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N664US: Nationair Airlines Inc.

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Nationair stems not from one airline, but from 6 separate airlines.

The first of these airlines was Union Air Services, founded in 1918 to serve air mail routes throughout Pennsylvania and New York from a base in Philadelphia. In 1948, following World War II, the absorption of military surplus aircraft and switch to passenger service following the Air Mail Scandal a decade prior led to a renaming to Union Air Lines. In 1961, this name was shortened again, this time to Union Airlines, reflecting the development of a hub and true headquarters in Philadelphia. Following deregulation in 1978, Union Airlines began flying holiday charters to Florida from across the Northeast, soon developing a large winter operation from Miami.

In 1986, Union bought out Midpacific Airlines, first established in 1939 as the Mid-Pacific Steamship Company in Honolulu. Midpacific started with ships from Honolulu to San Francisco, and in the aviation market began to establish itself as a transpacific carrier from San Francisco and Honolulu to the world. Post-deregulation, it ceded Honolulu to Heartland Airlines, while also purchasing NorCal Express, a low-cost carrier with bases in San Francisco and Las Vegas. With both under the Union name, most Las Vegas ops were dropped in favor of further entrenching San Francisco, and all non-hub routes on the West Coast vanished.

Despite having hubs on either coast, Nationair lacked strength in many markets. The Midwest and Southeast were largely overflight markets, and Texas was too far south to be adequately served. Nationair attempted to solve this issue in the 1990's. Despite having lost a large sum of capital in acquiring Midpacific and fortifying San Francisco, further expansion was attempted. In 1992, it would buy out Air South, based in Charlotte and a main competitor in Miami. Affected by the Gulf War's rising fuel costs and declining demand, and overly aggressive expansion to Europe, it went under. Buying out Air South added a third hub to the network and solidified the Miami hub, leaving America's center as a weak point for the airline.

Nationair's real expansion, however, wouldn't come until the century turned. Recovering from the Gulf War's losses, it was in a position to expand into the Heartland. Attempting to add a Midwestern hub, it sprung on Cleveland, Ohio, adding dozens of flights across the country. In 2003, the effects of 9/11 and the War in Iraq would force airlines to cut amenities, frequencies, and sparked a wave of bankruptcies across America. Nationair, having spent billions post-deregulation on buying two airlines and adding major operations in SFO, CLE, and MIA, it was the first American legacy carrier to enter bankruptcy protection in 2004. With only two remotely profitable hubs, mounting debt, and an aging fleet, it was clear that a return to profitability would be difficult. In mid-2005, a buyer was found for the ailing company: Midwest Airlines.

Midwest Airlines was 75 years old at the time, established in 1927 as Middle West Air Lines, first flying from Chicago to New York via Cincinnati. As the only carrier in CVG, it monopolized, later covering both Ohio and the Midwest as a whole. Offering itself as an alternative to airlines based in Chicago or St. Louis, it rebranded itself as Midwestern Airlines in 1966, acquiring fledgling carrier Superior Airways the same year and adding a second hub in Minneapolis. With a solid base and isolated market, Midwestern began to focus more on evolution over revolution. It entrenched its presence in both cities, yet still lacked CAB authorities to fly to Europe and beyond.

Post-deregulation, Midwestern rebranded itself yet again, this time to Midwest Airlines. In 1985, it bought Midcontinent Airlines based in Kansas City and focused only on ensuring that its Midwest domestic network was adequately covered. The Kansas City offering was meager: a few banks of daytime flights, and then a low-cost night bank that brought in the majority of travelers. Although Kansas City solidified Midwest's presence in the region, it added little extra value to the company. The only international flights offered by Midwest were London and Paris, both of which were served from Cincinnati and Minneapolis.

The recession of the 1980's, however, proved that Midwest's route network was not as sound as previously thought. Despite holding the majority of operations from CVG, MSP, and MCI, it lost valuable business contracts without many flights abroad. With a change in management, sets were sought on expansion: a new Trans-Pacific scissor hub was added in PDX to add flights to Japan and Korea, and new flights to Zurich, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt all emerged from Cincinnati and Minneapolis. By the late 1990's with the dot-com bubble burst and Asian Economic Crisis, it was clear that expansion towards Asia failed miserably: facing steep competition across the Pacific, low brand recognition, a limited market size in Portland, low yields, and an unattractive numbers of stopovers, the scissor hub lost millions, only compounded by the Gulf War's drop in profits. Flights to Europe continued, but flights to Asia via Portland were completely halted in 1999. Midwest focused on being an airline for the region it was named after: the Midwest. Flights to Asia had weak demand: nonstop offerings were limited to Tokyo and Seoul after the PDX closure, and not include China until post-merger. Flights to Europe continued, mostly from Cincinnati: Kansas City-London was attempted for two summers in 1994 and 1995.

When Nationair entered bankruptcy protection, it was clear that it wouldn't survive. Jumping on an opportunity to more than double size, fill in route network gaps, and add a network serving Asia, Australia, and South America, it leaped and entered negotiations with the Nationair Group. Through a reverse merger, both companies combined on April 20, 2006, with a completed integration by July 1, 2008. The Midwest name, however, would not survive: it was too regional. Nationair, with a new branding identity, would now be one of America's largest airlines. It had 7 hubs (Philadelphia, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Kansas City, San Francisco, and Miami), and 2 focus cities (Cleveland, and Las Vegas), all in strategic locations to maximize connectivity. As a result of the 2008 recession, however, MCI, LAS, and CLE all faced steep cuts. Cleveland was too close to Cincinnati to retain its service, leading to its eventual shuttering in 2010. Las Vegas, although facing low demand, was later restored to pre-recession service levels. Kansas City, although facing fewer flights post-Recession, continues to play a valuable role in the Nationair system. With the delivery of new, more efficient aircraft, all hubs now see expansion to markets never served before.

IATA: NT, ICAO: NTA, Callsign: NATION AIR

Pretend that Nationair, the Canadian charter-operator and operator of Nationair 2120, never existed.



    Pretend that Nationair, the Canadian charter-operator and operator of Nationair 2120, never existed.

    Sure..Give me 20 bucks then i'll pretend not to. :P

    Edit 1: New Logo, New Gradient

    Awesome!

    Awesome!

     

    Thanks, Brit!

    Edit 2: Long and Lengthy Description Added. Expect to see all six carriers make their way into this gallery, which will progress by time period.