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The history of Capitol Air

Driven by the deregulation of American airlines, Capitol Air was one of several airlines catapulted to temporary success after transitioning from charter flights to scheduled operations.

Founded on June 11, 1946 as Capitol Airways by Army Air Corps pilots Jesse F. Stallings, Richmond McGinnes and Francis Roach, it was incorporated in Delaware, but headquartered in Smyrna, Tennessee, initially operating twin-engine Douglas DC-3 and Commandos Curtiss C-46. Military service was an important part of his early history.

In 1954, for example, it was transporting priority cargo for the United States Air Force and two years later it was contracted to transport passengers for the Logistics Air Support Program (LOGAIR).

The Douglas DC-4 and Lockheed L-749A Constellation, its first four-engine pistonliners, facilitated the expansion of international charter flights.

“One (of BOAC’s 749As) had served Capitol Airways, which had three other 749As, having purchased the first from Avianca in 1957,” according to MJ Hardy in “The Lockheed Constellation” (Arco Publishing Company, 1973, p 51). “The capital then built a fleet of a dozen superconstellations.”

At the end of the decade, its US operations shifted from Tennessee to Wilmington, Delaware’s New Castle Airport.

Constellation’s fleet continued to grow with the acquisition of the first Super, or stretched fuselage, L-1049G in January 1960, which had been produced for Howard Hughes and was delivered to him for the first time four years earlier, on February 24. beginning of a significant number of them.

“In the summer of 1962, Seaboard World Airways leased seven of its Super Constellations (three L-1049Ds and four L-1049Hs) to Capitol Airways, which, exercising a call option, eventually purchased two L-1049Ds and one L-1049H. , “according to Hardy (ibid, p. 73).

The Caribbean / Mexican and transatlantic operating authorizations, received respectively on September 30, 1965 and April 5, 1966, allowed it to expand its charter service, whose lower rates were favored by lower operating costs, high daily use of aircraft 12-15 hours, lower overhead, high-density accommodation in a single class, and guaranteed load factors, primarily provided by tour operator bookings.

However, it still provided this service for the military, one of its main contracts involving a transatlantic route from Frankfurt’s Rhein-Main Air Force Base to Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina, with an intermediate stop at the Base. of the Bradley Air National Guard at Windsor Locks. , Connecticut.

Although its fleet of 17 Constellations of standard and stretched fuselage had been its long-range workhorse during the 14-year period from 1955 to 1968, they began to be replaced in the 1960s by the first powered Douglas DC-8-33s. By JT4A turbojets. The N900CL aircraft, one of them, was initially operated by Pan Am. These were complemented by the JT8D turbofan powered DC-8-54JT Jet Traders, which featured forward, left and upward cargo doors, allowing airlines transport all types of cargo. , all passengers, or mixes of the two on the main deck.

“The introduction of the convertible aircraft led to a new type of customer, the supplemental carrier,” according to Terry Waddington in “Douglas DC-8” (World Transport Press, 1996, p. 52). “The first to place an order was Trans International Airlines (TIA), a specialist in military charter flights …”

1967 turned out to be an important year in the history of the Capitol. On March 21 it went public and the next day it added “international” to its name, thus becoming Capitol International Airways.

The stretched-body DC-8-61s, configured for 252 single-class passengers in a three-to-three arrangement with a single aisle and purchased from Eastern Airlines, soon supplemented the standard-length DC-8-33 and -54, facilitating low seat- mile cost military and civilian charter operations.

In the early 1970s, he moved to Smyrna, Tennessee.

Deregulation served as a threshold for scheduled service. Granted that authority in September 1978, it inaugurated passenger operations to Brussels from New York the following year, on May 5, and from Chicago and Boston on June 19.

Like other international supplementary airlines, such as Trans International (later Transamerica) and World Airways, it applied the formula of low-cost, low-fare, single-class charter flights to the scheduled arena, achieving a low cost per seat per mile and a high profitability of the load factor. and challenge incumbents.

With the “Sky Saver Service” brand, it consistently attracted demand in excess of capacity and sparked explosive growth. Annual passenger totals increased progressively, from 611,400 in 1980 to 1,150,000 in 1981 and 1,824,000 in 1982.

Passengers, unaware of deregulation-shaped carriers whose low fares could only achieve profitability with used planes, high-density seats, and lower-paid non-union employees, often voiced criticism of the no-interline policy of Capitol Air and its refusal to provide meals and hotel rooms during delays and compensation for missed connections with other airlines. However, their rates in the New York-Los Angeles market ranged from $ 149 with no restrictions based on a round-trip purchase to $ 189 one-way, while the unrestricted rates of the major ones in the market remained at the same. $ 450 mark. As a result, Capitol Air’s load factors exceeded 90 percent.

