Rocky Mountain Airways was an American

commuter airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

headquartered in Hangar No. 6 of

Stapleton International Airport Stapleton International Airport was a major airport in the western United States, and the primary airport of Denver, Colorado, from 1929 to 1995. It was a hub for Continental Airlines, the original Frontier Airlines, People Express, United ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It was sold to

Texas Air Corporation Texas Air Corporation, also known as Texas Air, was an airline holding company, incorporated in June 1980 by airline investor Frank Lorenzo to hold and invest in airlines. The company had its headquarters in the America Tower in the American G ...

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started ...

in 1986 and was operated as a Continental Express subsidiary until its operations were merged with Britt Airways in 1991. The

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

flew from Denver's Stapleton International Airport to a variety of destinations in Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. The airline operated out of the old commuter terminal in Concourse A at Stapleton.

History

It was established as Vail Airways in 1963 by Gordon Autry. The airline adopted "Rocky Mountain Airways" in 1968, shortly after service to Aspen was introduced. DHC-6 N9766 Rocky Mntn Aws Denver Stapleton 23

DHC-6 N9766 Rocky Mntn Aws Denver Stapleton 23

Vail Airways began operations with

Cessna 310 The Cessna 310 is an American four-to-six-seat, low-wing, twin-engine monoplane produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the first twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production after World War II. Development The 310 first fl ...

piston twin aircraft, followed by the Rockwell

Aero Commander Aero Commander was an aircraft manufacturer formed in 1944. In subsequent years, it became a subsidiary of Rockwell International and Gulfstream Aerospace. The company ceased aircraft production in 1986. History Aero was formed in Culver City, C ...

piston twin. In 1969, Rocky Mountain Airways expanded with the 19 passenger

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restart ...

twin engine turboprop. On February 3, 1978, Rocky Mountain Airways took delivery as the worldwide launch customer of the larger, 50 passenger de Havilland Canada Dash 7
-102
four engine turboprop. In 1983, Rocky Mountain had placed an order for six 37-passenger de Havilland Canada Dash 8 twin turboprops, coincident with the type's rollout, but in the event, no Dash 8 aircraft were delivered to Rocky Mountain. Both the DHC-6 Twin Otter and the DHC-7 Dash 7 featured short takeoff and landing (

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh condi ...

) performance. This enabled Rocky Mountain Airways to serve destinations that otherwise would not have received scheduled passenger air service. One example was the Avon

STOLport A STOLport or STOLPORT was an airport designed with STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) operations in mind, usually for an aircraft class of certain weight and size. The term "STOLport" did not appear to be in common usage as of 2008, although was c ...

(WHR) located in close proximity to the Vail ski resort which was served with the Dash 7. Another example was the Steamboat Springs Airport (KSBS or SBS) which was also served with the Dash 7. With a relatively short runway length of 4,452 feet and an airfield elevation of 6,882 feet, the Dash 7 was well suited for passenger operations from this small airport located near the Steamboat Springs ski resort. Rocky Mountain Airways also operated Twin Otter flights from Lake County Airport (LXV) in Leadville, Colorado. With an airfield elevation of 9,934 feet, Leadville is the highest airport ever to have received scheduled passenger air service in the U.S. The Avon STOLport, which was a private airstrip controlled by the airline at Vail, no longer exists. Airline service to Vail is now provided via the Eagle County Airport, 35 miles to the west via Interstate 70. Steamboat Springs is now served by the Yampa Valley Airport, 25 miles to the west via U.S. 40. Leadville no longer has airline service. Another primary route served by the airline was between Aspen-Pitkin County Airport and Denver. RMA flew the Twin Otter between the two destinations and then introduced Dash 7 service. The major competitor at the time in Aspen was Aspen Airways which flew

Convair 440 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inro ...

piston engine prop aircraft which were subsequently replaced with

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

turboprops. Aspen Airways then began operating

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

BAe 146-100 jet aircraft on the route. Rocky Mountain and Aspen Airways competed for many years from Aspen. Currently, Aspen-Denver service is flown by

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. SkyWest is paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. Th ...

operating as

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

with Canadair CRJ-700 regional jets. Upon its sale to Texas Air Corporation in 1986, Rocky Mountain Airways began serving as a

Continental Express Continental Express was the operating brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2012 at the time of the merger ...

