Seat 2A

Dang! If only I'd been born just a few years earlier! The closest I ever got to this was Allegheny's Liberty Fares and Eastern's Unlimited Mileage Fares. I once logged 105 flights just over 104000 miles in three weeks on an EA UMF. The best deal I ever had was being one of 68 people who "won" United's 50 State Marathon, entitling us to a full year of unlimited First Class air travel anywhere within the 50 United States. During the next year I logged over 530000 miles, all in First Class which back in those days was quite good, featuring full hors d'oeuvres service and salad, main roast and dessert served from the trolley on most flights longer than 1700 miles such as Chicago to the West Coast.

Any chance this was Southeast Airlines?

WHBM

18) What was the only airline operating jet equipment between Miami (MIA) and Grand Turk, BWI (GDT) at this time? Also identify the aircraft type.

Air Florida ? That's a bit of a cheat, I've an old timetable of theirs from the next year, 1980, which I looked up last night, twice a week with a 737.

19) Name the airline that was operating Boeing 720 service from Miami (MIA) to Aguadilla, PR (BQN) at this time.

Aguadilla didn't get much of a mainstream service at the time, so it's probably a secondary operator. Could it be winter only ? Southeast has some 720s at Miami at the time, which they had picked up from Eastern. Just a guess, can't think of another US Miami carrier who could have done it on a 720.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/South...022/0817370/M/

20) Four (4) airlines were operating service between Miami (MIA) and Port Au Prince, Haiti (PAP) at this time. Identify all four carriers as well as the respective equipment types they flew on the route.

I think in 1979 American had started some Caribbean routes out of Miami, and this was an early one because they had served Haiti from JFK ever since they took over Trans-Caribbean. I think Pan Am had given up by this time but Eastern were still doing it, so that's two. I'll say Air France again even though my last AF guess for Haiti was wrong, their Caravelles would have gone by 1979 and it would be a 727 sent over for the season as a change of air from doing Paris to London shuttles. A fourth, might be any of the 5th freedom operators, given that Haiti never got any meaningful airline of their own. ALM on a DC9 always liked doing oddball multistops. And didn't Aerocondor from Colombia serve Haiti with a colourful 720B ? That route can't have filled much of the plane, did they continue on to Miami ?


23) This airline operated Boeing 727-200 service at this time from Edmonton (YEG) and Calgary (YYC) to Phoenix (PHX). Name the carrier.

I see Cattle has dismissed Hughes Air West, but I'll go for that.

jlemon

Well, actually, WHBM is correct! It was the "Top Banana In The West"! Here are the Hughes Airwest routings:

RW 714: PHX-LAS-YYC-YEG Remarks: Equip. was 72S daily except on Tues.
RW 714: PHX-LAS-YYC-YEG Remarks: Equip. was D9S on Tues. only

RW 739: YEG-YYC-LAS-PHX Remarks: Equip. was 72S daily except on Weds.
RW 739: YEG-YYC-LAS-PHX Remarks: Equip. was D9S on Weds. only

jlemon

19) Bingo! We have a winner! Southeast Airlines (NK) operated B720 service between Miami and Aguadilla, PR on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. And it appears that the only other domestic route operated by the carrier at this time was a MIA-TPA roundtrip flown with a Fokker F27 turboprop (which may have actually been a Fairchild F-27).......

jlemon

18) Correct! And not too many years earlier, one would have been on board a DC-6 operated by Mackey International with several intermediate stops en route if one wanted to fly between MIA and GDT.....

19) Correct!

20) Excellent guesses! Here are the four (4) carriers that were flying nonstop from Port Au Prince (PAP) to Miami (MIA) at the time (scheds eff. Nov. 15, 1979) with departures listed from morning to evening:

Pan Am (PA) 436 - Equip: B707 Remarks: operated daily

Air France (AF) 354 - Equip: B737 Remarks: operated on Saturdays and Sundays only

Aerocondor (OD) 422 - Equip: B720B Remarks: operated on Tuesdays and Thursdays only

Eastern (EA) 966 - Equip: B727 Remarks: operated daily

23) Correct!

jlemon

I'll go ahead and close out the above question.....

The carrier was Houston Metro Airlines (HY) flying DHC-6 "Twin Otter" STOL twin turboprops (which they acquired new) which were operated from their custom designed and built STOLport in Clear Lake City, TX (CLC). I believe they owned this small airstrip as they indeed constructed it along with a modest passenger terminal and maintenance hangar in a cow pasture adjacent to Texas State Highway 3. CLC was located just to the southeast of what was Ellington Air Force Base (which is now Ellington Airport (EFD), a civilian airfield controlled by the Houston Airport System) not too far from the NASA Johnson Space Center.

