Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite Christmas/holiday themed timetable covers is the Western issue dated December, 1951.  I imagine the Convair departing one of Western's Montana stations, gliding almost silently across the crystal-clear December sky, as the people below wish a Merry Christmas to those on board.  (For the record, in this timetable, the Convairs were primarily operating up and down the West Coast, and didn't get any further inland than Salt Lake City.)

The religious symbolism is subtle, represented by extra-bright star at the upper left.  To me, this image says "Peace on Earth, good will to men" without any words whatsoever.

So, to those who celebrate Christmas on this day, "Merry Christmas", and to all, may the New Year bring you peace and good will!

Ozark Air Lines Twin Otters

In 1972, Ozark Air Lines acquired a small fleet of Twin Otters to start high-frequency service between Springfield, Illinois and Meigs Field in Chicago.  The main appeal of this route was to connect the Illinois' state capital to its largest city.  A number of lawmakers maintain offices in both places, which evidently generates a sizeable amount of local traffic.

Air Illinois Springfield timetable dated January 17, 1972
Only 5 roundtrips were being operated, which increased to 8 by March 1

Air Illinois was already operating 8 weekday roundtrips between Springfield and Meigs, so capacity on the route more than doubled when Ozark began offering 9 weekday roundtrips on March 15, 1972.

Fold-over postcard promoting new Springfield - Chicago (Meigs) service



Interior of promotional postcard showing flight schedule



Ozark Air Lines timetable dated March 1, 1972

From the March 1, 1972 timetable
Full-page ad for Springfield - Chicago (Meigs) Twin Otter service, beginning March 15th

Perhaps Ozark thought the market would support both carriers, or that their name recognition would wrest market share away from the smaller airline, but the service lasted less than a year, with Air Illinois emerging as the victor. 

In late 1973, Air Illinois acquired a 48-seat HS 748 for use on the route.  The 748 shaved 15 minutes from the Twin Otter's flight time (about an hour), and despite a reduction in frequency to 5 roundtrips daily, capacity was significantly increased.



From the January 1, 1974 Official Airline Guide
Chicago to Springfield, IL schedules showing Air Illinois flights under codes "QX" and "UX"

 Since the carrier's commuter certificate would not permit the operation of an aircraft that large, Air Illinois operated it as an intrastate carrier, separate from its Part 135 certificate.  HS 748 flights were operated with the code "QX", as opposed to the rest of the airline's services, with flew under the more familar code "UX".  This gave Air Illinois the distinction of being one of a relatively few number of airlines to operate under 2 codes simultaneously (not including merged airlines that continued to use their predecessor's codes for some time before combining operations under a single code).

Texas International Airlines Beech 99's

In the spring of 1970, Texas International Airlines began operating a small fleet of Beech 99's from Dallas and Houston to some of the carrier's stations in Eastern Texas.  By the summer, it appears 3 aircraft were operating a schedule that included service to Galveston, Longview/Kilgore/Gladewater, Lufkin, Tyler, and Victoria.


Texas International July 1, 1970 timetable




Beech 99 service from Houston, July 1, 1970 timetable (click to enlarge)


The July 1, 1970 issue shows a dramatic increase in service between Houston and Galveston, with 9 daily flights, 8 utilizing the Beeches.  This compares to 3 Convair 600 frequencies the previous Summer.


This service was rather short-lived, and the last timetable to show Beech 99 service was the April 30, 1972 issue, by which time all such flights to Houston had been terminated.  (Galveston was only being served by a single daily Convair flight.)  Dallas was seeing the 99's being used to several new destinations, namely College Station and Waco.

April 30, 1972 Texas International timetable



Beech 99 service from Dallas April 30, 1972 (click to enlarge)

By August, the Beeches were gone from the timetable.  In most cases, the former Beech 99 routes were being served by Convair 600's on reduced frequencies.

West Coast Airlines Piper service

Another local service carrier to utilize smaller types was West Coast Airlines, which ordered 4 PA-31 Navajos from Piper for delivery in 1967 to provide service to small communities as the DC-3 fleet was phased out.  This aircraft was actually considered to be an executive type, and West Coast was reportedly the first to use it in airline service.

Prior to the Navajos entering service, West Coast operated Piper Aztecs, which I suspect may have been provided by Piper as an interim aircraft until the Navajos could be delivered.  In the January 16, 1967 timetable, it appears that 2 Aztecs were in use, one operating between Roseburg and Eugene, and the other connecting Sun Valley and Burley/Rupert to Twin Falls.

West Coast Airlines January 16, 1967 timetable

Aztec service in January 16, 1967 timetable (click to enlarge)

The Navajos, dubbed "Miniliners", operated with a single pilot and carried up to 7 passengers.  They entered service in the Spring of 1967, and by the end of the year, all 4 were in service, concentrated on the same areas served by the Aztecs, Southern Idaho and Western Oregon.  The December 1, 1967 issue shows that in Idaho, the Navajos connected the smaller communities to Boise and Salt Lake City, while in Oregon, Bend/Redmond and Roseburg both saw service to Eugene and Portland.  Additionally, the 2 service areas were connected by offering a daily Boise - Portland flight (via Payette/Ontario and Baker) that allowed the exchange of equipment.



