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Southern Airways

April 18, 2024

Not to be confused with China Southern Airlines, Southern Air, Southern Airways Express, or Southern Airways Ltd.

Southern Airways was a regional airline (known at the time as a "local-service air carrier" as designated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the United States, from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979, when it merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines. Southern's corporate headquarters were in Birmingham, with operations headquartered at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, near Atlanta.[1]

Southern Airways
IATA ICAO Callsign
SO SOU SOUTHERN
FoundedFebruary 1, 1944 (1944-02-01)
Ceased operationsJuly 1, 1979 (1979-07-01)
(merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines)
Hubs
Focus cities
HeadquartersHartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
FounderFrank Hulse

Following a merger with North Central Airlines in 1979, Southern became Republic Airlines, which in turn was merged into Northwest Airlines in 1986. Northwest Airlines was then merged into Delta Air Lines in 2010.

Nine Martin 4-0-4s at the Atlanta hub in 1972 before departing on the morning wave of flights

History edit

Revenue passenger traffic, in millions of passenger-miles (scheduled flights only)[2]
Year Pax-Miles
1951 17
1955 28
1960 47
1965 156
1970 431
1975 853

As a local-service airline, Southern Airways covered the south-central U.S. In 1955, their network spanned from Memphis south to New Orleans and east to Charlotte and Jacksonville. In August 1953, Southern flew to 29 airports and in August 1967 to 50.

Like other local-service airlines, Southern was subsidized; in 1962, its operating "revenues" of $14.0 million included $5.35 million "Pub. serv. rev."[3]

In May 1968, Southern's routes extended from Tri-Cities in Tennessee south to New Orleans and Jacksonville, and east from Baton Rouge and Monroe, Louisiana, to the coast at Myrtle Beach and Charleston. Later in 1968, a route sprouted northward: three weekday Douglas DC-9-10s from Columbus, Georgia (CSG) nonstop to Washington Dulles and on to New York LaGuardia. These flights originated at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida (VPS) and also stopped at Dothan, Alabama.

Like most local-service airlines, Southern flew only Douglas DC-3s for the first few years. In 1961, they began adding 22 40-passenger, secondhand Martin 4-0-4s acquired from Eastern Air Lines,[4] newer aircraft that were pressurised and had a rear ventral stairway. The last scheduled DC-3 flight was in 1967.

Southern's first 65–75-passenger Douglas DC-9 series 10s arrived in 1967 followed by 85–95-passenger McDonnell Douglas DC-9 series 30s in 1969. The last scheduled flight by a Martin was on 20 April 1978 from Atlanta to Gadsden, Alabama, and back.[5]

Some DC-9s were bought new and some used;[6] the used jets included DC-9-14s from Delta Air Lines and Eastern Air Lines.[7] Both airlines had purchased these aircraft new from Douglas.[8] Unlike other local-service airlines, Southern did not operate turboprops (such as the Convair 580 and Fairchild F-27 used by other local-service airlines) during the 1960s and 1970s, but by the time of the merger with North Central, Southern had replaced their Martin 4-0-4s with several 19-passenger Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner "Metro II"s.

1970s edit

 
Douglas DC-9-15 at Atlanta in October 1973

By 1971, Southern was flying to New York City and Chicago and south to Orlando and Miami. U.S. government regulation did not allow Southern to fly nonstop from New York or Washington, DC, to Atlanta, so Southern had nonstops to Columbus, Georgia, then on to Dothan, Alabama; Mobile, Alabama; Panama City, Florida, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; and/or Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi. Many flights made five or six intermediate stops en route.

With more DC-9s, many routes once served with propeller aircraft were served with jets that linked small cities to Atlanta and Memphis:

One DC-9-14 aircraft operated a "milk run" multistop routing from Miami to Orlando, Tallahassee, Panama City, Eglin AFB, Mobile, Gulfport, New Orleans, Birmingham, Atlanta, Huntsville, Memphis, St Louis, and Chicago Midway. Time en route was 14 hours and 32 minutes.

By the mid-1970s, Southern's system had expanded to St. Louis, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, and Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, Southern's only international destination. In 1978 Southern expanded westward from Memphis to Wichita and Denver.