And how many roundtrip flights did Houston Metro operate every weekday between CLC and IAH? No less than twenty (20). I flew on this carrier a number of times between CLC and IAH. In fact, IAH even had a dedicated STOL runway so the Houston Metro "Twin Otter" aircraft would not mix with the larger airline equipment operated by other carriers at the time.

Houston Metro eventually evolved into a small airline empire. The carrier introduced Shorts 330 (one of which was destroyed later on by a tornado at BPT) as well as Beechcraft 99 turboprops in addition to the "Twin Otter" equipment. The name was then changed to Metro Airlines. Convair 580 turboprops formerly operated by Frontier were acquired for a new American Eagle operation out of DFW for AA with these aircraft being flown by the Metroflight Airlines division. Thus began the first American Eagle service. DHC-8 "Dash 8" and BAe Jetstream 31 turboprops were operated from ATL as Eastern Metro Express for EA. And a small carrier was acquired in the Caribbean which enabled the Metro holding company to set up an Eastern Metro Express "Twin Otter" operation for EA out of SJU with service to STT, STX, EIS, VIJ and other small island destinations. In fact, I flew on this "Twin Otter" service from SJU to STX to STT to EIS and on to Virgin Gorda (VIJ) in the BVI which at the time featured a very short gravel runway. I also remember the Union Jack fluttering bravely above a very small cinder block terminal building at VIJ......

Those were the days!

Seat 2A

Is this a typo? They flew 20 (or more) each weekday? During business hours at least, say 7AM to 7PM, that's almost one every half hour. Pretty amazing coverage!

Thanks for all the excellent detail in your answer as well. ^

jlemon

Hey Seat 2A! As I write this, the first real cool front of the season is passing through south Louisiana. We should be down to around 60 F tomorrow morning with much lower humidity.....and it's been a long, hot summer here, folks....

Actually, HY operated twenty-two (22) flights each way CLC-IAH on a weekday basis (I went back and counted them again so I initially missed a couple of flights) with only six (6) flights on Saturdays and twelve (12) flights on Sundays (data taken from the February 1, 1976 North American Edition of the OAG). They had a real shuttle operation going on between Clear Lake City and Houston Intercontinental. Block time from CLC to IAH was fifteen (15) minutes.

Houston Metro was also flying BPT-IAH with thirteen (13) r/t flights every weekday (competing against TI which was operating DC-9 and Convair 600 aircraft on the same route), GLS-IAH with seven (7) r/t flights every weekday (some flights made an intermediate stop at CLC), LJN-IAH with six (6) r/t flights every weekday and VCT-IAH with six (6) r/t flights every weekday. All flights were operated with "Twin Otter" equipment at this time.

And Houston Metro also had a wholly-owned subsidiary as well at this time: Metroflight Airlines (FY) which was originally set up for the same type of "Twin Otter" operations at DFW. Metroflight flew two or three services every weekday into IAH from GGG, LFK, OCH and TYR. Houston Metro handled these FY flights at IAH. Here's a routing example: DFW-TYR-GGG-OCH-LFK-IAH. So if one wanted to bounce around over the East Texas piney woods in a "Twin Otter" between DFW and IAH, one could do so!

As mentioned earlier, Metroflight went on to operate the first American Eagle services for AA at DFW with Convair 580 aircraft that had been formerly flown by Frontier. I believe the Metro holding company purchased the CV580s directly from Frontier.

Meantime, I'm working on some more questions and will submit them when I get ahead of the ever present yard work!

jlemon

1) In the winter of 1962, this airline operated jet service once a week between San Francisco (SFO) and Caracas (CCS). There were three (3) intermediate stops en route. Name the airline and the equipment flown on the route. And for bonus points, also identify all three intermediate stops.

2) Also during the winter of 1962, this airline operated what they called "Cotton Queen" jet service between three (3) U.S. cities in the south and southeast. Two different jet aircraft types were used on these routes. Identify the airline, the two aircraft types and the three cities.

3) This air carrier pioneered the first jet service between Birmingham, AL (BHM) and Mobile, AL (MOB) in the early 1960's. Name the airline and identify the jet aircraft type.

4) In the summer of 1968, Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) was operating their new DC-9-10 jets to seven (7) destinations nonstop from Dallas Love Field (DAL). Identify all seven destinations.

Note: the time line for questions 5) through 12) is April of 1974.....

5) This airline was operating daily B747 service from Tampa (TPA) to Miami (MIA) at this time. Name the airline.

6) Two different airlines were operating a total of five (5) daily nonstop flights from Houston (IAH) to Miami (MIA) at this time. Identify both airlines as well as the number of flights each carrier operated along with the aircraft types used.

