Ransome Airlines
| Ransome Airlines | |
|---|---|
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| IATA code : |
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| ICAO code : | RAN |
| Call sign : | RANSOME |
| Founding: | 1966 |
| Operation stopped: | 1986 |
| Seat: |
Philadelphia , United States
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| Home airport : | Northeast Philadelphia Airport |
| IATA prefix code : | 373 |
| Management: | J. Dawson Ransome |
| Fleet size: | 16 |
| Aims: | national |
| Ransome Airlines ceased operations in 1986. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Ransome Airlines was an American airline based in Philadelphia .
history
Foundation and operation for Allegheny Airlines
Ransome Airlines was founded in July 1966 by J. Dawson Ransome as a subsidiary of Giles & Ransome at Northeast Philadelphia Airport. Operations began on March 2, 1967 with the prototype of a stretched Beech 18 , the so-called 15-seater Volpar Turboliner. Ransome believed that the success of a feeder and commuter airline was based on the frequency of its connections, and from the start it offered flights between Northeast Philadelphia and Washington National eight times a day . At the end of 1967 Ransome Airlines counted 6,318 passengers while three Beech 18 were in service.
Ransome then expanded the route network to Richmond , Norfolk Raleig and Durham , although this hasty expansion drove the company into financial problems. As a result, a conversation was sought with Leslie Barnes, the then Allegheny Airlines president, who on the one hand advised Ransome Airlines to downsize operations, but on the other hand also put forward the idea that Ransome should join Allegheny Airlines' growing network of associated commuter airlines. In the spring of 1969, Allegheny took over the route Trenton – Northeast Philadelphia, which had previously only been served with a 40-seater Convair 580 with great losses . In November of the same year, Ransome replaced Allegheny Airlines on the Philadelphia International –Washington National route, until the company finally became a full Allegheny commuter member in August 1970. As was typical for the time, when the name was abandoned, the profit came back.
It was soon discovered that the current fleet was too small for the increased number of passengers, as in November 1971, for example, around 500 passengers were transported a day. Therefore one turned in December 1971 to the Civil Aeronautics Board, which was responsible for the regulation of the US American air traffic, and applied for the use of larger aircraft; an exemption for the Nord 262 planned by Ransome was granted the following month. Eight machines of this type could be acquired from Allegheny Airlines for US $ 3.2 million in May 1972 - the latter company came into possession of the aircraft after the takeover of the Indianapolis-based airline Lake Central, but was on an extensive basis waives their low reliability. Ransome was forced to purchase $ 1.5 million in replacement parts to increase the interval between engine overhaul cycles from 1,200 to 10,000 flight hours.
After the fleet problems were resolved, expansion was cautiously resumed. A first expansion of the route network to Newark was followed by connections to New London in Connecticut. In 1979, in addition to all three New York airports, Boston , Providence and Hartford as well as Sullivan Country Airport in the Catskill Mountains were included in their own route portfolio.
At that time, Ransome Airlines carried around 600,000 passengers with a dozen North 262, making it one of the largest commuter airlines in the world.
Introducing the Dash 7
In view of the good passenger numbers, Ransome decided to buy a Dash 7 . The machine, which was characterized primarily by its exceptionally short take-off and landing distance , arrived at Ransome Airlines towards the end of 1979 and was used for the first time on flights between Philadelphia and Washington. After a number of flight demonstrations in Washington, Ransome was able to arouse the interest of the Federal Aviation Administration , which allowed the company to use the world's first three-dimensional RNAV system in an unprecedented attempt . In addition to the US $ 165,000 RNAV system, the Dash 7 - in cooperation with the FAA, de Havilland and Jet Electronics Technology - also installed the world's first microwave landing system used in commercial aviation . The cooperation was later expanded and from March 29, 1982, the so-called "Service Test and Evaluation program" was used to test a further development of the microwave landing system, which enabled landings off the usual glide path.
For Ransome Airlines, the use of the new technology brought a number of advantages: its own aircraft could now approach and take off from short runways parallel to and crossing other aircraft and lower altitudes, mostly below the strong at a maximum of 7000 feet frequented routes. The time saved on the Philadelphia – Washington route, for example, was a good half an hour. In addition, there were savings in fuel and personnel costs and a great deal of media coverage.
Separation from USAir
However, the cooperation with Allegheny Airlines, which had since been renamed USAir, turned out to be more and more complicated as it severely restricted the growth of Ransome Airlines: USAir made all decisions regarding the route network, which usually took a long time. In the period from 1979 to 1982 Ransome Airlines was only allowed to add a new connection to its own route network. As a result, frustration grew among the workforce as well as among the owners and although they were only connected to the USAir's computerized reservation system on May 1, 1982, the cooperation was terminated by Ransome Airlines at short notice on June 1 of the same year. As a result, the reservation infrastructure was obtained from Delta Air Lines . However, the newly acquired freedom was not without consequences and so the number of passengers, which had been around 800,000 in 1981, fell by 30% to 550,000 in 1983, while the company fell from number one to tenth in the ranking of commuter airlines.
