Ozark Air Lines


Ozark Air Lines operated in the United States from 1950 until 1986 when it was purchased by Trans World Airlines. In 2001 TWA was merged into American Airlines. A smaller regional airline which used the Ozark name operated in 2000–2001. From 1950 until 1986 Ozark's headquarters was located at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

History

On 1 September 1943 Ozark Air Lines was founded to fly services from Springfield, Missouri, and in January 1945 it began flights between Springfield and St. Louis on Beech 17 Staggerwings, replaced by Cessna AT-17 Bobcat in the late 1940s. The required license from the Civil Aeronautics Board was not forthcoming and operations had to stop.
In July 1950 Ozark was granted a certificate to operate Parks Air Transport routes not previously activated. Services were started on 26 September 1950 using Douglas DC-3s from St. Louis to Chicago, Tulsa and Memphis. In 1955 the airline had 13 DC-3s flying to 35 cities between Sioux City, Indianapolis, Wichita and Nashville. Ozark's main hub was St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Like other Local Service airlines it was subsidized; in 1962 its operating "revenues" of $14.0 million included $4.5 million of federal subsidy.
In 1960 turboprop Fairchild F-27s were introduced; piston-engine Martin 4-0-4s were added to the fleet in 1964 and removed in 1967.
One of 3 co-founders, Arthur G. Heyne was an attorney in St. Louis, MO, and served as Secretary-Treasurer starting in 1950.

Jets

In 1961 Ozark's network reached from Minneapolis to Nashville and from Kansas City to Indianapolis and Louisville. Denver was added in 1966 and in 1969 the network sprouted eastward: Ozark was awarded nonstops from Champaign and Peoria to Washington Dulles, continuing to New York LaGuardia. Atlanta was added in 1978 and four Florida cities in winter 1978-79.-31 at O'Hare in 1975
In September 1966 Ozark and Central Airlines announced plans to merge, subject to CAB approval; the new airline was to retain the Ozark name and would be one of the largest local service carriers in the U.S. However, in November 1966, the two airlines announced that merger talks had ended by mutual consent for undisclosed reasons.
By 1967 the Martins and F-27s were replaced with Fairchild Hiller FH-227s, a stretched F-27; Ozark was all-turbine after the last DC-3 flight in October 1968. Ozark's first jets were Douglas DC-9-10s in July 1966. The DC-9-10s were augmented with McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-40s; the airline ordered two Boeing 727-200s but never took delivery. Ozark went all-DC-9 in 1980 and in 1984 McDonnell Douglas MD-80s were added. The three swallows on Ozark fins represented on-time flights, referring to the legend of the swallows that return to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, in California, each year on the 19th of March.

Merger with TWA

In the mid-1980s Ozark and TWA had a de facto duopoly at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, a hub for both. Ozark accounted for 26.3 percent of boardings at STL in 1985, while TWA accounted for 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. The Ozark DC-9s were gradually painted with a modified paint scheme with "TWA" in the tail. Over the next couple of years the fifty Ozark airplanes were repainted in the TWA livery. On December 1, 2001 TWA was merged into American Airlines.

Second Ozark Air Lines (2000–2001)

In 1998 rights to the airline's name were purchased by William E. Stricker of Columbia, Missouri. The reformed Ozark Air Lines received its operating certificate on February 11, 2000, and began service 10 days later, from Columbia Regional Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago Midway Airport, using two Fairchild Dornier 328JET aircraft.
A year later the company ceased operations and sold its assets to the now-bankrupt Great Plains Airlines, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Sales and marketing

Reservations

From the 1960s through the late 1980s, Ozark Air Lines' reservations department used a special toll-free WX telephone prefix in New Jersey which could be reached only in certain areas of the state by dialing 0 and asking the New Jersey Bell operator to connect to Ozark's WX number: WX-8300. The number could not be dialed directly by the customer and was only available to certain telephone exchanges where WX was available.

Advertising

In the late 1960s comedian George Carlin appeared in Ozark advertising.

Destinations in 1986

1959

Ozark was an all-jet airline by this time: