ALL SEASONS AIR PACIFIC (ASAP): United States (19811983). All Seasons is set up at Long Beach, California, in early 1981 to operate scheduled Piper PA-31-310 Navajo passenger and cargo flights to Santa Barbara, San Diego, Burbank, and Ontario.
Revenue services continue apace until the company goes out of business during the summer of 1983.
ALL STAR AIRLINES: United States (1983-1985). All Star is formed at Woburn, Massachusetts, in early 1983 to offer domestic and international jet passenger charters, emphasizing the transport of inclusive tours and contract services for sports teams, including the Boston Red Sox.
Certification is received in March and revenue operations commence on April 1 employing a Douglas DC-9-15 leased from Air Florida. The first major league baseball teams flown are the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. A second Air Florida DC-9-15 is obtained in November; it flies the Boston Celtics and other NBA basketball teams.
In addition to baseball team flights, the company, in 1984, agrees to operate a tour company’s charters from Seattle and Portland to Reno, Nevada. Subcontracts are also taken from Northeast International Airlines and Horizon Air. The latter operates a wet-leased DC-9-14 in All Star colors from July to November on routes in the Northwest; the plane is returned after giving.
Planes are made to inaugurate scheduled services from Boston to Atlantic City during the next 12 months and 2 DC-9-51s are purchased from Finnair O/Y at year’s end.
All company dreams and preparations come to a halt during the summer of 1985 when its principal investors elect to withdraw. Without capitalization sufficient to maintain viability, let alone begin new services or accept the Finnish jetliners, the carrier is forced to cease operations on October 29. All of its assets are quickly sold.
ALLEGHENY AIRLINES (1): United States (1953-1979). On January 2, 1953, All-American Airways, based at Washington’s National Airport, is split into two concerns: an engineering and research company and the flight operation, renamed Allegheny Airlines, in recognition of the mountains and river of the same name that lie in the heart of the airline’s route network. Leslie O. Barnes is named first president of the latter. On January 27, the net assets of the research and engineering unit are transferred to an All-American Engineering Company subsidiary, in exchange for the entire capital stock, which is distributed to stockholders. Service is continued with a fleet of 13 Douglas DC-3s.
During the remainder of the decade, Allegheny flies local service routes which, by the early 1960s, stretch between Cleveland and Pittsburgh in the north and west to New York and Washington in the east and south. Cities served are both large and small; among the latter are Erie, Buffalo, Elmira, Johnstown, Parkersburg, and Clarksburg. In these years, President Barnes is responsible for an array of innovations and prescient management decisions that mark him as an inspired executive.
Among his most memorable—and copied—ideas are a no-reservation, on-board ticketing system and the concept of “hub-and-spoke” routing and scheduling. It is during the 1950s that Pittsburgh becomes Allegheny’s main hub and site of the company’s operations and maintenance facilities.
On August 20, 1954, a DC-3 with 18 aboard crash-lands at Newark; no serious injuries are reported. The company begins employing former Trans World Airlines (TWA) Martin 2-0-2s in early 1955 to supplement its aging fleet of Douglas DC-3s. One is scrapped after suffering an in-flight fire during a training flight.
On May 27, 1956, 15 Air France stewardesses arrive in New York to begin temporary assignment aboard Allegheny domestic flights as a way of promoting international air travel.
In 1957, Barnes meets a young CAB lawyer named Edwin Colodny and invites him to join the company as his assistant. On May 30, flights begin to Hazleton, Pennsylvania. An interline cargo handling accord is signed on August 17 with Seaboard and Western Airlines.
The 1958 fleet comprises 15 DC-3s and 8 Martins. In a May 24 safety experiment, a Douglas is painted with fluorescent paint for better daylight sighting. With CAB approval, the company begins to offer commuter books at 15% discount on October 5, 1959, followed by a unique no-reservation system, both on the Philadelphia to Pittsburgh Penn Commuter service.
En route from Philadelphia to Cleveland during a snowstorm on December 1, a Martin 2-0-2 with 4 crew and 21 passengers, crashes into Bald Eagle Mountain near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, after an instrument landing attempt at Williamsport Airport fails; there are no survivors. The tragedy is the carrier’s first fatal accident in a decade.
A Martin 2-0-2 with 16 aboard is badly damaged following an aborted takeoff from Erie on February 25, 1960; three crewmen are hurt. Also in February, orders are placed for 5 Convair CV-540s (CV-340s equipped with British-made Napier Eland turboprop engines). As a result of Colodny’s work, Allegheny receives a feeder route from Washington to Boston, which it begins to fly in April. This new frequency, to which noreservation opportunities are attached during the summer, marks the start of the airline’s expansion.
Flights from Trenton, New Jersey, commence on June 1.
While on a training flight from Avoca, Pennsylvania, on July 28, a CV-440 crashes, injuring the two crewmen aboard.
On September 15, service to Boston and Washington, D. C. is initiated from MacArthur Airport at Bohemia, New York; frequencies are increased on November 30.
On December 24, the company petitions the CAB for permission to begin a Baltimore to
Washington helicopter service.
Early in 1961, the company’s maintenance and operations base is moved from Washington National Airport to Greater Pittsburgh Airport, which becomes the carrier’s hub; corporate headquarters remain in the former location. The one-time Trans World Airlines (TWA) Martin 202A Skyliner Burbank is purchased, along with a second unit.
