Rocky Nelson, an

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

entrepreneur, formed Arizona Airways in 1942, using Douglas DC-3 aircraft to fly passengers from

Sky Harbor International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil–military public airport east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in th ...

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

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

Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona ...

, and

Tucson International Airport Tucson International Airport is a civil-military airport owned by the City of Tucson south of downtown Tucson, in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is the second busiest airport in Arizona, after Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airp ...

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

History

On April 7, 1946, Arizona Airways began

intrastate airline Intrastate airlines in the U.S. are defined as air carriers operating inside of one individual state and thus not flying across state lines. Larger intrastate airlines in the U.S. that operated mainline turboprop and/or jet aircraft were created ...

service on three routes within Arizona: Phoenix-Prescott-Kingman, Phoenix-Prescott-Flagstaff, and Phoenix-Casa Grande/Coolidge-Tucson-Nogales. Service was later extended from Flagstaff to Winslow, AZ. From Nogales, service was extended onto Douglas/Bisbee, AZ, and a new route from Phoenix to Yuma was added. Their specialty was scenic tours of northern Arizona, especially the Grand Canyon. See articles below for more early history. The

Civil Aeronautics Board The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1938 and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services including scheduled passenger airline serviceStringer, David H."Non-Skeds: T ...

issued them a certificate in January, 1948, with an airmail contract from Phoenix to El Paso with intermediate stops at Globe, Safford, and Clifton, AZ as well as Lordsburg, Deming, and Las Cruces, NM. By then the carrier's finances were precarious and the CAB approved a merger with Monarch Airlines and

Challenger Airlines Challenger Airlines was a United States airline 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 (CAB) Docke ...

in the spring of 1950, which took effect June 1, 1950. The airline had three DC-3: N-75028, N-64910, and N-57985 at the merger. Their Sunliner names at Frontier Airlines 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 and Monarch Airlines June 1, 1950, to form Frontier Airlines, 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

ns. It was the subject of an article in ''

Arizona Highways ''Arizona Highways'' is a magazine that contains travelogues and artistic photographs related to the U.S. state of Arizona. It is published monthly in Phoenix by a unit of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). Background The m ...

'' 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 or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

raged in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

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

and Monarch Airlines into Frontier Airlines on June 1, 1950.

References

* Lamkins, Jake "Arizona Airways website". http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Arizona.html ;Notes

External links

Old Frontier Airlines
a website about the history of the old Frontier Airlines and its predecessor airlines. {{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Airlines established in 1942 Companies based in Phoenix, Arizona Airlines based in Arizona Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines disestablished in 1950 Defunct companies based in Arizona American companies established in 1942 1946 establishments in Arizona 1950 disestablishments in Arizona 1950 mergers and acquisitions

History

See also

References

External links