Founded by Bill Bohike Sr. at St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands, in the spring of 1963 to offer scheduled third-level Aero Commander service to St. Thomas and to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Revenue services commence on May 10.
Operations continue apace between 1964-1967, with only one unhappy incident: seven are killed on July 16, 1965 when an Aero Commander crashes during its takeoff from St. Thomas for San Juan. With the addition of de Havilland DH 104 Doves and DH 114 Herons, flights are maintained until the carrier is sold to and merged by PRINAIR (Puerto Rico International Airlines) in 1968.
VIRGIN ISLAND AIRWAYS, LTD.: P. O. Box 365, Town Road, Tortola, British Virgin Islands; Phone (809) 495-1972; Fax (809) 4952354; Code S5; Year Founded 1996. VIA is established at Tortola in 1996 as successor to Air BVI (Air British Virgin Islands, Ltd.). Norbert
E. O’Neal is named managing director and he recruits a workforce of 50 and purchases a pair of de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otters.
Revenue flights begin and continue; destinations visited by the flag carrier of the British Virgin Islands include various Caribbean Island points, including the U. S. Virgin Islands.
VIRGIN ISLANDS INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES: The Pavilion, 24901 Dana Point Harbor Dr., Suite 200, Dana Point, California 92629, United States; Phone (949) 488-8494; Fax (949) 488-8494; Http://www. viaa. com; Code 6G; Year Founded 1998. On May 15, 1998, a new subsidiary, VIIA, is created by Las Vegas Airlines to operate scheduled passenger services from St. Thomas. Las Vegas Airlines will continue to hold the FAA operating certificate under which VIIA will operate.
Jehu Hand is named president of the new operation and is able, on September 17, to announce an agreement with the government of the Virgin Islands. In addition to a $50,000 development contribution, the government agrees to endorse and help market the new entrant as it promotes its services. Simultaneously, plans are announced for the inauguration of 14-times-a-day deep-discount services in October from St. Thomas to San Juan and St. Croix and from San Juan to St. Croix, plus a daily return service from St. Thomas to Antigua.
The first of several turboprop aircraft bearing the VIIA emblem is unveiled in ceremonies at Dana Point, California, on September 22. Revenue flights commence in December.
VIRGIN ISLANDS SEAPLANE SHUTTLE (VISS): United States (1981-1990). VISS is organized in October 1981 as a division of New York-based Seaplane Shuttle Transport, owned by the Sea Air Corporation headed by President/Capt. Michael B. Braunstein, himself a seaplane pilot. In early 1982, the assets of Antilles Air Boats, which has been operated by Resorts International since 1979, are purchased and merged. The company name is changed and seaplane ramp operating rights are obtained from respective island governments. With many of the former AAB employees and flyers still available, they are recruited to form the nucleus of the new VISS.
Employing two Grumman G-73 Turbo Mallards painted in the carrier’s blue and white livery, the company inaugurates scheduled passenger flights from St. Croix to St. Thomas and St. John on March 15.
Enplanements for the year total 65,771 and revenues are $1.5 million. The operating profit is $60,000.
Operating 5 Mallards in 1983, the carrier enjoys an outstanding year, as reflected in the payroll, which jumps 20.4% to 65 workers.
The Mallards, by the way, are now the first aquatic aircraft to be air conditioned. The company’s Turbo Mallards are also the first and only ones of their type certified as Day/Night VFR/IFR aircraft and are so operated.
Passenger boardings soar 55.2% to 100,966. Operating income increases to $3 million and expenses are held to a point where an $80,000 operating profit is generated.
One more Mallard joins the fleet in April 1984 and allows the company to begin operating 14 daily flights from Alexander Hamilton Airport on St. Croix to the waterfront docks on St. Thomas and St. John. These services are in addition to 40 daily trips made between the seaplane docks on the three U. S. Virgin Islands.
To accommodate additional expansion, VISS paves more concrete ramp area and expands hangar space at its St. Croix waterfront base.
