Local service carriers, or local service airlines, originally known as feeder carriers or feeder airlines, were a category of domestic airlines in the United States, as regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the federal agency that tightly regulated the airline industry from 1938 to 1978.
Initially 23 such airlines were certified from 1943 to 1949 to serve smaller US domestic markets unserved/poorly served by existing domestic carriers, the trunk carriers, which flew the main, or trunk, routes. However, not all of these started operation and some that did later had their certificates withdrawn. One other carrier was certificated in 1950 as a replacement. "Feeder airline" alludes to another purpose, that such airlines would feed passengers to trunk carriers. It was expected that a significant number of passenger itineraries would involve a connection between a local service carrier and a trunk carrier.
Local service carriers ultimately became substantial carriers in their own right, all such carriers flew jet aircraft by the end of the regulated era (1978). Over time, local service carriers began to compete more directly with trunk carriers. But a clear distinction, visible in financial and operating data, continued to exist between the two types of domestic carriers through the end of the regulated era, reflecting a difference in how the CAB regulated the two types of carriers. In particular, in contrast to trunk carriers, local service airlines received government subsidies throughout the regulated era. But after US airline deregulation in 1979, the distinction between trunk and local service carriers vanished.
History Context
The passage of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 put almost all US commercial air transport under the tight control of a newly formed federal agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA). In 1940, those regulatory functions passed to another federal agency, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). With the exception of intrastate airlines, only airlines certificated by the CAA/CAB could engage in scheduled air transport. Airlines that could show they were flying scheduled service before the passage of the 1938 Act were entitled to certification by grandfathering. 19 domestic passenger airlines were certificated in this way. The 16 of these that continued to operate after World War II were called the trunk carriers or trunk airlines. In many respects, the CAB regulated the industry in the interests of the trunk carriers.
+ Table 1: Feeder/local service carriers certificated 1943–1950Final nameName at first operationName at initial certificationDate of initial certificationDispositionPioneer Air LinesEssairEssair5 November 1943Merged into Continental 1955Florida AirwaysFlorida AirwaysOrlando Airlines28 March 1946Certificate withdrawn 1949Monarch Air LinesMonarch Air LinesRay Wilson, Inc.28 March 1946.Merged into Frontier 1950Challenger AirlinesChallenger AirlinesSummit Airways28 March 1946Merged into Frontier 1950Empire AirlinesEmpire AirlinesEmpire Airlines22 May 1946Merged into West Coast 1952West Coast AirlinesWest Coast AirlinesWest Coast Airlines22 May 1946Merged into Air West 1968Pacific Air LinesSouthwest AirwaysSouthwest Airways22 May 1946Merged into Air West 1968E.W. Wiggins AirwaysE.W. Wiggins AirwaysE.W. Wiggins Airways13 June 1946Certificate withdrawn 1953Central Air LinesCentral Air LinesCentral Air Lines14 November 1946Merged into Frontier 1967Texas International AirlinesTrans-Texas AirwaysAviation Enterprises14 November 1946Merged into Continental 1982North Central AirlinesWisconsin Central AirlinesWisconsin Central Airlines19 December 1946Merged into Republic 1979Parks Air LinesParks Air LinesParks Air Transport19 December 1946Merged into Ozark 1950Mid-West AirlinesMid-West AirlinesIowa Airplane Company19 December 1946Certificate withdrawn 1952Piedmont AirlinesPiedmont AirlinesPiedmont Aviation4 April 1947Merged into USAir 1989Southern AirwaysSouthern AirwaysSouthern Airways4 April 1947Merged into Republic 1979Air Commuting7 May 1947Never operated: certificate expiredLake Central AirlinesTurner AirlinesRoscoe Turner Aeronautical Corporation3 September 1947Merged into Allegheny 1968Yellow Cab Company of Cleveland3 September 1947Never operated: certificate expiredArizona Airways(1)Arizona Airways13 February 1948Merged into Frontier 1950Allegheny AirlinesAll American AirwaysAll-American Aviation19 February 1948Sold to America West 2005Mohawk AirlinesRobinson AirlinesRobinson Aviation19 February 1948Merged into Allegheny 1972Island Air Ferries19 February 1948Never operated: certificate expiredBonanza AirlinesBonanza AirlinesBonanza Airlines15 June 1949Merged into Air West 1968Purdue Aeronautics CorporationPurdue Aeronautics CorporationPurdue Aeronautics Corporation28 July 1949Stopgap service onlyOzark Air LinesOzark Air LinesOzark Air Lines28 July 1950Merged into TWA 1986 (1) Arizona Airways failed to operate certificated service
Essair and the Local Service case
In November 1943, the CAB certificated Houston-based Essair (later called Pioneer Air Lines) to fly feeder routes in Texas, the first airline to be certificated to fly domestic passengers since the grandfathering of the trunk carriers. Essair started feeder service on 1 August 1945 on a route from Houston to Amarillo, Texas via many intermediate points. The CAB regarded this as an experiment so Essair's certification was temporary. The airline would need to renew its certificate in three years.