Their JFK ground operations, initially located at the Delta-Northwest Terminal, were mostly manual, with stamped boarding passes, old-fashioned peel-and-stick seating charts, with the selection itself moved from the main check-in counter to an intermediate point. terminal service center and finally to the departure gate: baggage destination tags, handwritten tickets, completed weight and balance sheets, and baggage loading and uncontained cargo. However, the reservation system was computerized (Gabriel I), its call center was located in Garden City, Long Island, and air and hotel packages were offered through its Sky Saver Tour department.

A major change in the carrier’s image occurred in 1981 when Capitol International acquired its first two registered widebody DC-10-10s, N904WA and N905WA, from Western. Configured for 345 single-class passengers in a cabin layout of two-five-two forward and three-four-three, mid and aft, they were deployed transcontinental and in the Caribbean, offering audiovisual entertainment during the flight.

Subsequent acquisitions of the DC-10, seating 360, offered a consistent ten-a-day configuration at all times.

1982 marked several improvements: a name change to the more simplified “Capitol Air”, a relocation to the British Airways Terminal at JFK, an expanded system schedule with flight connections from other airlines, and an update to the Cowboy computerized reservation system from Braniff with extended automated system. functions.

Two other types of aircraft broke the Douglas / McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-61, DC-8-63 and DC-10-10 monopoly: a single Boeing 727-200 registered as N590CA and a single 315-passenger Airbus A300B4-103 . registered D-AHLZ.

Capitol Air advertised itself as “Capitol Air, the lowest fare,” according to its system schedule from December 1, 1982 to March 15, 1983. “Serving the public for 36 years,” he emphasized.

He explained his “Capito Ideas” as follows: “The best possible service with the lowest possible rates: fleet of Super DC-8 and DC-10 widebody aircraft; complimentary meals, snacks and beverages; full bar service ; movies and stereo on all DC-10 and some DC-8 flights (specifically to Zurich to compete with Swissair), duty-free shopping on international flights, modern airport terminals and optimized baggage service. “

He regarded its reach as “the star-studded skies of Capitol Air,” stating that “there are now 13 world capitals, and more to come”: Aguadilla, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Miami. , New York, Philadelphia, Puerto Plata, San Francisco, San Juan and Zurich. “Best of all,” he noted, “Capitol’s Star-Spangled service includes heavenly prices wherever we go.”

It offered daily nonstop flights from JFK to Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the US, with two roundtrip frequencies to Los Angeles (flights Cl 211 and CL 209) and one stopover via Chicago (flight CL 219); Aguadilla and San Juan, Puerto Rico and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean, with the San Juan departure sectors operating as Flight CL 215 and CL 217); and Brussels, Frankfurt and Zurich in Europe. Other segments that bypassed the JFK included Chicago-Miami-San Juan, Chicago-Los Angeles, Chicago-San Francisco, and Boston-Philadelphia-San Juan.

He explained his rates as follows: “We were the ones who started it all. Capitol originated the concept of one-class flights, low fares and no restrictions. No advance purchase, no minimum stay, no hassle. And we refuse to be undervalued for this kind of service.

“So we monitor the competition to make sure our fares are always the lowest. And we keep fares low without cutting back on our Star-Spangled service, the kind you always expect on the most expensive airlines.

“How low are the Capitol fees?” I ask. “Our unrestricted daily fares often save you up to 50% compared to economy class on other airlines. That’s right, we said economy, not first class. No wonder Capitol is the best buy in heaven where! whether we fly! that. “

Capitol’s successful low-cost, full-service challenge to major airlines such as American, TWA and United in the US, as well as Lufthansa, Sabena and Swissair across the Atlantic, was brief, as they temporarily went down yours. rates to retain or regain market share, forcing it to serve niche routes without competition, such as Aguadilla and Puerto Plata. But incumbents eventually made inroads into these markets.

George Batchelor, the last owner of Capitol Air, progressively transferred assets to Arrow Air, an airline that had in turn moved from charter service to scheduled service and was also under his financial control, leaving Capitol Air employees without paychecks. payment for several weeks.

Finally, now dismantled and in debt, he was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and on November 23, 1984 ceased operations, ending a 38-year career as a charter and regular passenger carrier.

Article sources

Capitol Air System schedule, December 1, 1982 – March 15, 1983.

Hardy, MJ “The Lockheed Constellation”. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc., 1973.

Waddington, Terry. “Douglas DC-8”. Miami: World Transport Press, 1996.

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