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| Founded | 1967 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 1982 | ||||||
| Fleet size | 9 (in 1982) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | ||||||
| Key people | Henry P. Hill | ||||||
Altair Airlines was an airline based in Philadelphia. It was in service from 1967 to 1982. According to its June 15, 1982 system timetable, the Altair name was taken from the first magnitude star "Altairius" brightest in the constellation "Aquila" (Eagle) from which the airline's Blue Eagle symbol was derived. [1]
The airline was established in 1967 as a commuter airline operating small piston twin aircraft. In 1967, Altair's main shareholder was Tristram Colket and it had 587 employees. [2] In May 1970, Altair Airlines was reported by the Civil Aeronautics Board to have the highest bumping rate. [3] By the late 1970s, Altair had introduced Nord 262 turboprops to its fleet in addition to Beechcraft 99 commuter turboprops. [4]
Altair attempted to attain sustained profitability by retiring its turboprop aircraft and expanding its scheduled passenger services to new destinations along the U.S. east coast in tandem with the introduction of a small fleet of Fokker F28 Fellowship and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 twin jets; however, income was never able to outpace the debts incurred. In November 1982, Altair owed more than one million dollars in jet fuel costs to Gulf Oil Corporation who, after a protracted period of negotiating, demanded immediate payment. Altair had little choice but to seek legal protection. In 1982, Altair filed for bankruptcy due to its many debts. [5] Its last president was Henry P. Hill. Many of Altair's dedicated employees found employment at other airlines with facilities at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).
When it ceased operations in November 1982, Altair Airlines was an all-jet air carrier operating a fleet of six Fokker F28 Fellowship series 4000 and three McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jetliners. The airline called their jet aircraft "Starjets". [1] Altair previously operated Beechcraft 99 and Nord 262 commuter turboprop aircraft prior to introducing jet service and expanding its routes. [6]
According to its July 1, 1969 system timetable, Altair was operating scheduled passenger service with small Beechcraft 99 turboprop commuter aircraft with flights serving the following destinations primarily in the northeast U.S. [7]
By 1976, Bridgeport, Connecticut (BDR), Hartford, Connecticut (BDL) and Islip, New York (ISP) had been added to the Altair route system and by 1980 Binghamton, New York (BGM), Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT), Elmira, New York (ILM), New Bern/Morehead City, North Carolina (EWN), New York Newark Airport (EWR) and Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina (RDU) had been added as well. [8]
According to its June 15, 1982 system timetable, Altair was serving the following destinations in the eastern U.S. with all flights being operated with either Fokker F28 Fellowship or McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets. [1]
St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport is a public/military airport in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay Area. It is right on the northeast municipal boundary of Pinellas Park, 9 miles (14 km) north of downtown St. Petersburg, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Clearwater, and 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Tampa.
Key West International Airport is an international airport located in the City of Key West in Monroe County, Florida, United States, 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the main commercial center of Key West.
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Jack Brooks Regional Airport, formerly Southeast Texas Regional Airport, is near Port Arthur, Texas, nine miles (14 km) southeast of Beaumont and northeast of Port Arthur. It was Jefferson County Airport, but its name was changed to honor former U.S. Representative Jack Brooks. The airport is southwest of the city of Nederland in unincorporated Jefferson County, and is used for general aviation. Southwest Airlines ended scheduled jet service in 1980 and several other airlines have started and ended service as well including American Eagle, Continental, Delta/Delta Connection and United Express. The latest chapter is the resumption of service by American Eagle for American Airlines to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW).
Texas International Airlines Inc. was an American airline, known from 1940 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways (TTa), and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines. It was headquartered near William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas.
Billings Logan International Airport is two miles northwest of downtown Billings, in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. It is the second largest airport in Montana, having been surpassed by Bozeman in both number of gates as well as annual enplanements in recent years, and is owned by the city of Billings. The airport is on top of the Rims, a 500-foot (150 m) cliff overlooking the downtown core. BIL covers 2,300 acres (9.3 km2) of land.
Tyler Pounds Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located 3 mi (4.8 km) west of Tyler, in Smith County, Texas, United States.
General William J. Fox Airfield is a county-owned, public airport in Los Angeles County, California, five miles northwest of Lancaster, California, United States. Locally known as Fox Field, the airport serves the Antelope Valley. The airport is named after William J. Fox, "a Marine war hero, a movie stunt man, the first Los Angeles County engineer and, for 20 years after his retirement, a cowboy."
Lake Charles Regional Airport is a public use airport located five nautical miles (9 km) south of the central business district of Lake Charles, a city in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. Owned by Calcasieu Parish, the airport serves approximately 375,000 people in the Lake Charles – Jennings combined statistical area.
Smith Reynolds Airport is a public airport 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Winston-Salem in Forsyth County, North Carolina. The airport has two runways, and is used for general aviation and flight training as there is now no scheduled passenger airline. It is home to the Winston-Salem air show, usually held in September, which draws about 20,000 spectators.
Angelina County Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport in Angelina County, Texas, United States. The airport is located seven nautical miles (13 km) southwest of the central business district of Lufkin, Texas.
JAGS McCartney International Airport, also known as Grand Turk International Airport, is an airport located 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Cockburn Town on Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is the second largest airport in the Turks & Caicos, after Providenciales International Airport.
Piedmont Airlines was an American airline from 1948 to 1989, when it was acquired by and merged into USAir. Its headquarters were at One Piedmont Plaza in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a building that is now part of Wake Forest University.
Mammoth Yosemite Airport is a town-owned public airport seven miles east of Mammoth Lakes, in Mono County, California, United States. Also known as Mammoth Lakes Airport or Mammoth-June Lake Airport, it is mainly used for general aviation, but has scheduled passenger flights operated by one airline which primarily serves the airport on a seasonal basis during the winter ski season. Additional scheduled passenger service for the Mammoth area is seasonally available at the nearby Eastern Sierra Regional Airport located in Bishop, CA.
Brockway Air was a regional airline in the United States, which was formerly known as Air North and originally as Northern Airways.
Dillant–Hopkins Airport is a general aviation airport located 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the central business district (CBD) of Keene, in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. It covers 888 acres (359 ha) and has two runways. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a regional general aviation facility.
Britt Airways was a United States airline established as Vercoa Air Service in 1964 and renamed to Britt Airlines when it was purchased by William and Marilyn Britt in 1975 later on Britt Airways. It was based in Terre Haute, Indiana until 1996. It began as a commuter airline. It primarily operated turboprop aircraft but also flew British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twinjets as an independent air carrier at one point as well. The airline evolved into a regional air carrier operating code share flights primarily for Continental Airlines.
Best Airlines was a small airline that flew to a miscellaneous and changing group of cities in the Mid-Atlantic United States in the mid-1980s. Their headquarters was in the Covington, Kentucky area which is near the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. The May 15, 1983 timetable indicates headquarters in Florence, KY and the January 7, 1985 timetable indicates headquarters in Ft. Mitchell, KY. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), the two letter airline code for Best was "IW".
Intrastate airlines in the U.S. are defined as air carriers operating inside of one individual state and thus not flying across state lines. Larger intrastate airlines in the U.S. that operated mainline turboprop and/or jet aircraft were created as a result of former federal airline regulations, as passenger air carriers that only flew intrastate service were not regulated by the federal government but were instead primarily regulated by the respective state governments in their home states. For example, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and Air California were both regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) prior to the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Although intrastate airlines in some states used only turboprop aircraft, scheduled passenger service on jet aircraft was operated by intrastate air carriers in California, Florida, Hawaii and Texas.