Competition with Trans World Airlines (TWA) on the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh run brings a fare increase in October and a CAB investigation. The regulatory body allows the increase and a second one in November, while adding a 20% tax in March 1962. The increases and tax cut reduce appeal of the no-reservation approach.
On October 19 over Windsor Locks, Connecticut, a stewardess, due to the insecurely latched rear service door, is swept out of a CV-440 with 52 aboard during a flight from Washington, D. C. to Boston. Late in the year, 2 old Martin 2-0-2s are converted to freighters and employed to inaugurate Night Owl all-cargo service.
In 1963 Napier cancels its Eland program and Allegheny is unable to import more than the one already in service. In addition to this lone example, Allegheny flies 23 CV-440s and 15 Martin 4-0-4 Executives are acquired to fill the gap until CV-580s, powered by Allison turboprops, can be obtained. The year’s profits are $260,235.
A CV-440 with 26 aboard runs off the end of the runway while landing at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on January 21, 1964; no injuries are reported. The CAB approves a route transfer agreement on April 8 between Trans World Airlines (TWA) and Allegheny that allows the latter to mount flights from Pittsburgh to Boston. A CV-340, on a May 8 training mission from Newark, crashes upon landing. The left landing gear of another CV-340, with 41 aboard, collapses during a May 28 landing at Atlantic City; no injuries are reported.
On July 1, unsubsidized Pittsburgh to New York (LGA) services are initiated. In August, the company undertakes a special Atlantic City airlift for those attending the Democratic National Convention.
As the carrier’s route system grows, so does its need for new equipment; currently, its fleet is still comprised of mostly DC-3s and Martin 4-0-4s. A third Martin 2-0-2 cargoliner is placed into service during December.
Airline employment during the year is 1,733 and enplanements jump 13% to 1,264,514. Total revenues of $27.8 million are earned, allowing a $344,547-million net profit.
The workforce in 1965 is 1,931. The Pittsburgh-New York (LGA) frequency becomes full service in early spring. On June 1, Allegheny places 5 Convair CV-580s (CV-240s reengined with Allison turboprops) into operation.
On July 23, en route from Pittsburgh to Newark via Du Bois, Phillips-burg, Williamsport, and Wilkes-Barre Flight 604, with 4 crew and 36 passengers, suffers an engine fire. It strikes a ridge 5 mi. ENE of Mon-toursville, Pennsylvania, and although 18 people are injured there are no fatalities; the CV-440 will later have to be written off.
The fleet at year’s end comprises 5 CV-580s, 16 CV-440s, 7 F-27Js, and 11 Martin 4-0-4s, including several employed as freighters. Orders are placed for 4 DC-9-31s.
Passenger bookings jump 16% to 1,465,141 while cargo traffic grows by 32%. Allegheny transports more freight this year than any other local service airline. Revenues grow 19% to $33.27 million and earnings swell to $1.3 million.
Three more F-27Js and 9 CV-580s arrive in early 1966. The first jetliner, a leased Douglas DC-9-10, is delivered on July 8, allowing Allegheny to enter the jet era September 1.
A CV-440 with 4 crew and 12 passengers aborts its takeoff from Harrisburg on November 29 and overruns the runway; there are no fatalities.
Enplanements for the year total 1,792,750. Profits are $3.87 million (operating) and $1.04 million (net).
The employee population in 1967 is 2,784. In April, company official L. Thomas Ferguson is appointed president of rival Lake Central Airlines as merger negotiations with that company intensify. Stockholders of the two companies and government regulators will be asked to approve the merger, which will take place the next summer.
Additionally, many of the previous CAB restrictions on company operating authority between major northeastern cities is loosened and the carrier’s new Fokker F-27 Friendships are able to expand its market. The DC-9-10s are replaced by the first 6 of what will eventually become a fleet of 73 larger DC-9-31s.
During the early 1960s, a number of small American commuters begin to provide shuttle service in areas not served—or served inade-quately—by the larger airlines. It is during these years that Allegheny strategists Barnes and Colodny see this movement as a way of enhancing the company’s markets without costly investment in new routes or equipment. Going to business and civic leaders in communities served, as well as those not served, by Allegheny, the two men gather a constituency of converts ready to accept the revolutionary commuter operation that would long bear the Allegheny name.
In the mid-1960s, Allegheny officials convince the CAB that it would be preferable, both economically and socially, for a commuter to provided frequent service to a small community under the guidance of a larger carrier. This would be in contrast to flights of only one or two per day directly into those same towns by larger local service airlines. The idea is in some ways similar to an earlier arrangement worked out in the U. K. by British European Airways Corporation (BEA). Washington agrees to this replacement code-sharing concept and the Allegheny Commuter network is born.
Richard A. Henson had begun Hagerstown Commuter on October 1, 1964, as a division of his FBO operation, Henson Aviation. In August 1967, he enters into an associate agreement with Allegheny Airlines to provide four-times-per-day scheduled flights from his western Maryland base to Washington, D. C. For its part, Allegheny agrees to help with reservations and ticketing, station handling, market planning, and accounting, and to offer a financial guarantee against loss.