7) Also at this time, there was just one (1) daily roundtrip nonstop flight between Houston (IAH) and Memphis (MEM) and also just one (1) daily roundtrip nonstop flight between Houston (IAH) and Newark (EWR). Each route was flown by a different airline. Name the respective airlines and the equipment they flew on these routes.

8) What was the only airline at this time to operate B747 service from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO)?

9) What airline was operating the only nonstop jet service from Knoxville (TYS) to Memphis (MEM) at this time? Also identify the aircraft type.

10) What airline was operating the only daily nonstop flight from Tucson (TUS) to San Francisco (SFO) at this time? Name the aircraft type as well.

11) This airline was operating the only daily nonstop service between Dayton, OH (DAY) and Los Angeles (LAX) at this time. Identify the airline and the equipment they used on the route.

12) This airline operated three (3) flights a day from Dayton, OH (DAY) to Buffalo (BUF) with the same aircraft type at this time. Name the airline and identify the equipment.

13) How many destinations did Southern Airways serve that were located west of the Mississippi River? Also name these destinations.

14) In the spring of 1978, what airline was operating a daily nonstop flight between Tampa (TPA) and Tulsa (TUL)? Also identify the equipment.

15) In the fall of 1979, there were four (4) airlines operating jet service between Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) and Tulsa (TUL). Name all four carriers as well the aircraft types they operated on the route.

16) In November of 1979, how many daily jet flights were operated in the two (2) hour time period between the hours of 11:30pm and 1:30am from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Miami (MIA)? Four (4) different airlines operated flights during this time period on the short hop from FLL to MIA, so for bonus points identify them along with the aircraft types they operated on this route.

17) Also in November of 1979, three (3) airlines operated nonstop flights from Freeport, Bahamas (FPO) to Miami (MIA). One of the airlines operated one of their flights with wide body equipment. Identify all three air carriers and the equipment types they flew on the route.

18) Name two (2) airlines that operated nonstop jet service between Gainesville, FL (GNV) and Miami (MIA) in November of 1979. Also identify the aircraft they operated on this route.

19) In January of 1985, this airline was operating daily roundtrip jet service between Albuquerque (ABQ) and Durango, CO (DRO). Identify the airline and the jet equipment they flew on the route.

20) In February of 1985, this airline operated nonstop jet service on the short hop from Stockton (SCK) to Oakland (OAK). Name the airline and identify the aircraft type used on the route.

21) Also in February of 1985, this airline was operating daily wide body jet service nonstop between Oakland (OAK) and Kansas City (MCI). Identify the air carrier and the aircraft type.

22) This airline operated weekly nonstop service between Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) and Los Angeles (LAX) in the fall of 1991. Name the airline and the aircraft type they operated on the route.

23) In the spring of 1995, two (2) airlines operated nonstop service between South Lake Tahoe Airport (TVL) and Los Angeles (LAX). One airline operated jet aircraft and the other flew a turboprop on the route as a code share service for a major carrier. Identify both airlines and the equipment they operated on the route.

24) If you wanted to fly from Los Angeles (LAX) to La Paz, Mexico (LAP) in the spring of 1995, what airline and aircraft type would you be on?

25) In April of 1995, there were no less than eight (8) domestic U.S. air carriers flying scheduled services from Las Vegas (LAS) to Los Angeles (LAX). Seven of these airlines operated jet equipment on the route with two of these carriers operating wide body aircraft. And the eighth airline operated turboprops on the route. Identify all eight airlines and the various aircraft they flew from LAS to LAX.

26) In June of 1999, two airlines were fiercely competing on the Dallas Love Field (DAL)-Austin (AUS) route. One of these airlines was Southwest, of course, which still flies DAL-AUS to this day. But who was the other airline, what type of aircraft did they fly on the route and what was the combined total number of flights operated every weekday by the two carriers from DAL to AUS?

Cattle Airlines

No, keep these questions coming!

I do not know the answers but offer some wild guesses...
21) World Airways, DC-10

26) American Airlines, Fokker 100. 4 flights per day + 5 Southwest. This is only a guess.

Other contenders include ASA/Delta Connection, ExpressJet/Continental Express, and Legend. I don't think it was ASA or Legend.

Seat 2A

I wouldn't mind sharing the load but on three occasions now questions I thought might be entertaining generally got answered all in one fell swoop, all fifteen at once, clearly indicating that they're were not so much challenging as they were boring. I think the reality is that you may just ask better questions, jlemon. From where I sit, the questions are still fun to come up with, but it seems senseless to post them only to see that they've all been gobbled up before the rest of you even got a chance to look at them.

As to yours, let me attempt five for now and I'll check back for more unanswered ones later...

8) What was the only airline at this time to operate B747 service from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO)?

This was pre-deregulation, so ah'mon have to go with TWA.