air carrier in order to provide passenger feed at this major airline's hub operation in Denver at the time. The Twin Otter and Dash 7 aircraft were painted in

distinctive white livery with orange, red, and gold striping and "Continental Express" titles. The Continental Express service at Denver was shared at first with

Trans-Colorado Airlines Trans-Colorado Airlines was a United States airline based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It operated from August 1980 until July 1988. The airline operated flights for Continental Airlines under the Continental Express banner beginning in 1986. ...

and was greatly expanded in 1987 when Trans-Colorado ceased operating at Denver. The Twin Otters were later retired and new

ATR-42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...

and

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With ...

turboprop commuter airliners were acquired which became the standard aircraft for all Continental Express regional air carriers at the time. The Dash 7s were retained for their

ability to serve the Aspen airport and were also used to operate service into the Telluride Airport with its airfield elevation of 9,070 feet. All Rocky Mountain aircraft received the new blue and gold livery introduced by Continental in 1990. Rocky Mountain was merged with fellow Continental Express subsidiary

Britt Airways Britt Airways was a United States airline established as Vercoa Air Service in 1964 and renamed to Britt Airlines when it was purchased by William and Marilyn Britt in 1975 later on ''Britt Airways''. It was based in Terre Haute, Indiana until 19 ...

in 1991.

Destinations

Rocky Mountain Airways served the following destinations: *

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

Alamosa Alamosa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,806 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colora ...

(ALS) **

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (C ...

( Aspen–Pitkin County Airport) (ASE) **

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

(COS) ** Cortez (CEZ) ** Craig (CIG) **

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

(now closed) - Hub and headquarters **

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

(DRO) **

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

(FNL) ** Granby (GNB) ** Grand Junction (GJT) ** Gunnison (GUC) **

Leadville The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...

(LXV) ** Montrose (MTJ) **

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

(PUB) ** Steamboat Springs ( Steamboat Springs Airport) (SBS) ** Telluride (TEX) **

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numer ...

(Avon

) (WHR) (now closed) **

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

( Eagle County Airport) (EGE) *

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

** Grand Island (GRI) **

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

(LNK) **

North Platte North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

(LBF) **

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

(OMA) **

Scottsbluff Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, in the western part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panha ...

(BFF) *

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia * Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States *Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California *Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia * ...

(FMN) *

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

(PIR) **

Rapid City Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

(RAP) *

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish for " yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Cou ...

(AMA) **

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

(LBB) *

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

Casper Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * Da ...

(CPR) **

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

(CYS) **

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida * Cody (Duluth), Minnesota * Cody, Missouri * Cody, Nebraska *Cody, ...

(COD) **

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gill ...

(GCC) **

Jackson Hole Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unit ...

(JAC) ** Laramie (LAR) ** Riverton (RIW) ** Rock Springs (RKS) **

Sheridan Sheridan may refer to: People Surname *Sheridan (surname) *Philip Sheridan (1831–1888), U.S. Army general after whom the Sheridan tank is named *Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816), Irish playwright (''The Rivals''), poet and politician ...

(SHR)

Fleet

(operated by predecessor Vail Airways) *

* de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 *

Rockwell Aero Commander The Aero Commander 500 family is a series of light-twin piston-engined and turboprop aircraft originally built by the Aero Design and Engineering Company in the late 1940s, renamed the Aero Commander company in 1950, and a division of Rockwell ...

(operated by predecessor Vail Airways) Rocky Mountain Airways also operated

and

turboprops after becoming a

air carrier.

Accidents

On December 4, 1978, Rocky Mountain Airways Flight 217 crashed in snow-covered terrain at 10,530 feet MSL near Buffalo Pass, 9 miles(15 km) east of Steamboat Springs. All 22 persons aboard survived the impact, although a female passenger died four hours later (possibly from exposure before being rescued), and the injured pilot died in hospital, seventy hours later.Kotz, Peter. ''Twin Otter Crash in The Rockies'' Plane & Pilot, 7 January 2019
/ref> The plane was forced down by extreme icing coupled with a strong mountain-wave-induced downdraft. The aircraft was a de Havilland DHC-6-300.

References

{{US-airline-stub Defunct airlines of the United States Companies based in Denver Defunct companies based in Colorado Airlines established in 1963 Airlines disestablished in 1986 1963 establishments in Colorado 1986 disestablishments in Colorado American companies established in 1963

History

Destinations

Fleet

Accidents

See also

References