Lake Central Airlines was a local service carrier and scheduled airline that served multiple locations throughout the midwestern and eastern United States from 1950 to 1968, when it then merged into Allegheny Airlines. In 1979 Allegheny became USAir, and in 1997, USAir became US Airways. In 2015, US Airways was acquired by American Airlines through a merging of the two companies.
History
The airline was founded as Turner Airlines in 1948; it was based at Weir Cook Airport (now Indianapolis International Airport) in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lake Central's network in the 1950s extended from Chicago to Pittsburgh; in August 1953 it had scheduled flights to 21 airports, and in May 1968, this number increased to 39.
Like other local service airlines regulated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board, Lake Central was subsidized; in 1962 its revenue of $10.8 million included $4.2 million of "pub. serv. rev.".Moody's Transportation Manual 1964
In February 1955 Lake Central Airlines became the first employee-owned scheduled airline in the history of the air transport industry.Aviation Week 21 Feb 1955 p111 162 employees (65% of the total) bought 97.5% of the outstanding stock, 25% outright, and the rest financed over 24 months.
Effective July 1, 1968, the airline was acquired by and merged into Allegheny Airlines. Allegheny later closed the Indianapolis base and sold the Nord 262s, which had proven unreliable. Lake Central had planned on acquiring new Boeing 737-200s, but the order was cancelled.
Fleet Lake Central flew Douglas DC-3s, Convair 340s, Convair 580s, Beechcraft Bonanzas, and Nord 262s. DC-3 flights ended in 1967, and by spring of 1968 Lake Central had an all-turboprop fleet of Convair 580s and Nord 262s.http://www.timetableimages.com, April 28, 1968 Lake Central timetable
Historical fleet
Lake Central Airlines previously operated the following aircraft:
8 Convair CV-340 4 Convair CV-580 1 Curtiss C-46 Commando (N1802M) 14 Douglas DC-3 5 Douglas C-47 Skytrain 3 Douglas C-53 Skytrooper 12 Nord 262A
Destinations in 1968 Shortly before the merger into Allegheny Airlines, Lake Central was serving the following cities with an all-turboprop fleet, mainly consisting of Convair 580 and Nord 262 aircraft, according to its April 28, 1968 timetable:
Akron/Canton, Ohio Baltimore, Maryland Bloomington, Indiana Buffalo, New York Charleston, West Virginia Chicago, Illinois (Chicago O'Hare Airport) Cincinnati, Ohio - hub Clarksburg, West Virginia Cleveland, Ohio Columbus, Ohio - hub Danville, Illinois Dayton, Ohio Detroit, Michigan Elkins, West Virginia Erie, Pennsylvania Evansville, Indiana Grand Rapids, Michigan Indianapolis, Indiana - hub & airline headquarters Kalamazoo, Michigan Kokomo, Indiana Lafayette, Indiana Lima, Ohio Louisville, Kentucky Mansfield, Ohio Marion, Indiana Martinsburg, West Virginia Morgantown, West Virginia Muncie, Indiana Parkersburg, West Virginia Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Portsmouth, Ohio St. Louis, Missouri South Bend, Indiana Terre Haute, Indiana Toledo, Ohio Washington, D.C. (Washington National Airport) Wheeling, West Virginia Youngstown, Ohio Zanesville, Ohio
Accidents and incidents On March 5, 1967, Lake Central Flight 527, a Convair 580, crashed near Marseilles, Ohio, with the loss of all 38 passengers and crew.
See also List of defunct airlines of the United States
References
External links
Dan Tate's Blog