In the meantime, prompted by the Essair certification, the CAB initiated a case, published July 1944, to consider local air service nationally. Politicians, business groups, would-be airlines and others pushed for such airlines, although the CAB and the post office (which at the time subsidized air transport through airmail contracts) were "not enthusiastic." By January 1944, the CAB had received 435 applications by would-be feeder airlines. The Board saw itself obligated by the 1938 Act to expand air service to smaller markets. The Board was not confident feeder service could be provided on a cost-efficient basis by the trunks, therefore the CAB decided to certificate new carriers, with the idea they would become specialists in serving small routes efficiently. By giving them temporary certificates, the increased subsidies for providing local service was also theoretically temporary. The CAB may also not have wanted to risk the progress trunk carriers made in evolving towards subsidy-free operation.
Certificating new feeder airlines Even before it published its local service findings, the CAB launched a series of cases to certificate new feeder carriers across the contiguous United States. The CAB separately certificated "territorial" airlines for Hawaii and Alaska which, at the time, were territories not states. 14 feeder cases completed during the timeframe 1946–1949, awarding an additional 22 new entities (beyond Pioneer) feeder service certificates covering most of the contiguous United States. These certificates were temporary and conditional. Successful local service applicants had to demonstrate access to the funding they claimed to have, and that a sufficient number of airports had necessary infrastructure (e.g. sufficiently long runways, radios, etc.) to handle commercial service.
Cases could take well over a year, sometimes longer, to decide (note the gap between when the CAB launched the cases in 1944 and the publishing of the first case in spring 1946) typically had over a dozen applicants and other participants, public hearings, an initial finding by an examiner, followed by the decision of the full five-member Board. Each case usually certificated one or more new local service carriers and might also allocate longer routes in the same region to trunks. For instance, the March 1946 decision in the Service in the Rocky Mountain States Area case (which launched in the summer of 1944) certificated two new feeder lines (soon to adopt the names Monarch Air Lines and Challenger Airlines) splitting local routes across Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, while awarding additional routes in the same region to Western Air Lines and Inland Air Lines, two trunk carriers. Some airlines won routes in multiple cases. Parks Air Lines, for instance, won routes in three. One later case allocated routes only to feeders previously certificated in earlier cases. A cleanup case re-awarded routes to Southern Airways that the CAB was not confident had been properly awarded previously. CAB decisions could be challenged in Federal courts and some feeder certifications were (such as the original case certificating Essair). The CAB did not distribute route authorities to feeders equally. The size of the Parks Air Lines network was over eight times the size of the Florida Airways network, for instance.
Among successful applicants, All-American Aviation (later Allegheny Airlines, the predecessor to US Airways) was unique because it already had CAB-certification. The CAB certificated All American for “pick-up” service in 1940 – All American picked up mail without landing through use of a device to hook mailbags in flight. This certification was de-novo, rather than grandfathered, but valid only for mail and freight.
Failure to launch Some applicants failed to launch service at all. In the case of three applicants with unusual business plans, certification eventually expired or was revoked due to failure to operate: Air Commuting won a certificate for seaplane service from New York City but never launched, with its certification lapsing. Later it unsuccessfully applied for New York City helicopter service certification in the case that was won by New York Airways. Island Air Ferries won a certificate to provide low-frills service across Long Island Sound from Long Island to Connecticut, as a substitute for ferry service. The CAB declined to extend certification past its original term. Yellow Cab Company of Cleveland won a certificate to provide helicopter service in Cleveland. This never launched and the certificate expired.
Arizona Airways failed to launch as a feeder carrier but avoided certificate revocation.
The airline flew (1946–1948) as an Arizona intrastate airline before winning a feeder certificate for routes in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. But intrastate service exhausted its capital. The airline ceased operating while preparing for feeder service, was unable to raise funding, and the CAB threatened to revoke its certificate. At the last minute, the carrier, still grounded, agreed to a takeover by Monarch Air Lines. This turned into a three-way merger with the addition of Challenger Airlines, resulting in the creation of the original Frontier Airlines in 1950 as one of the largest local service carriers, flying small routes from the Mexican to Canadian borders in the mountain states.
Parks, Ozark and Mid-Continent
Parks Air Lines received routes in three CAB cases, leaving it with a feeder network deemed one of the richest. But it was unable to raise funds. The airline proposed a series of launch alternatives the CAB found unacceptable, leading to the CAB revoking the company's certification in 1950. The CAB awarded most of Parks's routes to a new feeder carrier, Ozark Air Lines, making Ozark the last feeder to be certificated. The CAB awarded the remaining Parks routes to Mid-Continent Airlines, a trunk carrier, a controversial decision since feeder and trunk airlines were supposed to be separate.
Shortly before the CAB's revocation, Parks started service on a single route. After litigation failed to stop the CAB from moving forward, Parks sold itself to Ozark. Since Ozark had no airline operation at the time, Parks essentially became Ozark.
Purdue stopgap