Logair (1954–1992), short for Logistic Airlift, was a domestic United States Air Force virtual airline that contracted carriers to fly cargo between Air Force bases, initially under the aegis of the Air Materiel Command (AMC) (not to be confused with Air Mobility Command). The program was first called Mercury Service but American Airlines then used the same name for coast-to-coast flights, so this quickly changed. Logair was a key source of demand for early US airfreight carriers, some of which became Logair specialists. Over time, its relative importance to the airline industry faded. The program was a victim of post-Cold War spending cuts and availability of robust commercial networks such as FedEx. The US Navy ran a similar service called Quicktrans (1950–1994).
History Startup and early days Mercury Service started April 1954 with contract awards to irregular air carriers (later known as supplemental air carriers) AAXICO Airlines and Capitol Airways for six C-46 aircraft each.Miami Line Chosen for AF Airlift, Miami Herald, 3 April 1954 By August the name changed to Logair. Later that year, Logair awarded Resort Airlines a contract to fly DC-4s. Logair was similar to the Navy Quicktrans program started in 1950, but also formalized earlier Air Force air freight tests, such as "Project Skyway", which airlifted B-36 R-4360 radial engines to Pratt & Whitney, materially reducing time out of service. Similarly, air transport of jet engines cut out-of-service time from 135 days to 75 days, freeing 28 engines for use.
Logair was a large source of revenue for cargo and supplemental airlines, the two airline types that tended to dominate bidding. Fiscal 1957 Logair payments were $18 million ($21.5 million including Quicktrans). In the same period, total scheduled cargo airline revenue was $70.0 million, and that of supplementals $56.8 million. Logair awarded annual contracts for the federal government fiscal year (initially ending June; after 1977, ending September) initially based on competitive bidding for one or more "patterns" of service. For instance, in 1956, AMC solicited bids for five patterns for FY1957, one for DC-4s, the others for C-46s. Airline participation changed with the number of bids won from year to year, with the margin of victory sometimes less than a thousand dollars on bids totalling millions. Aircraft working for Logair were initially marked as such (see photo; External links has other photos) and could swap airlines. For instance, in 1960, AAXICO, by then a pure Logair specialist, lost its contract. It leased 25 C-46s to a winning bidder and ceased operations completely for twelve months, resuming when it won a contract the next year. In 1957, a new entity, the Military Traffic Management Agency, took over Logair and Quicktrans bidding, but the Air Force and Navy retained operational control.
Turbine transition and Vietnam In 1960, competitive bidding for military charters (including Logair) came to an end. Instead, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB; a now-defunct federal agency that, at the time, tightly regulated almost all US commercial air transport) set military charter rates, with the military allocating contracts by participation in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). The military measured an airline's CRAF participation by the mobilization value (MV) of aircraft enrolled in CRAF, with MV reflecting an aircraft's value to the military. Domestic and international CRAF were separate. International CRAF emphasized long-range jets, particularly jets convertible between passengers and cargo. Domestic CRAF aircraft were generally smaller, often turboprops. The greater an airline's MV of aircraft committed to domestic CRAF, the more its Logair/Quicktrans allocation.
Also in 1960, the Air Force started to reserve some patterns for aircraft capable of outsized loads, focusing on the Armstrong Whitworth AW.650 Argosy and a proposed civil version of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, which would become the Lockheed L-100 Hercules. Riddle Airlines (the future Airlift International) started flying the Argosy for Logair in January 1961. Congress wanted turbine equipment, despite testimony by Saturn Airways and World Airways about the better economics of fully-depreciated, reliable and flexible DC-6s. Jet speed was irrelevant for a system with a 382-mile average flight length. Nonetheless, Overseas National Airways started flying DC-9s for Logair in 1967. By 1969, Logair added Lockheed L-100 Hercules and Lockheed L-188 Electras.Aircraft at Tinker On Maiden Flight, Daily Oklahoman, 8 August 1969 In 1970, the turbine requirement forced the Navy to outsource a Quicktrans route to Logair as Quicktrans did not have the equipment.
As the 1960s progressed, Logair became a sideshow, as international military charters soared due to Vietnam. As Table 1 shows, in 1961, Logair and Quicktrans together accounted for over 50% of military cargo charter spending and over 25% of all military charters (including passenger), but by the end of the decade, Logair and Quicktrans were overshadowed. In FY1968, US flag carrier Pan Am alone was awarded just shy of $100 million in international military charters (over $900 million in 2025 terms), more than twice total Logair and Quicktrans contracts. Table 1 also demonstrates how supplemental carriers dominated Logair: of Logair carriers listed, all were supplementals except for Airlift International and Slick Airways, which were scheduled cargo airlines.
Also, in April 1961, the Air Materiel Command became the Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC), the new parent organization of Logair.
