- National Airlines (N7)
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This article is about Las Vegas-based National Airlines (1999 - 2002). For other uses of the name, see National Airlines. For 'national airlines' see Flag carrier.
National Airlines 
IATA
N7ICAO
ROKCallsign
RED ROCKFounded 1995 Commenced operations 1999 Ceased operations 2002 Hubs McCarran International Airport Fleet size 19 Destinations 14 Company slogan Everything's better up here. Headquarters Las Vegas, Nevada Key people Michael Conway (President and CEO Website www.nationalairlines.com (defunct) National Airlines (IATA: N7, ICAO: ROK, Call sign: Red Rock) was a Las Vegas based low fare airline, and the third United States-based airline to use the name. The airline was created to bring tourists to Las Vegas. As a result, it offered service to a limited number of cities with high traffic to Las Vegas. The airline operated a fleet of 19 Boeing 757-200s in a two-class configuration.
Contents
History
Hoping to attract more visitors from the East Coast, Harrah's Entertainment and the former Rio Hotel & Casino, Inc., each contributed $15 million toward the start-up costs of National Airlines in July 1998. Wexford Capital, owners of Republic Airways Holdings also contributed several million to this create this airline.[1]
On May 27, 1999, the airline started service, becoming the third airline in the United States to use the National Airlines name. Michael Conway became President and CEO of the company. However, from its inception in 1999, the company fought an uphill battle against rising fuel costs and an economic recession. In response, National Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 6, 2000.
Like many other airlines at the time, the new National found itself in financial trouble after 9/11, and only 41 months after its inaugural flight left Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport on May 27, 1999, the bankrupt airline ceased all operations on November 6, 2002.
As of the day of National's grounding on November 6, 2002, the airline had carried 1.85 million passengers through McCarran (January - November, 2002), and was the airport's fourth-largest carrier based on passenger volume. Departing McCarran International Airport at 4:20 P.M., National Airlines Flight 354 to Dallas/Fort Worth was the carrier's last to leave the Las Vegas hub.
Destinations
At the time National Airlines was grounded, the airline provided service to 14 destinations throughout the United States: [2]
United States
California
District of Columbia
See Virginia for Washington, D.C. service
Florida
Illinois
New Jersey
New York
- New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport)
Nevada
Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia (Philadelphia International Airport)
Texas
Virginia
- Arlington (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport)
- Dulles (Washington Dulles International Airport)
Washington
- Seattle (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport)
Fleet
At the time the airline was grounded, National had 19 aircraft in its fleet consisting of:
National Airlines Fleet Aircraft Total Passengers
(First/Coach)Notes Boeing 757-200 19 175
(22/153)National's cabins provided coach seats at 33" and first class at 40", greater pitch than that of most legacy carriers at the time. The 757's were sent to scrap yards and all were sold, eight of them under a new registration number.[3]
See also
References
External links
Categories:- Defunct airlines of the United States
- Airlines established in 1999
- Airlines disestablished in 2002
- Defunct low-cost airlines
- Companies based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area
- National Airlines
- Defunct companies based in Nevada
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