By September, Allegheny has a 100% turbine-powered fleet when it retires its last Convair CV-440 and takes delivery of a 10th F-27J. On November 15, the Barnes/Colodny commuter concept becomes reality as a Henson Beech B-80 Queen Air, with the words “Allegheny Commuter” painted on its sides in red, takes off for the nation’s capital. At year’s end, Henson adds flights to Baltimore and Salisbury and Robert Jackson is named vice president-commuter services. His new “Allegheny Commuter” system will grow until it is the largest in the United States.
Passenger boardings for the year jump 29% to 2,525,000. Revenues accelerate 20.5% to $52.32 million. Although an operating profit of $2.24 million is earned, costs of aircraft purchases and a 27% reduction in public subsidy lead to a net loss of $696,846.
Bolstered by the success of the “Allegheny Commuter” gambit, now increased by the addition of Pocono Airlines, Leslie Barnes’s airline begins to expand its size through merger.
The employee population in 1968 numbers 4,350. On March 14, shareholders and CAB officials approve Allegheny’s acquisition of the routes and equipment, debts and liabilities of Indianapolis-based Lake Central Airlines. Holders of LCA common stock receive 0.44 of a share of Allegheny common stock for each LCA share held.
In one stroke on July 1, the Pittsburgh carrier is enlarged with frequencies to Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, St. Louis, and as far west as Chicago. When the merger takes effect on July 1, Allegheny, as the surviving airline, becomes America’s largest local service passenger airline.
Nine ex-Lake Central Airlines Nord 262s are painted in royal purple with gold fleur-de-lis logos on their tails and noses. Hostesses wearing Parisian apache outfits (split skirts, striped jerseys, black net stockings, and black berets) are assigned to the aircraft. To complete the French look aircraft are given the names of French females: Claudette d'Allegheny,
Celeste d'Allegheny, Nanette d'Allegheny, Yvonne d'Allegheny, Nicole d'Allegheny, Michele d’Allegheny, Brigitte d'Allegheny, Collette d’Allegheny, and Monique d 'Allegheny. At a November 25 ceremony, begun with the playing of La Marseillaise, the first Nord, Claudette d’Allegheny, enters service from Weir Cook Airport at Indianapolis.
Three more “Allegheny Commuter” services are added.
On December 24, while on final approach to the airport at Bradford, Pennsylvania, on a service from Detroit to Washington, D. C. (DCA), Flight 736, a CV-580 with 6 crew and 41 passengers, strikes a line of trees in light snow 2.5 mi. short of the runway and crashes upside down (20 dead).
Customer bookings skyrocket 71.6% to 4,334,000 (including 26,304 “Allegheny Commuter” passengers) and freight traffic is up by 50.6%. Revenues jump 39% to $95.26 million and, although an operating profit of $10.18 million is generated, a net $4.83-million loss is suffered.
In almost the same manner as a sister flight in December, Flight 737, a CV-580 with 3 crew and 25 passengers, crashes into a line of trees 4.7 nm. short of the runway at Bradford, Pennsylvania, on January 6, 1969, and flips over (11 dead).
Three DC-9-31s join the fleet during the first quarter; nine more will be delivered before year’s end.
On a September 9 service from Boston to Indianapolis on a descent from 6000 to 2,500 ft., Flight 853, a DC-9-31 with 4 crew and 82 passengers, collides at 3,550 ft. near Shelbyville, Indiana, with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee. The Piper is owned by the Forth Corporation and being flown cross-country by a student pilot; there are no survivors from the subsequent crash of either plane.
The fleet comes to comprise 42 CV-580s and 24 DC-9-31s. The company closes out the decade as the nation’s largest local service or regional airline. Ridership of the “Allegheny Commuter” partners triples while Crown Airways joins the system.
Enplanements are 4,661,000 and revenues are $120,911,000. Although a $2.2-million operating profit is earned, a net loss of $10.92 million is suffered.
The employee population in 1970 numbers 4,944, a 6% increase. Two B-727-2B7s are delivered in early spring. Later, 3 more DC-9-31s arrive. One of these, accepted in a ceremony on May 27, is the 500th DC-9 built.
On September 19, a 19-year-old ex-Marine, R. D. Watt, armed with a pistol, gasoline, and dynamite takes over Flight 730 en route from Pittsburgh to Boston. He demands that the B-727-2B7 with 98 aboard be flown to Cairo; the plane’s range is insufficient for a trip to Egypt, so the man settles for a flight to Havana instead. Watt will make the mistake of returning to the U. S. in 1978; he will be captured, tried, and sent to prison for 15 years.
Passenger bookings advance 21% during the 12 months to 5.9 million and cargo traffic grows by an equal 21.6%. A $10 million turnaround occurs on the financial side. On revenues of $154.6 million, profits are $9.46 million (operating) and $528,000 (net).
The carrier announces on May 22, 1971, that it has added hot pants to its stewardesses’ wardrobe.
While on approach to Tweed-New Haven Airport after a June 7 service from Groton, Flight 485, a CV-580 with 3 crew and 28 passengers, drops too low and strikes houses 4,890 ft. short of the runway and crashes (28 dead).
