Mackey Airlines

Not to be confused with the later Mackey International of the same founder, that operated from 1968 to 1981 under the names Mackey International Air Taxi, Mackey International Air Commuter and Mackey International Airlines, mostly to the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and Haiti

Mackey Airlines

IATA ICAO Call sign MK^(1)[1] MK^(1)[1] —
Founded	September 30, 1946; 78 years ago (1946-09-30) incorporated in Florida as Mackey Air Transport
Commenced operations	January 2, 1953; 71 years ago (1953-01-02)
Ceased operations	January 8, 1967; 57 years ago (1967-01-08)
Fleet size	See Fleet below
Destinations	See Destinations below
Headquarters	Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Founder	Joseph C. Mackey
Employees	230
Notes
(1) IATA, ICAO codes were the same until the 1980s

DC-6 at West End in 1965

Mackey Airlines (until 1953 Mackey Air Transport) was a small United States scheduled international airline flying from Florida to the Bahamas certificated in 1952 by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now defunct Federal agency that, at the time, tightly regulated almost all US commercial air transport. The airline was founded by Joseph C. Mackey. Mackey also flew to Cuba prior to the Cuban Revolution. In 1956, Mackey absorbed Midet Aviation, an even smaller CAB-certificated airline also flying between Florida and the Bahamas. Mackey merged into Eastern Air Lines in 1967.

Joseph C. Mackey

Joseph C. Mackey learned to fly as a teenager in Cleveland, flew liquor across Lake Erie during Prohibition and partnered with Roscoe Turner in air races in the 1930s. In 1940, delivering aircraft to the UK for the Royal Air Force, engine trouble forced his aircraft down in Newfoundland. Mackey, the only survivor, was left with a scarred depression in his forehead. Two others died on impact, a third, Canadian Nobel Prize winner (for co-discovery of insulin) Frederick Banting, died of injuries and exposure later. Mackey flew for the United States Army Air Force Air Transport Command during World War II and emerged a colonel.^[2] Mackey died February 1982, age 72, only a few months after his second eponymous carrier, Mackey International, ceased operations.^[3]

In 1965, the airline had 230 employees.^[4]

History

Mackey Air Transport was incorporated in Florida 30 September 1946.^[5] The airline's first flight was 2 January 1953.^[6] In June, the airline changed its name to Mackey Airlines, the CAB reissued the certificate in that name in October. Flights flew primarily out of its Fort Lauderdale base and from West Palm Beach and Miami. On 3 December 1956, Mackey acquired Midet Aviation, another CAB-certificated scheduled airline flying from Florida to Bahamas.^[7] The original Mackey Airlines certificate was transferred to Eastern Air Lines on 8 January 1967.^[8]

Destinations

As of November 1966 (same order as the timetable):^[9]

• Andros Town, Bahamas
• Bimini, Bahamas
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Freeport, Bahamas
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
• Miami, Florida
• Nassau, Bahamas
• Tampa, Florida
• West End, Bahamas
• West Palm Beach, Florida

Fleet

In March 1955, Aviation Week said Mackey Air Transport had four Douglas DC-3s.^[10]

As of September 1961:^[11]

• 2 Douglas DC-3
• 3 Douglas DC-4
• 1 Douglas DC-6

The following types were operated by Mackey Airlines:^[12]

Type	Total	Introduced	Retired		Type	Total	Introduced	Retired
Beechcraft 18	1	1960	1966		Douglas DC-4	3	1959	1966
Douglas DC-3	5	1953	1964		Douglas DC-6	7	1961	1967

See also

• List of defunct airlines of the United States

References

1. Airport Activity Statistics of Certificated Route Carriers (Report). Air Transport Association of America. 31 December 1959. p. iv.
2. Col. Mackey: A Man Who Has Done It All, Palm Beach (FL) Post, 11 January 1970
3. Col. Joseph C. Mackey, airline president, aviator, Miami Herald, 15 February 1982
4. Merger Approved, But Col. Mackey Isn't Retiring, Miami Herald, 16 October 1965
5. "opencorporates Florida incorporation record for Mackey". opencorporates.com. opencorporates. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
6. Mackey Line Launches Air Service to Nassau, Palm Beach Post, 3 January 1953
7. Handbook of Airline Statistics, United States Certificated Air Carriers, Calendar Years 1949–1956 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. June 1960. p. 187. hdl:2027/mdp.39015024399167.
8. International Jet Trends (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. October 1980. p. 29. hdl:2027/uiug.30112105053968.
9. "Mackey Airlines Flight Schedule". timetableimages.com. Mackey Airlines. 6 November 1966. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
10. "United States Aircraft Engaged in Air Transportation". Aviation Week. 62 (11): 131. 14 March 1955. ISSN 0005-2175.
11. "Aircraft Engaged in U.S. Air Transportation". Aviation Week. 76 (11): 153. 12 March 1962. ISSN 0005-2175.
12. "Mackey Airlines". Aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

External links