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Wright Air Lines

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On the surface, Wright Air Lines was no different than many other many other small turboprop airlines that collapsed in the early years of the deregulated US airline industry. What set Wright apart was:

  • it was one of the few airlines to operate at Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL), where the airline was born and where it died
  • it originated as one of the airlines that made the route from BKL to Detroit City Airport (DET) one of the busiest small aircraft routes in the country in the 1960s
  • it was a rare small airline that achieved certification by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the Federal agency that tightly regulated most airline activity prior to US airline deregulation
  • the airline’s collapse was accompanied by findings of fraud
Wright Air Lines
IATA ICAO Call sign
FW/KC WRT WRIGHT
FoundedMay 18, 1966
Commenced operationsJune 27, 1966 (1966-06-27)
Ceased operations1985 (1985)
Operating basesCleveland Burke Lakefront Airport
HeadquartersCleveland, Ohio
United States
Key peopleDon Schneller
Gilbert Singerman
FounderGerald Weller
Convair 600 at Columbus 1980

History

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Weller era

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The airline's founder and first president was Gerald Weller, who worked for a year at TAG Airlines before establishing Wright, which was incorporated on May 18, 1966.[1] TAG had served the DET-BKL route (among others) since 1957; Wright provided competing service starting June 27, 1966, initially with a five passenger single-engined aircraft.[2][3] On June 9, even before starting service, Wright merged with Commuter Airlines, Inc.[4] At the time, the CAB tightly regulated almost all airline service in the United States, one exception being those airlines that flew “small” aircraft (under 12,500lbs). TAG and Wright were such operators. Such airlines still needed FAA operational certification, which occurred for Wright on May 25.[5] However, in the 1960s, traffic on the DET-BKL route rivaled that on the Cleveland-Hopkins to Detroit Metro route, at levels approaching 100,000 passengers per year, despite being provided exclusively with small aircraft. 1969 schedules show TAG scheduling 22 flights each direction on DET-BKL on weekdays, six on Saturdays, ten on Sundays.[6]

By September 1967, Wright was flying to Pittsburgh as well as DET, up to 14/day each way to DET, four to Pittsburgh. The fleet was four Beech 18s and a Skyliner (a de Havilland Heron derivative) with four on order.[7] Wright’s competitor to Detroit, TAG, flew the smaller de Havilland Dove. Also, in 1967, Wright went public. It's registration statement was for 150,000 shares at $6.[8][9] In March 1968, Wright merged with Air Commuter, with a combined network comprising DET, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Dayton, Columbus, Lima and Findlay from BKL. Air Commuter came with “heavy financial losses” and four DHC-6 Twin Otters.[10] In July, Wright bought Tyme Air Lines of Columbus, which flew single-engined aircraft.[11] In January 1969, Weller trumpeted Wright’s 1968 “record year” : 66,624 passengers, of which 45,421 were on BKL-DET, showing the importance of that route. Nothing was said of profitability.[12] But in June 1969, Weller sold out to Don Schneller, an original Wright Air Lines director and bank executive.[13]

Schneller era

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CAB certification

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Schneller took over knowing Wright had very likely lost a CAB certification award to its competitor, TAG. TAG and Wright petitioned the CAB for certification to fly larger aircraft on DET-BKL. Since the advent of local service carriers in the late 1940s/early 1950s, only one small airline had been so certificated within the continental US, Aspen Airways, which received CAB certification for Denver-Aspen in 1967.[14] The CAB examiner gave an initial opinion in favor of TAG in March 1969 on the basis of TAG’s superior finances, greater market longevity and plan to use superior equipment (Fokker F-27 turboprops, and possible use of Fokker F-28 jets vs Wright’s plan for Convair 240 piston aircraft). It was unlikely (though not unheard of) that the board itself would overturn this finding, and generally conceded that whichever airline got the certificate would drive the other from the market. Weller and Schneller knew the CAB position by the time Weller ceded control to Schneller.[15] Despite protests by Wright, on October 27, 1969, TAG’s certification by the CAB for BKL-DET was final.[2]

