SHAHEEN AIRLINES, LTD.: 157-8 Clifton Road, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan; Phone 92 (21) 587-2191; Fax 92 (21) 458-3337; Code NL; Year Founded 1991. With backing from a military pension fund, the Shaheen Foundation, and the general sales agents Akbar Aviation Group, Ltd., Shaheen is formed at Karachi in the first quarter of 1991 and is Pakistan’s first independent, privately owned air cargo carrier. M. I. Akbar is appointed president/CEO under Chairman/Air Chief Marshal Abbas Khattak and he recruits a workforce of 140 and acquires a Boeing 707-320C. Stratoliner charter cargo operations to five European destinations begin in the fall.
On October 10, 1993, the Shaheen Foundation/Akbar Aviation Group joint venture is reconfigured into a holding company for the operation not only of the freight-oriented Shaheen Airlines, but of a new passenger-carrying service, Shaheen Air International, Ltd. The Stratofreighter is joined by a pair of B-737-2P5As dry-leased from Thai Airways International, Ltd. (THAI); the Bangkok-based flag carrier also signs a technical contract with the new entrant. With hired Brazilian crews, the “Baby Boeings” are employed to inaugurate scheduled passenger services on December 1, linking the company’s base with Islamabad. Frequencies to Lahore and Peshawar commence on December 22.
During 1994, the workforce is increased to 300 and a contract is signed with Continental Airlines for the training of pilots at Houston. Ex-Pakistani Air Force pilots now become cockpit crews. Akbar Aviation Group sells its interest to the Shaheen Foundation and by government decree, a money-losing weekly roundtrip is now introduced by SAI from Karachi to the Arabian Sea community of Pasni. On October 23, the government also confirms Shaheen as Pakistan’s second flag carrier and plans are also made by it at year’s end to lease an Airbus Industrie A300B4.
The new Airbus arrives on February 5, 1995 and it is flown by U. S. contract pilots on domestic services as well as on a new thrice-weekly international route from Peshawar to Dubai. As a result of prolonged fractional violence at Karachi during the first two quarters, the U. S. pilots finally refuse to fly to that city. They are terminated on August 1, as is the Airbus lease.
A second A300B4 is leased in the fall and with a fresh compliment of pilots training at Houston, it relaunches service during the first week of November. Added is a government-required weekly roundtrip from Karachi to Pasni on the coast.
By the end of December, the company is operating 129 weekly domestic sectors. While seeking additional international destinations, the company also signs interline agreements with Singapore Airlines, Ltd. and Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G.
Although traffic figures are not released, company officials note at year’s end that the company has had revenues of $24.6 million and made a $2.9-million net profit.
Airline employment at the beginning of 1996 stands at 650. On May 2, domestic flights are suspended in order to allow Shaheen to be reformed. The Airbus service from Peshawar to Dubai continues uninterrupted.
Reformed, Shaheen Airlines prepares to resume domestic and freight services at the end of December 1997. Airline leadership is now provided by CEO M. Arshad Jalil and Managing Director Air Vice Marshal A. Masood Khan, PAF (Ret.).
An A320-200, wet leased by Shaheen Air International, Ltd. from Constellation International Airlines, S. A., enters service on December 19 over the thrice-weekly Dubai route. A Boeing 737-400 is employed on December 21 to relaunch flights from Karachi to Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar.
The chartered Shaheen Air International, Ltd. A320-200 is returned on April 24, 1998. It is replaced with a leased Tupolev Tu-154M.
National problems arising from nuclear testing and border fighting with India during 1999 do not impact upon services. Shaheen Air International Ltd., employing the leased Tu-154M, inaugurates a second flight between Karachi and Dubai on September 2.
On September 1, 2000, the AI-Sumbal Group invests $10 million, while an unnamed London-based UAE firm puts in another $3.5 million. The infusion will be employed to purchase new equipment, beginning with an Airbus Industrie A321 ordered on October 11.
An attempt to gain international route authorization for Shaheen Air International, Ltd. fails on November 3 when the Pakistani government denies a petition seeking permission to begin regularly scheduled flights to Jeddah and Manchester. Frequencies to Abu Dhabi are, however, approved.