In order to cope with the crisis, it was decided to modernize the fleet. In the course of this, the number of Nord 262 was reduced to four and the number of Dash 7 was increased to eight. Ransome also ordered six ATR 42 machines . But changes also took place in relation to the route network in New England and so in 1983 flights between Worcester and Albany were introduced. In 1984 the Baltimore – Providence connection followed.
Member of Delta Connection
The circumstances at that time made the survival of independent feeder and commuter airlines extremely difficult, as many travel agencies booked their customers' often multi-part connections via so-called code- sharing flights . However, Ransome Airlines had forfeited the possibility of these codeshare flights with the separation from USAir, so that a new partner had to be found despite the freedom that had just been achieved. As early as June 1982, Ransome had initial discussions with Dave Garret as part of the connection to Delta's reservation system. When Garret became President of Delta Air Lines in 1984, Ransome saw his chance and the company eventually became part of Delta's newly formed network of feeder airlines: Delta Connection. In contrast to the cooperation with USAir, Ransome was able to keep the name of its airline in its external appearance. Delta demanded a fixed fee from Ransome for the reservation system and airport handling, but in return also gave him support with a relatively free route design. The route network was then expanded north to Maine and Vermont .
In November 1985, Ransome Airlines became the first airline to order six Saab 340s worth $ 40 million after the split between Fairchild and Saab .
Sold to Pan American Airways
However, competition among feeder and commuter airlines increased steadily due to the large number of start-ups. Ransome, who was now almost 70 years old and had already spent 20 years building and surviving his airline, surprisingly decided to sell Ransome Airlines to Pam American Airways just two years after starting the collaboration with Delta . The latter had come to Ransome with an extremely lucrative offer after Empire Airlines, which had previously operated as a feeder airline for Pan Am, terminated the joint agreement in May 1986. Ransome Airlines became Pan American Express on June 1 of the same year.
Destinations
Ransome Airlines operated an extensive network of commuter and feeder flights in New England during the time of its existence .
While the feeder flights to Pittsburgh International Airport were bundled for Allegheny Airlines , Delta mainly operated its hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport .
fleet
In February 1986, prior to being sold to Pan Am, Ransome Airlines' fleet consisted of the following 16 aircraft:
| Aircraft type | number | Ordered | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 42-300 | 6th | Delivered to Pan Am Express from 1987 to spring 1988 | |
| De Havilland Canada DHC-7-102 | 8th | ||
| Mohawk 298 | 4th | Nord 262 with upgraded engines | |
| Piper PA-31-310 Navajo | 1 | ||
| Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain | 1 | ||
| Saab 340A | 2 | 2 | Planned delivery from March to August 1987, orders were later canceled by Pan Am |
| total | 16 | 8th |
See also
literature
- Ronald EG Davies, Imre E. Quastler: Commuter Airlines of the United States . Foreword by George Haddaway. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington 1995, ISBN 1-56098-404-X (American English).
Web links
- Photos of Ransome Airlines on Airliners.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ Davies, Quastler, 1995, p. 432 (applies to all IATA codes).
- ↑ a b Ransome Airlines. In: rzjets. Retrieved July 28, 2016 .
- ↑ Davies, Quastler, 1995, p. 289.
- ↑ Davies, Quastler, 1995, p. 290.
- ↑ Davies, Quastler, 1995, p. 105.
- ↑ Davies, Quastler, 1995, p. 291.
- ↑ Davies, Quastler, 1995, pp. 292-293.
- ↑ J. Mac McClellan: 100-Mile Dash . In: Flying Magazine . tape 109 , no. 12 . Ziff-Davis Publishing, December 1982, ISSN 0015-4806 , p. 26–30 (English, full text in Google Book Search [accessed July 29, 2016]).
- ^ Ransome breaks away from US Air . In: Flight International . tape 3805 , no. 121 . IPC Transport Press, April 10, 1982, ISSN 0015-3710 , p. 909 (English, online [accessed July 28, 2016]).
- ↑ Davies, Quastler, 1995, p. 294.
- ↑ Davies, Quastler, 1995, pp. 294-295.
- ↑ SF.340 bounces back with US order . In: Flight International . tape 128 , no. 3985 . Transport Press, November 9, 1985, ISSN 0015-3710 , p. 4 (English, online [accessed July 28, 2016]).
- ^ Ransome abandons Delta . In: Flight International . tape 129 , no. 4007 . Transport Press, April 19, 1986, ISSN 0015-3710 , p. 5 (English, online [accessed July 28, 2016]).
- ^ Charles Harvie, Boon-Chye Lee: Globalization and SMEs in East Asia . Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, Northampton 2002, ISBN 1-84064-323-4 , pp. 304 (English, preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 29, 2016]).
- ^ Geoff Jones: Delta Air Lines: 75 Years of Airline Excellence . Arcadia Publishing, Charleston SC, Chicago, Portsmouth NH, San Francisco 2003, ISBN 0-7385-1583-3 , pp. 91 (English, preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 29, 2016]).
- ↑ JP airline-fleets international, Edition 86.