Trump Shuttle, Inc. was an airline owned by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

from 1989 to 1992. The landing rights and some of the physical assets necessary to operate the shuttle flights were originally part of

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

and known as the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle. It operated hourly flights on

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter ...

aircraft from LaGuardia Airport in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Boston Logan International Airport in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, from Washington, D.C. The closest airport to the nation's capital, it is one of two airports owned by the federal government and ope ...

in Washington, D.C., as well as charter service to other destinations. Its

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

designator code was TB (later reassigned to Jetairfly, which became TUI fly Belgium). Trump's formal launch in the air business occurred in March 1988 when he acquired three Sikorsky S-61 helicopters that belonged to Resorts International Airlines (RIA) used to shuttle high rollers to the Resorts Casino Hotel in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

. The three green and orange helicopters were repainted black and red and emblazoned with the Trump Air logo.

History

Formation

In the late 1980s, both

and

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

operated air shuttle services in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

, which were highly profitable even though the two airlines, as a whole, were not. As the financial outlook for Eastern became more pessimistic in the late 1980s, the carrier began to sell its routes and aircraft. It organized its profitable shuttle operation into a separate company, headed by Bruce Nobles, with the intent of selling it to raise cash. Eastern chairman Frank Lorenzo met

at a party, and subsequently negotiated the sale of the shuttle to Trump for $365 million, more than the projected cost to start up a similar airline, but justifiable if the airline achieved a high market share. For that price, Trump got a fleet of 17

s, landing facilities in each of the three cities that the shuttle flew to, and the right to put his name on the company and its airplanes. The shuttle had previously been a " no-frills" operation for business travelers, but Trump announced that he would convert it to a luxury airline. After reaching an agreement with Trump in October 1988, Eastern filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Many passengers switched to the competing Pan Am Shuttle, and the previously profitable Eastern Shuttle began losing money. Trump attempted to use the situation to negotiate a lower price and to acquire additional aircraft from Eastern. America West Airlines submitted a more attractive competing offer on May 10, but failed as its financing was not in place. Trump's offer was approved by the bankruptcy court in May 1989. In June 1989 the deal was completed, financed through a loan from a syndicate of banks led by Citibank. The new Trump Shuttle operation launched on June 8, 1989, and by the end of August had returned to a strong market share of 40–50%. Trump pushed to make the new shuttle a luxury service and a marketing vehicle for the Trump name. Its aircraft were newly painted in white livery and the interiors redecorated with such features as maple wood veneer, chrome seat belt latches, and gold colored lavatory fixtures. The airline also was a leader in the adoption of advanced technologies: It introduced some of the first passenger self-service check-in kiosks, in coordination with Kinetics, at its LaGuardia base; and partnered with LapStop, a startup firm that rented laptop computers to passengers. The airline was also an early adopter of the GTE Airfone in-flight telephone system. Flights offered free meals, including chicken and steak on some flights, as well as complimentary champagne, beer and wine. Both Trump and Pan Am spent millions on advertising campaigns around this time in an attempt to maintain strong competitive positions.

August 1989 incident

In August 1989, a Trump Shuttle flight arriving in Boston incurred a nose gear failure upon landing due to maintenance errors by Eastern personnel prior to the acquisition. Trump personally flew on the next Trump Shuttle flight to Boston in order to manage the public reaction to the incident.

Financial difficulties

The company was never profitable. Passenger traffic on the shuttle began to decline in November 1989. In late 1989, the

entered an economic recession which depressed demand, while the August 1990

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i invasion of

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

caused jet fuel prices to double. While costs of running the airline rose, many of the corporate customers using the shuttle were cutting travel budgets. Trump's casino business was simultaneously encountering serious difficulties, and Trump was forced to cede control over several business holdings to his bankers in June 1990 in order to avoid personal bankruptcy. The airline ran out of cash and defaulted on its debt in September 1990. Trump Shuttle conducted some charter operations around this time to monetize the shuttle's spare aircraft. In June 1990, the airline carried Nelson Mandela on his eight-city tour of the United States. During the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

of 1990–91, the airline received a government contract to ferry U.S. military personnel between the key domestic bases of Dover AFB, Charleston AFB, Travis AFB, McChord AFB, and Kelly AFB.

Sale

Trump had personally guaranteed $135 million of the shuttle's debt. Following the default, Citibank made arrangements for

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...

to take control of the shuttle in exchange for relieving Trump's personal liability on its debt, and all sides were reportedly close to an agreement by April 1991.

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

agreed to buy the competing Pan Am Shuttle in July, and Northwest announced that its acquisition of the Trump Shuttle was cancelled in August, reportedly due to the Trump Shuttle's unions demanding parity with Northwest employees and Trump refusing to discount the price to reflect this. USAir ultimately reached an agreement in December 1991 to take operational control of Trump Shuttle for up to ten years, with an option to buy it after five years. Bankers involved in the negotiations said that Trump would be relieved of at least $100 million of his guarantee, and possibly as much as $110 million, leaving him owing between $25 and $35 million in the closing out of his ownership of the company. On April 7, 1992, Trump Shuttle ceased to exist when it was merged into a new corporation, Shuttle, Inc., which began operating as the USAir Shuttle on April 12, 1992.

US Airways US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it ...

subsequently purchased the remainder of Shuttle, Inc., on November 19, 1997, and the service subsequently operated under the name US Airways Shuttle. Shuttle, Inc., remained as a subsidiary of US Air Group until July 1, 2000, when it was merged into US Airways. In October 2015, US Airways merged with

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

, at which point the shuttle became the American Airlines Shuttle.

Helicopter service

Trump Air operated a scheduled helicopter service between LaGuardia Airport and Wall Street Heliport to provide connections with Trump Shuttle flights at LaGuardia. Trump Air also operated between New York City and East Hampton Airport from 1989 to 1992, and between West 30th Street Heliport and Steeplechase Pier in Atlantic City to serve Trump's casinos. It used a combination of Sikorsky S-61 and Boeing Chinook helicopters. It was established on March 22, 1988, with three Sikorsky S-61 helicopters, which could carry 24 passengers each, with service between the West 30th Street Heliport in Manhattan and Bader Field and the Steeplechase Pier in Atlantic City. Fares were from $49–125, and travel time was 48 minutes. One of the helicopters had already been operating for about a month. Trump had acquired the helicopters, which had been Resorts International Air, as part of his 1988 deal with Merv Griffin following Griffin's takeover of Resorts International Inc.

Fleet

The Trump Shuttle fleet consisted of the following aircraft: * 8 Boeing 727-100 * 17 Boeing 727-200

References

External links

* {{American Airlines Airlines established in 1989 Airlines disestablished in 1992 1989 establishments in the United States 1992 disestablishments in the United States Assets owned by the Trump Organization Defunct airlines of the United States Eastern Air Lines US Airways Group Airline shuttles Businesses of Donald Trump that went bankrupt