Enplanements climb 8.1% to 109,184. A total of 386,000 pounds of cargo are also flown.
Airline employment is 58 at the start of 1985 and the fleet comprises 7 Grumman Mallards. In the spring, regularly scheduled flights are started to Tortola in the British West Indies and San Juan.
During the year, 16,000 flights are made to 5 Caribbean island markets, passenger boardings accelerate 36.1% to 148,619, and freight rises 3.4% to 399,000 pounds.
The workforce grows 2.2% in 1986 to 140 and the fleet still includes 7 G-73 Turbo Mallards. Three Grumman G-73T Turbo Mallards are purchased from Texaco in June. As of July 1, VISS is the largest certified seaplane airline in the world.
Due to aileron control problems, a G-73 with 13 aboard crash-lands into the sea near the island of St. Croix on October 28 shortly after takeoff. The secretary of the only federal court judge then sitting on St. Croix is killed, while the remaining 12 people are injured, 5 seriously.
Customer bookings rise 21.7% to 182,139.
After his fellow travelers have deplaned at San Juan on June 5, 1987, a lingering passenger aboard a Mallard pulls a gun and demands to be flown to Cuba—and is.
The 135-employee small regional suffers a traffic drop for the year as bookings go down 11.3% to 161,508 passengers flown.
Although three additional G-73Ts join the fleet in 1988, the workforce is cut 7.1% to 118. In April, former Virgin Islands Director of
Tourism Daniel H. Lewis is appointed vice president-general manager and the company negotiates a contract from Trans World Airlines (TWA), becoming a “TWExpress” carrier, effective June 1.
During the spring, the bill comes due for the necessary conversion of the piston engines of the company’s Mallards to turboprops. Unhappily, the airline is not in a position to cover the $2 million per aircraft price tag. In July, VISS, with debts of $16 million, files for Chapter XI bankruptcy, seeking a way to better its financial situation through reorganization and sale into new ownership. It also hopes to forestall the repossession of its aircraft by Manufacturer’s Hanover Trust Bank (MHTB) and its affiliate CIT Leasing. Still, the company is taken over by MHTB that works with it on restructuring.
The year’s passenger boardings dip by 1.9% to 158,517 and revenues fall to $4.97 million.
Operations at Braunstein and Lewis’ carrier, including the search for new ownership, continue apace in 1989. In April, “TWExpress” service is initiated from San Juan to Cyril King Airport in St. Thomas and Alexander Hamilton Airport in St. Croix. Two new de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otters are employed on this service. The company schedule totals more than 60 daily interisland flights.
By September 16, fairly detailed warnings have been issued that Hurricane Hugo is rapidly bearing down on St. Croix and that the island will be severely hit. Surprisingly, the VISS Mallard fleet is not ordered to seek safe haven elsewhere, but is simply left on the ramp. The next day, the huge storm strikes the company’s base, flipping over or otherwise smashing four of the five aircraft present. All five loss-making planes have instantly become insureance write-offs.
The disaster causes Lewis to suspend operations on October 12. No traffic or financial figures are available for the year due to the carrier’s bankruptcy status.
The single available Mallard is employed on charter flights under court protection in the spring of 1990, linking St. Croix and St. Thomas with San Juan. The company’s assets are purchased for over $1 million on June 1 by Anthony Tirri, owner of Caribbean Airlines Services. Plans are announced for the investment of another $1.5 million to upgrade and expand the fleet and to reestablish services.
Meanwhile, the Virgin Islands Ports Authority asks the carrier to vacate its facilities and denies access to the landing and takeoff ramps previously employed. During the fall, the company is renamed Sea Air Shuttle.
