Arizona Airways - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Rocky Nelson, an Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

entrepreneur, formed Arizona Airways in 1942, using Douglas DC-3

Douglas DC-3

The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...

aircraft to fly passengers from Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, to other, nearby destinations, including Prescott Municipal Airport in Prescott, Arizona

Prescott, Arizona

Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....

, Tucson International Airport

Tucson International Airport

Tucson International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located six miles south of the central business district of Tucson, in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and is the second largest and busiest airport in Arizona, after Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.- Overview...

.

Arizona Airways, in March, 1946, began intrastate service on three routes out of Phoenix: one east, one south, and one northwest. Their specialty was scenic tours of northern Arizona, especially the Grand Canyon. See articles below for more early history.

The Civil Aeronautics Board issued them a certificate in January, 1948, with an airmail contract from Phoenix to El Paso with intermediate stops. By then the carrier's finances were precarious and the CAB approved a merger with Monarch Airlines

Monarch Airlines (1946-1950)

Monarch Airlines, based in Denver, Colorado, started scheduled air service on November 27, 1946 with a flight from Denver to Durango, Colorado using a Douglas DC-3. It was formed by F.W. Bonfils of The Denver Post family and Ray M. Wilson, who operated a Denver flying school...

and Challenger Airlines

Challenger Airlines

Challenger Airlines was incorporated in Wyoming, December 31, 1941, by Charles W. Hirsig II, as Summit Airways Inc., a non-scheduled carrier.In 1944, Hirsig filed an application with the Civil Aeronautics Board Docket No. 1091, for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to engage in air...

in the Spring of 1950 which took effect June 1, 1950.

The airline had three DC3s: N-75028, N-64910, and N-57985 at the merger. Their Sunliner names at Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines (1950-1986)

Frontier Airlines was formed from a merger of Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines, and Monarch Airlines on June 1, 1950. They established their headquarters at Stapleton Airport in Denver. However, the airline dated itself to November 27, 1946, when Monarch Airlines began service in Colorado,...

became Teton, Williston Basin and Yellowstone.

Rocky Nelson was Founder and President of Arizona Airways from its founding in 1942 until its merger with Challenger

Challenger Airlines

and Monarch Airlines

Monarch Airlines (1946-1950)

June 1, 1950 to form Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines (1950-1986)

, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Afterwards, he was a regional vice president for Frontier Airlines. Rocky died March 6, 1951 at age 46 of a heart attack.

The airline was very popular among Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

ns. It was the subject of an article in Arizona Highways
Arizona Highways (magazine)
Arizona Highways is a magazine that contains travelogues and artistic photographs related to the state of Arizona. It is published monthly in Phoenix by a unit of the Arizona Department of Transportation....

magazine in 1947. But Arizona Airways faced heavy competition from other carriers, and its operating costs were high due to high demand for parts and fuel as World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

raged in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, two factors which negatively affected the airline's economy. Eventually, the original Arizona Airways was merged along with Challenger Airlines

Challenger Airlines

and Monarch Airlines

Monarch Airlines (1946-1950)

into Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines (1950-1986)

on June 1 of 1950.

External links

Old Frontier Airlines a website about the history of the old Frontier Airlines and its predecessor airlines.

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