SHAMROCK AIRLINES (1): United States (1973-1974). Shamrock Airlines is set up at Easton, Maryland, in 1973 to provide scheduled air taxi services across the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore. Daily Piper PA-23 Aztec roundtrips are duly inaugurated, but are maintained only into 1974.
SHAMROCK AIRLINES (2): United States (1969-1980). The second Shamrock is actually the first established, being founded in 1969 as a division of the Atlanta-based Douglas and Lomason Company. Employing a large fleet of 3 Douglas DC-6As and 7 Curtiss C-46 Commandos, the company inaugurates nonscheduled all-cargo services to South America from a base at San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Flights continue apace, but business declines steadily during the late 1970s. By 1978 , the company operates just four Commandos. The operation is liquidated in 1980.
SHANDONG AIRLINES COMPANY, LTD.: Yaoqiang Airport, Jinan (Shandong), 250011, China; Phone 86 (531) 554081; Fax 86 (531) 554082; Http://www. shandongair. com; Code SC; Year Founded 1994. Shandong Airlines is established by the local government at Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province on China’s northeast coast, in March 1994 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services to domestic destinations. Sun Dehan is appointed president and he is outfitted with a fleet of Xian Y-7-100 turboprops (license-built Antonov An-24s) that are employed to inaugurate revenue flights in December.
Eight-times-per-week flights are made from Jinan to Quingdao, Yantai, Jining, and Shenzhen. At year’s end, orders are placed for three B-737-300s (later four) that will allow the company to begin national service.
Operations continue apace in 1995 as plans are made for receipt of the first B-737-35H late in the year. Its delivery is, however, delayed.
The first of a trio of 141-seat B-737-35Hs to join the fleet in 1996 is delivered at the end of April. The route network is increased to 10 destinations with the addition of Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, while the number of flights per week reaches 60. Replacing Xian Y-7-100s, the second two “Baby Boeings” enter service in the fall.
Enplanements, reported for the first time, reach 310,000. In addition, 2.83 million FTKs are operated.
In September 1997, Shandong, in line with Chinese government policy designed to reduce the number of regional airlines so as to increase the efficiency of competition, is one of six carriers to form the New Star Alliance. When activated on the following January 1, the informal compact will, hopefully, begin to boost the quality of its members’ services via integrated passenger and marketing services and code-sharing on selected routes.
The company’s fourth B-737-35H is received at Qingdao Liuting International Airport on August 3, 1998. Enplanements for the year increase by 11.3% to 693,000, while cargo traffic surges ahead by 47.3% to 7.53 million FTKs.
Orders are placed on November 9, 1999 for five Canadair CRJ200ERs; the sale represents the first for the Bombardier type to any scheduled Chinese regional airline. Upon their arrival, they will join a B-737 fleet that includes 2 Dash-3Y0s and 5 Dash-35Ns. A Chinese-language homepage is opened on the Internet at year’s end.
Customer bookings during these 12 months total 756,000 and 1.26 million FTKs are operated.
In August 2000, Shandong applies to China’s securities moderator for permission to go ahead and stage an initial public offering. Such a move would see the issue of 140 million hard-currency B shares that would bring outstanding shares to 400 million, of which 35% are B shares. Income from the offering would be applied to aircraft purchases.
Five additional Bombardier CRJ200ERs are ordered during the first week of September. As reported by the carrier on October 16, a takeover agreement has been signed in September with Shanxi Airlines Company, Ltd. Under its terms, Shandong will purchase a controlling stake in the Tiayuan-based carrier using cash and the sale planes. Concrete provisions and details remain under negotiation and will be announced only after final arrangements have been completed.
The first CRJ from the earlier order is delivered in Canadian ceremonies on October 23.
Reacting to rising fuel costs, the CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China) on November 1 grants the nation’s 34 airlines permission to raise ticket prices by 15% to balance passenger traffic and avgas costs; 23 companies, including Shandong, increase fares on November 5.
On November 10, the premier CRJ, as well as its first DHC 8-Q400, arrive at the company base. Both aircraft have flown to China from Canada via Dubai.
Thrice-weekly CRJ200ER roundtrips commence on November 27 from Qingdao, in Shandong Province to Golmud in Qinghai Province via Zhengzhou in Henan Province and Xining in Qinghai Province. The Bombardier requires four hours to fly the one-way leg of what may the world’s most remote jet route. Golmud is the country’s largest salt and chemical industrial base and is known locally as “Salt Lake City.”
