways be grounded, the company is able to generate some income by operating a number of refugee flights on behalf of the UN Human Rights Commissioner and International Organization for Migration. Additional relief flights north into Western Europe will also be completed in the days ahead until Operation Allied Force is concluded on June 11.
A ban against flights by Yugoslav-based airlines into the European Union is lifted on October 11.
OKLAHOMA SHORT LINE AIRWAYS: United States (1930). This short-lived southwestern carrier is established at Tulsa in the summer of 1930 to operate multistop, scheduled passenger flights up to Memphis. Travel Air 6000 revenue flights commence in July, but generate so little traffic that they must cease in October.
OKLAHOMA-TEXAS AIR LINE: United States (1931-1932). Organized at Oklahoma City in the spring of 1931, O-TAL is equipped with a Ryan B-5 Brougham, which is employed to open scheduled passenger and air express flights to Wichita Falls via Lawson on June 15. The company becomes a member of the Independent Operators’ Association; services are conducted in association with Braniff Airways and continue into early 1932.
OLLEY AIR SERVICE, LTD.: United Kingdom (1934-1961). In association with Blackpool and West Coast Air Services, Ltd., pioneer Imperial Airways, Ltd. pilot Gordon P. Olley registers this air taxi and charter company at London on January 10, 1934. Initial backing is from Sir James Dunn and Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen, who provide capitalization of ?6,015. Two de Havilland DH 84 Dragons are purchased in February and May and employed to begin ad hoc charter flights in the spring.
Olley will recall the start of his own airline, but mainly his Imperial flying, in his useful memoirs published during the year, A Million Miles in the Air: Personal Experiences, Impressions, and Stories of Travel by Air (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1934).
An Airspeed AS.6A Envoy 1 is leased from Cobham Air Routes, Ltd. in January 1935. The carrier’s first two DH 89 Dragon Rapides are purchased in February and March, replacing a DH 84 sold in February. Regularly scheduled daily flights are undertaken from London (Croydon) to Deauville via Brighton between July 13 and August 31.
The fleet is upgraded in 1936 by the addition of a DH 83 Fox Moth, a DH 84 Dragon, two DH 85 Leopard Moths, and another DH 89 Dragon Rapide. Cobham’s Envoy 1 is returned in August, while a DH 84 is sold. In March and July 1937, two DH 89A Dragon Rapides are acquired. Meanwhile, following a May meeting at the Greyhound Hotel near Croydon Airport, the British ALPA is formed with Lord Chesham as president and Lord Amhurst as vice president. One pilot from Olley
Air Service joins a colleague from Surrey Flying Services and two each from Imperial Airways, Ltd. and British Airways, Ltd. (1) in forming the initial organizing committee. On September 26, the operator takes a ?25,000, one-third interest in the new Isle of Man Air Services, Ltd.
In 1938, Channel Air Ferries, Ltd. is formed. The Fox Moth and Leopard Moth are sold in September and October, respectively. Channel’s services and aircraft are taken over by another new investment, Great Western and Southern Air Lines, Ltd. (owned jointly with the railroad’s group, British and Foreign Aviation) in March 1939. One DH 89 is sold in April, a DH 84 in August, a DH 89 in September, and a DH 89A in October. Meanwhile, all civil flying ceases on September 3 when war is declared on Germany.
A DH 89 is sold in January and a DH 89A and a DH 85 in March, 1940. On May 5, Olley’s firm is one of seven companies joining the Associated Airways Joint Committee for the wartime coordination of domestic air routes and services. Capt. Olley is appointed operations manager for the conglomerate and during 1940-1945, he flies a single remaining Dragon Rapide on occasional charters from his headquarters field at Liverpool.
With two DH 89As, OAS resumes ad hoc charter work from Liverpool on January 1, 1946, the day civil flight resumes in Britain. Two Per-cival Proctors are acquired in August and October, respectively. On September 17, a Percival Proctor 1, leased from North Sea Air Transport, is lost in a crash at Zurich. Air Commerce, Ltd., a charter operator based at London (Croydon), and its two DH 89As are purchased in December. The new acquisition is allowed to continue operations under its own name with one retained Dragon Rapide.
Three of Capt. Olley’s associate companies are taken into the new British European Airways Corporation (BEA) in February 1947— West Coast Air Services, Ltd., Great Western and Southern Air Lines, Ltd., and Isle of Man Air Services, Ltd. Great Western Railway Company and London, Midland and Scottish Railway now share full ownership of the carrier. In April and June, two Airspeed AS.65 Consuls are purchased and these join the Dragon Rapides and Percival Proctors in opening charter services to the Continent during the summer.