But in January 1970, one of TAG’s Doves crashed through the Lake Erie ice, killing all nine on board.[16] TAG was quickly in financial distress. In March, Wright agreed to acquire TAG for $3mm (about $20mm in 2024 dollars).[17] In July, the slow-moving CAB rejected this seemingly sensible solution, notwithstanding TAG’s imminent demise. When TAG stopped flying due to lack of financial resources, the CAB blithely ordered it back in the air.[18] TAG had no money, so that didn’t happen. The CAB, showing no flexibility whatsoever, required Wright to go through another investigation before it finally agreed to certificate Wright for DET-BKL instead, in early 1972.[19] It was somewhat of a miracle the CAB acted at all; since 1969 it had, at industry request, been operating under a secret new route moratorium, a later notorious case of regulatory capture.[20] The CAB had an elaborate taxonomy of the airlines it regulated. Wright was in the smallest scheduled category, generally labeled “air taxi” or similar (though the whole point of the certification was to allow Wright to operate aircraft larger than air taxis). Wright wasn’t the smallest CAB airline by revenue, since CAB regulation captured some tiny Alaska carriers, but Wright was the smallest in the continental US.[21]

 
June 1975 Pratt & Whitney R-2800 piston engine swap on a Convair 440

While waiting for the CAB, Schneller sold off the Twin Otters[22] and, oddly, bought a seat-belt plating company in Jackson, Michigan (Miller Plating Group) in December 1969.[23] At the time of the proposed TAG merger in 1970, Schneller envisioned future Wright having three divisions: TAG as the CAB certificated subsidiary, Wright as the traditional small aircraft operation and the plating operation.[17] By March 1971 the plating company was sold.[24] Also in 1970, Wright entered into a contract with Eastern Air Lines to fly from Bowling Green, KY on Eastern’s behalf. Eastern petitioned the CAB to withdraw completely, while local politicians did everything they could to force Eastern itself back into Bowling Green.[25] The lengthy CAB process ended September 1972, Eastern was gone and so was Wright.[26] Meanwhile, the airline progressively pulled out of other routes than DET-BKL. By January 1971, they were down to BKL-DET plus the Eastern contract work.[27] Under Schneller, Wright flew its first profitable month ever in April 1970.[28] Weller had never achieved a profit. Schneller promised turboprop Fairchild FH-227 aircraft (a somewhat larger US-built version of the F-27) once CAB certification was achieved.[29] But when that finally happened, Wright instead used piston-powered Convair 440s.[30] At year-end 1974, all CAB carriers combined had 77 piston aircraft (33 of those in Alaska) out of 2,513 total aircraft, 264 of them turboprops.[31] So, while Wright now flew bigger equipment, it was not yet modern. In the 12 months to April 30, 1971, 72,000 passengers flew DET-BKL.[32] In 1974, CAB certificated Wright, now with "big" airplanes, flew only 62,000 on the same route – fewer than when small planes flew the route.[33]

Don Scott Airport

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In August 1975, the CAB approved Wright to fly to Columbus via Don Scott Airport,[34] the airport owned by Ohio State University (OSU). The new service was not well received by the people living around the airport or OSU and they were able to force Wright out, the service lasting only from September 29[35] to December 15. Wright moved to Port Columbus International Airport – today’s John Glenn International Airport.[36] This is the only time the Ohio State airport has been used for scheduled airline service.