VIRGIN SUN AIR, LTD.: Virgin Holidays, The Galleria, Station Road, Crawley, West Sussex, England, RH10 1WW, United Kingdom; Phone 44 (0) 1293 444616; Fax 44 (0) 1293 525496; Http://www. virginholidays. com; Code VS; Year Founded 1998. In April 1998, Virgin Holidays, the package tour subsidiary of Virgin Group, which also owns Virgin Atlantic Airways, Ltd. and Virgin Ex-press-Eurobelgium Airlines, S. A., announces the launch of Virgin Sun, a short-haul holiday airline that will fly to popular Mediterranean and European destinations beginning in a year. To provide lift for the new program, merger discussions are undertaken between Sabre Airways, Ltd. and Virgin Express-Eurobelgium Airlines, S. A. These negotiations go nowhere. On May 18, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson announces that his corporation is close to establishing its own new charter airline, based in the U. K., which will provide all lift for Virgin Holidays. An arrangement is, meanwhile, worked out with Sabre Airways, Ltd. for the provision of supplemental Virgin Holiday flights. Lease requests are placed with GECAS for two Airbus Industrie A320-214s.
Recruitment is begun in November for 250 reservations agents for the new airline. Although an early sales lead-in is begun, it will later be reported that many seat-only flights are not booked for the early summer period, with customers preferring to wait for later dates.
Ron Simms is appointed managing director in December and new management personnel are appointed. Also, the company’s distinctive new livery is unveiled. The company’s aircraft will be painted a striking canary yellow, with red Virgin tails/engine nacelles and billboard-block “Sun” titles over a white sun on the forward end of the fuselage windowline.
Virgin Holidays finalizes the appointment of its airline staff early in 1999 and in April the two A320-214s arrive under charter from GECAS, including one christened Mediterranean Maiden; both Vacation charters from London (GTW) and Manchester to 13 Mediterranean and southern European holiday destinations commence on May 1 and continue. Destinations visited include Majorca, Memorca, Ibiza, Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Portugal, Turkey, Crete, Rhodes, and Corfu. Standard and Premium Class service is offered. All passengers receive a welcome drink, free headsets, and a newspaper. Flight menus feature snacks and hot dogs. The ?49 fare for flight-only customers also includes priority check-in, access to the executive airport lounges at London (LGW) and Manchester, extra legroom, and upscale meals with free drinks and champagne.
It is announced at the beginning of September that the company will acquire additional Airbus equipment in time for the start of the summer schedule. The parent tour operator promises to increase the number of London (LGW) and Manchester summer holiday seats it can offer from
130.000 to 200,000.
At the end of October, a Winter Sun program is introduced with flights to Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Cyprus, and Funerteventura. At this point, Virgin Holidays becomes one of the first tour operators to enable passengers to book holidays online.
On December 13, Virgin Sun delays the start of its second summer seat-only program. Instead of the previous year’s sales beginning six months out in order to introduce the company brand, the lead-in now is scaled back to three months.
Enplanements for the year total 14,000.
A full schedule of charter flying begins at the end of March 2000. Pilots, cabin crew, and ground customer service personnel are provided with new uniforms in April.
On May 10, weekly return flights are inaugurated from East Midlands Airport to the Greek Islands of Rhodes and Crete and to Larnaca, Cyprus.
Not long after the beginning of the summer schedule, on May 31, an A320-211 is acquired. Christened Sunkissed Girl, the Airbus flies from London (LGW) and Manchester to the Canary Islands and Mediterranean destinations. New daily Manchester to Naples charters commence on July 10.
It is reported on November 25 that the company has decided to cease all charter operations at a point sometime in late 2001. Whether the date will be at the end of the 2001 summer season or just before the opening the following winter season is not specified. The A320s will be leased to other operators.
VIRUNGAAIR CHARTER, S. A.: Zaire (1978-1996). VAC is established at Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1978 to provide passenger charter flights to bush destinations and small domestic communities. Revenue operations begin with Cessnas, Partenavias, and a Douglas DC-3.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Ngezayo Kambale’s concern employs 50 workers and, when required, a single de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter is leased from Air Burundi, S. A.
Flights cease as a result of the civil war in 1996.