At year’s end, the company offers 94 weekly flights to 41 Chinese cities, most of which are located in coastal areas.
SHANGHAI AIRLINES COMPANY, LTD.: North Gate, Shanghai Hongojiao International Airport, Shanghai, 200335, China; Phone 86 (21) 268-8558; Fax 86 (21) 255-8107; Http://www. shanghai-air. com; Code FM; Year Founded 1985. Shanghai is one of several regional carriers established in early 1985 under the auspices of CAAC (General Administration of Civil Aviation of China). Based at Shanghai’s Honqiao International Airport, this company, presently the largest independent airline in China, is founded by the Shanghai municipal government and private investors. The carrier initially purchases 5 used Boeing 707s in April. Partly because it had no authority for this action from Beijing, the company, despite backing from the Bank of China and Shanghai’s Jinjiang Group, is not allowed to begin operations.
In August 1986, Singapore Airlines, Ltd. sends six B-707 engineers to Shanghai for a six-month period to help the carrier get its aircraft into shape and these are employed to launch charter flights to Guangzhou and Beijing in December.
Enplanements total 1.09 million.
A fleet of four Xian Y-7 (Chinese license-built Antonov An-24s) is acquired in 1987 to fly local routes from hubs at Nanchang, Jinan, and Hefei.
Charter and scheduled bookings for the year total 1,887,300.
The larger state-owned China Eastern Airlines Company, Ltd. is
Established at Shanghai in June 1988 and from this point, much of the press turns its attention to coverage of that enterprise. Shanghai, owned 75% by the local government and 25% by private investors, places orders for 5 Boeing B-757s.
En route from Ningbo to Xiamen on April 24, 1989, a Y-7 with 50 passengers is captured by a lone assailant who demands to be flown to Taiwan and stabs a stewardess during the takeover. When the man learns that the aircraft has arrived not at Taipei, but at Fuzhou, he pulls the lanyard on a bomb he is carrying, which explodes, killing himself and wounding two others.
The first two B-757-26Ds arrive in 1990 followed by one more in
1991. He Peng Nian is chairman, president, and CEO in 1992 and his workforce totals 800. Orders are placed for additional B-757s.
Services continue apace in 1993-1994, with two more B-757-26Ds entering service during the latter year. Orders are placed for five B-767-36Ds.
One more B-757-26D and the first B-767-36D are delivered in 1995. Toward the middle of the second quarter, an agreement is concluded with Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2) under which the Chinese airline will send approximately 90 flight attendant candidates to Tokyo for a 4-month training course.
Enplanements total 1,588,140.
Sun Zhong Li is president and general manager in 1996 and he oversees an employee population of 1,300. The fleet now includes 7 B-757-26Ds and 1 B-767-36D; orders are outstanding for 4 of the latter type. Destinations visited in China now include Beijing, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Guilin, Harbin, Kunming, Lanzhou, Nanning, Shantzu, Shenzhen, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xian, and Zhubai.
Passenger boardings jump 8.2% to 1.73 million while cargo rises 18.1% to 34.84 million FTKs.
The last B-757 and two more B-767s enter service in 1997. Orders are placed for three B-767-36Ds to be delivered in the year 2000. In April, an agreement is concluded with ILFC for the charter of three Next Generation B-737-7Q8s beginning in the spring of 1998. On August 28, government approval is received for the inauguration of regional services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macao.
Enplanements for the year decline to 1,684,000 and 46.3 million FTKs are operated.
The premier Next Generation B-737-7Q8, resplendent in the carrier’s red and white livery, enters service during the second quarter of 1998. On June 25, thrice-weekly roundtrips commence between Shanghai and Zhousan Island, a tourist destination in Zhejiang Province.
Weekly B-737-7Q8 nonstop roundtrips are inaugurated on December 24 between Xian and Xining.
Enplanements for the year total 2.13 million, while 83.15 million FTKs are operated. A net profit of $3 million is reported.
On September 16, 1999, the company is given the honor of making the first landing at Shanghai’s new Pudong International Airport.