10) What airline was operating the only daily nonstop flight from Tucson (TUS) to San Francisco (SFO) at this time? Name the aircraft type as well.

If only based upon the fact that some years later I flew aboard this airline on the same route, I'm gonna go with American using a 707.

11) This airline was operating the only daily nonstop service between Dayton, OH (DAY) and Los Angeles (LAX) at this time. Identify the airline and the equipment they used on the route.

Dayton? Once again, this sounds like TWA territory. Let's go with a 707 on this route.

12) This airline operated three (3) flights a day from Dayton, OH (DAY) to Buffalo (BUF) with the same aircraft type at this time. Name the airline and identify the equipment.

This sure sounds like Allegheny. Let's go with a BAC-111 on these flights.

22) This airline operated weekly nonstop service between Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) and Los Angeles (LAX) in the fall of 1991. Name the airline and the aircraft type they operated on the route.

How about an Air Jamaica DC-8-50? I remember seeing one in the schedules and couldn't help but picture myself aboard that early evening departure out of Jamaica, hoisting a Planter's Punch to the setting sun as we sped westward towards California...

WHBM

OK. I'll leave.

jlemon

Good Morning All! It's a beautiful day here in south Louisiana with our first taste of fall weather!

21) Correct! I believe the actual routing was OAK-MCI-EWR and return.

26) Correct with regard to AA! However, the number of flights operated by each carrier was quite a bit higher: WN flew fourteen (14) flights a day, all with B737-300s with the exception of two B737-200 flights, and AA operated thirteen (13) flights a day, all with Fokker F100s. That's twenty-seven (27) flights a day from DAL to AUS between the two airlines.

Contrast this with DFW-AUS at the same time: AA flew eleven (11) flights a day, all with MD-80s, and DL flew four (4) flights a day, three with B737-200s and one flight with an MD-90, for a total of fifteen (15) flights a day from DFW to AUS between AA and DL.

So there were a total of forty-two (42) flights a day operated with jet aircraft between DAL/DFW and AUS at this time.....and one wonders how the airline industry manages to get itself into financial trouble on a regular basis!

Seat 2A

No need for that, WHBM. I'm sure I speak for all when I say this thread and by extension all of its participants have only benefited from your participation. We all appreciate the knowledge and historical context that you bring to the table.

I should have stated from the beginning that it takes time to come up with a collection of questions - at least it does for me. To answer them all at once is, I think, disrespectful of the poster and the time taken to put the questions together. Additionally, it deprives others of a chance to participate in this quiz. I would ask that even though you (or any other participant here) might easily know the answers to all or most of mine or anyone else's questions, the polite and fair thing to do is to answer just a few initially. Please give others a chance to participate as well. And if, after a few hours, some of those questions remain unanswered, then step in and answer a few more.

As to your asking questions about operations past or present in England, Europe or anywhere else, I'm all for it. For some of us they may be tough but the challenge and benefit is in researching the answer and, right or wrong, enjoying your detailed response.

No need to leave. Just play nice.

jlemon

8) TWA is correct!

10) Well, you certainly have the equipment right, being the iconic B707! However, the airline was actually TWA!

11) TWA is correct! However, Trans World was actually operating a wide body on the route at this time, being an L-1011. And this may have been the biggest thing ever to happen at DAY (no pun intended)......

12) AL with three (3) BAC One-Eleven flights a day from DAY to BUF is correct!

22) Actually, the carrier was American Trans Air (TZ). ATA was operating a B757-200 on the route in October of 1991.....and I don't think first class was offered on this flight! BTW, some years ago, I was on board a UA A320 en route from MSY to LAX and was listening to the ATC transmissions on Ch. 9. There was an Air Jamaica A320 en route to LAX as well and it was interesting to hear the transmissions from this aircraft, something along the lines of: "Albuquerque Center, we are goin' to LAX, mon!".....

I would also like to call everyone's attention to the 35th anniversary of the launch of the Voyager I and II space probes. My late father was involved with the Voyager missions. Following his work as an aerospace engineer on the Apollo moon missions as well as the design and operation of the space shuttles, he accepted a position at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, CA as the person in charge of the Voyager I and II computer command navigation systems. As you may recall, the Voyagers returned stunning imagery of Jupiter and Saturn as well as several of their respective moons before heading out to the outer planets in our solar system. And they are still going: both Voyagers have left the solar system and are now in interstellar space heading toward different star systems. For his work on the Voyagers, Dad received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal, which is the highest honor bestowed by the space agency. I have that plaque and medal hanging on the wall of my small office here in our home along with an artist's rendition of one of the Voyagers in deep space which is inscribed, "In appreciation for 21 years of outstanding support and contributions to the success of the Voyager Project".

So, Dad, when I finish the yard work this afternoon, this beer will be for you!