VISCOUNT AIR SERVICE: United States (1994-1998). VAS is established by former Sportsflight Airways executive Bob Fleming at Tucson, Arizona, in the spring of 1994 to provide charter and scheduled passenger and cargo services, with emphasis on the transport of professional sports franchises. Revenue flights commence in August with a fleet that includes 9 leased Boeing 737-247s, 3 737-284As, 2 each 737204s and 737-2E1s, and 1 737-89. Enplanements by year’s end total
269.000 and revenues are $4.61 million. Expenses total only $3.87 million, leaving the difference as operating profit.
By 1995, VA has signed up a host of pro franchises and many of the carrier’s aircraft are emblazoned with their logos: baseball’s New York
Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, and basketball’s New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Gold Miners, Atlanta Hawks, and Charlotte Hornets.
Enplanements climb to 398,000.
VA enters Chapter XI in March 1996, but continues operations. The company’s Boeings transport a total of 120,275 passengers through September, a huge 67.8% decline. Two aircraft, a B-727-89 and B-727-243A, are sold to Sun Pacific International and are replaced with a chartered B-727-231, which is promptly subleased to Nations Air Express. Flights cease in October. Revenues for the year total $70 million.
The workforce at President Walter Cole’s airline stands at 250 at the beginning of 1997. In February, Chief Pilot Capt. Timothy Frye is sent to repossess the trijet leased to Nations Air Express. Within days of this exercise, the FAA suspends his ATP certificate for 18 days, charging that Frye had piloted an unairworthy aircraft. The flyer, in return, files suit against the government agency, charging that his civil rights have been violated. When the matter is resolved in March, the only unairworthiness charge that can be upheld is that for an inoperative bulb in one of the Boeing’s landing lights.
During the remainder of the year and into 1998, the company, which has been purchased by Air Oklahoma, attempts to restart operations, but cannot.
VISION AIR, INC.: 118-5360 Airport Road South, Richmond, British Columbia V7B 1B4, Canada; Phone (604) 303-9336; Fax (604) 303-9337; Http://www. visionaire. com; Year Founded 1995. Vision Air is established at Richmond in 1995 to offer passenger and cargo charters throughout Western Canada. Revenue flights commence with one each Cessna 401 and Fairchild-Swearingen Metroliner.
Flights continue without headline or incident during the remainder of the decade. In these years, weekday scheduled return service is developed and offered from Vancouver to Victoria. Additionally, Friday and Sunday return service is flown from Vancouver to 108 Mile.
VISION AIRWAYS, LTD.: Canada (1993-1995). Vision is established at Timmins, Ontario, in 1993 to offer local domestic services. A fleet is assembled comprising 1 each Dornier 228-201, 228-202, and de Havilland Canada DHC-7. These are employed to inaugurate scheduled flights to Moosonee, Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, and Kaschechewan.
Operations continue for less than two years.
VISTAAIRLINES: 3955 Blue Diamond Rd., Grand Canyon, Arizona 89139, United States; Phone 897-2300; Year Founded 1990. President Eliot Alper establishes Vista at Grand Canyon in 1990 to offer on-demand charter and air taxi flights. Revenue flights, including flight-seeing services over Death Valley, begin and continue with a pair of Cessna 206s.
VISTAJET, LTD.: Canada (1997). Former Air Ontario, Inc. executives form this new entrant at London, Ontario, during the first quarter of 1997. Two Boeing 737-291s are acquired on long-term charter from International Air Leases on April 9 and after workup, they inaugurate low-cost jetliner flights on May 26 from Toronto to Thunder Bay and Calgary. Two de Havilland Canada DHC-7 turboprops are also employed to fly from Ottawa to Windsor via Toronto.
Plans are announced for the acquisition of additional aircraft and the extension of flights to Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta. Unhappily, the company is unable to achieve viability and ceases operations on September 12, after reaching an agreement with Air Canada, Ltd. to accommodate its previously ticketed passengers.
World History