+ Table 1: Logair and Quicktrans awards, Fiscal Year 1961–1969USD millions / YE June 30: 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969Logair: AAXICO Airlines(1) 7.8 7.3 8.4 9.3 Airlift International(2)5.0 10.9 3.9 4.2 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.8 Capitol Airways10.6 2.6 7.2 6.5 3.8 Overseas National 6.0 13.3Saturn Airways(1) 11.1 12.9 17.2 9.9Slick Airways(2) 6.1 Southern Air 0.3 Universal Airlines(3)5.3 3.2 6.4 8.2 11.4 12.0 10.1 6.5 6.3World Airways4.5 4.8 5.5 4.1 5.4 5.7 0.1 2.6Logair total25.3 29.2 30.3 31.4 30.7 28.8 29.3 31.0 32.1Quicktrans: Airlift International(2) 0.3 0.1Alaska Airlines 0.0 Flying Tiger Lines 3.0 Slick Airways(2) 6.5 7.8 8.9 7.9 US Overseas5.2 Universal Airlines(3) 6.6 10.2 11.7 12.4Quicktrans total5.2 6.5 7.7 8.9 7.9 9.5 10.2 12.0 12.5All military cargo charters55.2 101.4 101.2 86.4 120.7 165.7 321.1 241.3 187.3All military charters112.5 179.8 206.1 186.9 235.1 357.7 617.0 617.3 573.7Logair + Quicktrans as % of all military cargo charter55.2 35.2 37.6 46.7 32.0 23.1 12.3 17.8 23.8Logair + Quicktrans as % of all military charter27.1 19.9 18.5 21.6 16.4 10.7 6.4 7.0 7.8 Carriers in Bold Italic are supplemental air carriers (1) AAXICO merged into Saturn November 1965 (2) Airlift Intl (known as Riddle Airlines until March 1963) acquired the assets of Slick June 1966 (3) Changed name from Zantop Air Transport December 1966
1970s: diminished competition and the CIA Logair competition diminished substantially in the 1970s: By 1970, Capitol and World shifted their fleets to long-haul aircraft Logair didn't use. Airlift International made an effort to compete for Logair business by acquiring Lockheed L-100 Hercules, but could not finance them, so sold them and its Logair business to Saturn in 1970.Fare hike would help revive airlines, Miami News, 8 January 1971 Universal collapsed in 1972. Saturn took over Universal's Logair contract and Electra fleet. Overseas National Airways (ONA) got out of Electras by year-end 1974 and DC-9s by 1976. In 1973, Southern Air Transport (SAT), which had three Hercules, was, for the first time, awarded a portion of the Logair contract (for FY1974). This was seen by some as the last straw in a scandal over the CIA's secret ownership of SAT. By year end, SAT gave up its Logair contract and its CAB certification (so it was no longer a common carrier and thus ineligible for government contracts).
In 1977, when the CAB certificated Zantop International Airlines (ZIA; a separate airline from the earlier Zantop Air Transport) and recertificated Southern Air Transport (sold by the CIA at year end 1973) as supplemental air carriers, a significant motivation was to create competition for Logair and Quicktrans. Only two carriers, ONA and Saturn, participated in Logair/Quicktrans in fiscal years 1973 thru 1976, and Saturn took over 75% of the combined business in 1975 thru 1977. The Air Force recognized that reduced interest was a problem. One issue was lower rates. In 1979, in the wake of the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, the CAB eliminated fixed military charter rates, as established in the early 1960s. Military charter prices were once again set by negotiation between the military and the airlines. Another issue was that aircraft types best suited for Logair were not those most airlines flew (the Air Force also required they be specially equipped; see Operational features below). The Air Force noted the only aircraft competitive with the Electra for Logair was the DC-9. And for outsized cargo, nothing was competitive with the Hercules. Also, on a relative basis Logair was no longer a big program. in Fiscal Year 1979, Logair and Quicktrans together accounted for $55 million in airlift contracts (over $240 million in 2025 dollars). In 1979, freight revenues for the scheduled airlines were $2.2 billion, 40 times as much.
Hawaiian Hawaiian Airlines made two brief appearances as a Logair contractor in the late 1970s. Hawaiian established Hawaiian Air Cargo to fly for Logair in 1976, leasing Electras from ZIA. Hawaiian Air Cargo was based in Macon, Georgia (near Warner-Robins Air Force Base, part of the Logair network).Hawaiian Air Wins Big Military Cargo Contract, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 6 October 1976 ZIA retrieved its Electras in 1977, leaving Hawaiian out of the Logair contract.HAL concludes LOGAIR service, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 26 October 1977 In 1978 Hawaiian sourced more Electras and tried again.Hawaiian Airlines is back in Mainland cargo business, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 2 April 1978 This was unprofitable and in 1980 Hawaiian sold everything to ZIA.Zantop To Buy Cargo Operation, Macon (GA) News, 9 August 1980 Hawaiian was one of the few scheduled passenger airlines to participate in Logair.
1980s to 1992 The deregulated era (1979 onward) saw new entrant airlines make appearances as Logair contractors:
Interstate AirlinesCrashed plane was hauling for AF Dayton (OH) Daily News, 10 October 1986 CAM Air International Spirit of America Airlines TPI International Airways Express One InternationalMoney-saving move to cost RAFB 165 jobs Macon (GA) Telegraph, 25 July 1992 Kitty Hawk Air Cargo
However, Trans International Airlines (TIA), which bought Saturn in 1976, was a Logair contractor through its decision to liquidate in 1986 (when it was known as Transamerica Airlines). TIA was a monopoly provider of Lockheed L-100 Hercules aircraft to the Logair program through 1983 (when Southern Air Transport (SAT) joined the program). TIA's Hercules monopoly was noted in 1977 by the CAB and again by Air Force researchers in 1981. When Transamerica liquidated in 1986, SAT took over Transamerica's Hercules and that monopoly.Southern Air decides to lease Hercules planes from Transamerica, Miami News, 15 August 1986Southern Air's business soars Sacramento Bee, 10 April 1987
Other long-time Logair contractors included Zantop International, which was present from 1977 (FY1978) through 1991. Evergreen first made an appearance in FY1977 and was present in the final year (FY1992) These long-term Logair contractors, Evergreen, SAT, TIA/Transamerica and Zantop were all former supplemental air carriers with pre-deregulation roots.
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