Wright Air Lines Financial Results, 1973 thru 1978
USD 000 1973[37] 1974[37] 1975[38] 1976[38] 1977[39] 1978[39]
Op revenue 1,722 2,084 1,957 2,446 3,031 5,304
Op profit (loss) 58 158 (200) (55) 32 (72)
Net profit (loss) (632) 33 (371) 64 (2) (49)
Op margin 3.4% 7.6% -10.2% -2.2% 1.1% -1.4%
Net margin -36.7% 1.6% -19.0% 2.6% -0.1% -0.9%

Singerman era

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Convair 600 at Columbus November 1978
 
Convair 600 at Columbus November 1982

Gilbert “Gibby” Singerman was a partner in (and officer of) Midwest Air Charter, which pioneered the transport of cancelled checks by air in 1972 for the Federal Reserve (allowing the Fed to reduce the float in the money supply). (Federal Express originally sought the same business, hence the name.)[40] Midwest moved its hub to Wilmington Air Park in 1978[41] and in 1980 was bought by Airborne Freight Company, becoming the air operations of Airborne Express.[42] Midwest Air Charter is thus the origin of ABX Air, and the reason Amazon Air has an operation in Wilmington, OH today.

Merger, bankruptcy and fraud

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In September 1981, Wright signed a tentative $10 million purchase of Air New England (ANE), coincidentally another rare small airline certificated by the CAB in the 1970s.[43][44] ANE lived off CAB subsidy; it had never been an economic proposition. In the end, Wright walked away from ANE, with its owners doing the same, shutting Air New England on October 31, 1981. As an industry source noted, “Air New England didn’t have anything to sell.”[45]

Two years later, however, on September 30, 1983, Wright merged with Aeromech Airlines, a West Virginia airline.[46] The merger was quickly fatal. The first sign of trouble was a half-million dollar unpaid bill to the Cleveland airports, for which Singerman’s excuse was that Wright lost track due to the merger.[47] Wright had to reassure Clevelanders that, nonetheless, Wright was still flying from Cleveland.[48] The merger wasn't the only thing distracting Singerman. For instance, he was involved with a new company, Advanced Turbo Manufacturing (ATM), that wanted to re-engine Convairliners (something that hadn't been done since the 1960s)[49] in depressed Youngstown, Ohio. Singerman proposed to move Wright’s headquarters to the same Youngstown location, no doubt to the eager anticipation of the staff.[50] Despite Singerman’s Convairliner passion, in April Wright ordered eight Shorts 360 aircraft, with the first to be delivered almost immediately.[51]

In June 1984, Wright reported a huge $1.4mm loss on revenue of $7.3mm for the first quarter; the prior year had been break even.[52] In August Wright announced a second quarter loss of $770,000 on revenues of $8.8mm.[53] By September 28, Wright was in Chapter 11, after Shorts sued to repossess five newly-delivered 360s on which Wright failed to pay rent.[54] By November, Wright exited every route than Cleveland to Detroit (both DET-BKL and CLE-DTW, despite the presence of six other airlines on the latter).[55] Singerman blamed the Aeromech system,[56] but walked away from almost all of Wright's pre-merger system too. CLE-DTW duly got the ax in April 1985.[57] In July, the bankruptcy court ruled Wright guilty of fraud and converted the case to Chapter 7 (liquidation).[58] To finance the merger, Wright sold stock in February 1984 through notorious First Jersey Securities.[59] The offering document said Wright would do one thing with the money and it was proved the company knew it would do something else.[60] To his credit, Singerman got the case reverted to Chapter 11 by putting up his own money to allow the company to be sold and Wright stumbled on into the fourth quarter of 1985.[61]

According to its February 1, 1982 system timetable, Wright was operating Convair 600 turboprop aircraft on all of its scheduled passenger flights and was serving Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton in Ohio; Detroit City Airport and Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Michigan; and Louisville in Kentucky.[62] Wright had expanded its route system by 1984 (see below) following the merger with Aeromech Airlines.

Destinations in 1984

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According to its October 1, 1984 timetable, Wright served the following destinations:[63]

Fleet

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As of November 1966, the Wright fleet was three Beech E-18s, one Beech D-95 (Travel Air) and a Beech 33 (Debonair).[5]

World Airline Fleets 1979 lists Wright as having six Convair 600s, registrations N74850 thru N74855.[64]

The airline flew a wide range of aircraft types at various times during its existence which were selected according to the specific route and projected number of passengers on each route:

Wright acquired Bandeirantes when it purchased Aeromech October 1, 1983.[65]

Safety record

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The airline had a good safety record with few accidents or incidents. None are known to have been fatal accidents.