Southern Airways called itself the "Route of the Aristocrats"[9] and they used the slogan "Nobody's Second Class on Southern" in their television commercials. They were famous for their promotional shot glasses: for a time, differently designed shot glasses were issued each year. Original Southern shot glasses are valued by collectors of airline memorabilia.

During the early 1970s, before strict airport security was implemented across the United States, several airlines experienced hijackings. Southern Airways Flight 49, a DC-9 en route from Memphis to Miami was hijacked on November 10, 1972, during a stop in Birmingham. The three hijackers boarded the plane armed with handguns and hand grenades. At gunpoint, the hijackers took the airplane, the plane's crew of four, and 27 passengers, to nine American cities, Toronto, and eventually to Havana, Cuba. During the long flight, the hijackers threatened to crash the plane into the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, nuclear facilities, insisted on talking with President Richard Nixon, and demanded a ransom of $10 million. Southern Airways was only able to come up with $2 million. Eventually, the pilot talked the hijackers into settling for the $2 million when the plane landed in Chattanooga for refueling. Upon landing in Havana, the Cuban authorities arrested the hijackers, and after a brief delay, sent the plane, passengers, and crew back to the United States. The hijackers and $2 million stayed in Cuba.

Southern Airways accounted for the $2 million by debiting it to an account entitled "Hijacking Payment". This account was reported as a type of receivable under "other assets" on Southern's balance sheet. The company maintained that they would be able to collect the cash from the Cuban government, so a receivable existed. Southern Airways was repaid $2 million by the Cuban government, which was attempting to improve relations with the United States.[10]

Difficulties and merger edit

 
Douglas DC-9-14 in final color scheme at St Louis in February 1978

By the late 1970s, Southern Airways began to experience difficulties. Two fatal accidents (Southern Airways Flight 932, November 14, 1970, and Southern Airways Flight 242, April 4, 1977) has put negative impact on the airline's once excellent safety record. Improved highways including the interstate freeway system coupled with an increased willingness of passengers to drive to airports farther away for more convenient flights or lower air fares made many of Southern's routes obsolete. With dramatic increases in the price of jet fuel in the 1970s, many of Southern's routes were no longer cost effective.

On July 1, 1979, Southern merged with North Central Airlines to form Republic Airlines and the "Route of the Aristocrats" came to an end.[11] Republic acquired Hughes Airwest before being acquired in 1986 by Northwest Airlines, which continued to operate many flights from the former Southern hub in Memphis. Northwest merged into Delta Air Lines in 2008.

Destinations edit

These cities served are taken based on the airline's timetables. Cities served with DC-9s are in bold.

Timetable dates used to compile the above list: July 1, 1950; Sept. 26, 1954; Nov. 1, 1960; June 18, 1962; July 1, 1964; June 1, 1966; Sept. 3, 1968; Dec. 1, 1973; July 1, 1974, July 1, 1978, and April 29, 1979.[14]

Fleet edit

Southern Airways used to operate the following aircraft:[15][16]

Southern Airways fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Beechcraft Model 18 17 1946 1964
Douglas DC-3 27 1949 1967
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner 8 1977 1979 "Metro II" series commuter
Martin 4-0-4 25 1961 1978
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 25 1968 1979
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 10 1967 1979 Includes two "Rapid Change" variants
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 9 1969 1979
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32CF 1 1978 1979

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ World Airline Directory. Flight International. March 20, 1975. "503.
  2. ^ Handbook of Airline Statistics (biannual CAB publication)
  3. ^ Moody's Transportation Manual 1964
  4. ^ Killion, 1997, p. 70
  5. ^ Killion, 1997, p. 70
  6. ^ http://www.southernairways.org, DC-9 aircraft list
  7. ^ http://www.southernairways.org, DC-9 aircraft list
  8. ^ http://www.airliners.net, Southern Airways DC-9 photos
  9. ^ AOPA Pilot. July 2011. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ Accounting, 23e, Warren Reeve Duchac, page 52, ISBN 978-0-324-66296-2, © 2009 South-Western
  11. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, statement in July 1, 1979 Republic Airlines timetable: "Republic Airlines was created July 1, 1979 upon the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways."
  12. ^ ""airliners.net September 23, 1976. Retrieved on October 29, 2011.
  13. ^ Cities Served By Southern 2014-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com; www.departedfligthts.com; www.60sairlineantiques.net, Southern Airways timetables and maps
  15. ^ "Southern Airways Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  16. ^ "Southern Airways". aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved February 20, 2021.

