Island Airlines was a commuter airline headquartered at

Barnstable Municipal Airport Cape Cod Gateway Airport , also known as Boardman/Polando Field and formerly known as Barnstable Municipal Airport, is a public airport located on Cape Cod, north of the central business district of Hyannis, in Barnstable County, Massachusetts ...

in Barnstable,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

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 ...

which operated hourly scheduled flights between the island of

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

and

Hyannis, Massachusetts Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer t ...

. Island Airlines (Hyannis) along with its sister company, Cape & Islands Air Freight, ceased operations on December 11, 2015. The company slogan was ''Nantucket's Community Airline.''

History

Milton "Red" Hersberger (December 19, 1901 – August 18, 1987), a former Chicago barnstormer, developed the first aerial transport to the island in 1930, beginning with two biplanes, and acquiring his first

Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American three-engined transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, after 199 had been made. It w ...

in 1932. He called the operation Erie Isle Airways. His first Trimotor was purchased after it had crashed in the mountains near

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

; after it was repaired and put into operation, it was so useful that four other examples soon joined the fleet.''The Little Airline of the Lake'',

Air & Space/Smithsonian ''Air & Space/Smithsonian'' is a quarterly magazine published by the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Linc ...

, February/March 1987, pp. 50-56 After

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 opposin ...

, Hersberger was able to buy several hundred surplus engines from the US government for use in the Trimotors; they cost fifteen dollars each. Hersberger renamed the airline Sky Tours and sold it in 1953.. It was sold again in 1973. It received its current name in 1991 when ownership of the operation was assumed by William McGrath.

Ocean Wings

Island Airlines operated Ocean Wings Air Charter providing private flights across the Northeast on their fleet of

Beechcraft King Air The Beechcraft King Air is a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s ...

Cessna 414 The Cessna 414 is an American light, pressurized, twin-engine transport aircraft built by Cessna. It first flew in 1968 and an improved variant was introduced from 1978 as the 414A Chancellor. Design and development The pressurized 414 was dev ...

and

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 ...

aircraft. Ocean Wings was based on

out of

Nantucket Memorial Airport Nantucket Memorial Airport is a public airport on the south side of the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the Town of Nantucket and is located three miles (5 km) southeast of the town center., effective April ...

and

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

out of

Westchester County Airport Westchester County Airport is a county-owned airport in Westchester County, New York, three miles (6 km) northeast of downtown White Plains, with territory in the towns of North Castle and Harrison, New York, and village of Rye Brook, New ...

Cape & Islands Air Freight

A division of Island Airlines, Cape & Islands Air Freight, provided freight service between

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

Hyannis, MA Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer t ...

and

New Bedford, MA New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

. Cape & Island Air Freight also went out of business effective December 11, 2015.

Former fleet

As of June 2013, Island Air's fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

Cessna Grand Caravans

In January 2009, Island Airlines announced the addition of a

Grand Caravan The Chrysler minivans are a series of minivans that have been produced and marketed by the American automaker Chrysler since the 1984 model year. Currently in its sixth generation, the model line is marketed worldwide, primarily in North Americ ...

to their fleet, becoming the first airline in over 30 years to add a new type of aircraft to the Hyannis/Nantucket route. The airline has since added three more Grand Caravans and plans to eventually transition to an all-Caravan fleet. Island Airlines was the only airline flying this type of aircraft between Hyannis and Nantucket, a market traditionally dominated by the twin–engine

References

External links

Island AirlinesOcean Wings
{{Coord, 41, 40, 5.43, N, 70, 17, 19.28, W, display=title Airlines established in 1991 Airlines disestablished in 2015 Barnstable, Massachusetts Companies based in Barnstable, Massachusetts Defunct airlines of the United States Defunct regional airlines of the United States Regional Airline Association members Airlines based in Massachusetts