West Coast Airlines December 1, 1967 timetable



Navajo "Miniliner" service in December 1, 1967 timetable (click to enlarge)

In 1968, West Coast Merged with Bonanza Air Lines and Pacific Air Lines to from Air West.  At first, Air West continued to utilize the Navajos in much the same way as West Coast, providing 3 daily flights on a number of those routes.




Air West February 1, 1969 timetable

  

Navajo Service to Sun Valley

 

Navajo Service to Roseburg, OR



But changes were in the air, and by the spring of 1970, Air West had simplified its fleet by getting rid of both the Navajos and the 727's that it inherited from Pacific Air Lines in the merger.  While service to Sun Valley and Burley/Rupert was eliminated (those stations having been consolidated with Twin Falls), in other communities, the carrier's offering was reduced to a single daily F27 frequency on each route. 

Lake Central Airlines Nord 262 service

Since the local service airlines were all created at about the same time, and performed the same mission (albiet in different parts of the country), it isn't surprising that their equipment choices were fairly similar.  They either started with a fleet of DC-3's (or upgraded to Threes from smaller types within their few years of operation), then began their search for larger equipment during the 1950's.

Most acquired second-hand Convair or Martin types, then added turbine power in the form of Fairchild's license-built F27's or Convair conversions, followed by a move into the pure jet arena.

But, for a variety of reasons, a number of these carriers operated equipment that seemed more at home with a commuter airline than a local service carrier.  The first (and the one to make the largest committment to one of these types) was Lake Central Airlines, which placed an order in 1964 for 12 French-built Nord 262's.




Lake Central Nord 262 in delivery colors


The Nords entered service with Lake Central in 1965 and shortly thereafter were found to have several "teething" problems, the most serious of which was the propensity of the Turbomeca Bastan engines to disintegrate in flight.  The airline suffered 3 of these catastrophic engine failures in the Summer of 1966 (at least one of which caused injuries to passengers), and was forced to ground the fleet.

This must have been a serious operational blow to the airline, as I find the Nords serving all but 4 (Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, South Bend and Zanesville) of Lake Central's 37 stations in the August 1, 1966 timetable, which I believe was the last one prior to the type being taken out of service.  Fortunately, a number of the DC-3's that had been pulled off the flight line had not been sold and were returned to active duty.



Lake Central August 1, 1966 timetable.  200-series flight operated by Nord 262's.



The Nords returned to service in early 1967, with a modified color scheme and new designation, as they were referred to as "Nord II's" in the timetable.  The April 1, 1967 timetable was the first to show them back in operation.  Their return enabled Lake Central to retire the DC-3's in October.

Lake Central April 1, 1967 timetable featuring "Nord II's"

In the Summer of 1968, Lake Central and its fleet of Convair 580's and Nord 262's was acquired by Allegheny Airlines.  The Convairs fit in well with Allegheny, as it was already well-represented in the airline's fleet.  However, the Nords were a new type to Allegheny, and to highlight the aircraft's French heritage, they were painted in a purple and gold scheme complete with fleur de lis.





Allegheny Nord 262 postcard

  Allegheny was apparently unimpressed with the aircraft, and removed them from service before the end of 1969.  The October 1, 1969 timetable shows the final Nord 262 services were from Chicago to the cities of Kokomo and Marion in Indiana.

Final Allegheny Nord 262 service, October 1, 1969 timetable

The fleet was subsequently sold with 5 ships going to Air Algerie, and 7 to Ransome (4 of which served with BC Airlines and Pacific Western in the interim).

About Face(s)

Since I just did one of my favorite timetable covers, I thought I would post about one of my least favorite timetables.

I basically despise the Southwest "Faces" issues, mainly because the quotes attributed to the various Southwest employees featured on the covers are obviously drivel created by someone in the PR department rather than the employees' own words.  (And the fact that they made us suffer through 18 years of this inane banter simply adds to the insult!)

Of all the "Faces" issues, the worst of the worst is the one that was effective on April 2, 1995.

Just in case you can't read the verbiage on the timetable cover, it reads "Our first rule of airplane cleaning; If it doesn't shine as bright as your smile, you aren't done."  Much the same as timetables I like, this one evokes a feeling each time I see it.  Unfortunately, in this case it's a feeling of nausea!

I have a tough time believing that airplane cleaners do their jobs with a big smile, as they remove dirty diapers and used barf bags from seatback pockets and clean up god-only-knows whatever other messes passengers leave behind for a pay rate that is probably at or just above minimum wage.

One of my favorite timetable cover photos

TWA's timetable dated October 27, 1974 has one of my favorite cover photos, depicting a TWA 747 lifting gracefully from the runway at JFK with the New York skyline in the distance. 

Every time I see that photo, I can remember staring wistfully at it, wishing there was some way I could transport myself to Kennedy Airport to watch 747s of various carriers venture skyward for distant destinations!

(Somewhat ironically, at the time of this issue, TWA had grounded a number of 747s due to the Arab Oil Embargo and general economic recession.  I only find 7 daily 747 departures from JFK in this timetable, compared to 15 in July of 1973.)

In the post-9/11 world, this photo took on added meaning for me.  I see the sun setting behind the World Trade Center, and it reminds me that the "sunset" for both TWA and the WTC came in 2001.