In June, Olley participates in aviation industry’s relief of stranded British tourists in France and Switzerland, their plight caused by a French railway strike; over 200 passengers are returned to the U. K. An order is now placed for three DH 104 Dove 1s, the first two of which are delivered on September 24 and November 14. Two DH 89As are sold during the year.
Three more DH 89As are added in February 1948. The third DH 104 is ready to enter service on March 8. Charter operations are again offered, with the carrier gaining a certain reputation for offering flights to horse racetracks.
The fleet in 1949 comprises 6 DH 89As, 3 DH 104s, and 3 AS.65s. The carrier’s first scheduled route is obtained under an associate agreement with British European Airways Corporation (BEA) and on June 3, four-times-per-week London (Croydon)-Le Touquet service begins. On July 15, a Consul is lost in a crash at Chiswick. A Dragon Rapide is sold in October.
Two more Dragon Rapides are sold during 1950 and during the year, the company’s board of directors is reorganized, with Keith Grand named chairman and Capt. Olley retaining his position as managing director.
Except for the sale of the Percival Proctor 3 in November, Olley’s fleet does not change in 1951, while airline employment stands at 50. The company starts three new British European Airways Corporation (BEA) associate routes: London (Croydon) to Bristol, Exeter, Newquay, and Land’s End, to Weston-super-Mare, and to Bristol. Ad hoc charters continue and a total of 8,750 passengers are flown on the year.
An April Dragon Rapide sale is the only fleet change of 1952, while new scheduled London (Croydon)-Jersey and Guernsey frequencies are launched. Enplanements reach 8,840. In February 1953, Chairman Grand resigns and the air company is purchased by Morton Air Services, Ltd., which allows the pioneer to retain its previous identity.
Capt. Olley retains his previous post as managing director. As most of Oiley’s fleet is a duplication of Morton’s, it is sold to Cambrian Airways, Ltd., then known as Cambrian Air Services, Ltd.
Employing Morton Air Services, Ltd. DH 104 Dove Is, Olley flies scheduled and nonscheduled services during the following summers; boardings in 1953 are 11,900 and in 1954 total 12,500. Capt. Olley dies on March 18, 1958; however, Morton keeps his company alive, in timetables, through the summer of 1961.
OLSON AIR SERVICE: P. O. Box 142, Nome, Alaska 99762, United States; Phone (907) 443-3625; Fax (907) 443-5017; Code 4B; Year Founded 1979. David K. Olson forms OAS at Nome, Alaska, in 1979 to provide scheduled Cessna passenger and cargo flights to the following communities: Diomede, Wales, Brevig, Televe, Shishmaref, Savoonga, Gambell, Golovin, White Mountain, Elim, Koyuk, Shaktoa-lik, and Council. Operations continue apace for the next 11 years.
The fleet in 1990 includes 3 Cessna 207As and 1 each Cessna 185, Cessna 206, Cessna 310, Cessna 402, and de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter. Enplanements total 4,149.
Passenger boardings inch upward in 1991 to 4,278 and a total of 714,923 pounds of mail are also flown.
In 1993-1994, the company employs 15 workers and operates a fleet of 2 Cessna 402s, 1 Cessna 310, 3 Cessna 207As, 1 Beech 18, and 1 Cessna 185. Passenger boardings for the latter year total 7,947.
One new worker is employed in 1995 and enplanements decline 8% to 7,359.
Traffic recovers in 1996 as customer bookings increase 34.7% to 9,914.
Margaret M. Olson is president in 1997, with Donald C. Olson as vice president, Karol Olson as secretary, and Margaret C. Olson as treasurer. J. R. Beans is general manager. The fleet now includes 3 Cessna 307s, 2 C-402s, and 1 Piper Saratoga.
Just after landing at Teller on April 3, a Cessna 207A with a pilot and six passengers veers off the left side of the runway; the aircraft’s nose-wheel digs into soft snow, causing the plane to nose over. One person receives minor injuries.
While on final approach to Nome on June 27, a Cessna 207A with 2 passengers collides with a 260-ft. tall radio antenna located 3.85 nm. E of the runway. There are no survivors.
The previous year’s traffic bonanza turns into a 47.6% downturn in bookings, which fall to 5,199.
Service is maintained in 1998, but business is horrific. Passenger boardings drop to just 1,000. Still, schedules are met during the remainder of the year and into the new millennium.
World History