Service between Shanghai and Macao is doubled on October 6 to four return flights every week. When Portugal hands over Macau to China in December, Shanghai loses its only “international” flight. Connections are still made at that point with EVA Aiways, Ltd. flights to Taiwan; the two companies enjoy a special relationship that includes through-ticketing.
Customer bookings inch up 0.7% during these 12 months to 2,145,000, while freight jumps 17.4% to 105.9 million FTKs. Longer segments continue to be operated with a fleet of 7 B-757-26Ds and 3 B-767-36Ds.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 2,300, a 1% increase over the previous 12 months.
Weekly B-737 charters are initiated on February 18 to Pochentong, Cambodia; the flights become scheduled in April. Meanwhile, in midMarch, orders, valued at C$98 million, are placed with Bombardier for three CRJ200ERs.
The company’s fourth Next Generation B-737, a Dash-76D, is received at Hongqiao International Airport on May 30.
On May 21, weekly roundtrip service, code-shared with Royal Air Cambodge, S. A., is inaugurated between Shanghai and Phnom Penh. Shanghai thus becomes the first Chinese local service operator to fly abroad. The flights become twice weekly on June 4. The last of five Next Generation B-737s delivered since April 1998 is delivered on July 10; the Dash-76D will arrive at Shanghai three days later and enter service on the routes from Shanghai to Thailand.
In response to a fatal June 22 Xian Airlines Y-7-100C crash, CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China), in fact, delivers a major reorganization plan to the China State Council in mid-July. Among the proposals is a release of all airlines from the requirement that they purchase aircraft through CAAC. More important, however, is a recommendation that the 13 largest of China’s 34 carriers be consolidated into 3 groups built around Air China International Corporation, China Eastern Airlines Company, Ltd., and China Southern Airlines Company, Ltd. Shanghai begins negotiations to become a partner in the group centered around China Eastern Airlines Company, Ltd.
The orders for three Bombardier CRJ200ERs are confirmed during the first week of September.
Reacting to rising fuel costs, on November 1 the CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China) grants the nation’s 34 airlines permission to raise ticket prices by 15% to balance passenger traffic and avgas costs; 23 companies, including Shanghai, increase fares on November 5.
On December 1, the company joins in the frequent flyer program of Air China International Corporation, Ltd. Passengers flying with either airline will receive a free ticket when they have flown a collective 10,000 km. (6,215 mi.).
The first CRJ200ER is accepted in ceremonies at Montreal on December 3. The new regional jet arrives at Shanghai two days later, having completed its delivery flight via Munich, Dubai, and Kunming. It enters commercial service on December 25 from Shanghai to Jinan, Nachang, and Weihai.
As the year ends, new Chairman/General Manader Zhou Chi indicates that his airline will be reformed into a joint-stock company. The first of four Next Generation B-737-8Q8s is expected in January.
SHANGHAI-CHENGTU AIR MAIL LINE: China (1929-1930). In April 1929, Wang Po-chun, the minister of communications in the cabinet of Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, allies himself with War Minister Feng Yu Liang and Chinese National Aeronautics Association Chairman Gen. Chang Ching-yu in opposing the creation of China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC-1). In addition to their oratory, the three combine their resources to create an airline.
The Ministry of Communications in May signs a contract with the Stinson Company in the U. S. for four Stinson SM-1F Detroiter monoplanes. These duly arrive at Shanghai by ship at the end of June and are reassembled by two American pilots and a mechanic employed by the manufacturer.
Once ready for operations, the four aircraft form the heart of Minister Wang’s Shanghai-Chengtu Air Mail Line. Revenue flights commence as far as Nanking on July 8 and are the first sustained passenger and airmail frequencies performed by any carrier in China. In the jumbled politics of prewar China, the president of the still-paper CNAC-1 resigns on November 15 and is succeeded by none other than Wang Po-chun.
On January 31, 1930, President Wang is able to secure the contract cancellation of another new entrant, China Airways Federal (CAF). He then settles into a protracted negotiation with Curtiss-Wright Company representative Max S Polin. These are successfully concluded on July 8, at which time CNAC-1 is reformed into a new company with the same name. The assets of CAF and the Shanghai-Chengtu Air Mail Line are taken over and merged, with the latter now ceasing flights. During its year of operation, Wang’s airline has flown a total of 354 passengers.
