Alpha Air is a defunct regional airline based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

History

Alpha Air was founded in 1984 with base Van Nuys Airport and operated flights between

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191, r ...

from

with a

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplane ...

. Alpha Air was the first scheduled airline to fly to Bishop which previously had no scheduled airline service. In 1985 Alpha Air moved its hub to LAX to serve the more demand of passengers. The airline then added routes to

Lake Havasu City Lake Havasu City (, ) is a city in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,144, up from 52,527 in 2010. It is served by Lake Havasu City Airport. History The community first started as an ...

, Laughlin/

Bullhead City Bullhead City is a city located on the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, whose casinos and ancillary services supply much of the em ...

and

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. The airline continued to serve this route network until 1987 when the airline attempted to buy the operating certificate of the recianty bankrupt Royal West Airlines. The airline failed to purchase the certificate and in late 1987 the airline added routes to San Jose and

Inyokern Inyokern (formerly Siding 16 and Magnolia) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Its name derives from its location near the border between Inyo and Kern Counties. Inyokern is located west of Ridgecrest, a ...

. In 1988 Alpha Air added "tourist" services to the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

from LAX. The airline then leased two Beechcraft 1900Cs, and they were delivered on the second March 1990. The airline utilized the Beechcrafts on local services from LAX to Santa Catalina Islands and

Big Bear Lake Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is a snow and rain fed lake, having no other means of tributaries or mechanical replenishment. At a surface elevation of , it ...

. In 1991 the airline began a codeshare with Luxury carrier,

MGM Grand Air Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

and formed Grand Connection utilizing a leased de Havilland Twin Otter. Grand Connection began to operate services from Los Angeles to

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

. This service was aimed at business clients in the Orange County. By the end of the year the contract between MGM Grand Air and Alpha Air was terminated. The airline continued to add services and in 1992 added Burbank,

and

South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...

to the network. In 1993 after many negotiations, the airline became a full TWExpress carrier and continued to operated there network under the TWA brand. By 1994 the route network consisted of Burbank,

and

to both

and

, as well as a single flight to the

. The airline suffered during TWA's first bankruptcy in1992 and during the TWA bankruptcy in 1995 the airline itself filed for bankruptcy in September and had all of its aircraft repossessed.

Destinations

This is a list of Alpha Air's destinations throughout its existence:

Alpha Air Proper

(

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

) - ''Hub'' *

( FNT) *

( MMH) *

( HII) * Laughlin/

( IFP) *

(

OAK An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

) * San Jose ( SJC) *

( IYK) * Santa Catalina Islands (

AVX AVX may refer to: Technology * Advanced Vector Extensions, an instruction set extension in the x86 microprocessor architecture ** AVX2, an expansion of the AVX instruction set ** AVX-512, 512-bit extensions to the 256-bit AVX * AVX Corporation, a m ...

) *

( RBF) *

( SNA) * Burbank (

BUR A bur (also spelled burr) is a seed or dry fruit or infructescence that has hooks or teeth. The main function of the bur is to spread the seeds of the bur plant, often through epizoochory. The hooks of the bur are used to catch on to for exam ...

) *

( TVL) *

( CGN)

As TWExpress

(

) - ''Hub'' * Burbank (

) *

( SNA) *

( MMH) *

( TVL)

Fleet

The fleet of Alpha Air consisted of: * 3 Beechcraft 1900Cs * 1

de Havilland Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

(as Grand Connection)

References