National Airlines (1999–2002)

Last updated
National Airlines
National Airlines Logo, May 1999.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
N7ROKRED ROCK
FoundedJuly 1998 (1998-07)
Commenced operationsMay 27, 1999 (1999-05-27)
Ceased operationsNovember 6, 2002 (2002-11-06)
Hubs McCarran International Airport
Frequent-flyer program National Comps [1]
Headquarters Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Key people Michael Conway
(President & CEO)
Website nationalairlines.com (2001 archive)
A National Airlines Boeing 757-200. National Airlines Boeing 757-200 Pashnin.jpg
A National Airlines Boeing 757-200.

National Airlines was a United States low-fare airline that operated from 1999 to 2002. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, it was the third US carrier to use the name. The airline was created to bring tourists to Las Vegas. National offered service to a limited number of cities with high traffic to Las Vegas. The airline operated a fleet of 19 Boeing 757-200 jets in a two-class first class and coach seating configuration.

Contents

History

Hoping to attract more visitors from the East Coast, Harrah's Entertainment and the former Rio Hotel & Casino, Inc., each contributed $15 million toward the start-up costs of National Airlines in July 1998. Wexford Capital, owners of Republic Airways Holdings also contributed several million to this create the airline. [2]

Taking a page from Southwest Airlines' book, National kept things simple by operating a single aircraft type—in National's case, the Boeing 757.

Service began on May 27, 1999. This was the third airline in the United States to use the National Airlines name. Michael Conway became President and CEO of the company. From its inception, the company fought an uphill battle against rising fuel costs and an economic recession. National Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 6, 2000. [3]

Like many other airlines, National had serious financial problems after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and only 41 months after their inaugural flight left Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, the airline ceased all operations on November 6, 2002, after being in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for 23 months.

As of the day of National's grounding on November 6, 2002, the airline had carried 1.85 million passengers through McCarran (January–November 2002), and National was the airport's fourth-largest carrier based upon passenger volume. Departing McCarran International Airport at 4:20 p.m., National Airlines Flight 354 to Dallas/Fort Worth was the carrier's last to leave the Las Vegas hub.

Attempted hijacking

On July 27th, 2000, National Airlines flight 19 operating from John F. Kennedy International to McCarran International Airport was boarded by a man with a gun and knife, who immediately stormed the cockpit and took the two pilots as hostage. The hijacker demanded the flight attendant to close the cabin door, however startled passengers shoved the flight attendant aside and reopened the door to escape. All 143 passengers exited without injuries. By 12:50 AM both pilots were released. The hijacker remained on the plane alone for another two and a half hours before being apprehended. The FBI identified the suspect as Aaron Amartei Commey of Milwaukee. His motive was to be flown to Argentina or Antarctica. He was charged with attempting to hijack an aircraft. [4] [5] [6]

In the science entertainment television program MythBusters, a stored National Airlines 757 following their collapse is shown on camera taxing away. They were going to use it to test a myth about the effects of jet wash on vehicles behind a taking off airplane. The TV program was unable to use the jet because of a dispute with their insurance company. [7]

Destinations

At the time National Airlines was grounded, the airline provided service to 14 destinations throughout the United States: [8]

United States

California

District of Columbia

See Virginia for Washington, D.C. service

Florida

Illinois

New Jersey

New York

Nevada

Pennsylvania

Texas

Virginia

Washington

Fleet

At the time the airline was grounded, National had 19 aircraft in its fleet consisting of:

National Airlines Fleet
AircraftTotalPassengers
(First/Coach)		Notes
Boeing 757-200 19175
(22/153)		National's cabins provided coach seats at 33" and first class at 40", greater pitch than that of most legacy carriers at the time.

The 757s were sold, eight of them under a new registration number. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Airlines</span> Defunct airline of the United States (1925–1987)

Western Airlines was a major airline in the United States based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and Nassau. Western had hubs at Los Angeles International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, and the former Stapleton International Airport in Denver. Before it merged with Delta Air Lines in 1987 it was headquartered at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Throughout the company's history, its slogan was "Western Airlines...The Only Way to Fly!"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Reid International Airport</span> Airport near Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport serving the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located five miles (8 km) south of downtown Las Vegas in the unincorporated area of Paradise and covers 2,800 acres (11 km2) of land. Reid is owned by Clark County and operated by the county's department of aviation. The airport is named after the late U.S. congressman and senator from Nevada Harry Reid. It has four runways, two terminals numbered 1 and 3, and a people mover. Reid is one of two airports in the United States with slot machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albuquerque International Sunport</span> Airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Albuquerque International Sunport, locally known as the Sunport, is the primary international airport serving the U.S. state of New Mexico, particularly the Albuquerque metropolitan area and the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area. It handles around 5.4 million passengers annually and over 400 flights daily. ABQ is located in Bernalillo County, between the Rio Grande and the Sandia Mountains, east of Old Town and Barelas, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of downtown, south of the University of New Mexico and directly to the west of Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lafayette Regional Airport</span> Airport in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

Lafayette Regional Airport(French: Aéroport régional de Lafayette) is a public use airport two miles (4 km) southeast of Lafayette, in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the City Parish of Lafayette.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braniff International Airways</span> Defunct airline of the United States (1928–1982)

Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that flew air carrier operations from 1928 until 1982 and continues today as a retailer, hotelier, travel service and branding and licensing company, administering the former airline's employee pass program and other airline administrative duties. Braniff's routes were primarily in the midwestern and southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. In the late 1970s it expanded to Asia and Europe. The airline ceased air carrier operations in May 1982 because of high fuel prices, credit card interest rates and extreme competition from the large trunk carriers and the new airline startups created by the Airline Deregulation Act of December 1978. Two later airlines used the Braniff name: the Hyatt Hotels-backed Braniff, Inc. in 1983–89, and Braniff International Airlines, Inc. in 1991–92.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Pacific Airlines</span> Defunct low-cost airline of the United States (1994–1998)