Further reading edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern Airways.
  • Killion, Gary L, The Martinliners, Airways International Inc, 1998, ISBN 0-9653993-2-X

April 18, 2024
southern, airways, confused, with, china, southern, airlines, southern, express, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, fi. Not to be confused with China Southern Airlines Southern Air Southern Airways Express or Southern Airways Ltd This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Southern Airways news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Southern Airways was a regional airline known at the time as a local service air carrier as designated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board in the United States from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979 when it merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines Southern s corporate headquarters were in Birmingham with operations headquartered at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport near Atlanta 1 Southern AirwaysIATA ICAO CallsignSO SOU SOUTHERNFoundedFebruary 1 1944 1944 02 01 Ceased operationsJuly 1 1979 1979 07 01 merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines HubsAtlantaMemphisFocus citiesNew OrleansOrlandoHeadquartersHartsfield Jackson Atlanta International AirportAtlanta Georgia United StatesFounderFrank HulseFollowing a merger with North Central Airlines in 1979 Southern became Republic Airlines which in turn was merged into Northwest Airlines in 1986 Northwest Airlines was then merged into Delta Air Lines in 2010 Nine Martin 4 0 4s at the Atlanta hub in 1972 before departing on the morning wave of flightsContents 1 History 1 1 1970s 1 2 Difficulties and merger 2 Destinations 3 Fleet 4 See also 5 References 6 Further readingHistory editRevenue passenger traffic in millions of passenger miles scheduled flights only 2 Year Pax Miles1951 171955 281960 471965 1561970 4311975 853As a local service airline Southern Airways covered the south central U S In 1955 their network spanned from Memphis south to New Orleans and east to Charlotte and Jacksonville In August 1953 Southern flew to 29 airports and in August 1967 to 50 Like other local service airlines Southern was subsidized in 1962 its operating revenues of 14 0 million included 5 35 million Pub serv rev 3 In May 1968 Southern s routes extended from Tri Cities in Tennessee south to New Orleans and Jacksonville and east from Baton Rouge and Monroe Louisiana to the coast at Myrtle Beach and Charleston Later in 1968 a route sprouted northward three weekday Douglas DC 9 10s from Columbus Georgia CSG nonstop to Washington Dulles and on to New York LaGuardia These flights originated at Eglin Air Force Base Florida VPS and also stopped at Dothan Alabama Like most local service airlines Southern flew only Douglas DC 3s for the first few years In 1961 they began adding 22 40 passenger secondhand Martin 4 0 4s acquired from Eastern Air Lines 4 newer aircraft that were pressurised and had a rear ventral stairway The last scheduled DC 3 flight was in 1967 Southern s first 65 75 passenger Douglas DC 9 series 10s arrived in 1967 followed by 85 95 passenger McDonnell Douglas DC 9 series 30s in 1969 The last scheduled flight by a Martin was on 20 April 1978 from Atlanta to Gadsden Alabama and back 5 Some DC 9s were bought new and some used 6 the used jets included DC 9 14s from Delta Air Lines and Eastern Air Lines 7 Both airlines had purchased these aircraft new from Douglas 8 Unlike other local service airlines Southern did not operate turboprops such as the Convair 580 and Fairchild F 27 used by other local service airlines during the 1960s and 1970s but by the time of the merger with North Central Southern had replaced their Martin 4 0 4s with several 19 passenger Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner Metro II s 1970s edit nbsp Douglas DC 9 15 at Atlanta in October 1973By 1971 Southern was flying to New York City and Chicago and south to Orlando and Miami U S government regulation did not allow Southern to fly nonstop from New York or Washington DC to Atlanta so Southern had nonstops to Columbus Georgia then on to Dothan Alabama Mobile Alabama Panama City Florida Eglin Air Force Base Florida and or Gulfport Biloxi Mississippi Many flights made five or six intermediate stops en route With more DC 9s many routes once served with propeller aircraft were served with jets that linked small cities to Atlanta and Memphis Columbus Georgia to Washington