Wright Airlines
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Focus cities | Cleveland, Detroit | ||||||
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Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio | ||||||
Key people | Gerald Weller | ||||||
Website | none, defunct airline |
Wright Airlines, founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966, is regarded as the first United States Regional airline. The airline was based in Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport. The airline has since gone out of business.
Business
The founder and first president of the airline was Gerald Weller. This regional airline was the first to be financed through the sale of stock on Wall Street .
The airline was also considered to be a commuter airline. An example of how they operated was that a regular, one-hour interval service, was operated between Cleveland and Detroit and reservations were not required in advance .
During its existence, Wright Airlines had these acquisitions and mergers:
- 1968 acquired Tyme Airlines
- 1968 merged with Air Commuter Airlines
- 1983 merged with Aeromech Airlines
After the mergers, the Wright name was retained.
Livery
The aircraft livery of the airline varied, and through its existence was either orange and tan on white, blue and tan on white, or dark orange, orange and tan on white.
Aircraft types used
The airline flew a wide range of aircraft types selected according to the route and number of passengers.
- Beech 99A
- Convair 440 (improved version of Convair 240 with soundproofing and weather radar)
- Beechcraft Model H18 (Twin Beech)
- Convair 600 (turboprop conversion of Convair 240)
- Convair 640 (turboprop conversion of Convair 340 or 440)
- Douglas DC-3
- De Havilland DH-114 Riley Heron
- De Havilland DH-114-2B Heron
- De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
- Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante
- Shorts 360
Aircraft acquired when Wright Airlines purchased Aeromech 10/01/83
Safety record
The airline had a good safety record with few accidents or incidents. None are known to have been fatal accidents.
Similar but non-related airlines
- North-Wright Airlines, sometimes called North Wright Airlines.
See also
- List of largest airlines
- List of national airlines
- List of low-cost airlines
- List of defunct airlines
- Cargo airline
- List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
- Airline call sign
- ICAO airline designator
- IATA airline designator