The city of St. Petersburg, Florida is often overlooked in the history of aviation, even as it hosted the first airline in the world in 1914. More recently, the city was the founding home of National Airlines in 1934. The brainchild of George T. Baker, the airline began operations from…
In 2006, Caribbean Airlines was born out of the former British West Indies Airlines. At this time, the cost of flights in the Caribbean was increasing. This created the idea for REDjet, marketed as the Caribbean’s first low-cost airline. The investment group, AIRONE Holdings, originally wanted to base the airline…
Founded in 2006 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina based airline company Direct Air commenced operations leasing aircraft with charter airlines. Their flights were operated by numerous other airlines, including Sky King, Inc., World Atlantic Airlines, USA Jet, and Xtra Airways, among others. The company's first routes consisted of nonstop service from…
While Columbia, MO began to see route success with Trans World Airlines (TWA) in the 1990s, its local passengers struggled with high prices, leaving local resident William Stricker to take matters into his own hands. Stricker decided on buying the Ozark Airlines name, as well as two Dornier 328JET aircraft to start…
With Purdue University consistently looking for ways to get ahead in the aviation world, the university looked to the skies as its next resource. The West Lafayette-based university had already made records in the 1930s when it became the first academic institution to own an airport, with the creation of…
Founded in 1960, Aero Union Corporation was an aircraft maintenance and operation company that focused on aerial firefighting, including operating the aircraft, training crews, and designing fire fighting systems. Their company depended heavily on a contract with the US Forest Service. Initially from Redding, California, their headquarters was eventually established in…
Virgin Atlantic has always been strong with long-haul service to holiday destinations from the United Kingdom. However, the carrier has never had much of a domestic presence. Virgin once had services to Dublin early in their history and some intra-European service, however none of these routes were domestic. In 2012,…
Launched in 1946, Société Belge des Transports par Air SA, or Sobelair, operated past the turn of the century as a Belgian charter airline. Originalyl named Société d'Etude et de Transports Aerien, or SETA, the carrier operated their first revenue flight on October 15, 1946 with a DC-3 on a flower transport…
Founded in 1958 by Ghana's government, Ghana Airways survived for a significant amount of time before officially ceasing operations after nearly a half century. Initially, the government held a 60% stake in the company, with BOAC holding the remaining 40%. Ghana Airways and BOAC agreed to a seven year deal,…
