Mid Pacific Air

Mid Pacific Air

IATA HO ICAO MPA Callsign MID PAC
Founded	1981 (1981)
Ceased operations	1995 (1995)
Hubs	Honolulu International Airport Indianapolis International Airport
Destinations
Headquarters	Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Mid Pacific Air was founded in 1981 as a low-cost regional airline serving Hawaii. Routes connected the islands of Kauai, O'ahu, Maui and Hawaii (the Big Island). Its primary competitors were the existing regional carriers, Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines. When it operated in the Midwest, its headquarters were on the grounds of Indianapolis International Airport in Indianapolis, Indiana.^[1]

History

In contrast to Hawaiian and Aloha, Mid Pacific Air's fleet was made up primarily of NAMC YS-11 turboprop planes; Hawaiian and Aloha used jet aircraft for the same routes. Mid Pacific added Fokker F28 jets in 1985. In October 1982, the airline wet leased a Boeing 707 from Arrow Air and operated a short lived service from Honolulu to Pago Pago, American Samoa using the name Mid Pacific Arrow. In February 1985, the airline expanded to the western United States, where it operated low-fare service between from Las Vegas, Nevada and the Grand Canyon to Burbank and Orange County, California. It was also in 1985 Mid Pacific leased 4 of its YS-11's to operate for Fort Worth Airlines. In January 1986, the airline was sold to KOA Holdings, and shortly after the F28s were removed from service.

Although Mid Pacific was able to lure customers with low fares and promotions that compensated for the slower, noisier turboprop aircraft, the airline was unable to compete with Hawaiian and Aloha and ended passenger flights in Hawaii on January 19, 1988, and ended cargo flights there a month later.^[2]

Following the termination of the Hawaii operation, Mid Pacific moved to the midwestern United States and operated cargo flights using the YS-11s from a base in Lafayette, Indiana, and in the 1990s operated commuter service for Reno Air under the name Reno Air Express using Jetstream 31 turboprop aircraft. In 1992 and 1993, the airline operated a BAe 146 on behalf of TNT between New York and Bermuda. The airline ceased operations in 1995.

Historical Fleet

• NAMC YS-11
• Fokker F28 Fellowship
• Boeing 707
• BAe 146

References

1. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 23-29, 1994. 106-108.
2. ^ Apana, Lehia (2007-02-05). "Memories of Mid Pacific taking flight". The Maui News. Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20070210153203/http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=27429. Retrieved 2007-02-05. 

• Norwood, Tom W. (1996). Deregulation Knockouts, Round One. Sandpoint, Idaho: Airways International. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0 9653993-0-3. OCLC 37263082.