Mackey Airlines, Inc., later known as Mackey International Airlines, 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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 wh ...

that primarily served

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

and

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

. At one point, the airline also operated

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 July ...

jetliners in scheduled passenger service between Florida, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

History

Mackey Airlines was founded by former stunt pilot and

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

Colonel Joseph C. Mackey on September 30, 1946. Flights flew primarily out of its

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...

base and from

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. Mackey Airlines served the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

as well as

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

and the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and ...

in the Caribbean. In 1956 it acquired Midet Aviation. The original Mackey Airlines was acquired by

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. E ...

in 1967, although flights to Bimini from Miami continued into at least 1968. In 1979, Mackey Airlines acquired Charter Airlines based in Gainesville and flew the only

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

on intrastate Florida routes.

Reformation and later operations

Beech 99 N699JM U-28 Mackey FLL 080271 edited-2

"Colonel Joe" soon began a new company, Mackey International Airlines. It was equipped with secondhand

Convair 440 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inro ...

and

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 t ...

piston-engine airliners. A Mackey International Air Commuter subsidiary operation was equipped with

Beech 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

19-seat turboprop aircraft. In 1977, Mackey's headquarters located in

, Florida was the target of a bombing attributed to Cuban anti-Castro activity in the United States. Mackey International Airlines ceased operations in 1981.

Destinations in 1979

Mackey International Airlines was serving the following destinations in 1979: The Bahamas * Freeport (FPO) * Marsh Harbour (MHH) * Nassau (NAS) * Treasure Cay (TCB) Florida * Fort Lauderdale (FLL) - ''Headquarters'' * Fort Myers (FMY) * Gainesville (GNV) * Miami (MIA) * Naples (APF) * Orlando (MCO) * Panama City (PFN) * Pensacola (PNS) * Tampa (TPA) * West Palm Beach (PBI) In 1973, Mackey International Airlines was serving additional destinations in the

including Bimini, George Town, Governors Harbour, Great Harbour Cay and North Eleuthera, and was also serving Grand Turk and South Caicos in the Turks & Caicos Islands.http://www.departedflights.com, 1973 Mackey International Airlines route map Mackey Airlines 1962 timetable

Fleet

The following prop, turboprop and jet aircraft were operated by the airline at various times during its existence: Douglas DC-8-51, Mackey Airlines JP6377214

Douglas DC-8-51, Mackey Airlines JP6377214

Beechcraft Model 18 The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to Novem ...

Beechcraft Model 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

and DC-6B *

-51 ''(only jet aircraft type operated by the airline)'' *

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restart ...

Grumman Goose The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, and i ...

Lockheed Lodestar The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era. Design and development Sales of the 10–14 passenger Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, which first flew in 1937, had proved disappointing, despite the ai ...

Bibliography

*J.M.G.Gradidge, The Convairliners Story, 1997, Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd,

References

External links

Mackey Airlines Page
* ttp://www.sunshineskies.com/mackey.html Sunshine Skies - Mackey International, featuring vintage photos {{US-airline-stub Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1946 Airlines disestablished in 1981 1946 establishments in the United States 1981 disestablishments in Florida