DC continuing to New York City Meridian Mississippi to Birmingham Alabama Columbus Mississippi and Laurel Hattiesburg Mississippi Tuscaloosa Alabama to Atlanta Georgia and Columbus Mississippi Muscle Shoals Florence Alabama to Memphis Tennessee and Huntsville Decatur Alabama with continuing eastbound service to Atlanta Greenville Mississippi to Memphis and Monroe Louisiana with continuing southbound service to Baton Rouge and New Orleans Columbia South Carolina to Greenville Spartanburg and Charleston South Carolina Albany Georgia to Atlanta Georgia Valdosta Georgia Dothan Alabama and Columbus GeorgiaOne DC 9 14 aircraft operated a milk run multistop routing from Miami to Orlando Tallahassee Panama City Eglin AFB Mobile Gulfport New Orleans Birmingham Atlanta Huntsville Memphis St Louis and Chicago Midway Time en route was 14 hours and 32 minutes By the mid 1970s Southern s system had expanded to St Louis Detroit Ft Lauderdale and Grand Cayman in the Caribbean Southern s only international destination In 1978 Southern expanded westward from Memphis to Wichita and Denver Southern Airways called itself the Route of the Aristocrats 9 and they used the slogan Nobody s Second Class on Southern in their television commercials They were famous for their promotional shot glasses for a time differently designed shot glasses were issued each year Original Southern shot glasses are valued by collectors of airline memorabilia During the early 1970s before strict airport security was implemented across the United States several airlines experienced hijackings Southern Airways Flight 49 a DC 9 en route from Memphis to Miami was hijacked on November 10 1972 during a stop in Birmingham The three hijackers boarded the plane armed with handguns and hand grenades At gunpoint the hijackers took the airplane the plane s crew of four and 27 passengers to nine American cities Toronto and eventually to Havana Cuba During the long flight the hijackers threatened to crash the plane into the Oak Ridge Tennessee nuclear facilities insisted on talking with President Richard Nixon and demanded a ransom of 10 million Southern Airways was only able to come up with 2 million Eventually the pilot talked the hijackers into settling for the 2 million when the plane landed in Chattanooga for refueling Upon landing in Havana the Cuban authorities arrested the hijackers and after a brief delay sent the plane passengers and crew back to the United States The hijackers and 2 million stayed in Cuba Southern Airways accounted for the 2 million by debiting it to an account entitled Hijacking Payment This account was reported as a type of receivable under other assets on Southern s balance sheet The company maintained that they would be able to collect the cash from the Cuban government so a receivable existed Southern Airways was repaid 2 million by the Cuban government which was attempting to improve relations with the United States 10 Difficulties and merger edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed June 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message nbsp Douglas DC 9 14 in final color scheme at St Louis in February 1978By the late 1970s Southern Airways began to experience difficulties Two fatal accidents Southern Airways Flight 932 November 14 1970 and Southern Airways Flight 242 April 4 1977 has put negative impact on the airline s once excellent safety record Improved highways including the interstate freeway system coupled with an increased willingness of passengers to drive to airports farther away for more convenient flights or lower air fares made many of Southern s routes obsolete With dramatic increases in the price of jet fuel in the 1970s many of Southern s routes were no longer cost effective On July 1 1979 Southern merged with North Central Airlines to form Republic Airlines and the Route of the Aristocrats came to an end 11 Republic acquired Hughes Airwest before being acquired in 1986 by Northwest Airlines which continued to operate many flights from the former Southern hub in Memphis Northwest merged into Delta Air Lines in 2008 Destinations editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed June 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message These cities served are taken based on the airline s timetables Cities served with DC 9s are in bold Albany Georgia Anderson South Carolina Anniston Alabama Athens Georgia Atlanta Georgia hub Augusta Georgia Baton Rouge Louisiana Biloxi Mississippi served via Gulfport Mississippi