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 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 via the Borrego Valley Airport 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 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 ...

prop aircraft and

Swearingen Metro The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

II turboprops before changing its name to Sun Aire in 1975. Its primary destinations were

Palm Springs 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 ...

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 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 resid ...

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, 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 Hollywood Burbank Airport, legally and formerly marketed as Bob Hope Airport after entertainer Bob Hope , is a public airport northwest of downtown Burbank, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. ef ...

) * 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 The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

"Metro II" commuter turboprop aircraft. Predecessor Borrego Springs Airlines had also previously operated smaller

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