Sunworld International Airways

Sunworld International Airways
Founded	1981
Commenced operations	1983
Ceased operations	1988
Fleet size	13
Headquarters	Las Vegas, Nevada

Sunworld International Airways was a small, all-jet airline that operated in the western USA from 1983 until liquidated in 1988. Towards the end of operations it was known as Sunworld Airlines.

History

Sunworld International Airways (not to be confused with

Douglas DC-9-10 series jet aircraft. Although the word "international" appears in the airline's name, it appears that Sunworld never operated any international flights on a scheduled basis.^{[citation needed}

]

Sunworld was based in

Douglas DC-9 jets.^[1]

In 1985, the airline initiated

BAe 146-100 jet aircraft at one point.^{[citation needed}

]

In early 1987, Sunworld was operating its primary hub at the

Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) with nonstop flights between Reno and Boise (BOI), Burbank (BUR), Las Vegas (LAS), Ontario (ONT), Portland (PDX), San Diego (SAN), Seattle (SEA) and Spokane (GEG) in addition to direct service between Reno and Oklahoma City (OKC) and Tulsa (TUL) via Las Vegas.^[2] However, by September 1987 Las Vegas had once again become the primary hub for the airline with up to 21 nonstop flight departures a day while Reno had become a secondary hub with up to 12 nonstop flight departures a day.^[3]

Destinations in September 1987

According to the airline's system timetable dated September 14, 1987, Sunworld was serving the following destinations:[4]

Boise, Idaho (BOI)
Las Vegas, Nevada
(LAS) (primary hub)
Oakland, California (OAK)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
(OKC)
Ontario, California (ONT)
Portland, Oregon (PDX)
Reno, Nevada (RNO) (secondary hub)
San Diego, California
(SAN)
Seattle, Washington
(SEA)
Spokane, Washington (GEG)
Tucson, Arizona (TUS)
Tulsa, Oklahoma (TUL)

Besides flights to and from Las Vegas and Reno, the above referenced system timetable also lists point-to-point nonstop service between San Diego and Tucson as well as direct, no change of plane service between several other city pairs in the airline's route system via either Las Vegas or Reno.

Previous destinations

Other cities previously served by Sunworld during its existence included:

Burbank, California (BUR)
LAX
)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
(MKE)
Omaha, Nebraska (OMA)
San Jose, California (SJC)

End of operations

In January 1988, virtually all flights were cancelled due to financial reasons and the only scheduled route being flown was Las Vegas-Omaha. Nonscheduled charter work was also being undertaken at this time. By April 1988, Sunworld had filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and with debts of over US$15 million, operations could not be sustained. On November 7, 1988, the airline was liquidated.^[5]

Fleet details

3 -
Douglas DC-9-14
1 -
Douglas DC-9-15
2 -
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
4 - Boeing 737-300 (Boeing 737-3Q8)
? -
BAe 146-100
(formerly operated by Royal West Airlines)

References

^ http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 1, 1984 Sunworld International Airlines system timetable
^ http://www.departedflights.com, 1987 Sunworld "Quick, Easy and On-Time" print advertisement
^ http://www.departedflights.com, Sept. 14, 1987 Sunworld Airlines system timetable
^ http://www.departedflights.com, Sunworld International Airways September 14, 1987 system timetable
^ Hengi, ^{[page needed]}