Emerald Air was an airline headquartered in Austin, Texas, United States. 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 Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

and Pan Am) and cargo airlines (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 jet and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 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

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

hub, in October 1978.

Operations for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am)

In June 1981, the airline began scheduled Douglas DC-9-10 jet service as well as Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprop service to feed Pan American World Airways ( Pan Am) flights at Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) via a

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

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

between Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), which was called the 'Houston Proud Express.' Unlike the Pan Am operations in which Pan Am markings and aircraft livery 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 Douglas DC-9-10 jet aircraft via a

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 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 ...

(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/

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 - Hobby Airport (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. Highway 59 ...

(IAH) * McAllen, TX (MFE) * Oklahoma City, OK (OKC) * Omaha, NE (OMA) * San Antonio, TX (SAT) * Wichita, KS (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 Douglas DC-9-10 jet and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprop aircraft. Emerald was an intrastate airline 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 Wichita, KS (ICT) with continuing same plane service to Omaha, NE (OMA). According to the October 1, 1989 edition of the Official Airline Guide ( OAG), Emerald Air was operating nonstop DC-9 jet service between Newport News (PHF) and Orlando (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 bankruptcy. In 1991, BIA-COR Holdings Inc., acquired Emerald Air's FAA 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 Civil W ...

DC-9-14 aircraft; and renamed the carrier

Braniff International Airlines, Inc. Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

, 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 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 ...

* Fairchild Hiller FH-227

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