SHANK-MCMULLEN AIRCRAFT COMPANY: United States (1923). Two gentlemen named Shank and McMullen establish a large air taxi and charter concern at Huntington, West Virginia, in the spring of 1923. With a fleet of 15 Curtiss JN-4D Jennies, 5 Standard J-1s, 2 Thomas Morse S-4Cs, 3 Curtiss HS-2Ls, 1 Curtiss MF, and 1 Curtiss Oriole, the company undertakes nonscheduled, multistop passenger and cargo flights to Charleston, Cincinnati, and Roanoke.
Unable to achieve financial viability, the company closes down before year’s end.
SHANNON AIR, LTD.: Ireland (1964-1966). With American financial backing and Theodore Roosevelt’s son Kermit as director general, this nonscheduled operation is formed in early 1964 to fly international charters from Shannon Airport. The first aircraft, a Douglas DC-4, is delivered in early May and on May 30 it begins revenue services with a charter flight, Shannon-Manchester. Weekly charters are flown to this British city and beginning in July, to Birmingham. Also in July, a DC-7CF is purchased and during the fall flies long-range charters to the Western Hemisphere.
Another DC-7CF is acquired in March 1965 and with the previous machine, undertakes a full schedule of passenger and cargo charters as far as Singapore from Newcastle, Southend, Manchester, and London (LGW). One DC-7CF is almost permanently based at the latter airport, flying ad hoc and other passenger and cargo services both on its own behalf and under subcontract to British United Airways, Ltd.
During the year, the company’s DC-4 is totally engaged flying all of Alitalia, S. p.A.’s scheduled cargo runs between the U. K. and Italy. Employing Douglas DC-4s, long-haul flights are dispatched as far as Singapore. The company is not, however, successful financially.
Following the February 1966 impoundment by British Airports Authority officials of its DC-4 for nonpayment of London (LHR) landing fees, Shannon loses its contract with Alitalia, S. p.A. This blow is sufficient to cause its owners to declare bankruptcy and cease operations.
SHANNON EXECUTIVE AVIATION, LTD. (SEA): Ireland (19801990). SEA is established at Shannon in 1980 to operate passenger and cargo charters and air taxi services around the Emerald Isle, as well as to the U. K. Revenue flights begin and continue with a fleet that includes 1 Shorts SC-7 Skyvan, 1 Aerospatiale Corvette bizjet, 1 Swearingen Metro II, several Piper and Cessna lightplanes, and 1 Bell 206B JetRanger.
Service is maintained until the company suspends activities in 1990.
SHANS AVIA: Russia (1994-1995). Shans Avia is established at Tbilisi in 1994 by Nana Shavgulidze, a Georgian art dealer who thus becomes the only female airline president in the former Soviet Union. Employing a single Tupolev Tu-154 leased from a subsidiary of Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA), Shans initiates thrice-weekly luxury flights (60 seats as opposed to 160 earlier) to Moscow. Operations continue for just under a year.
SHANXI AIRLINES COMPANY, LTD.: No. 36, Yingze Daija, Tiayuan, Shanxi, 030001, China; Phone 86 (351) 447178; Fax 86 (351) 447178; Code 8C; Year Founded 1981. Shanxi Airlines, a division of Shanxi Aviation, is established at Taiyuan in 1981 to offer regional services that had been set up to engage in forestry protection and aerial photography. Initially a charter operation, the company is widely regarded as the first (perhaps a trial) independent airline to be allowed in China.
President Zhang Ti Yuan recruits a workforce of 33 and a fleet comprising 2 each Ilyushin Il-14Ps and Xian Yun-7-100s. Twelve routes are opened connecting the company base at Wusu Airport with Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
While on initial climb away from Linfen on October 7, 1988, a chartered Il-14P with 4 crew and 42 passengers loses power and crashes into a local hotel (42 dead).
The under-explained accident leads to the company’s shutdown.
Operations are later resumed and in 1992-1995; Qin Jianming becomes CEO and the surviving Il-14P is withdrawn and replaced by a third Yun-7-100. The workforce grows to 23 and enplanements during the latter year total 918,320.