The landing gear of a CV-580 with 4 crew and 50 passengers collapses upon touchdown at Pittsburgh on August 20; there are no fatalities. Investigation shows that the gear had been disabled during an earlier unsuccessful landing attempt at Parkersburg, West Virginia.
Enplanements for the year are 8,105,915. Revenues are $176.66 million; again, an operating profit is earned ($17.9 million), but a net loss ($1.57 million) is taken.
Having allowed four years for the digestion of Lake Central Airlines, Allegheny moves again to expand. During the first quarter, 11 BAC 1-11-103AEs are purchased from Braniff International Airways.
On April 12, 1972, it takes over the third largest local service carrier and an old rival, Utica, New York-based Mohawk Airlines (1). To provide for the union, Barnes’s carrier issues 704,000 common shares,
744,000 common stock purchase warrants, and 274,000 shares of convertible preferred stock to issue to Mohawk shareholders and holders of subordinated debt in Chairman Peach’s airline.
This acquisition gives new northeastern territory to Allegheny and enriches its fleet with 15 BAC 1-11-203AE/-204s. It also allows it to become, in terms of passenger boardings, the seventh largest air transport firm in the country, ranking ahead of all but United Airlines, Trans World Airlines (TWA), American Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, and Delta Air Lines. An extensive joint sales program is also undertaken with Pan American World Airways (1).
Lost in the year’s major events is a little-known event that some historians will later claim as the “opening salvo” in the battle for airline deregulation. On April 18, consumer advocate Ralph Nader is bumped from an Allegheny flight, thereby missing a speaking engagement. After refusing Allegheny’s offer of a $34.21 refund, Nader, with widespread media coverage, sues the airline, charging deliberate overbooking. He forms a watchdog group, The Aviation Consumer Action Project, and demands that the CAB investigate the nation’s carriers.
A CV-580, on a Pittsburgh-Bradford flight on October 7, loses an engine after striking and killing a deer during its scheduled landing at Jamestown, New York; no injuries are reported. Customer bookings climb 13.5% to 9,371,000 and freight traffic increases by 29.4%. The workforce is now 7,100. Income is $264.96 million and with expenses under control, profits are $17.45 (operating) and $5.48 million (net).
The employee population in 1973 increases by 721. Four more DC-9s join the fleet, while Suburban Airlines and Pennsylvania Airlines become regional affiliates. A joint marketing program with Pan American World Airways (1) gathers steam as the Washington, D. C.-based local service carrier moves into the major’s Worldport terminal at New York (JFK) late in the year. To promote the new two-carrier cooperation, flight attendants from each airline fly aboard the other’s flights.
A new in-flight magazine, Executive, is unveiled and the “Allegheny Commuter” service continues to expand with 12 contracting carriers flying to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, and Indiana. A DC-9 simulator is obtained for newly consolidated simulator facilities at the Pittsburgh training base. On October 12, the government announces that, in light of the energy crisis, a mandatory jet-fuel allocation program will take effect on November 1.
On October 18, Federal District Judge C. R. Richey imposes a $50,000 fine against the carrier for bumping consumer advocate Ralph Nader from a flight the previous year, and charges that the airline with consistently overbooked and denied 945 other customers seats during the same month as Nader.
In November, the company has its first-ever million-passenger month. As the result of cutbacks in the delivery of avgas, the carrier cancels services between New York City and Plattsburgh and between Plattsburgh and Saranac Lake beginning on December 7. The next day, late-night, low-cost flights from New York City to Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Rochester are also cut.
Bookings on the “Allegheny Commuter” system exceed one million in a year for the first time while overall passenger traffic accelerates by 7.4% as 10,840,000 passengers are carried. Cargo grows by 18.2%. The nation’s largest local service airline earns revenues of $329.36 million and has expenses of $309.39 million. The operating profit is $19.97 million and the net is $7.02 million.
Airline employment in 1974 is 8,129. Flight reductions of 30% occur on January 7 by the laying off 1,288 workers—15% of the carrier’s work force.
The company’s twenty-fifth anniversary is celebrated on March 7. An order is placed for eight DC-9-50s and the new maintenance and overhaul subsidiary Mohawk Air Services is created. Chautauqua Airlines becomes an Allegheny commuter partner. Mohawk begins to re-engine the Nord 262s with Pratt & Whitney of Canada PT6A-45 turboprops, turning them into Mohawk 298s. As a result of the new U. S.-Canadian bilateral agreement, Allegheny is able to undertake new frequencies from Buffalo and Rochester to Montreal.
On October 25, a DC-9 with 95 aboard makes a safe emergency landing on a foam-covered runway at Rome, New York, after its tires blowout during a takeoff from Rochester for Pittsburgh.
Enplanements are up.6% to 10,909,000, but freight is down 18.6%. The country’s largest local service carrier takes in revenues of $372.99 million and incurs expenses of $354.33 million, a 13.4% increase due almost entirely to rising fuel prices. The operating profit is $18.67 million and the net profit is $6.03 million. A fiscal highlight of the year occurs when Allegheny becomes the first local service airline to be removed from the federal subsidy program.
A total of 653 employees are laid off or not replaced during 1975. The late-night, low-cost service between New York City and Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Rochester is reinstated on January 26. A new corporate design is introduced for the nation’s sixth-largest passenger airline and all aircraft are painted in new livery; Southern Jersey Airways joins the “Allegheny Commuter” system.
