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History Of Ozark Airlines |
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In 1950, Ozark Airlines opened its door to the public. The airline had
purchased DC-3 aircraft from the defunct Parks Airline. In 1947,
the Civil Aeronautics Board had issued a certificate to Parks Airlines.
However, Parks never opened its door and two years later the CAB canceled
Parks certification. Ozark began expanding its routes in the northwest
and southwest. By the mid 50's, Ozark Airlines purchased turbo prop aircraft. This put Ozark Airlines in the running as a viable air carrier. In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act 1978, was enacted. This allow Ozark to expand into more profitable routes and drop those routes that was less profitable. |
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However, this act brought about fierce competition within the industry.
Air carriers were looking to purchase other carriers to gain a stronger
market share and eliminate competition. The prices wars broke out.
Air
carriers were trying to gain passenger profits and put other
carriers out of business. Ozark Airlines was unable to gain the
edge. In 1986, TWA purchased Ozark Airlines.
Ozark Air Lines' origins date back to September 1943 when it was founded in But a license by the Civil Aeronautics Board was not forthcoming therefore operations had to be stopped. Another airline, Parks Air Lines, got an operating license so in 1950 Ozark took over Parks Air Lines, to include some Douglas DC-3. Flights from In 1960, the fleet was upgraded to turboprops with the
introduction of the Fokker F27 Friendship and to increase capacity the
Martin 4-0-4 was introduced in 1964. The pure jet age came to Ozark in
1966 with the introduction of the Douglas DC-9-10 and with those the
network was expanded to include:
Over the years, Ozark's DC-9-10s were augmented with
DC-9-31/32 and DC-9-40s until 1984 when the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was
introduced. In the mid-1980s, Ozark and TWA had a de facto duopoly at |
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Ozark accounted for 26.3 percent of emplanements at STL in 1985, while TWA accounted for another 56.6 percent. On March 1, 1986, the two airlines announced plans to merge: TWA would buy Ozark for $242 million in cash. Shareholders of both airlines approved the merger by late summer, and the U.S. Department of Transportation gave its approval on September 12, 1986.
Ozark ceased to
exist as an independent company on October 27, 1986. In 1998, the rights
to the airline's name were purchased by William E. Stricker of
A year later the
company ceased operations and sold its assets to the now-bankrupt Great
Plains Airlines, based in |
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