Tower Air
| Tower Air | |
|---|---|
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| IATA code : | FF |
| ICAO code : | TOW |
| Call sign : | TEE AIR |
| Founding: | 1982 |
| Operation stopped: | 2000 |
| Seat: |
New York City , New York United States
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| Turnstile : | |
| Home airport : | John F. Kennedy International Airport |
| Fleet size: | 16 |
| Aims: | National and international |
| Tower Air ceased operations in 2000. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Tower Air was an American airline based in New York City and based at the local John F. Kennedy International Airport . In addition to tourist and military charter flights, the company also operated scheduled flights . The company also operated its aircraft on wet lease for other airlines.
Period 1982 to 1989
Tower Air was founded in August 1982 as a subsidiary of the tour operator Tower Travel Corporation by Morris K. Nachtomi to market air travel to Israel and Europe. In the first year the company did not own any aircraft, but had the charter services carried out by the airline Metro International Airways with a Boeing 747-100 . Tower Air acquired this aircraft in November 1983 and used it in IT charter traffic as well as on a route from New York via Brussels to Tel Aviv that was opened at the same time .
After purchasing another Boeing 747-100 in 1984 and 1985, Tower Air opened a national scheduled flight network from New York to Los Angeles , San Francisco and Miami , on which the company offered very low prices against the established airlines and the low-cost airline People Express competed. In order to save costs, the planes were equipped with tight seating for 480 passengers and the scope of the on-board service was reduced to a minimum. Even after the expansion of scheduled flights, charter flights remained the company's main business area.
In addition, Tower Air operated in the wet lease sector from 1987 onwards, using a Boeing 747 on behalf of Air Jamaica . In 1989 a similar lease was signed with the British Air Europe .
Period 1990 to 2000
From August 1990, Tower Air operated over 300 charter flights for the US Department of Defense during the Second Gulf War to relocate troops from the US and Europe to the Persian Gulf . With these orders, the company was able to expand further and increase its fleet to seven Boeing 747s by March 1991. Further military contract flights took place, among other things, as part of the UNOSOM mission in Somalia and during the Kosovo war .
Tower Air received its first Boeing 747 freighter in July 1993 and used it for various logistics companies around the world. Two more cargo planes added to the fleet in 1995. In the same year, the company carried out Hajj flights for Mecca pilgrims for the first time on behalf of Saudi Arabian Airlines , Air India and Garuda Indonesia .
At the end of the 1990s, Tower Air came under fire due to frequent delays and technical flight cancellations. The age of the aircraft used and the limited service heightened the negative public impression. On February 29, 2000, the company filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of US bankruptcy law . In the following month negotiations were held with the Israeli airline El Al about a stake in the company. These talks were unsuccessful. In the absence of an investor, Tower Air ceased operations on May 1, 2000 and returned its Air Operator Certificate on November 28, 2000 .
aims
Tower Air operated civil charter flights to Israel, Europe, South America (especially Brazil), the Caribbean and, from the mid-1990s, also to East Asia . At the time of the cessation of operations, the company offered scheduled connections to Miami , San Juan and Tel Aviv from New York . The following cities were previously served by scheduled air traffic: Athens , Berlin , Brussels , Fort Lauderdale , Cologne , Copenhagen , Las Vegas , Los Angeles , Paris , San Francisco and Santo Domingo . Some of these destinations were only served once a week.
fleet
At the time of the cessation of flight operations, Tower Air's fleet consisted of 16 Boeing 747-100 and Boeing 747-200 aircraft , several of which were already stored in an unfit for air condition .
Incidents
- On December 20, 1995, a Boeing 747-100 ( registration number : N605FF ) of Tower Air with 468 people had an accident while taking off at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport . At a speed of 80 knots (148 km / h) the machine began to swerve to the left on the snow-covered runway 4L. The crew decided to abort the take-off . Because the brakes and the steering of the nose wheel did not respond on the slippery runway and the crew failed to use the engine's thrust reverser , the aircraft left the runway, collided with a transformer house and came to a standstill with the landing gear torn off . One flight attendant was seriously injured and 24 passengers were slightly injured. The aircraft was written off as a total loss.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ World Airline Colors 2, MN Tomkins, 1986
- ↑ airlines worldwide, BI Hengi, 4th edition 2000
- ↑ jp airline-fleets international, Edition 92/93
- ↑ jp airline-fleets international, Edition 96/97
- ^ The New York Times, March 11, 1998 [1]
- ↑ The New York Times, March 1, 2000 [2]
- ^ The New York Times, March 7, 2000 [3]
- ↑ The New York Times, May 3, 2000 [4]
- ↑ Information for Consumers Regarding the Cessation of Service by Tower Air Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 28, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Tower Air Destinations, March 2000 ( Memento from March 6, 2000 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Aviation Safety Network, Boeing 747-100 N605FF [5]
- ↑ NTSB, Runway Departure During Attempted Takeoff ( PDF )