Leslie Barnes departs Allegheny in midyear to become chairman of Ryder Systems, Inc. and is succeeded as president/CEO by Edwin I. Colodny. A new terminal is dedicated at Boston where a new route is opened to Toronto. On May 3, the 1973 court ruling against the carrier in the Nader suit is overturned by the Federal Court of Appeals at Washington, D. C. Allegheny is also launch customer for 8 DC-9-50s, which are delivered during July-December.
Passenger boardings decline 5.6% and cargo is off by 13.5%. A net loss of $9.9 million must be absorbed. The cost of the airline’s expansion is heavy, and the new president’s first task will be to restore black ink to the company’s ledgers. Income inches up to $373.11 million and a $21.15-million operating profit is made, but expenses force a $9.9 million net loss.
The workforce in 1976 is increased by 4.3% to 7,794. A new “big airline” marketing campaign is initiated and matches the inauguration of new nonstop service Baltimore-Norfolk, Cleveland-Toronto, Philadelphia-Syracuse, and Philadelphia-Rochester. Flights are resumed to Trenton.
A small plane narrowly misses colliding with a BAC 1-11 with 29 aboard on April 20 during the latter’s landing approach to Long Islands’ MacArthur Airport.
On June 8, the U. S. Supreme Court rules that consumer advocate Nader can, indeed, sue Allegheny for bumping him years earlier.
Flight 121, a DC-9-31 with 4 crew and 102 passengers, aborts its takeoff from Philadelphia in heavy rain and windshear on June 23; the aircraft slides 2000 ft. before coming to a stop; there are no serious injuries reported, but the Douglas is damaged beyond repair.
Customer bookings for the year grow 7.4% to 11,031,143 and freight is also up, by 8.6%, to 29.4 million FTKs. Expenses of $420.91 million are submerged by total earnings of $439.05 million. The operating profit is $18.13 million while the net profit is $13.81 million.
As the winds of change blow toward deregulation in 1977 — which President Colodny opposes — Allegheny recoups its earlier losses and plans carefully for an uncertain future. In January, President Colodny, on behalf of the “Allegheny Commuter” system, accepts the 1976 “Regional Airline of the Year” award from Air Transport World magazine.
Control over its commuters is strengthened and the carrier refrains from jumping on the Boeing 747 Jumbojet bandwagon then rolling across the air transport landscape. The Mohawk 298 conversion of the Nord 262 is introduced on April 24 as 9 aircraft commence “Metro Express” flights up and down the East Coast from a hub at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh to Atlantic City services commence in October and, by year’s end, the last of the company’s pure Martin 2-0-2s, after a long period in storage, have been cut up for scrap at Cape May, New Jersey.
Enplanements for the year total 11,628,706. A $16.41-million net profit is earned on operating revenue of $500.13 million.
Airline employment grows 8.1% in 1978 to 8,467 and the Horizon Hotels subsidiary is sold. Service is resumed from New York City to the
Catskills on March 19 after a seven-year lapse. In early spring, President Colodny succeeds Henry Satterville as board chairman/CEO. The remaining CV-580s are retired in June and the Mohawk 298s are transferred to the “Allegheny Commuter” partners.
Four used DC-9-30s are purchased from Eastern Air Lines, to which its 4 DC-9-50s are sold and its 4 chartered DC-9-50s are subleased. With a fleet of 11 Boeing 727-2B7s, 45 DC-9-30s, and 30 BAC 1-11s, the company now becomes an all-jet airline.
Flight 354, a BAC 1-11-203AE with 4 crew and 73 passengers, overruns the runway while landing at Rochester on July 9, crosses a drainage ditch, and stops 728 ft. from the end of the runway; although the jetliner is badly damaged, there are no fatalities.
When the Airline Deregulation Act is passed on October 24, Allegheny’s lock on the upper right-hand corner of the U. S. airline map allows the carrier the option of not immediately lowering its fares.
After the books are closed on the year, Allegheny has expanded only to Florida and Texas, its traffic has risen 10.3% to just under 13 million passengers flown, and on revenues of $566.3 million, a net profit of $32.7 million is posted.
Passenger boardings of Allegheny’s jetliners rise 9.2% in 1979 to 14 million as routes are stretched to Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, and North Carolina.
The captain of Flight 561, a Mohawk 298 with 3 crew and 22 passengers, elects to takeoff from Benedum Airport at Bridgeport, West Virginia, on February 12 with an excessive amount of snow on the aircraft’s wings and empennage surfaces. The aircraft flips over and crashes 14 seconds after becoming airborne (2 dead).
In March, stockholders approve a reformation of corporate identity and a new name to be introduced in the fall.
Revenues accelerate 28.6% to $728.7 million, allowing a profit of $33.4 million. On October 28, following eight months of preparation and external public relations, the company loses its regional identity and is rechristened USAir.