Passenger boardings accelerate 11.7% in 1996 to 1,040,000, while cargo traffic jumps 22.7% to 21.58 million FTKs.
By 1997-1999, President Jianming’s concern employs 33 workers and still operates 3 Xian Yun-7-100s.
As reported by the carrier on October 16, 2000, a takeover agreement has been signed in September with Shandong Airlines Company, Ltd. Under its terms, Shandong will purchase a controlling stake in the Tiayuan-based carrier using cash and the sale planes. Concrete provisions and details remain under negotiation and will be announced only after final arrangements have been completed.
Reacting to rising fuel costs, on November 1 the CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China) grants the nation’s 34 airlines permission to raise ticket prices by 15% to balance passenger traffic and avgas costs; 23 companies, including Shanxi, increase fares on November 5.
SHASTA AIR: United States (1979-1982). This tiny air taxi operator is founded at Redding, California, in 1979 as an FBO that also offers charter services and flight lessons. A scheduled route is flown between the company’s base and Siskiyou County with a single Cessna 210.
A Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain is acquired in 1981 and is employed to inaugurate twice-daily roundtrips to Oakland and to Klam-math Falls, Oregon. Plans (unfulfilled) are made to acquire a British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31.
Unable to weather the recession, the company ceases in 1982.
SHAVANO AIR: United States (1978-1981). Frederick Griffith founds Shavano at Denver in 1978 to provide charter services to Colorado’s ski resorts. In addition, scheduled air taxi flights are inaugurated to the intrastate destinations of Salada and Trinidad. The fleet comprises 1 Piper PA-34 Seneca, 1 Cessna 337, and 2 Cessna 207s.
Unable to afford increased fuel costs, the carrier goes out of business in 1981.
SHAWANO FLYING SERVICE: United States (1976-1986). Isle Royal Seaplane Service is set up at Houghton, Michigan, in 1973 to provide daily scheduled Beech 18 passenger and cargo roundtrips to Isle Royale in Lake Michigan.
Late in the decade, the company is reformed into Grognet Flying Service; however, the commuter is transferred to Shawano, Wisconsin, in 1981 and renamed again. Operations continue apace until 1986.
SHAWNEE AIR COMMUTER: United States (1969-1972). The airline division of Shawnee Air, Inc., SAC is established at Topeka, Kansas, in 1969 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services. Employing Cessna lightplanes, daily roundtrips are inaugurated linking the company’s base with Kansas City and with Manhattan via Junction City. These are maintained until 1972.
SHAWNEE AIRLINES: United States (1968-1979). Established by David D. Latham at Orlando, Florida, in the early spring of 1968,
Shawnee is a subsidiary of the Root Company of Daytona Beach. Outfitted with a Beech 18, the commuter begins scheduled daily roundtrip intrastate services on April 1.
An extensive Florida route network is established over the next decade, with principal destinations visited coming to include Miami, Orlando, Gainesville, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Freeport in the Bahamas. The fleet is upgraded by the addition of Beech 99s, Douglas DC-3s, de Havilland DH 114 Herons, Fairchild Hiller FH-227Bs, and de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters. Several of the latter are employed in 1971 to inaugurate STOL services to newly opened Walt Disney World.
In 1975, the company joins with Florida Airlines in a marketing association known as The Connection. The arrangement lasts only two years, until 1977. Toward the end of the 1970s, Shawnee encounters significant competition not only from its Sarasota-based former partner, but from Mackey International Airlines on the Bahamas frequencies.
A total of 22,931 passengers are transported in 1978, down from higher totals earlier. Weakened from its competition with Florida Airlines and Mackey International Airlines and unable to survive the oil crisis, the carrier folds in 1979.
SHAWNEE AIRWAYS: United States (1958-1966). Ernest Stadvec sets up the FBO Stadvec Aviation at Akron, Ohio, in 1958. Beech 18 charter freight and nonscheduled passenger air taxi services are provided to local Buckeye destinations. A 1961 aircraft collision results in Stadvec changing the name of his firm to Shawnee Airways. Flights continue.
In late fall 1965, the decision is taken to offer a scheduled shuttle service to Detroit. Employing a Lockheed Model 12A, daily roundtrips are inaugurated on November 15, but are only maintained into 1966.
World History
