Air Illinois

Air Illinois was a commuter airline founded in 1970 in Carbondale, Illinois. [Aerofiles. [http://www.aerofiles.com/airlines-am.html List of North American airlines A-M ] .] It primarily operated small twin turboprop aircraft such as the Beech 99. By 1978, the company acquired two 36-seat Hawker-Siddeley HS 748 turboprops (tail numbers N748LL and N749LL),which were mostly used to connect Springfield with Chicago's Meigs Field. This was by far the largest aircraft to use the lakefront airport on a regular basis. By far the company's most utilized aircraft was the DeHavilland Twin Otter, an eighteen passenger aircraft noted for short field takeoffs and was truly the company's workhorse. The company's two letter identifier was UX.

In July 1982 the company leased two BAC 1-11 74 passenger, twin jet aircraft from US Air which were utilized mainly on scheduled routes from Springfield, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, Evansville, Indiana, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Chicago O'Hare. In addition the company entered into agreements with the Federal Government and an Atlantic city based casino to operate charter flights.

In December 1977, Air Illinois purchased the small Jetstream fleet of South Central Air Transport (SCAT). SCAT was based in Natchez, Mississippi, and was incorported by Andrew Peabody in 1971 to replace Southern Airways' Martin 404 flights between Natchez, Jackson and New Orleans. By 1976 SCAT flew between New Orleans and Jackson, Mississippi, New Orleans and Gulfport-Biloxi,and on a route from New Orleans to Birmingham, Alabama, with stops in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and Montgomery. SCAT flew three of the 18 passenger Handley Page HP-137 MK1 Jetstream. The airline tried to become a replacement carrier for Southern, but faced challenges trying to compete with Southern's DC-9s in the New Orleans market. They ended airline service during the summer of 1977.

In November of 1983 the company suffered an unfortunate turn of events when their remaining Hawker Siddley 748 (N748LL) crashed during a thunderstorm in a field near Pinckneyville, Illinois while performing a regularly scheduled flight number 710 between Springfield, Illinois and Carbondale, Illinois. 3 crew members and 8 passengers lost their lives. Several weeks after the crash the FAA grounded the company and began official hearings into the crash. Most company employees were placed on furlough and after an extensive rewrite of the company's operations manual the FAA granted an operating certificate for part 121 flight operations.

=Cities served=
*Alton, Illinois
*Bloomington, Indiana
*Cape Girardeau, Missouri
*Carbondale, Illinois
*Cedar Rapids, Iowa
*Champaign - Urbana, Illinois
*Meigs Field, Chicago, Illinois
*O'Hare Field, Chicago, Illinois
*Columbia, Missouri
*Decatur, Illinois
*Evansville, Indiana
*Lincoln, Nebraska
*Memphis, Tennessee
*Nashville, Tennessee
*Paducah, Kentucky
*Peoria, Illinois
*Springfield, Illinois
*St. Louis, Missouri
*Waterloo, Iowa

=References=