Simmons Airlines

Last updated
Simmons Airlines
Simmons Airlines Logo.svg
IATA ICAO Call sign
MQSYMSIMMONS
Founded1978;46 years ago (1978)
Commenced operations1978;46 years ago (1978)
Ceased operationsMay 15, 1998;
26 years ago
 (1998-05-15)
(merged with Wings West Airlines and Flagship Airlines to form American Eagle Airlines)
Hubs
Parent company AMR Corporation
Headquarters
Simmons Airlines Shorts SD-360-100 N367MQ Shorts SD-360-100 Simmons Airlines ORD 24DEC86 (12609577553).jpg
Simmons Airlines Shorts SD-360-100

Simmons Airlines was an American regional airline. It was the predecessor to American Eagle Airlines. Its headquarters were originally near Marquette, Michigan, at the Marquette County Airport in Negaunee Township, [1] and were eventually moved to the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois. [2]

Contents

History

Simmons Airlines, Inc. began operations in 1978 between Marquette and Lansing using a Piper Navajo. Operations expanded in the 1980s to link multiple points in Michigan to Chicago and Detroit, and its fleet expanded with Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante, Shorts 360s, and YS-11s. It began operating as a Republic Express-branded carrier on April 28, 1985, (later Northwest Airlink) serving markets from Detroit, and as an American Eagle-branded carrier on October 1, 1985, serving markets from Chicago. [3]

Simmons was acquired by AMR Corp. on August 8, 1988, and ended Northwest Airlink flights soon after. On May 28, 1993, it acquired certain assets of the holdings of Metro Airlines. Metro and its holdings Metro Airlines Leasing (d/b/a Metroflight), operated American Eagle flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and had recently acquired Chaparral Airlines just prior the asset acquisition by AMR Simmons.

In 1998 the remaining certificated regional airline carriers Wings West Airlines and Flagship Airlines, which were both wholly owned by the AMR Corporation and operating under the American Eagle banner and brand, were merged under the surviving Simmons Airlines IATA designator 'MQ', thus forming a certificated airline named American Eagle Airlines (rather than just an Airlink, Connect, Connection, Eagle, or Express airline codeshare brand).

Incidents and accidents

See also

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References

  1. "Joel Murray". The Mining Journal (Obituary). November 11, 2009.
  2. "World Airline Directory". Flight International . March 14–20, 1990. p. 127.
  3. "Simmons to Serve 11 Cities as American Airlines Link". Chicago Tribune . August 15, 1985.
  4. "CHI79FA025, 14 CFR Part 135 Scheduled operation of L.J.SIMMONS" . Retrieved 8 Apr 2013.
  5. NTSB Aircraft Accident Report (AAR) number AAR-87/02 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2011-09-19. Retrieved 2011-08-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: unfit URL (link).
  6. Archived November 28, 2005, at the Wayback Machine