Air South (1994-1997)

Air South was a small airline based in Columbia, South Carolina that went out of business in September 1997.

Airline Data

*ICAO Code: KKB
*IATA Code: WV
*Callsign: Khaki Blue

History

In 1984 a group of businessmen from Columbia, SC formed an airline named Air South (not to be confused with other Air South that had operated in the past). But it would be 10 years before the first flight took to the air and on 23 August 1994 services were inaugurated between Atlanta and Miami and between Atlanta and St Petersburg, FL. The aircraft of choice was the B737-200. The route network grew rapidly and service was started to Jacksonville, Myrtle Beach, Tampa and Raleigh-Durham. The Boeing 737-300 was added to the fleet soon after but were not kept too long and by 1995 seven Boeing 737-200s were operating.

Although the airline was headquartered in Columbus, SC, the main operations base was Atlanta. Air South financial situation was never very strong and by 1996 the network was reduced. Flight delays and cancellations became a major problem with very dissatisfied passengers as a result. A marketing alliance was set up with Kiwi International Airlines but by that time both companies were having financial problems. By the summer of 1997 Air South's fleet was reduced to five B737-200s. The end came swiftly at the end of the 1997 summer when Air South went into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in August 1997 and it shut down one month later. [The author worked for Air South from 1994 until its demise]

Fleet Details

* Boeing 737-200/300

External links

* [http://rzjets.net/operators/operator.php?opid=731 | Air South data]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1994_Nov_10/ai_15917083 | Air South Columbia news]

References