Key Airlines

Key Airlines

Key Airlines, formerly known as Sun Valley Airlines, was a charter United States airline.

History

The early years: Commuter operations

The airline was originally based in Sun Valley, Idaho. In the early 1970s Sun Valley Airlines and Key Airlines merged to form Key Airlines. The airline's base was Salt Lake City and by this time the aircraft of choice was the Convair 440.

The jet era

In 1983 the airline was sold and relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada and the aircraft retitled with Key Air on the fuselage of the aircraft. The Boeing 727-100 was used and charter flights were commenced to Miami, the Caribbean and Mexico.

Key Air was purchased by Presidential Airways in 1986 and then one year later by World Airways but in both instances continued to fly under its own colors. With the World Airways ownership, the Douglas DC-10 was introduced for charter flights to Europe and Asia on behalf of World Airways and the base was moved to Savannah, Georgia. In 1992 Key Air was sold by World Airways and by then the financial situation was difficult; service had to be cut back and aircraft disposed of and by 1993 the company sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Many of the 727s were sold and two new leased McDonnell Douglas MD-83 were put into service, but the end came a few months later when in May 1993 the airline was liquidated. [Airlines Remembered by BI Hengi, Publisher Midland Publishing]

During the late 1980s, Key Air was contracted by the US Air Force to operate dozens of daily flights between Nellis Air Force Base and Tonopah Test Range, where the F-117 Nighthawk aircraft was being secretly tested. The service continued until early 1991 when the contract was awarded to American Trans Air. One of these aircraft regularly operating this route was N29KA, a former Northwest Airlines aircraft which had been hijacked in 1971 in the enigmatic D. B. Cooper incident.

Code Data

*IATA Code: KWY
*ICAO Code:
*Callsign: Keyair

Historical Fleet Information

*4 - Convair CV-440 Metropolitan
*3 - de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter
*5 - Boeing 727-022
*1 - Boeing 727-051
*3 - Boeing 727-095
*2 - Boeing 727-228
*1 - Boeing 727-247
*1 - Douglas DC-10-10
*1 - Boeing 737-204
*3 - McDonnell Douglas MD-83

External links

* [http://rzjets.net/operators/operator.php?opid=718/ Fleet and code information]
* [http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/zn.htm Key Airlines - Sun Valley Key Airlines]

=References=


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Key West — is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys.Key West is politically within the limits of the city of Key West, Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city also occupies… …   Wikipedia

  • Key Lime Air — airline codes| |LYM|KEY LIME [ [http://www.airlinecodes.co.uk/ Airline Codes (November 2006)] ] is a U.S. airline based near Centennial, Colorado. It was established and started operations in 1997 and operates charter, training and aircraft… …   Wikipedia

  • Key West International Airport — Infobox Airport name = Key West International Airport IATA = EYW ICAO = KEYW FAA = EYW type = Public owner = Monroe County operator = city served = Key West, Florida location = elevation f = 3 elevation m = 1 website = [http://www.monroecounty fl …   Wikipedia

  • Key West, Florida — Infobox Settlement official name = City of Key West other name = native name = nickname = The Conch Republic and the Southernmost City In The Continental United States settlement type = City motto = One human family imagesize = image caption =… …   Wikipedia

  • List of defunct airlines of the United States — These are the lists of airlines in the United States which they operated by Federal Aviation Administration:*AAXICO Airlines (1946 1965, to Saturn Airways) *Access Air (1998 2001) *ADI Domestic Airlines *Aeroamerica (1974 1982) *Aero Coach (1983… …   Wikipedia

  • WinAir Airlines — Infobox Airline|airline=WinAir Airlines logo=Winairlogo.png logo size=176 fleet size=10 destinations=5 IATA=none ICAO=WNA callsign=WinAir founded=1997 ceased=1999 headquarters=Salt Lake City, Utah key people=Richard Winwood hubs=Long Beach… …   Wikipedia

  • Monarch Airlines — IATA ZB ICAO MON Callsign MONARCH …   Wikipedia

  • American Eagle Airlines — Infobox Airline airline = American Eagle logo size = 100 IATA = MQ ICAO = EGF callsign = EAGLE FLIGHT parent = AMR Corporation founded = 1984 key people = Peter M. Bowler (CEO) headquarters = Fort Worth, Texas hubs = *Chicago O Hare International …   Wikipedia

  • Southwest Airlines — This article is about the United States based airline. For the Japanese airline formerly named Southwest Air Lines, see Japan Transocean Air. For the British airline, see Air Southwest. For the defunct Chinese airline, see China Southwest… …   Wikipedia

  • Chalk's International Airlines — Chalks International Airlines IATA OP ICAO CHK Callsign CHALKS Founded 1917 Ceased operations 2007 Hubs …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”