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Commenced operations | July 22, 1968 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 1985 | ||||||
Operating bases | La Crosse Municipal Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | See Fleet below | ||||||
Destinations | See Destinations below | ||||||
Headquarters | La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States Moline, Illinois, United States |
Mississippi Valley Airlines (IATA--XV) was a regional air carrier serving the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It was founded by Herb Lee, Norm Elsy and Charles A. ("Chuck") Draine [2] as Gateway Aviation, and had its headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin. [3] Chuck Draine served as chairman and chief executive officer. [4] It began scheduled flight operations on July 22, 1968 between La Crosse Municipal Airport and both Chicago (O'Hare International Airport) and Milwaukee (General Mitchell International Airport). [5] The carrier changed its name to Mississippi Valley Airways in October 1969. It became Mississippi Valley Airlines (MVA) and moved its headquarters to Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois in January 1982. [6] [7] The airline merged into Air Wisconsin on May 17, 1985 in a $10 million share exchange transaction. At the time of the merger, Mississippi Valley Airlines was the United States' eighth-largest regional airline in terms of ridership. [8]
Mississippi Airlines had the following destinations: [9]
Although the airline had no fatal accidents, it lost one aircraft during in-flight operations, a Twin Otter which hit trees upon landing at La Crosse, Wisconsin. [15]
Air Wisconsin Airlines is a regional airline based at Appleton International Airport in the town of Greenville, Wisconsin near Appleton, Wisconsin. Air Wisconsin operated as one of the original United Express partners in 1985, and subsequently operated as US Airways Express on behalf of US Airways prior to becoming an American Eagle regional air carrier. Between March 2018 and April 2023, Air Wisconsin operated exclusively as a United Express regional air carrier once again with primary hubs located at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). This came to an end in April 2023 as the carrier switched to conducting solely American Eagle branded flights, under a new contract with American Airlines.
Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is 7 miles west of downtown Santa Barbara, California, United States. The airfield covers 948 acres (384 ha) of land and has three runways.
The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking Air purchased the type certificate and restarted production in 2008, before re-adopting the DHC name in 2022. In 2023 DHC restarted production of the 300 series, in addition to the Series 400 produced by Viking.
Skyway Airlines was an American ramp and aircraft ground handling services and catering company based in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Until April 5, 2008, it operated as a regional airline and banner carrier exclusively for Midwest Express Airlines under the business name Midwest Connect, feeding Midwest's hub at General Mitchell International Airport with twelve 32-seat Fairchild-Dornier 328JET regional jet aircraft, and four 19-seat Beechcraft 1900 commuter turboprops. Skyway Airlines, along with its parent corporation, Midwest Air Group, has since ceased operations.
Waterloo Regional Airport ( Livingston Betsworth Field) is four miles (6 km) northwest of Waterloo, in Black Hawk County, Iowa. It is used for general aviation and sees one airline.
The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. Variants were built with 50–54 seats. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing in 1986 and later sold to Bombardier. In 2006 Bombardier sold the type certificate for the aircraft design to Victoria-based manufacturer Viking Air.
Trans World Express (TWE) was the fully owned and certified regional carrier for Trans World Airlines (TWA) and an airline trademark name for TWA's corporation.
Quincy Regional Airport is a city-owned airport 12 miles east of Quincy, a city in Adams County, Illinois, United States. It is used for general aviation but also sees Southern Airways Express flights to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and St. Louis Lambert International Airport, a service which is subsidized by the federal government's Essential Air Service program at a cost of $1,956,856. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027 categorized it as a national non-primary commercial service facility.
Muskegon County Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport in Norton Shores, Michigan. The airport is located four nautical miles south of the central business district of Muskegon, Michigan. It is mostly used for general aviation but also offers scheduled passenger service by Denver Air Connection flying primarily Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets to Chicago-O'Hare, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
Republic Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated from 1979 until it merged with Northwest Airlines in 1986. Republic was formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquarters were at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, in what is now Fort Snelling in unincorporated Hennepin County, Minnesota. The former headquarters is now Delta Air Lines Building C.
Midstate Airlines was an airline with its headquarters in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States.
Winona Municipal Airport is located three miles northwest of Winona, Minnesota and next to Goodview on the Mississippi River, in Winona County, Minnesota. It has no scheduled airline flights.
North Central Airlines was a local service carrier, a scheduled airline in the Midwestern United States. Founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, the company moved to Madison in 1947. This is also when the "Herman the duck" logo was born on Wisconsin Central's first Lockheed Electra 10A, NC14262, in 1948. North Central's headquarters were moved to Minneapolis–St. Paul in 1952.
Britt Airways was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1964 until it merged with ExpressJet in 1996. It was 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.
Air Illinois was a regional airline based in Carbondale, Illinois.
Lakeland Airlines (IATA—YQ) was founded in 1980 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. It served at various times 11 cities, with commuter service to Minneapolis (MSP), Superior (SUW), Ashland (ASX), Hayward (HYR), Rice Lake (RIE), Eau Claire (EAU), Madison (MSN), Milwaukee (MKE), Chicago (ORD), Wisconsin Rapids (ISW), and Rhinelander (RHI).
Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines is an American regional airline based in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It operates sightseeing flights from Boulder City Municipal Airport in Boulder City, Nevada. Scenic has been owned by Grand Canyon Airlines since 2008.
On December 27, 1968, North Central Airlines Flight 458 crashed into a hangar while attempting a night landing in poor weather at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Of the 41 passengers and four crew members, only 17 passengers and one crew member survived. One person was killed and six were injured on the ground.
On June 29, 1972, North Central Airlines Flight 290 collided in mid-air with Air Wisconsin Flight 671 over Lake Winnebago near Fox Crossing, Wisconsin, in the United States. Both aircraft crashed into the lake, killing all 13 people on board both aircraft.