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Wright Air Lines, Inc. incorporation certificate". businesssearch.ohiosos.gov. Secretary of State, Ohio. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "TAG Airlines, Cleveland-Detroit Certificate". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 52: 579–609. August–November 1969. hdl:2027/osu.32435022360226.
  3. ^ Davies, R.E.G.; Quastler, I.E. (1995). Commuter Airlines of the United States. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 396. ISBN 9781560984047.
  4. ^ "Certificate of Merger between Wright and Commuter". businesssearch.ohiosos.gov. Secretary of State, Ohio. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Table 8". Scheduled Air Taxi Operators as of November 1966 (Report). Federal Aviation Agency. November 1966. p. 26. hdl:2027/ien.35556029805108.
  6. ^ "October 26, 1969 TAG timetable, pg 2". timetableimages.com. Airline Timetable Images. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  7. ^ New Airline Service, Dayton Daily News, September 14, 1967
  8. ^ "Wright Air Lines Files For Offering" (PDF). News Digest (67–68). Securities and Exchange Commission: 2. 11 April 1967.
  9. ^ "1967 New Issues". Forbes. 102 (6): 53. 15 September 1968.
  10. ^ Cleveland Air Taxi Firms in Merger, Akron Beacon Journal, March 1, 1968
  11. ^ Wright Air Lines Buys Tyme Firm of Columbus, Dayton Daily News, July 7, 1968
  12. ^ Wright Air Lines Flew Record Year in ‘68 Dayton Daily News, January 15, 1969
  13. ^ Wright Air Lines Changes Hands Dayton Daily News, June 16, 1968
  14. ^ "Denver-Aspen Service Investigation". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 46: 273–285. December 1966 – June 1967. hdl:2027/osu.32437011658164.
  15. ^ TAG Flights Get Examiner’s OK, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 7, 1969
  16. ^ 9 Lost in Lake Erie Crash, New York Times, January 29, 1970
  17. ^ a b Wright Air Lines Announces $3 Million Deal for Tag, Dayton Daily News, March 26, 1970
  18. ^ "Dockets 22034, 22457, 22458 Wright-TAG Merger Case—order 70-9-135 adopted September 28, 1970". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 55: 929–932. September–December 1970. hdl:2027/osu.32437011657711.
  19. ^ "Reopened TAG-Wright Case". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 58: 525–544. September 1971 – February 1972. hdl:2027/osu.32437011657562.
  20. ^ Kennedy Denounces C.A.B. Moratorium On New Route Competition for Airlines, New York Times, February 27, 1975
  21. ^ Annual Report: Fiscal Year 1977 and Transitional Quarter (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. May 1978. hdl:2027/pst.000067708109.
  22. ^ Wright Air Lines Twin Otter sales advertisement in Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, October 23, 1969
  23. ^ Acquisition completed, Detroit Free Press, December 23, 1969
  24. ^ Deal Approved by Wright Air, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 25, 1971
  25. ^ Wright Airlines Begins Flight Service To City, Bowling Green (KY) Park City Daily News, May 26, 1970
  26. ^ "Eastern Air Lines, Deletion of Bowling Green". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 60: 80–118. August–December 1972. hdl:2027/uc1.b3533842.
  27. ^ TAG-Wright Air Merger Called Off, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 19, 1971
  28. ^ Wright Air Lines Shows Net Profit First Time, Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 23, 1970
  29. ^ Wright Awaits U.S. OK, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 11, 1972
  30. ^ Bomb Threat Is False Alarm, Akron Beacon Journal, July 7, 1973
  31. ^ "Table 7a, Number of Aircraft Available for Service by Major Aircraft Category". Supplement to the Handbook of Airline Statistics: Covering Calendar Years 1973 and 1974 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. November 1975. p. 126. hdl:2027/uc1.31822024247041.
