Air Florida
| Air Florida | |
|---|---|
|
|
| IATA code : | QH |
| ICAO code : | QH (FLA) |
| Call sign : | PALM |
| Founding: | 1971 |
| Operation stopped: | 1984 |
| Seat: |
Miami , Florida , United States
|
| Home airport : | Miami International Airport |
| IATA prefix code : | 596 |
| Number of employees: | 1815 (December 1983) |
| Fleet size: | 18 (February 1984) |
| Aims: | National and international |
| ceased operations in 1984. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Air Florida was an American airline that ceased operations in 1984. The company operated national and international scheduled flights .
history
Air Florida was founded in Miami in September 1971 . The company initially received an Air Operator Certificate from the US aviation authority as a so-called "Intrastate Carrier", which allowed only regional scheduled flights within the state of Florida . Flight operations began on September 29, 1972 with a Boeing 707 that Pan Am leased for a short time . Initially, the Miami company only flew to the cities of Orlando and Saint Petersburg . In the spring of 1973 Air Florida acquired the first of a total of three Lockheed L-188 Electra and expanded its route network to Tallahassee . Mid-1970s, the company planned its turboprop machines by jet aircraft type VFW 614 to replace, but do not ordered.
At the beginning of 1977 a Boeing 727-100, which was only operated for a short time, added to the fleet, followed in the summer of 1977 by three Douglas DC-9s acquired by Air Canada . In the course of the deregulation of US air traffic, the Airline Deregulation Act from October 1978 made it possible for Air Florida to expand its national route network beyond the borders of the state of Florida and also to set up international connections. The company then established itself as a low-cost airline with a very aggressive pricing policy . For faster expansion, the company sought in the spring of 1979 to take over National Airlines , which was also based at Miami International Airport , but Pan Am bought it. At that time, Air Florida was flying to thirteen Florida airports on schedule with five Douglas DC-9s and two rented Boeing 737-200s and had set up new national connections to New York , Philadelphia and Washington . The first international scheduled flights took place in parallel to Saint Croix and three destinations in the Bahamas .
From summer 1979, Air Florida a greater number of new Boeing 737-200 and five used by Singapore Airlines acquired Boeing 737-100 into service which the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 gradually replaced. A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 was leased from Seaboard World Airlines for the first time from March 1980 to take up scheduled flights to London-Gatwick . At the same time, the company bought several smaller airlines, including Fineair Express and Gullair , which then carried out feeder flights for the company. These regional airlines, which subsequently appeared under the common brand name Air Florida Express , remained as independent subsidiaries and were not merged with Air Florida .
In the early 1980s, Air Florida ran into economic difficulties as a result of its rapid expansion and increasing competition from other airlines. The financial problems increased after the crash of a Boeing 737 in Washington, DC (see below) and the associated additional drop in passengers. Due to the heavy losses in operations, the company's debt in the spring of 1984 totaled $ 155 million. The impending bankruptcy was initially averted through the sale of four Boeing 737s. On July 3, 1984, Air Florida filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and ceased operations. Most of the fleet consisted of leased aircraft that were promptly returned to their owners. In the fall of 1984, Chicago- based Midway Airlines bought the insolvent company and its last three remaining Boeing 737s for a total of $ 53 million.
Destinations
The company had an extensive route network within Florida and offered scheduled flights from there to the central and eastern parts of the USA, including Charleston , Dallas , Houston , New York , Philadelphia , Savannah and Washington . Internationally, routes to Central America and the Caribbean were mainly served from Miami . In Europe, Air Florida first flew to London Gatwick , Düsseldorf and Zurich from the spring of 1980 , and later also to Brussels and Frankfurt . From May 1983 the company only operated the transatlantic route to London-Gatwick with its own aircraft. At the same time, she commissioned British Island Airways to handle the connecting traffic to Brussels, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. The British company's BAC 1-11 used for this only had a small sticker from Air Florida .
fleet
Fleet at the end of operations
In February 1984 the fleet consisted of fifteen Boeing 737s, one Douglas DC-8-62 and two McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30CF.
Previously deployed aircraft
Air Florida has used the following types of aircraft throughout its history:
- Boeing 707-300 (leased from Pan Am from September 1972 to early 1973 )
- Boeing 727-100 and 727-200 (operated from early to mid-1977 and from 1981 to 1983)
- Boeing 737-100 and 737-200 (operated from 1979)
- Douglas DC-9-15 (operated from 1977 to 1981)
- Douglas DC-8-62 (leased from Rich International Airways from 1983 )
- Lockheed L-188 Electra (operated from 1973 to 1977)
- Martin 4-0-4
- McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30CF (leased from Seaboard World Airlines and Transamerica Airlines from 1980 )
Incidents
- On January 13, 1982, a Boeing 737-200 crashed on Air Florida Flight 90 after taking off from Washington National Airport . The machine collided with a road bridge due to a stall and hit the Potomac River .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Air Florida was assigned a three-digit ICAO code, but the three-digit system did not become the official ICAO standard until November 1, 1987.
- ^ Flight International, March 21, 1974
- ^ Flight International, April 24, 1976
- ↑ JP airline-fleets international, Edition 77
- ^ Flight International, January 6, 1980
- ^ Air Florida, Flight Schedule, April 1979
- ↑ JP airline-fleets international, Edition 80
- ↑ a b JP airline-fleets international, Edition 84
- ^ Flight International, August 7, 1982
- ^ Flight International, May 5, 1984
- ^ A b The New York Times, Midway Jets Sale, August 15, 1985
- ↑ JP airline-fleets international, Edition 85
- ↑ Bac1-11jet.co.uk, USA, Air Florida
- ↑ JP airline-fleets international, various years
- ^ Aviation Safety Network: Air Florida, Boeing 737 (N62AF), January 13, 1982
