The original Overseas National Airways Inc (ONA) was an American

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 which ...

, formed in June 1950 as a supplemental air carrier. It ceased operations on September 14, 1978. The airline started as Air Travel in 1946 and was renamed Calasia Air Transport the same year. The name changed to Overseas National in 1950 when it became a supplemental air carrier. The company's headquarters were on the property of

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. A second related company, which took the name in 1978, was later renamed National Airlines before declaring bankruptcy in 1986.

History

First ONA

ONA was founded in June 1950 as a charter airline that carried both freight and passengers. It was based at Idlewild Airport (now New York JFK Airport) with five

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...

aircraft in the fleet. Its main function was to carry US military personnel to and from

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 Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

from the east coast of the US. ONA also had a dedicated

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 ...

F for freight operations. For a brief period from 1964 to 1965, ONA went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize. Flights resumed in October 1965, this time operating

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Jul ...

aircraft. Operations expanded to include flights to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. Beginning in 1968, ONA acquired 11 secondhand

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 ...

turboprops, which were used for freight operations. The DC-8s serviced trans-Atlantic routes. The airline then acquired

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 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. Aft ...

jetliners, which replaced the Electras. In 1973 two

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long- range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 19 ...

widebody jetliners were acquired. In 1978 when

airline deregulation Airline deregulation is the process of removing government-imposed entry and price restrictions on airlines affecting, in particular, the carriers permitted to serve specific routes. In the United States, the term usually applies to the Airline Der ...

went into effect, the board of directors decided to liquidate the airline. Due to the value of the company's DC-10s, this was successful. ONA ceased operations in October 1978.

Second ONA

The second airline to be named Overseas National Airways was created when officials of Overseas National Airways formed a FAR Part 129 leasing company known as United Air Carriers on July 21, 1977. When Overseas National Airways folded in 1978, the company was renamed Overseas National Airways and it was certified in 1980 under FAR 121 as a cargo and passenger charter company. In 1982 the company gained approval for scheduled service, leading to the company purchasing the name National Airlines from

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 State ...

in anticipation of scheduled New York to Paris service. The scheduled service never materialized, although charter flights were flown on the route. Due to financial problems the airline ceased operations in December 1985, filing for bankruptcy in May 1986.

Incidents

* On 2 May 1970,

ALM Flight 980 ALM Antillean Airlines Flight 980 was a flight scheduled to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, on 2 May 1970. After several unsucces ...

was operated by ONA with a DC-9-30 named "Caribbean Queen", from

in New York to St. Maarten in the Caribbean. Several failed attempts to land in bad weather at St. Maarten, followed by a decision to divert to St. Croix, forced the flight crew to

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches a ...

the aircraft after running out of fuel. 23 of the 63 people on board were killed. The "Caribbean Queen" is still at the bottom of the sea. * On 12 November 1975, ONA Flight 032, a

DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

on a ferry flight to

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres. ...

, suffered a

bird strike A bird strike—sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)—is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle, usually an aircraft. The term ...

while on its takeoff roll at

in New York. The aircraft was destroyed, but all 139 people on board survived. * On 2 January 1976, Saudia Flight 5130, an ONA leased

experienced an undershoot of the short runway at

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_ ...

. A fire occurred in the #1 engine after the aircraft touched down and crash-landed. The aircraft was destroyed while all passengers survived.

Fleet

F (freighter version) *

(see fleet breakdown in next section) *

(series 32CF and 33CF models. CF stands for convertible passenger/freighter.) *

Douglas DC-8 fleet

*2 - Douglas DC-8-21 *2 - Douglas DC-8-31 *4 - Douglas DC-8-33 *1 - Douglas DC-8-33F (freighter version) *1 - Douglas DC-8-52 *5 - Douglas DC-8-55 *1 - Douglas DC-8-55F *7 - Douglas DC-8-61 (stretched "Super DC-8") *2 - Douglas DC-8-61CF (stretched "Super DC-8". CF stands for convertible passenger/freighter.) *10 - Douglas DC-8-63CF (stretched "Super DC-8" convertible passenger/freighter)

References

External links

ONA uniformsCode information

ONA crew website
{{Portal bar, New York City, Companies, Aviation Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1950 Airlines disestablished in 1978 1950 establishments in New York City 1978 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1950 American companies disestablished in 1978