ALLEGHENY AIRLINES (2): 1000 Rosedale Ave., Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057, United States; Phone (717) 948-5400; Fax (717) 948-4714; Code US; Year Founded 1992. The second Allegheny Airlines is formed in August 1992 by the merger of two USAir Group wholly owned subsidiaries, Pennsylvania Airlines and Suburban Airlines, doing business as “Allegheny Commuter.” William C. “Bill” Clark, leader of the former, is named president/CEO of the combined operation that now inherits a fleet of 17 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100s, 23 Shorts 360s, 13 Beech 1900s, and 1 Fokker F.27-500 from the former and 3 Fokker F.27-500s, 8 Shorts 360s, and 3 DHC-8-100s. The remainder of the year is spent in upgrading services and rationalizing the fleet. Orders are placed for 5 Dash-8-300s.
Destinations served as part of the “USAir Express” feeder network include Albany, Allentown, Altoona, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Binghamp-ton, Boston, Bridgeport, Buffalo, Elmira, Erie, Flint, Groton, Harrris-burg, Hartford, Islip, Ithaca, Johnstown, Lancaster, Manchester, New Haven, Newark, Newport News, New York (JFK/LGA), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Reading, Rochester, Salisbury, Scranton, State College, Syracuse, Utica, Washington, D. C. (DCA), White Plains, Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre, and Worcester. Enplanements total 1,595,591, a figure 53.3% higher than that turned in by the merger partners the previous year.
Airline employment in 1993 totals 1,192 as Ronald A. Aramini becomes president/CEO. The rationalized fleet now comprises 13 Beech 1900s, 19 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100s, 23 Shorts 360s, and 1 Fokker F.27-500.
Twice-daily Beech 1900 roundtrips commence on May 2 between Boston and Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.
Passenger boardings for the year climb to 2,090,000.
Eleven DHC-8-100s join the fleet during the first half of 1994. The carrier reaches a tentative four-year labor agreement with its pilots on April 12 that includes a 50% job reduction provision. On August 3,
USAir Group announces that it will lay off about 400 workers and agrees to sell a big portion of the carrier’s assets to Mesa Airlines.
The latter move is not completed, even though customer bookings decline 7.4% to 1,935,354.
Traffic continues to fall during 1995. Although 103,319 scheduled departures are made enplanements fall 10.1% to 1,738,913.
The fleet in 1996 includes 53 aircraft: 36 de Havillands, 11 Beech 1900s, 2 Shorts 360s, and 2 Shorts 330s.
Passenger boarding figures finally improve as the number of passengers carried increases by 3.5% to 1,800,248. Scheduled departures increase to 112,339.
On February 27, 1997, USAir is renamed USAirways and “USAir Express” becomes “USAirways Express.” During the year, this regional will begin to repaint its aircraft in a modified version of the major’s new grey and dark blue livery.
Former USAirways Vice President-Special Projects Keith Houk is named president on September 2. He had earlier served as president of Jetstream International Airlines, now PSA Airlines.
Passenger boardings for the year recover and accelerate 13% to 2,035,162.
Flights continue in 1998. Negotiations between management and the local Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) chapter commence in June.
While on approach to Long Island’s MacArthur Airport after a September 27 service from Philadelphia, “USAirways Express” Flight 3977, a DHC-8-102 with 3 crew and 22 passengers, encounters turbulence; the flight attendant is seriously injured, while one passenger is hurt slightly.
Customer bookings ascend 7.4% to 2.18 million.
Capt. Matthew Kernan, chairman of the Allegheny unit of ALPA, is able to announce on April 28, 1999, that, after 10 months of negotiations, a new four-year collective bargaining agreement has been achieved.
Passenger boardings accelerate 12.8% to 2,465,000.
ALLEGHENY COMMUTER: United States (1989-1992). When USAir in mid-1989 elects to reform and rename its “Allegheny Commuter” network as “USAir Express,” the major’s wholly owned subsidiary, Suburban Airlines, elects to change its name to Allegheny Commuter. Airline employment now stands at 300 and the fleet includes 11 Shorts 330s, 4 Shorts 360s, and 3 Fokker F.27-500s.
Under both new moniker and old, the carrier transports a total of 610,533 passengers, a 13.1% increase over the previous year. Freight poundage rises to 707,000.
The fleet is increased in 1990 by the addition of 2 Shorts 330s and 4 Shorts 360s. Passenger boardings shoot up 38% to 841,049, but cargo declines by 7.5% to 654,322 pounds.
The workforce is cut by 16.7% in 1991 to 250, but customer bookings shoot up 14.8% to 965,166. The carrier does not survive long enough to record its one-millionth passenger boarding.
In August 1992, the company is merged with Pennsylvania Airlines to form Allegheny Airlines (2).
ALLEGHENY COMMUTER AIRLINES. See ALLEGHENY AIRLINES (2)
ALLEGHENY COMMUTER SYSTEM. See AEROMECH AIRLINES; AIR KENTUCKY; CHAUTAUQUA AIRLINES; COL-GAN AIRLINES; CROWN AIRWAYS; FISCHER BROTHERS AVIATION; HENSON AVIATION; PENNSYLVANIA AIRLINES; POCONO AIRLINES; RANSOME AIRLINES; SOUTHERN JERSEY AIRWAYS; SUBURBAN AIRLINES. See also USAIR EXPRESS; USAIRWAYS EXPRESS
ALLEGIANT AIR: 4995 E. Andersen Ave., Fresno, California, United States; Phone (559) 454-7781; Http://www. allegiant-air. com; Code G4; Year Founded 1998. Allegiant Air is established at Fresno, California, by its chairman/CEO Mitchell H. Alice, in March 1998 to offer direct-sale public charters with a Douglas DC-9-21 purchased personally by Alice. The former SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) jetliner is one of only 10 such aircraft built. Scheduled service is inaugurated in June from Fresno to Las Vegas and South Lake Tahoe and from Burbank to South Lake Tahoe. Enplanements for the year are less than 5,000.
