The General Motors Air Transport Section (GMATS) was a corporate air service operated by General Motors to provide fast transportation for employees that needed to travel between various GM locations. Originally named the "Air Transport Section of General Motors Corporation", [1] it colloquially became known as the General Motors Air Transport Section. [2]
Prior to World War II, General Motors briefly owned Eastern Airlines, but sold it by 1938 to quell any monopoly concerns and smooth the way for wartime production contracts. [3] While the sale of the commercial airline meant GM did not have access to in-house air transportation, there was still a vital need for quick transportation between GM facilities. During the company's involvement in wartime production between 1940 and 1945 many of the individual divisions acquired military aircraft to aid in production and efficiency at plants widely dispersed across North America. Harold R. “Bill” Boyer of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, a former General Motors vice president and head of GM Cadillac Cleveland Tank Division was key in the creation of the air transport infrastructure within GM. [4] [5] In 1948, GM updated and consolidated the corporate aircraft under the control of Operations-Central Office Aircraft, within the Central Office Manufacturing Staff. By 1952 this was reorganized into the General Motors Air Transport Section. [1]
In 1961, GMATS had a total of 36 pilots and 150 maintenance staff, [1] and by 1965 this had grown to 27 pilots, 27 co-pilots and a total staff of 230. [6] In 1965, Willow Run, Michigan served as the maintenance base for GMATS, with the main passenger facility at Detroit City Airport. Anderson Municipal Airport in Indiana was another major hub for GMATS, as the region had important production facilities and no regularly scheduled flights. [6]
In 1999, GM and DaimlerChrysler established a joint venture company, Automotive Air Charter, [7] to use excess capacity of their respective corporate air services to meet demand in the charter business. [8]
In November 2008, General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner (along with Ford and Chrysler CEO's) flew to Washington D.C. to ask for government assistance. All three were heavily criticized for flying on private jets while asking for government funding. In an attempt to hide the flight status of the air fleet GM requested (and was granted) permission to remove GM owned aircraft from tracking under the NBAA's Block Aircraft Registration Request program. [9] As part of GM's subsequent financial collapse and bailout, the company was forced to close the corporate aviation section. This included laying off the remaining staff, relinquishing the leases on seven jets, and closing the passenger facility at Detroit Municipal Airport. [10] [11]
GMATS helped establish the Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management degree at Eastern Michigan University. [12]
Former GMATS directors included Eugene (Gene) Zepp (ret. 1978), [13] [14] and Ken Emrick (ca. 1993). [15]
Historically, GMATS flew the following equipment: [16] [6] [17] [18]
The GMATS logo was painted on various GM location helipads. It can be viewed in a historic satellite view of the GM Technical Center at 42.30436,-83.02413(image from 2012, as of 2020 the helipad has been painted over), and at the former Rochester Products Division building in Rochester, NY at 43.044055,-77.651925 (image from 2002, as of 2019 the helipad has been painted over). The logo was also used on GM show cars during the 1950s and 1960s, including the Firebird II, [19] Firebird III, [19] and initially on the Cadillac Cyclone. [20]
Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport was a single-runway airport in Chicago that was in operation from 1948 to 2003, when it was bulldozed overnight by then-mayor Richard M. Daley. The airport was located on Northerly Island, an artificial peninsula on Lake Michigan adjacent to downtown Chicago, the second-largest business district in North America. By 1955, Meigs Field had become the busiest single-strip airport in the United States. The airport was a familiar sight on the downtown lakefront. The latest air traffic tower was built in 1952, and the terminal was dedicated in 1961. The airfield was named for Merrill C. Meigs.
The Convair 880 is an American narrow-body jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics. It was designed to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 by being smaller but faster, a niche that failed to create demand. When it was first introduced, some in aviation circles claimed that at 615 mph (990 km/h), it was the fastest jet transport in the world. Only 65 Convair 880s were produced over the lifetime of the production run from 1959 to 1962, and General Dynamics eventually withdrew from the airliner market after considering the 880 project a failure. The Convair 990 Coronado was a stretched and faster variant of the 880.
Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, also known as Adams Field, is a joint civil-military airport on the east side of Little Rock, Arkansas. It is operated by the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission.
Continental Express was the operating brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2012 at the time of Continental's merger with United Airlines, two carriers were operating using the Continental Express brand name:
The Convair 990 Coronado is an American narrow-body four-engined jet airliner produced between 1961 and 1963 by the Convair division of American company General Dynamics. It was a stretched version of its earlier Convair 880 produced in response to a request from American Airlines: the 990 was lengthened by 10 ft (3.0 m), which increased the number of passengers from between 88 and 110 in the 880 to between 96 and 121. This was still fewer passengers than the contemporary Boeing 707 or Douglas DC-8, although the 990 was 25–35 mph (40–56 km/h) faster than either in cruise.
Key West International Airport is an international airport located in the City of Key West in Monroe County, Florida, United States, 2 miles east of the main commercial center of Key West.
Helijet International is a helicopter airline and charter service based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Its scheduled passenger helicopter airline services operates flights from heliports at Vancouver International Airport (YVR), downtown Vancouver, downtown Nanaimo and downtown Victoria. It also operates a charter division serving the film, television, aerial tour, industrial and general charter markets, as well as helicopter and jet air ambulance services. Its head office and main hangar is Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
Air Inuit is an airline headquartered in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada. It operates domestic passenger services and charter and cargo services in Nunavik, southern Quebec, and Nunavut. Its main base is Kuujjuaq Airport.
Sheridan County Airport is in Sheridan County, Wyoming, two miles southwest of Sheridan, Wyoming.
Casper–Natrona County International Airport is 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Casper, in Natrona County, Wyoming. Before December 19, 2007 the airport was called Natrona County International Airport.
Roswell Air Center is an airport five miles (8.0 km) south of Roswell, in Chaves County, New Mexico, United States.
The Beechcraft 1900 is a twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring larger regional jets, Raytheon ended production in October 2002.
Durango–La Plata County Airport is a city- and county-owned public airport 12 miles southeast of Durango, in La Plata County, Colorado.
Pueblo Memorial Airport is a public airport located six miles east of Pueblo, in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. It is primarily used for general aviation.
Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter trading as KF Cargo and Kelowna Flightcraft trading as KF Maintenance and Engineering is a cargo airline based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It operates long term cargo charters for couriers and freight companies, forest fire patrols, and aircraft sales and leasing in Canada and worldwide. It also provides maintenance and aircraft manufacturing services.
Miles City Airport or Frank Wiley Field is a city-owned airport two miles northwest of Miles City, in Custer County, Montana, United States. The airport was served by one airline, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. EAS subsidies ended on July 15, 2013, due to subsidy per passenger exceeding $1000, leaving Miles City without scheduled air service.
The Grumman Gulfstream I is a twin-turboprop business aircraft. It first flew on August 14, 1958.
Cox Field is an airport seven miles east of Paris, in Lamar County, Texas. It is owned by the city of Paris but is operated and maintained by J.R. Aviation, the airport's fixed-base operator (FBO).
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.
Pentastar Aviation is an American aviation services company based in Waterford, Oakland County, Michigan. It provides domestic and international private charter flights, avionics, maintenance services, in-flight catering and FBO services. Originally a subsidiary of the Chrysler Corporation, the company was sold in 2001 to Ford family member Edsel B. Ford II.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
