Sun Aire Lines was a

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 ...

commuter airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

that operated from 1968 to 1985. Sun Aire served a number of cities in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

History

Sun Aire Lines was founded as Borrego Springs Airlines in 1968. Its operations initially focused on providing air service into

Borrego Springs, California Borrego Springs (''Borrego'', Spanish for "Sheep") is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. The population was 3,429 at the 2010 census, up from 2,535 at the 2000 census, made up of both seasonal and year-round reside ...

via the

Borrego Valley Airport Borrego Valley Airport is a county-owned public airport three miles east of Borrego Springs, in San Diego County, California, United States. Facilities The airport covers at an elevation of 520 feet (158 m). Its one runway (8/26) is 5,011 x 75 ...

from other destinations in southern California such as San Diego and Palm Springs. The airline later moved its headquarters to

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

. Borrego Springs Airlines operated a small fleet of Cessna 402 prop aircraft and Swearingen Metro II turboprops before changing its name to Sun Aire in 1975. Its primary destinations were Palm Springs,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Borrego Springs, Phoenix, Yuma, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. By 1984, the airline was operating a dozen Metro II propjet aircraft and was purchased by

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. SkyWest is paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. The ...

. The airline operated its final service on September 28, 1985, at which time it was merged into SkyWest.

Destinations

According to the route map in the Sun Aire system timetable dated January 23, 1984, the airline was serving the following destinations in Arizona and California: * Bakersfield, CA (BFL) * Borrego Springs, CA (BXS) * Burbank, CA (BUR, now Bob Hope Airport) * El Centro/Imperial, CA (IPL) * Los Angeles, CA (LAX) * Ontario, CA (ONT) * Palm Springs, CA (PSP) * Phoenix, AZ (PHX) * San Diego, CA (SAN) * Santa Barbara, CA (SBA) * Santa Maria, CA (SMX) * Yuma, AZ (YUM)

Fleet

At the time of its acquisition by SkyWest Airlines, Sun Aire was operating 19-passenger Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner "Metro II" commuter turboprop aircraft. Predecessor Borrego Springs Airlines had also previously operated smaller Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft.

References

R. E. G. Davies, Commuter Airlines of the United States. Smithsonian Books, 1995. {{US-airline-stub Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1968 1968 establishments in California Airlines based in California

History

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References