Florida Airways (1947–1949)

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This article is about the airline that operated from 1947 to 1949. For the 1920s airline associated with Eddie Rickenbacker, see Florida Airways.
Not to be confused with the Tampa-based Florida Airlines that operated from 1960 to 1981
Florida Airways
Founded21 January 1946
Commenced operations10 January 1947 (1947-01-10)
Ceased operations28 March 1949 (1949-03-28)
Operating basesOrlando, Florida
Fleet size5
HeadquartersOrlando, Florida,
United States
Key peopleThomas E. Gordon
Employees85

Florida Airways was a brief-lived US

National Airlines and from another local service carrier, Southern Airways, for the routes. Gordon owned a fixed-base operator at Orlando Cannon Mills Airport.[1]

Gordon transferred the certification to Florida Airways, Inc., which had incorporated in Florida on 21 January 1946.[2] Operations started 10 January 1947.[3] Florida Airlines had the smallest route network of any local service carrier. Some had route mileages over eight times that of Florida Airways.[4]

However on March 7, 1949, the CAB declined to renew Florida Airways certification, forcing the airline to stop flying on March 28, 1949, the three-year anniversary of the original certification award. At the time, there were seven CAB-certificated local service airlines in operation, and the CAB said Florida Airways was by far the least economic of these carriers, based on failure to generate sufficient revenue. All such carriers were subsidized via payments from the US Post Office Department to carry air mail, and the post office department concurred with the CAB that Florida Airways service was not worth it. Florida Airways average flight length was only 46 miles, making it particularly susceptible to competition from ground transportation.[3]

Florida Airways thus flew its last flights on March 28, 1949. At the time it had a fleet of five

Beech 18 aircraft and 85 employees.[5][6] The CAB had previously rejected, in September 1948, an earlier attempt by Florida Airways to extend its certificate, so the airline knew its end was likely.[7] In December 1948, the airline asked the CAB to transfer to it the certification of Southern Airways, which had been certificated 21 months earlier but had yet to start service.[8] The CAB declined.[9]

Florida Airways was one of three local service carriers (out of 19 that started CAB-certificated operations) that failed to have initial certification extended by the CAB, the other two being Mid-West Airlines and Wiggins Airways.[10]

Destinations

A Florida Airways timetable from 5 April 1948 shows the following central and north Florida destinations:[11]

References

  1. hdl:2027/osu.32437011657786
    .
  2. ^ "OpenCorporates Florida incorporation record for Florida Airways". opencorporates.com. OpenCorporates. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  3. ^
    hdl:2027/osu.32437011657588
    .
  4. ISSN 0005-2175.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )
  5. ^ New Plane Added, Tallahassee Democrat, March 11, 1948
  6. ^ Airline Ends Runs; Record Is Enviable, Miami Herald, March 30, 1949
  7. hdl:2027/osu.32437011657638
    .
  8. ^ Airways Seeks Regional Route, Tampa Tribune, December 4, 1948
  9. ^ Carolinas Gets New Air Line, Charlotte Observer, February 9, 1949
  10. ISBN 9780815720225
    .
  11. ^ "5 April 1948 Florida Airways timetable". timetableimages.com. Timetable Images. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
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