TBT

With the Canadian market reeling from the loss of Canada 3000 Airlines and Canadian Airlines in 2001, entrepreneur Michel Leblanc wanted to start a new low-cost carrier to compete with Air Canada and WestJet. Leblanc, with plenty of experience in the industry as a founder and employee at Royal Aviation, Canada 3000, and Intair, looked […]

Founded in May 1987, Australian carrier Flight West Airlines took to the skies above Brisbane to begin their impact on a variety of small cities across the country. The airline lasted a brief 14 years before succumbing to a complicated struggle to survive. An appropriate reflection of their slogan “jetting into a new territory,” Flight […]

After the success of Southwest Airlines in Texas, former president Marion Lamar Muse decided to found a new airline in the Lone Star state. The new airline was created in Dallas in 1981, and carried the name Muse Air after its president.  Muse choose the McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 as the primary aircraft for the airline, with […]

With the Japanese islands of Ryukyu becoming a popular domestic tourist destination, airlines made moves to provide flights to the island chain. One of these carriers was Southwest Air Lines which started operations throughout the island chain in 1967 with a single Convair 240. The airline based its operations around the city of Naha in […]

Founded in 1965 as Air Melanesiæ, the airline operated domestically out of Vanuatu. For 39 years, the fleet could be found hopping between 18 of Vanuatu’s 83 islands, connecting passengers to 29 destinations. Headquartered at Bauerfield International Airport in Port Vila, Vanuatu, Air Melanesiæ was the product of a joint venture between New Hebrides Airways and […]

After the success of SeaPort Airlines in the Pacific Northwest by offering low-cost airfare with an alternative security entrance, investors in the Chicago area plotted to repeat success, but this time in the Rust Belt. Lakeshore Express started operations in 2012 by operating flights between Chicago-Midway to Pellston and Lansing, Michigan. The carrier started with […]

British Airways foray into other European airlines began in 1992, when it purchased a 49% stake in Delta Air, a German regional airline based in Friedrichshafen. British Airways renamed the airline Deutsche BA (dba) and proceeded to change the focus of the airline. In 1997, the airline acquired the remaining 51% in Deutsche BA to […]

Established in 1996, Origin Pacific Airways officially commenced operations from its hub in Nelson, New Zealand in April 1997. The airline was founded on experience by Robert Inglis and Nicki Smith, who had formerly founded Air Nelson in 1979 before it was sold to Air New Zealand. Over the course of the airline’s relatively brief […]

With the cruise industry performing well, particularly for Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines in the late 1970s and early 1980s, founder and CEO Ted Arison decided to experiment with the airline market. The company purchased charter airline Pacific Interstate Airlines with the goal of using Boeing 737 classic aircraft to operate between northeastern cities and the […]

The origins of US Airways can be traced back to Pennsylvania in the year 1939 as All American Aviation. This company eventually changed its name to Allegheny AIrlines and experienced a series of mergers with Lake Central Airlines and Mowhawk Airlines. As Allegheny contracted Henson Aviation, the predecessor to the modern Piedmont Airlines, to operate […]