Jet America Airlines was a United States domestic airline that operated from 1981 to 1987 when it merged with Alaska Airlines after briefly operating as a separate carrier within Alaska Air Group. It was headquartered in Signal Hill, California, near Long Beach.[2][3]
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| Founded | 11 September 1980[1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 16 November 1981 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 1 October 1987 (merged into Alaska Airlines) | ||||||
| Focus cities | Long Beach Las Vegas | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Yes; later merged into Gold Coast Travel | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Destinations | 11 | ||||||
| Parent company | Alaska Air Group | ||||||
| Headquarters | Signal Hill, California | ||||||
| Key people | J. Thomas Talbot Alan H. Kenison Ted Shown George Chelius Don Rhoads Tim Collins | ||||||
History
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Headed by executives largely from Air California, the Civil Aeronautics Board issued a final order finding Jet America "fit, willing and able" on June 18, 1981[4] and the airline began operating on November 16, 1981, with a flight from its home base at Long Beach Airport (LGB) to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD).[5] By July 1984 the airline had expanded service to Dallas/Fort Worth, St. Louis, and Oakland, and had launched its own frequent flyer program. Its fleet consisted of six McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft, with a further four on order; a Boeing 707 was also leased in June 1984 for charter operations, which rapidly incurred significant losses and resulted in the early termination of the lease in January 1985.[6]
Services to Detroit, Las Vegas, and Orange County, California were inaugurated in 1985.[7] During that year, Jet America joined with Disney to advertise a direct route from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Long Beach Airport for people to visit Disneyland in its 30th anniversary year. Many of these ads were played during Texas Rangers baseball games or were placed in the team's programs and calendar.[citation needed]
In the summer of 1986, Jet America was operating a small hub at the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) with nonstop jet service to Burbank (BUR), Chicago (ORD), Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW), Long Beach (LGB), Milwaukee (MKE), Ontario (ONT), Orange County (SNA) and St. Louis (STL) as well as direct one stop flights to Detroit (DTW) and Washington, D.C. (DCA).[8]
| (USD 000) | 1981[7] | 1982[7] | 1983[7] | 1984[7] | 1985[7] | 1986[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Op revenue | 1,957 | 29,898 | 60,083 | 90,224 | 101,977 | 91,026 |
| Op profit (loss) | (2,546) | (8,277) | 3,870 | 3,016 | 1,990 | (1,628) |
| Net profit (loss) | (3,243) | (8,842) | 7,973 | (3,676) | (8,541) | (15,810) |
| Op margin | -130.1% | -27.7% | 6.4% | 3.3% | 2.0% | -1.8% |
| Net margin | -165.7% | -29.6% | 13.3% | -4.1% | -8.4% | -17.4% |
In the spring of 1987, as part of Alaska Air Group, the airline was operating direct flights between the west coast and the east coast of the U.S. including a round trip multi-stop flight with a routing of Orange County (SNA) - Portland (PDX) - Seattle (SEA) - Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) - Washington, D.C. (DCA) as well as a Long Beach (LGB) - Chicago (ORD) - Washington, D.C. (DCA) round trip flight.[10]
Late in 1986, the airline received buyout offers from Delta Air Lines and Alaska Air Group.[11] The main interest of the carriers were Jet America's landing slots at Washington National, Chicago O'Hare, John Wayne Airport and Long Beach airports.[12] Given Jet America's financial losses and its ever-changing route network, there was little franchise value. The airline accepted the Alaska bid and by the end of the year the acquisition had been completed. After initially attempting to operate the two airlines separately but finding its strategy for Jet America unprofitable, Jet America was merged into Alaska Airlines in October 1987. Alaska Air Group cited a $9 million loss for Jet America in the first nine months of 1987 prior to merging Jet America into Alaska Airlines.[13] Alaska sold Jet America's 14 slots at Chicago O'Hare Airport and four slots at Washington National Airport to United Airlines in exchange for cash and certain west coast facilities.[14] Alaska received praise from industry observers for bringing the "ill-fated" Jet America experiment to a quick end.[15]
Legacy
editJet America was one of four airlines based in southern California that accepted merger bids in 1986, the others being Western Airlines (acquired by Delta), Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) (acquired by USAir) and AirCal (acquired by American Airlines). Of these mergers, the only one with a lasting industry impact was Delta's acquisition of Western: Alaska threw in the towel on Jet America in 1987 and American and USAir withdrew from substantially all of the AirCal and PSA route networks in January 1990 following heavy losses. On the one hand, Alaska ended up with about as little to show for its Jet America purchase as American and USAir did for their purchases of AirCal and PSA. On the other, at least Alaska didn't pay much for Jet America, quickly recognized its mistake and moved on, avoiding the substantial losses suffered by American and USAir.
