(1929-1934). Kohler is organized by John B. Kohler and his brother Frank at Grand Rapids, Michigan, during the summer of 1929 to offer Lake shore flights to Milwaukee. Richard Robbins is appointed presi-dent/CEO. Joseph Doerflinger becomes chief pilot, as well as crew chief, baggage handler, and ticket agent. Together with a pair of copilots, Doerflinger travels to New York City to obtain a Keystone-Loening C-2C amphibian, which the trio ferry back to Michigan. A proving flight occurs in late August from Lake Muskegon to Maitland Field, Milwaukee, and the company is officially opened for business on September 1.
Scheduled passenger and air express flights begin on September 21, with Milwaukee’s mayor, Daniel W. Hoan, as featured traveler. Following an elaborate welcoming ceremony and banquet, twice-daily frequencies are initiated over Lake Michigan the next day. The route is now sold to Northwest Airways, which sublets it back to Kohler.
Between May 15 and June 9, 1930, President Richard Robbins attends the so-called “Spoils Conference” at Washington, D. C., together with Postmaster General Walter F. Brown and the heads of various air transport concerns. While the executives discuss air routes and subsidies, the fleet grows to include three Loenings. As a result of the Washington meeting and during May 1931, Grand Rapids to Detroit service is started with six new C-2Cs.
A C-2C makes a faulty takeoff run from Milwaukee harbor on August 29, 1932 and crashes; pilot Jim Benedict is rescued by a USCG cutter. Plane No. 5 is lost in a hangar fire at Milwaukee in late 1933.
On February 9, 1934 (effective February 19), the government, reacting to an “Air Mail Scandal,” cancels all mail contracts. Without subsidy, Kohler’s C-2Cs sit idle. At the end of March, following a disastrous attempt by the Army Air Corps to fly the mail, the Post Office offers new bids to commercial operators, excepting those participating in the May-June 1930 “Spoils Conference.”
Despite the specific prohibition, Kohler rebids its previous routes, but it is rejected due to Robbins presence at Brown’s infamous 1930 meeting. Without the mail subsidy, the carrier cannot continue and is sold in June to Pennsylvania Airlines.
KOKUSAI KOKU YUSO K. K.: Chofu Airport, 1060 Nishi-Machi, Chofu-shi, Tokyo, 182, Japan; Phone 81 422-32-2211; Fax 81 42232-7129; Year Founded 1962. KKY is established at Tokyo in 1962 to
Offer executive and small group passenger charters and contract service flights. By 2000, the company, which now also flies small-package express, employs 18 full-time pilots and operates 2 Cessna 206 Station-aires, 1 Cessna 207A Skywagon, and 20 Cessna 172 Skyhawks.
World History
