Chicago Air was a

regional 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 ...

carrier that operated in 1986 and exchanged passengers with all-jet Midway Airlines at

Chicago Midway International Airport Chicago Midway International Airport is a major commercial airport on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the city's Loop business district, and divided between the city's Clearing and ...

History

The carrier operated revenue service from May to November, 1986 between Chicago and Madison, Green Bay,

LaCrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

Eau Claire Eau Claire (French for "clear water", ''pl.'' ''eaux claires'') is the name of a number of locations and features in North America. The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "O'Clare". Place names (Canada) Communities *Eau Claire, Calgary, a n ...

, and Wausau, Wisconsin;

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County. The city's population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, while the four-county Traverse C ...

, Michigan; and, Peoria, Springfield and

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

, Illinois. It operated six

Fokker F27 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

turboprop aircraft, and the call sign was "Wild Onion" in reference to the Chippewa Indian derivation of the name "Chicago." The Fokker aircraft were subleased from

Midstate Airlines Midstate Airlines (also known as Mid-State Airlines and Midstate Air Commuter (MAC)) was an airline with its headquarters in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States. History It was founded by Roy P. Shwery in 1964 and provided air service out ...

Stevens Point, Wisconsin Stevens Point is a city in Portage County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 25,666 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It forms the core of the Stevens Point micropolitan statistical area, which had a p ...

, which also performed contract maintenance work on the aircraft at their Central Wisconsin Airport facility. Chicago Air had been working closely for two years with Saab Aircraft of Linköping, Sweden to acquire initially 10 Saab SF-340

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

commuter aircraft A regional airliner, commuter airliner or feeder liner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typicall ...

, which would have begun delivery in 1987 enabling expansion of services to Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Waterloo, Iowa; South Bend, Ft. Wayne, Lafayette, and Evansville, Indiana; and Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Chicago Air held a further option for 16 of the SF-340 aircraft, which would have enabled the carrier to expand services to additional markets in Michigan, Ohio, Missouri and Minnesota. In addition to its low-fare cachet and connections at convenient Midway Airport, Chicago Air introduced several important service improvements to the regional airline industry, including quality complimentary meal service, premium regional beers, wine and cocktails, national and regional newspapers, and many other innovative ground and in-flight seating and amenities. The introduction of non-refundable fares by all competitive carriers and dramatically increased competitive advertising and promotions during the 1986 summer season made the Chicago Air venture a short-lived enterprise.

announced a takeover in October 1986."Midstate Takes Over Chicago Air"
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', October 21, 1986. Accessed February 1, 2024. "Midstate Airlines, a Wisconsin-based commuter carrier, has acquired a controlling stake in Chicago Air in a hostile takeover and installed a new management team at the rival short-haul carrier.... Midstate, which is privately owned, acquired a small equity position in Chicago Air earlier this year, when it sold several aircraft leases to the fledgling carrier based at Midway Airport. Chicago Air flies six F-27s on short-haul routes in the Midwest." Chicago Air ceased service in November 1986, when Midstate Airlines discontinued the subleasing agreement with Chicago Air for Fokker F27 aircraft, as well as use of the maintenance facilities. Soon after, Midway Airlines launched the successful regional "Midway Connection" service operated by Fischer Brothers Aviation with the smaller

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. 245 were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics ...

. The airline was led by Neal F. Meehan (President), former president of

Continental Express Continental Express was the 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 2010 at the time of Continental's merger ...

Airlines and of

New York Air New York Air was a low-cost airline in the United States owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at Hangar 5 at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York. It ceased operations on February 1, 1987, in a merger with Continental Airlines. ...

; and by J. Scott Christian (Executive V.P.), a former senior manager at

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

;

Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American company specializing in intelligence, AI, and digital transformation. It is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washing ...

; and

. Meehan and Christian together controlled 50 percent of the carrier's voting stock, with the remaining shares held mostly by a small group of Chicago area investors.

References

{{US-airline-stub Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1985 Airlines disestablished in 1986 Defunct companies based in Chicago 1985 establishments in Illinois Airlines based in Illinois 1986 disestablishments in Illinois

History

See also

References