Destinations in 1987
editJet America served the following destinations as of June 1987.
| Country | City | Airport | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | Washington, D.C. | Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport | [16] | |
| California | Burbank | Bob Hope Airport | Terminated | [8] |
| Fresno | Fresno Yosemite International Airport | Terminated | [16] | |
| Long Beach | Long Beach Airport | Hub | [16] | |
| Oakland | Oakland International Airport | Terminated | [17] | |
| Ontario | Ontario International Airport | Terminated | [8] | |
| Orange County | John Wayne Airport | [16] | ||
| Illinois | Chicago | O'Hare International Airport | [16] | |
| Michigan | Detroit | Detroit Metropolitan Airport | [16] | |
| Minnesota | Minneapolis/Saint Paul | Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport | [16] | |
| Missouri | St. Louis | St. Louis Lambert International Airport | [16] | |
| Nevada | Las Vegas | McCarran International Airport | [16] | |
| Oregon | Portland | Portland International Airport | [16] | |
| Texas | Dallas/Fort Worth | Dallas Fort Worth International Airport | [16] | |
| Washington | Seattle/Tacoma | Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | [16] | |
| Wisconsin | Milwaukee | Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport | Terminated | [18] |
Fleet
editAt the time of its acquisition by Alaska Airlines, the Jet America fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Y | Total | ||||
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 8[19] | 2[19] | 12 | 135 | 147[20] | Orders transferred to another Alaska Air Group subsidiary.[21] |
| Total | 8 | 2 | ||||
Fleet history
edit| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Replacement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 707-320C | 1 | June 1984 |
January 1985 |
None | Leased for charter operations to Mexico and the Caribbean.[6] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ OpenCorporates incorporation record for Jet America, accessed April 20, 2024
- ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 30, 1985. 88." Retrieved on July 23, 2009.
- ^ "SEC News Digest Issue 84-34." Securities and Exchange Commission. February 17, 1984. 2/4. Retrieved on July 23, 2009.
- ^ "Jet America Fitness Investigation". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 90: 319–337. June–July 1981. hdl:2027/ien.35559002074791.
- ^ "Jet America Airlines 1982 Annual Report". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Jet America Airlines 1984 Annual Report". Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Jet America Airlines 1985 Annual Report". Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ a b c "July 16, 1986 Jet America system timetable". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ Air Transport Association 1987 Annual Report
- ^ "March 15, 1987 System Timetable". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "Jet America Option Used". The New York Times. Associated Press. 1986-08-21. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "Delta bids for Jet America to bolster western presence". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 125 (8): 33. 25 August 1986. ISSN 0005-2175.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Alaska Air Group 1988 Annual Report". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "Alaska Air group breaks up Jet America". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 127 (8): 34. 24 August 1987. ISSN 0005-2175.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Alaska Air Prospers By Focusing on Niche Markets, Profitability". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 131 (13): 110–111. 25 September 1989. ISSN 0005-2175.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "June 7, 1987 Jet America system timetable route map". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "October 15, 1985 System Timetable". Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ "July 16, 1986 System Timetable". Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Alaska Air Group 1987 Annual Report". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "Alaska Air Group 1986 Annual Report P8". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "Alaska Air Group 1986 Annual Report P9". Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- Norwood, Tom W. (1996). Deregulation Knockouts, Round One. Sandpoint, Idaho: Airways International. pp. 56–57. ISBN 0965399303. OCLC 37263082.
