Emerald Air was an airline headquartered in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

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 territori ...

. Founded by William Ford and Richard Martel It was formerly known as Emerald Valley Airlines. Emerald Airlines' brief history is marked by arrangements to feed connecting flights into both

passenger airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...

s (such as Continental Airlines and

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

) and

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline ...

s (such as

Purolator Courier Purolator Inc. is a Canadian courier that is 91% owned by Canada Post, 7% owned by Rainmaker Investments Ltd. and 2% by others. The company was originally organized as Trans Canada Couriers, Ltd. In 1967, it was acquired by the US manufacturer ...

) much larger route systems. The airline also independently operated scheduled passenger flights within the state of Texas during the mid-1980s with

Douglas DC-9-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

jet and

Fairchild Hiller FH-227 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...

turboprop aircraft and briefly served Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and later Wichita, Kansas and Omaha, Nebraska as well.

Operations for Purolator Courier

Emerald began operating scheduled cargo flights, which fed

's Columbus, Ohio hub, in October 1978.

Operations for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am)

In June 1981, the airline began scheduled

jet service as well as

turboprop service to feed

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

(

) flights at

Houston Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 ...

(IAH) via a code sharing agreement. Emerald was promoted in print advertising by the carriers as 'Emerald the

Pan Am Express Pan Am Express was a brand name for a code sharing passenger feed service operated by other airlines on behalf of Pan American World Airways (Pan Am). It was founded in the early 1980s, and lasted until the demise of Pan Am in 1991. History I ...

.' and operated flights on behalf of Pan Am between Houston and Austin, Corpus Christi, McAllen and San Antonio in Texas.

Operations for Continental Airlines

For a brief time in the mid-1980s, Emerald Air operated a connecting jet shuttle service on behalf of Continental Airlines between

(IAH) and

Houston Hobby Airport William P. Hobby Airport (colloquially referred to as Hobby Airport, Houston Hobby, or simply Hobby) is an international airport in Houston, Texas, located from downtown Houston. Hobby is Houston's oldest commercial airport, and was its primar ...

(HOU), which was called the 'Houston Proud Express.' Unlike the Pan Am operations in which Pan Am markings and

aircraft livery An aircraft livery is a set of comprehensive insignia comprising color, graphic, and typographical identifiers which operators (airlines, governments, air forces and occasionally private and corporate owners) apply to their aircraft. As aircraft ...

were not used, Emerald painted its aircraft to mimic those of Continental Airlines' then present orange colors and scheme. This "cross-town" service in Houston was operated with

jet aircraft via a code sharing agreement.

Independent operations

Emerald Air also independently operated scheduled passenger flights primarily within the state of Texas and also briefly to Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma during the early and mid-1980s. According to an Emerald Air route map dated July 15, 1982 as well as the airline's system timetables dated March 15, 1984 and September 15, 1984, the following cities were served: * Austin, TX (AUS) *

Corpus Christi, TX Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "''Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio ...

(CRP) *

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Fort Worth, TX Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accordin ...

(DFW) *

Houston, TX Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Hobby Airport William P. Hobby Airport (colloquially referred to as Hobby Airport, Houston Hobby, or simply Hobby) is an international airport in Houston, Texas, located from downtown Houston. Hobby is Houston's oldest commercial airport, and was its primar ...

(HOU) and

Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/ U.S. Highwa ...

(IAH) *

McAllen, TX McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...

(MFE) *

Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

(OKC) *

Omaha, NE Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ci ...

(OMA) *

San Antonio, TX ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

(SAT) *

Wichita, KS Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

(ICT) According to its March 15, 1984 timetable, Emerald Air was flying nonstop service on the following routes: Austin-Houston, Corpus Christi-Dallas/Ft. Worth, Corpus Christi-Houston, Corpus Christi-McAllen, Dallas/Ft. Worth-McAllen, Houston-McAllen, Houston-San Antonio and McAllen-San Antonio. These flights were operated with

jet and

turboprop aircraft. Emerald was an

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 ...

in Texas at this time as it was no longer serving Oklahoma City. In September 1984, Emerald Air then extended its scheduled passenger service north from Dallas/Ft. Worth with a DC-9 jet flight nonstop to

(ICT) with continuing same plane service to

(OMA). According to the October 1, 1989 edition of the

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight st ...

( OAG), Emerald Air was operating nonstop DC-9 jet service between

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

(PHF) and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

(MCO) twice a week.

Bankruptcy and acquisition by Bia Cor Holdings Inc.

By 1985, Emerald ceased operations primarily in Texas and filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

bankruptcy. In 1991, BIA-COR Holdings Inc., acquired Emerald Air's

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

and DOT operating certificate, along with Emerald's three

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

DC-9-14 aircraft; and renamed the carrier Braniff International Airlines, Inc., before promptly going out of business. Parts of Emerald thus became the third and final resurrection of the Braniff name.

Fleet

Emerald Air operated a small fleet of the following jet and turboprop aircraft types: * Douglas DC-9-14 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerald Air (Usa) Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1978 Airlines disestablished in 1991 Companies based in Austin, Texas Defunct companies based in Texas 1978 establishments in Ohio