Denver Ports of Call is a defunct

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

private airline which operated flights for the Denver-based Ports of Call Travel Club from 1967 to 1992. In its heyday, Ports of Call was the largest travel club in the United States, with at one time over 66,000 members.

History

Convair CV-990 (Denver Ports of Call) at MZJ (B)

Ports of Call was established in 1966 as a travel club in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The travel club had a private terminal separate from the main public terminal at Stapleton International, and operated their own domestic and international trips using specially outfitted private aircraft. They began by using large 4-engine piston and turboprop aircraft such as the

Douglas DC-7 The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the ear ...

and the

Lockheed L-188 Electra The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensiv ...

. The pilots were initially commercial airline employees who flew Ports of Call aircraft in their off time, and later were full-time employees. The flight attendants stayed with each travel club group on a trip for up to a month as group tour guides. As Ports of Call grew, more modern jet aircraft such as the

Convair 990 The Convair 990 Coronado is an American narrow-body four-engined jet airliner produced between 1961 and 1963 by the Convair division of American company General Dynamics. It was a stretched version of its earlier Convair 880 produced in respon ...

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

and

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

were acquired on the second hand market. By 1986, Ports of Call operated 11 Boeing 707-300 airliners, a B707-100, and a single B727-100 with club membership exceeding 66,000. The club was widely visible from the Ports of Call Travel Club stickers displayed on many automobiles around Denver, throughout Colorado and the surrounding states. One trip in the mid eighties was "Around the World" and circumnavigated the globe with multiple stops. Another trip was the annual "Mystery Trip", in which members signed up to be taken on a trip to an unknown destination. This event was so popular, the club would fill multiple B707s with nearly 800 people per trip. Because of federally mandated aircraft noise restrictions, the company went public to raise funding to pay for the required hush kits on the aircraft. In an effort to increase aircraft use, the aircraft began operating as a separate charter company after being rebranded as Skyworld Airlines under FAR part 121, enabling them to operate non-travel club charter services as well. In the wake of public ownership, and after several leadership changes, the company essentially suffered a hostile take over. The new controlling interests liquidated the aircraft assets and shut down the airline portion, remaining open as a travel club sans-aircraft. They sold just one of the B707 jetliners, a "

combi aircraft Combi aircraft in commercial aviation are aircraft that can be used to carry either passengers as an airliner, or cargo as a freighter, and may have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at the same time in a mixed passenger/fr ...

" (having been originally built by Boeing to be easily convertible to transport a mix of passengers and freight on the main deck or as a cargo only freighter) for over $4 million. The travel club subsequently was forced to book member trips in blocks of seats on commercial airlines. Part of the mystique of the travel club genre of airlines was the enjoyment of special treatment. Instead of club members boarding private aircraft from a terminal, groups were now shuttled to Stapleton terminal to board whatever commercial flights were available to the trip destinations, although they were accompanied by a POC tour guide. With the loss of their own aircraft and the ability to fly directly to any desired destination, they were reduced to offering only the multiple connecting flights available commercially. As a direct result, club membership renewals quickly plummeted and the travel club closed in 1994.

Fleet

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...

External links

"Ports of Call Returns to the Air," The Denver Business Journal,(October 10, 2000).

Grounded Series episode on the rise and fall of Denver Ports of Call
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denver Ports Of Call Defunct airlines of the United States Defunct companies based in Denver Defunct companies based in Colorado American companies established in 1967 American companies disestablished in 1992 Airlines established in 1967 Airlines disestablished in 1992

History

Fleet

See also

External links