The company’s second aircraft, a former Eastern Air Lines/Trans World Airlines (TWA) DC-9-51, is acquired, via Boeing Capital, in August 1999. When short-lived Tahoe Air begins service in October, Allegiant suspends its scheduled South Lake Tahoe service, though it continues charters. With Capt. Dave Beadle and First Officer Mark Overgaard at the controls, the completely refurbished DC-9-51 launches thrice-daily roundtrips on November 1 from Long Beach to Las Vegas.
Overall customer bookings for the year skyrocket 292.3% to 51,000.
Allegiant flirts with political history in February 2000 when presidential candidates lease its aircraft. On February 14-15, Senator Bill Bradley is transported by DC-9-51 from San Francisco to Atlantic City and New York (LGA) while, on February 19-20, the same plane flies Texas Governor George W. Bush from South Carolina to Grand Rapids and Detroit.
The DC-9-21, meanwhile, is briefly repainted in the colors of the fictitious Big Country Air for a role in the Chris Klein and Heather Graham motion picture Say It Isn 't So.
Chairman Alice buys 2 more ex-Eastern/TWA DC-9-51s in mid-July and they are employed, beginning on August 15, to resume flights to South Lake Tahoe, this time from Long Beach, and to inaugurate daily roundtrips from Long Beach to Las Vegas via Fresno. Daily roundtrips commence on September 7 from Fresno to Portland via Reno.
ALLEGRO AIR (LINEAS AEREAS ALLEGRO, S. A. de C. V.): Jose Bentiez 2709, Obispado, Monterrey, NL, 64060, Mexico; Phone 52 (8) 333-9938; Fax 53 (8) 333-9940; Http://www. suntrip. com/allegro_profile. htm; Code GRO; Year Founded 1992. Allegro Air is established at Mexico City in the fall of 1992 to offer domestic passenger and international charter and inclusive-tour flights. A contract is signed with San Jose-based SunTrips and revenue operations commence on December 26 with two leased Boeing 727-247As. The initial year is a huge success and requires the carrier to increase its fleet significantly in 1993. Added under charter are 1 each B-727-225A, B-727-225, and B-727-214.
Destinations visited from Cancun include Albany, Boston, Bonoire, Cedar Rapids, Charlotte, Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Denver, Green Bay, Los Angeles, New York (JFK), Moline, Norfolk, Memphis, Phoenix, Richmond, Rochester, Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma, Spokane, Syracuse, and Wasau in Wisconsin.
Three Douglas DC-9-14s are chartered from International Air Leases early in the first quarter of 1994 as replacements for the last two Boeings. Outfitted in a striking forest green livery with silver titles, the first aircraft is delivered from Miami to Mexico City on March 17—St. Patrick’s Day. One plane is flown on behalf of the ABACO company, with billboard titles advertising that company painted along the fuselage.
Later in the year, the remaining B-727-225A and 3 Douglas transports are joined by 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-83s chartered to and from the German airline Aero Lloyd Flugreisen, GmbH. & Co.
When Club America Vacations abruptly shuts down on March 30, 1995 , it leaves nearly 2,000 passengers stranded at destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. Although U. S. law requires airlines providing outbound transportation to return stranded passengers if a charter firm goes out of business, that is not possible in this case as the carrier involved, Private Jet Expeditions, has itself failed two weeks earlier. Consequently, Allegro becomes one of several U. S. and Mexican operators to assist in the return of the tour operators clients, transporting a total of 300 American vacationers back to Texas from Mexico.
While en route from Orlando to Cancun on May 14, 1996, Flight 401, a DC-9-14 with 4 crew and 42 passengers, strays 300 mi. off course. Low on fuel, the aircraft is diverted to Tampico, but, at a point 65 mi. from that destination, the aircraft suffers fuel exhaustion and both engines flame out. The aircraft glides toward a landing, but comes down 300 m. short of the runway, causing its right main landing gear and its nose landing gear to collapse and the plane to hit the concrete base of approach lights. Although the Douglas is damaged beyond repair, there are no fatalities.
Airline employment stands at 95 in 1997 and the Aero Lloyd Flu-greisen, GmbH. & Co. exchange continues annually between December and April.
International scheduled service is inaugurated; frequencies are initiated to San Francisco from Concum, Puerto Valanta, and San Jose Coboi; to Los Angeles from Concum, Mazatlan, Puerto Valanta, and San Jose Coboi, and to Boston from Acapulco, Bonoire, Concum, Cura9ao, and San Jose Coboi. Additionally, the company’s flourishing charter business is continued.
During the year, a contract received from SunTrips for roundtrip charters between Los Angeles and Mexico is operated as a subservice by the Canadian carrier Skyservice, Ltd. An Airbus Industrie A320-231 chartered from Airtours International, Ltd. of the U. K.