Birmingham Alabama Bristol Tennessee served via the Tri Cities Regional Airport in Tennessee Bristol Virginia served via the Tri Cities Regional Airport in Tennessee Charleston South Carolina Charlotte North Carolina Chattanooga Tennessee Chicago Illinois Midway Airport later O Hare Airport Clarksdale Mississippi Clarksville Tennessee Columbia South Carolina Columbus Georgia Columbus Mississippi Corinth Mississippi Crossville Tennessee Decatur Alabama Denver Colorado Detroit Michigan Dothan Alabama Dyersburg Tennessee Eglin Air Force Base Florida airport serves Fort Walton Beach Florida and Destin Florida Fort Lauderdale Florida Florence Alabama served via Muscle Shoals Alabama Gadsden Alabama Grand Cayman Cayman Islands only international destination served by Southern Greenville Mississippi Greenville South Carolina Spartanburg South Carolina Greenwood Mississippi Greenwood South Carolina Gulfport Mississippi Hattiesburg Mississippi Huntsville Alabama Jackson Mississippi Jackson Tennessee Jacksonville Florida Johnson City Tennessee served via the Tri Cities Regional Airport in Tennessee Kingsport Tennessee served via Tri Cities Regional Airport in Tennessee Knoxville Tennessee LaGrange Georgia Laurel Mississippi Macon Georgia Memphis Tennessee hub Meridian Mississippi Milwaukee Wisconsin Minneapolis St Paul Minnesota Mobile Alabama Monroe Louisiana Montgomery Alabama Morgantown West Virginia Morristown Tennessee Moultrie Georgia Muscle Shoals Alabama Myrtle Beach South Carolina Nashville Tennessee Natchez Mississippi New Orleans Louisiana focus city New York City New York LaGuardia Airport 12 Orlando Florida focus city Panama City Florida Paris Tennessee Pascagoula Mississippi Rockwood Tennessee St Louis Missouri Selma Alabama Sheffield Alabama served via Muscle Shoals Alabama Shelbyville Tennessee Tallahassee Florida Tampa Florida Tullahoma Tennessee Tri Cities Regional Airport in Tennessee serves the Bristol Kingsport Johnson City area Tupelo Mississippi Tuscaloosa Alabama Tuscumbia Alabama served via Muscle Shoals Alabama Union City Tennessee University Mississippi Oxford Mississippi Washington D C Dulles Airport West Memphis AR served via Memphis Tennessee Wichita Kansas Valdosta Georgia Vicksburg Mississippi 13 Timetable dates used to compile the above list July 1 1950 Sept 26 1954 Nov 1 1960 June 18 1962 July 1 1964 June 1 1966 Sept 3 1968 Dec 1 1973 July 1 1974 July 1 1978 and April 29 1979 14 Fleet editSouthern Airways used to operate the following aircraft 15 16 Southern Airways fleet Aircraft Total Introduced Retired NotesBeechcraft Model 18 17 1946 1964Douglas DC 3 27 1949 1967Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner 8 1977 1979 Metro II series commuterMartin 4 0 4 25 1961 1978McDonnell Douglas DC 9 14 25 1968 1979McDonnell Douglas DC 9 15 10 1967 1979 Includes two Rapid Change variantsMcDonnell Douglas DC 9 31 9 1969 1979McDonnell Douglas DC 9 32CF 1 1978 1979See also editList of defunct airlines of the United StatesReferences edit World Airline Directory Flight International March 20 1975 503 Handbook of Airline Statistics biannual CAB publication Moody s Transportation Manual 1964 Killion 1997 p 70 Killion 1997 p 70 http www southernairways org DC 9 aircraft list http www southernairways org DC 9 aircraft list http www airliners net Southern Airways DC 9 photos AOPA Pilot July 2011 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help Accounting 23e Warren Reeve Duchac page 52 ISBN 978 0 324 66296 2 c 2009 South Western http www departedflights com statement in July 1 1979 Republic Airlines timetable Republic Airlines was created July 1 1979 upon the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways airliners net September 23 1976 Retrieved on October 29 2011 Cities Served By Southern Archived 2014 09 25 at the Wayback Machine http www timetableimages com www departedfligthts com www 60sairlineantiques net Southern Airways timetables and maps Southern Airways Fleet Details and History Planespotters net Retrieved September 9 2022 Southern Airways aerobernie bplaced net Retrieved February 20 2021 Further reading edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern Airways Killion Gary L The Martinliners Airways International Inc 1998 ISBN 0 9653993 2 XPortals nbsp United States nbsp Companies nbsp Aviation Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Southern Airways amp oldid 1217171065, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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