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Southern Airways was a regional airline (known at the time as a "local service air carrier") as designated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) operating in the United States from their founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979 when they merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines, which on October 1, 1986, then became part of Northwest Airlines, which, in turn, was merged into Delta Air Lines in 2008. Southern maintained corporate headquarters in Birmingham with operations headquartered at William B. Hartsfield Airport, near Atlanta.〔''World Airline Directory''. Flight International. March 20, 1975. "(503 ).〕 ==Aircraft and routes== As a local service airline, Southern Airways covered the south-central U.S. In 1955 their network spanned from Memphis south to New Orleans and east to Charlotte and Jacksonville. In August 1953 Southern flew to 29 airports and in August 1967 to 50. Like other Local Service airlines Southern was subsidized; in 1962 its operating "revenues" of $14.0 million included $5.35 million "Pub. serv. rev.".〔Moody's Transportation Manual 1964〕 In May 1968 Southern's routes extended from Tri-Cities in Tennessee south to New Orleans and Jacksonville, and east from Baton Rouge and Monroe, Louisiana to the coast at Myrtle Beach and Charleston. Later in 1968 a route sprouted northward: three weekday Douglas DC-9-10s from Columbus GA (CSG) nonstop to Washington Dulles and on to New York LaGuardia. These originated at Eglin Air Force Base, FL (VPS). Like most local service airlines Southern flew only Douglas DC-3s for the first few years. In 1961 they began adding 22 40-passenger secondhand Martin 4-0-4s acquired from Eastern Air Lines,〔Killion, 1997, p. 70〕 newer aircraft that were pressurised and had a forward passenger door and a rear ventral stairway. The last DC-3 was retired in 1967. Southern's first 65-75 passenger Douglas DC-9 series 10 models arrived in 1967 followed by stretched 85-95 passenger McDonnell Douglas DC-9 series 30 models in 1969. The last scheduled flight by a Martin was on 20 April 1978 from Atlanta to Gadsden, Alabama and back.〔Killion, 1997, p. 70〕 Some DC-9s including Douglas DC-9-15 and stretched McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 models were bought new while others were purchased used.〔http://www.southernairways.org, DC-9 aircraft list〕 These used jets included DC-9-14s from Delta Air Lines and Eastern Air Lines.〔http://www.southernairways.org, DC-9 aircraft list〕 Both airlines had purchased these aircraft new from Douglas before they were acquired secondhand by Southern.〔http://www.airliners.net, Southern Airways DC-9 photos〕 Unlike other local service airlines Southern did not operate turboprops (such as the Convair 580 and Fairchild F-27 widely used by other local service airlines) during the 1960s and 1970s, but by the time of the merger with North Central, Southern had replaced their Martins with several 19-passenger Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Southern Airways」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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