Imperial Airlines

Imperial Airlines is a defunct United States commuter airline which operated from 1964 to 1986. Imperial served a number of cities in Southern California.

History

Imperial was founded as Visco Flying Service in 1964, but later changed its name to Imperial Airlines. Its operations initially focused on services from Imperial County Airport, but in the late 1970s the airline moved its headquarters to Carlsbad, California. Imperial operated a fleet of Beech 18, Cessna 402, and Beechcraft Queen Air aircraft during the early stages of its career, later acquiring the larger Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante and Shorts 360 for its routes along the southern California coastal corridor. For most of the early 1980s, the airline operated flights between San Diego International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport at thirty minutes intervals throughout the day. By 1986 the airline was suffering the effects of increased competition and it ceased operations in January of that year.

References

R. E. G. Davies, Commuter Airlines of the United States. Smithsonian Books, 1995.