Wings West Airlines

Wings West
IATA ICAO Callsign
RM WWM Wings West
Founded 1979
Ceased operations 1998 (merged with Simmons Airlines)
Hubs Los Angeles International Airport
Headquarters McChesney Field
San Luis Obispo County, California

Wings West Airlines, often referred to simply as Wings West, was an American regional airline headquartered at McChesney Field (SBP), unincorporated San Luis Obispo County, California.[1]

History

Wings West Swearingen Metro operating in American Eagle colours at John Wayne Airport California in 1986

Wings West was founded by Mark Morro and William Hirsch and began service in 1979 as a commuter air carrier flying Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft to destinations in California. Their first flight was from Santa Monica, California to Mammoth Lakes, California on 11 November 1979. In 1981, Wings West was operating service linking Mammoth Lakes and Bishop, California with Oakland, Sacramento and Santa Monica.[2] The airline became a publicly traded company in 1983. By early 1985, Wings West had significantly expanded its route network in California as an independent commuter airline with the addition of Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (Metro II and Metro III models) and Beechcraft C99 turboprops to their fleet and was serving Eureka/Arcata, Los Angeles (LAX), Merced, Modesto, Monterey, Oxnard, Redding, Sacramento, San Francisco (SFO), San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Visalia.[3] Service was also then expanded to Arizona. Founder Mark Morro was elected as Chairman of the Regional Airline Association (RAA) in 1985.

In 1986 Wings West began flying under the American Eagle brand name via a code sharing agreement with American Airlines, feeding passengers to American and a year later was purchased by AMR Corp. During 1991 Wings West began taking delivery of new Saab 340B turboprop aircraft. Also in 1991, the airline was supporting the American Airlines hub located at San Jose International Airport (SJC) in northern California with nonstop feeder service between SJC and Chico, Concord, Eureka/Arcata, Fresno, Lake Tahoe, Modesto, Monterey, Palm Springs, Redding, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa and Stockton in California with these flights being operated by Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner and new Saab 340B commuter propjets.[4] In 1996, Mary B. Jordan was named President of the airline. In 1998, Wings West was merged with Simmons Airlines and Flagship Airlines into AMR Eagle Holdings Corporation to form American Eagle Airlines which is currently known as Envoy Air.

Destinations

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Fleet

Wings West operated the following turboprop aircraft in the livery of American Eagle:

Wings West also operated Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft and Swearingen Metro II turboprop aircraft as an independent air carrier. As an American Eagle carrier, the airline had ordered the British Aerospace BAe ATP; however, this large turboprop aircraft was not delivered to or operated by Wings West.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Incidents

References

  1. ↑ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 19–25, 1997. 92.
  2. ↑ http://www.departedflights.com, April 1, 1981 Wings West Airlines route map
  3. ↑ http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 15, 1985 Wings West Airlines route map
  4. ↑ http://www.departedflights.com, Oct. 1, 1991 Official Airline Guide (OAG), San Jose flight schedules
  5. ↑ "National Transportation Safety Board". Retrieved 11 August 2010.
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