The SunTrips contract for U. S.-Mexico service is awarded to Ryan International Airlines at the end of the first quarter of 1998. Until Ryan takes over the service, the Canadian Airbus maintains the link on behalf of the tour operator.
The company operates invisibly in 1999. The year’s most important achievement is the hush-kitting of 2 B-727-2A1As, which are returned to the carrier in an all-white livery.
On April 17, 2000, it begins to fly an all-white Boeing 727-200A from Santo Domingo to Miami on behalf of Aeromar International,
C. por A.
ALLEN AIR COMMUTER: United States (1967-1975). Allen Aviation is set up at Topeka, Kansas, in 1967 to provide scheduled air taxi services to Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, Manhattan, and Lawrence. Piper lightplane operations continue apace during the remainder of the decade and into the 1970s, by which time the company has received a change in corporate identity, becoming Allen Air Commuter.
The company goes out of business on August 13, 1975.
ALLIANCE AIR, LTD.: Northern Region Building, Safdarjung Airport, Delhi, 110033, India; Phone 91 (11) 371-8951; Fax 91(11) 371-1730; Http://www. allianceair-india. com; Code CD; Year Founded 1996. AA, Ltd. is established at Safdarjung Airport, Delhi, in the spring of 1996 as an Indian Airlines Corporation subsidiary. Veenu Kashyap is named managing director (as well as director of the parent’s short-haul division) and is charged with taking up feeder services that halted earlier in the decade when Vayudoot Airlines, Ltd. was merged into lA.
All infrastructure support is provided by the parent, including ground handling, sales, marketing, computerized reservations system, ticketing, and airport facilities. The new concern employs its cockpit and cabin crew on a contract basis and subcontracts its maintenance to
Indian Airlines, Ltd.
With the mission of providing tourist-oriented feeder services to and from its Bombay and Delhi hubs, the new entrant leases 3 B-737-2A8As and the former Vayudoot fleet of HAL-manufactured Dornier 228-212s from Indian Airlines, Ltd. Flights are launched on June 21 from New Delhi to Goa. Continuing service to Cochin. Bhopal, Bhuj, Gwalier, Indore, Jaipur, Jamnagar, Jodhpour, Mangalore, and Udalpur joins the network later in the summer.
Thrice-weekly roundtrips commence on September 10 between Kochi and Madras.
A fourth B-737-2A8A arrives on February 10, 1997 as plans are made to acquire 8 more “Baby Boeings” from the parent. Flights to Rajasthan commence in April. During the next 8 months, the company undertakes 45 daily departures to its many destinations.
Enplanements during the 12 months total 1,436,602.
During 1998, executives at Indian Airlines, Ltd. ponder the idea of turning the subsidiary into an independent airline.
During the first quarter of 1998, tenders are placed to lease 5 B-737-200s, 2 of which should enter service during the second quarter and 3 in the third.
With the arrival of 2 B-737-2A8As in April, flights commence to Calcutta and Chennai from Port Blair. In addition, daily roundtrip frequencies between Bombay and Mangalore are increased from 7 to 11.
Just after takeoff from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram on the completion of a July 30 service from Agathi, Flight 503, a Dornier 228-212, with three crew and five passengers, nose dives into a building near the naval workshop and explodes; all aboard are killed, along with two people on the ground. Five persons in the naval facility are injured, one seriously.
A commission of inquiry begins an examination the next day. However, on August 4, Minister of Aviation Ananth Kumar tells the press, as reported in that day’s edition of The Hindu, that there are no plans to phase out the Indian Airlines Dornier fleet.
When Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar disbands the common board of Air India, Ltd. and Indian Airlines, Ltd. on December 11, he also dismisses its shared chairman, P. C. Sen, who is also managing director of Indian Airlines, Ltd. Considered a protege of Sen, Alliance Managing Director Kashyap is dismissed on December 14.
Passenger boardings inch up 1.4% to 1,457,000, while cargo traffic jumps 11.3% to 5.54 million FTKs. Revenues are $223.44 million and costs are $222.31 million. The operating profit is $1.12 million.
In addition to Dornier 228-212s, the Alliance fleet, at the beginning of 1999, includes 12 B-737-2A8A, most of which are 17-18 years old. Only 10 planes are available for operations at any given time.
Following a VIP inaugural flight on March 13, by new Managing Director D. V. Gupta and others, thrice-weekly Dornier 228-212 roundtrips commence on March 15 from Delhi to Shimla and Kullu.
In April, Alliance floats global tenders to lease 4 B-737s of the 200, 300, or 400 series; tenders received will be opened on June 4. On May 22, The Times of India reports that the company will employ the new aircraft for planned expansion in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and northeast.
Overall enplanements for the year reach 1.88 million and 8.15 million FTKs are also operated.
Inbound to Patna at the end of the first leg of a three-stop July 17, 2000 flight from Calcutta to Delhi, Flight 7412, a B-737-2A8 with 6 crew and 51 passengers, flies too low while making a second approach. The jetliner’s left wing hits a neem tree and is torn off. The plane crashes into several single-story houses in a residential estate 2 km. SW of the airport and explodes. There are no survivors and four people are killed on the ground.
Two B-737-200s are grounded on August 20 for the repair of reported oil leaks and engine noises.
World History
