Swift Aire Lines

Swift Aire Lines was a commuter airline based in San Luis Obispo, California. The airline's two letter code was "WI"; it scheduled passenger flights in California from the late 1960s until 1981 when it merged with Golden Gate Airlines. Shortly thereafter, Golden Gate ended all operations.[1]

Swift Aire was the unofficial hometown airline of San Luis Obispo as it was founded in 1969 in this small city on the central coast of California. Southwest Airways had served San Luis Obispo with Douglas DC-3s, but added more modern Martin 4-0-4s to its fleet which were too large for the 4000-ft runways at San Luis Obispo. About 1956 Southwest Airways moved to Paso Robles Airport, about 25 miles north of San Luis Obispo. Southwest Airways later changed its name to Pacific Air Lines and added new Fairchild F-27s to its fleet, flying them from Paso Robles to Los Angeles, San Francisco and other California cities. In 1968 Pacific Air Lines merged with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West which continued to serve Paso Robles. Air West was renamed Hughes Airwest. All three airlines listed San Luis Obispo in their timetables, but they actually stopped at Paso Robles. Swift Aire returned air service to San Luis Obispo in 1969 and expanded to other California cities; Hughes Airwest dropped Paso Robles in 1974.

About 1980 Swift Aire added new Fokker F.27-600s to its fleet; Swift Aire purchased these 48-seat twin turboprops from the manufacturer. One runway at San Luis Obispo had been lengthened to 4799 feet, allowing larger aircraft; the F.27 was the largest aircraft at San Luis Obispo Airport at the time.

A book on the history of Swift Aire Lines was written in 1979 by an authority of commuter airlines, Dr. Imre E. Quastler of San Diego State University.[2]

Accident history

On March 10, 1979, Swift Aire flight number 235 operated by a Nord 262 twin turboprop aircraft (registration N418SA) flying from Los Angeles International Airport to Santa Maria with continuing service to San Luis Obispo crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Santa Monica shortly after departing from LAX. The report on the crash determined the right engine failed during take off and the flight crew responded to the alarms by shutting off the left engine rendering the plane powerless. Two crew members and one passenger died while one crew member and three passengers survived. This was the only fatal accident experienced by the airline.[3]

Destinations

Swift Aire served the following destinations. Those cities appearing in bold were being served by the airline in April 1981 shortly before Swift Aire merged into Golden Gate Airlines: [4] [5][6]

After the merger with Golden Gate Airlines, Swift Aire began serving San Diego, California via Lindbergh Field.[7]

Fleet

A Riley Turbo Skyliner at San Francisco in 1974

References

  1. ↑ Airlines N to Z
  2. ↑ Swift Aire Lines, 1969-1979: The History of an American Commuter Airline. San Diego: Commuter Airlines Press, 1979.
  3. ↑ http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR79-13.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.departedflights.com, Aug. 1, 1976; July 1, 1979; April 1, 1981 Swift Aire route maps
  5. ↑ Swift Aire
  6. ↑ Swift Aire Lines
  7. ↑ http://www.departedflights.com, July 1, 1981 Golden Gate Airlines/Swift Aire route map

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