  32. ^ CAB58 1972, p. 535.
  33. ^ Supp 1975, p. 29.
  34. ^ "Wright Air Lines Exemption, Docket 27928". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 68 (2): 1399–1402. August–October 1975. hdl:2027/osu.32437011658107.
  35. ^ New Air Service, Marion (OH) Star, September 30, 1975
  36. ^ Commuter Service To Resume, The Galion (OH) Inquirer, December 22, 1975
  37. ^ a b Supp 1975, p. 67.
  38. ^ a b "Part IV. Income Statement Data of the Certificated Route Air Carriers". Supplement to the Handbook of Airline Statistics: Calendar Years 1975 and 1976 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. December 1977. p. 64. hdl:2027/uc1.31822008525891.
  39. ^ a b "Part IV. Income Statement Data of the Certificated Route Air Carriers". Supplement to the Handbook of Airline Statistics: Calendar Years 1977 and 1978 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. November 1979. p. 63. hdl:2027/osu.32435025695669.
  40. ^ Frock, Roger J. (2006). Changing How the World Does Business. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. pp. 11–13. ISBN 1576754138.
  41. ^ Air cargo company buys facilities at air park, Wilmington (OH) News-Journal, September 29, 1978
  42. ^ Clinton cornfields get new neighbor—Airborne Express, Cincinnati Post, April 11, 1981
  43. ^ Air New England merger, Boston Globe, September 24, 1981
  44. ^ "New England Service Investigation". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 65 (1): 220–460. June–October 1974. hdl:2027/osu.32437011658453.
  45. ^ Airline serving City going out of business, Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, October 23, 1981
  46. ^ "Certificate of Merger between Wright and Aeromech". businesssearch.ohiosos.gov. Secretary of State, Ohio. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  47. ^ Airline pays large debt, Bucyrus (OH) Telegraph-Forum, March 3, 1984
  48. ^ Wright still has flights at Cleveland’s airports, Akron Beacon Journal, January 19, 1984
  49. ^ Gradidge, J.M.G. (1998). The Convairliners Story. Air-Britain. pp. 40–43, 49–50. ISBN 0851302432.
  50. ^ Loan offered to aircraft firm, Delaware (OH) Gazette, January 10, 1984
  51. ^ Wright Air Lines buys planes from British firm, Akron Beacon Journal, April 13, 1984.
  52. ^ Doing Wright by them, New York Daily News, June 16, 1984
  53. ^ Wright to end its flights at Akron-Canton, August 23, 1984
  54. ^ Wright Air Lines reorganization petition filed, Dayton Daily News, September 28, 1984
  55. ^ Wright Air Lines to leave Dayton, Dayton Daily News, November 16, 1984
  56. ^ Flying low, Pittsburgh Press, November 17, 1984
  57. ^ Wright Air Lines suspends Metro-to-Cleveland service, Detroit Free Press, April 9, 1985
  58. ^ Judge orders Wright Air Lines to liquidate for financial fraud, Akron Beacon Journal, Jul 14, 1985
  59. ^ Living in the Lap of Bankruptcy, Financier Is Charged With Fraud, New York Times, August 2, 2000
  60. ^ In re Wright Air Lines, Inc., 51 B.R. 96 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio 1985).
  61. ^ Puts up money, Bucyrus (OH) Telegraph-Forum, July 16, 1985
  62. ^ "Wright Airlines Timetable". Airline Timetable Images. February 1, 1982. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  63. ^ "Wright Airlines October 1, 1984 System Timetable". Departed Flights. October 1, 1984. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  64. ^ Endres, Günter G. (1979). World Airline Fleets 1979. Hounslow (UK): Airline Publications and Sales. p. 297. ISBN 0905117530.
  65. ^ "Wright Airlines". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
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