Lake Central Airlines
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Commenced operations | 1950 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 1968 | ||||||
Operating bases | Weir Cook Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | Douglas DC-3, Convair 340, Convair 580, Beechcraft Bonanza and Nord 262. | ||||||
Parent company | Employee owned | ||||||
Headquarters | Indianapolis, Indiana, United States |
Lake Central Airlines was an airline that served points in the midwestern United States from 1950 to 1968, when it merged into Allegheny Airlines.
History
![](../I/m/Nord_262_A_F-WLHX_Lake_Cent_LEB_19.06.65_edited-3.jpg)
The airline was founded as Roscoe Turner Airlines; it was based at Weir Cook Airport (now Indianapolis International Airport) in Indianapolis, IN. Lake Central's network in the 1950s extended from Chicago to Pittsburgh; in August 1953 it scheduled flights to 21 airports and in May 1968 to 39. It used the Douglas DC-3, Convair 340, Convair 580, Beechcraft Bonanza and the Nord 262.
Like other Local Service airlines, Lake Central was subsidized; in 1962, its operating "revenues" of $10.8 million included $4.2 million "pub. serv. rev."[1]
In February 1955, Lake Central Airlines became the first employee-owned scheduled airline in the history of the air transport industry.[2] 162 employees (65% of the total) bought 97.5% of the outstanding stock, 25% outright and the rest financed over 24 months.
Accidents and incidents
- On March 5, 1967, Lake Central Flight 527, a Convair 580, crashed near Marseilles, Ohio, with the loss of all 38 passengers and crew.[3]
References
- ↑ Moody's Transportation Manual 1964
- ↑ Aviation Week 21 Feb 1955 p111
- ↑ http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR68-AC.pdf