Western Pacific Airlines, or WestPac, was an airline which operated in the United States from 1995 to 1998. A low-cost carrier, it was formed in 1994 under the name Commercial Air, later changed to Western Pacific, and began operating scheduled passenger flights on April 28, 1995, with eight Boeing 737-300s. Edward Gaylord of Gaylord Entertainment Company was involved in the formation and management of the airline. Its headquarters were in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, near Colorado Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airline hub</span> Airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination

An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the hub-and-spoke system. An airline may operate flights from several non-hub (spoke) cities to the hub airport, and passengers traveling between spoke cities connect through the hub. This paradigm creates economies of scale that allow an airline to serve city-pairs that could otherwise not be economically served on a non-stop basis. This system contrasts with the point-to-point model, in which there are no hubs and nonstop flights are instead offered between spoke cities. Hub airports also serve origin and destination (O&D) traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palm Springs International Airport</span> International airport in Palm Springs, California, United States

Palm Springs International Airport, formerly Palm Springs Municipal Airport, is an airport two miles east of downtown Palm Springs, California, United States. The airport covers 940 acres and has two runways. The facility operates year-round, with most flights occurring in the fall, winter, and spring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Fe Regional Airport</span> Airport

Santa Fe Regional Airport is a public use airport in Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States, 10 miles (16 km) southwest of the city center. The airport serves the greater Santa Fe and Los Alamos areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wright Amendment</span> Act of Congress

The Wright Amendment of 1979 was a United States federal law that governed traffic at Dallas Love Field, an airport in Dallas, Texas, to protect Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) from competition. The amendment—enacted in reaction to the refusal of Southwest Airlines to vacate Love Field and move to DFW—prohibited carriers from operating full-size airliners between Love Field and destinations beyond Texas and its four neighboring states. Further amendments in 1997 and 2005 added new states and relaxed aircraft rules for longer range service. The law was partially repealed in 2006 and then fully repealed in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAXjet Airways</span>

MAXjet Airways was an American, transatlantic, all-business class airline that operated between 2003 and 2007. Its headquarters were located on the grounds of Washington-Dulles International Airport, and in the Dulles area of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States.

Vanguard Airlines was a low-cost airline based in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, where it operated a hub from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. For a time, Vanguard also had significant operations at Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, until late 2000. It ceased operations on July 29, 2002, after filing for bankruptcy. The airline flew leased Boeing 727-200, 737-200, 737-300 as well as McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series and MD-87 jetliners to a number of destinations from its main hub in Kansas City at the time of its demise. Vanguard Airlines started service in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legend Airlines</span> United States airline

Legend Airlines was an airline headquartered at Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas, United States. Legend operated nonstop flights from its Love Field hub to Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and New York City, the first carrier to fly from Love Field to destinations beyond the Wright Amendment five-state region after the opening of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 1974. Legend's aircraft were limited to 56 passenger seats by the Wright Amendment, so the aircraft were outfitted in a spacious all-business class layout, aiming at the lucrative business travel market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midway Airlines (1993–2003)</span> Former Morrisville, North Carolina-based passenger airline (1993–2003)

Midway Airlines was a United States airline based in Morrisville, North Carolina, between Raleigh and Durham. The airline operated between 1993 and 2003.

Frontier Airlines was an airline in the United States formed by a merger of Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines, and Monarch Airlines on June 1, 1950. Headquartered at the now-closed Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado, the airline ceased operations on August 24, 1986. A new airline using the same name was founded eight years later in 1994.

Republic Airlines was an airline from 1979 to 1986 in the United States, which was merged with Northwest Airlines. Republic was formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquarters were at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, in what is now Fort Snelling in unincorporated Hennepin County, Minnesota. The former headquarters is now Delta Air Lines Building C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Private Jet Expeditions</span> Defunct charter airline of the United States (1989–1995)

Private Jet Expeditions was a United States charter airline which also operated scheduled passenger service that was part of the OASIS Group from Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Song (airline)</span> Defunct low-cost airline of the United States (2003–2006)

Song, LLC, was a low-cost air service within an airline brand owned and operated by Delta Air Lines from 2003 to 2006. All Song flights were operated by Delta. Song's main focus was on leisure traffic between the Northeastern United States and Florida, a market where it competed with JetBlue Airways. It also operated flights between Florida and the West Coast, and from the Northeast to the West Coast.

Elite Airways was an airline based in the United States that operated charter and scheduled passenger flights. The airline was headquartered in Portland, Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas Love Field</span> Municipal airport in Dallas, Texas, United States

Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport 6 miles northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas. It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of 1,300 acres (530 ha) at an elevation of 487 feet (148 m) above mean sea level and has three runways.

References

  1. ↑ National Comps Membership Guide
  2. ↑ Zuckerman, Laurence (30 July 1998). "2 Casino Operators Plan To Start Las Vegas Airline (Published 1998)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2020-05-31.
  3. ↑ "National Airlines | About Us". www.nationalairlines.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2001. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Schwartzman, Bryan (2000-08-02). "Hijack attempted on flight leaving JFK – QNS.com". qns.com. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  5. ↑ "HIJACKER TAKES JFK PLANE – EVERYONE ON JET OK AFTER RUSH TO GET OUT". 2000-07-28. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  6. ↑ "SWAT team members gather in front of the National Airlines terminal..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  7. ↑ "MythBusters Episode 13: Buried in Concrete, Daddy Long-legs, Jet Taxi". mythresults.com. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  8. ↑ Some National Airlines Destinations
  9. ↑ "Plane Spotters production list for N7". Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.