Throwbacks

In 2003, SWISS decided to terminate its route between Geneva and Lugano. In response, businessman Julian Cook decided to begin an airline to operate the route. The airline would be called Baboo, which began its first flight on November 3rd, 2003, with aircraft operated by Cirrus Airlines. The airline was based in Geneva and would […]

With many airlines restructuring in the early 2000s, major U.S. carriers were brought into difficult times. New airlines saw this as a way to cash in on the possibility of winning over business passengers who wanted something more from the legacy carriers. One of these marketable ideas was the long-haul, all-business class model, which had seen […]

Trans-Colorado Airlines was founded in August 1980 in the quiet mountain town of Gunnison, Colo. In its infancy, flights were operated to Denver’s Stapleton Airport using a single Swearingen Metro II turboprop aircraft. The airline was founded during the post-Deregulation era in the U.S. when regional airlines were experiencing a boom. As a result, small […]

In June 1977, Scottish carrier Air Ecosse took to the skies on its inaugural flight from Aberdeen to Wick, Scotland. The subsidiary of parent company Fairflight Charters, the airline operated both scheduled passenger flights and mail flights on behalf of Royal Mail. Simply designed, many of its aircraft featured a white body with a basic […]

Trans World Connection was originally a small regional and commuter airline that operated on behalf of Trans World Airlines in the 1990s. The airline used a small fleet of Saab 340s, Jetstream 41s, and ATR 42s to provide connection services from their hubs in St. Louis, New York-JFK and Los Angeles. While regional arms of […]

Austrian low-cost airline Niki is one of the most recent casualties of the aviation industry, shutting down operations less than a month ago. Unfortunately, the airline was caught up in the collapse of German carrier Air Berlin. Although marketed as a low-cost carrier, the airline offered many amenities of full-service carriers, such as free food, […]

When the Chinese manufactured goods market booming in the early 2000s, airlines and investors were looking for ways to get involved in the trade of Chinese exports and invested heavily in creating cargo carriers. Here are two cargo airlines that got there start, and ultimately saw their end, during this period of increased trade in […]

Impulse Airlines was founded in 1992 by Sue and Gerry McGowan. Operations began later that year as a regional carrier based in Newcastle, New South Wales. The airline operated regional routes within New South Wales using the Beechcraft 1900D. Destinations included Sydney, Melbourne, and Australian capital Canberra, among others. The airline operated routes for Ansett […]

The 1960s saw the success of various domestic airlines in Mexico. With numerous successes among airlines taking hold in the country, new airlines started to look for cities to make their name outside of Mexico City. One of the new airlines to launch was Aero California in 1960. The airline started operations in the Mexican […]

During the 1970s and 80s, the regional airline market was filled with airlines named after their respective states. These included large, successful airlines, such as Air California, as well as many smaller airlines, such as Air Indiana. Neighboring Illinois was home to one of these small, intrastate carriers: Air Illinois. The airline was founded in […]