Bonanza Air Lines

US airline (1945-1968)

Bonanza Air Lines

| IATA | ICAO | Callsign

|
|

BL  | BON  | \-
Founded| 1945 (1945)
Ceased operations| July 1, 1968 (1968-07-01)
Headquarters| Las Vegas, Nevada (1945–1966)
Phoenix, Arizona (1966–1968)

Bonanza Air Lines was a local service carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the Western United States (and eventually Mexico) from 1945 until it merged with two other local service airlines to form Air West in 1968.[1] Its headquarters was initially Las Vegas, Nevada, and moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1966.[2][3]

The airline began scheduled flights in 1945 with a twin engine Cessna[4] between Nevada cities Las Vegas, Reno, Tonopah and Hawthorne. In the 1950s and early 1960s the airline expanded into Arizona, Southern California and Utah, including Phoenix, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Until 1978 Bonanza had the only scheduled nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Reno. It became an international airline soon before it merged with Pacific Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West, with Douglas DC-9s from Phoenix and Tucson to La Paz, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta. Air West would later be renamed Hughes Airwest. Hughes Airwest was bought out by Republic Airlines (1979–1986) in 1980. In 1986 Republic was merged into Northwest Airlines. In 2010 Northwest merged into Delta Air Lines.

## History[edit]

Douglas DC-3, Orange County Airport, circa 1958

The company began operations in 1945 and was based in Las Vegas. It was known as Bonanza Air Services in Las Vegas. Bonanza was part of a Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) effort to develop "local service airlines." Interstate flights started in December 1949 and Bonanza's flight schedules appeared in the Official Airline Guide.

In October 1951, its Douglas DC-3s served eight airports from Reno to Phoenix. By July 1952 Bonanza added seven airports west from Phoenix to Los Angeles. In 1968 it began flights to Mexico from Tucson, and by that May the airline scheduled flights to 22 airports.

Like other local service air carriers, Bonanza was subsidized by the federal government. In 1962 its operating revenues of $11.0 million included $3.2 million "Pub. serv. rev."[5]

In 1959, Bonanza introduced Fairchild F-27s and unsuccessfully applied for routes to Texas.[6] The F-27 was a U.S. built version of the Dutch built Fokker F27 Friendship. The last scheduled DC-3 flight was in late 1960, and Bonanza became the first all-turbine airline in the U.S. Bonanza F-27s flew to Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) in northern Arizona with flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Tucson.

Bonanza ordered three BAC One-Elevens in October 1962; this request was denied by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), although U.S. authorities allowed American Airlines, Braniff International Airways, Aloha Airlines and Mohawk Airlines to purchase the same aircraft.[7][8] An order was then placed for the U.S. built equivalent, the Douglas DC-9 series 10. Deliveries of the DC-9 began in late 1965 and flights commenced on March 1, 1966. The DC-9s, dubbed Funjets,[9] flew the following routes in the first year: Las Vegas—Reno, Las Vegas—Los Angeles, Reno—Los Angeles, Salt Lake City—Phoenix, and Reno—Las Vegas—Phoenix.[10] The headquarters moved to Phoenix during 1966.[11][12]

Bonanza's April 28, 1968, timetable listed DC-9 flights on the following:[13]

* Las Vegas - Los Angeles
* Las Vegas - Phoenix
* Las Vegas - Orange County Airport (now John Wayne Airport)
* Las Vegas - Reno
* Las Vegas - Tucson
* Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Reno
* Los Angeles - Tucson - Phoenix
* Los Angeles - San Diego - Tucson
* Phoenix - Las Vegas - Reno
* Phoenix - Orange County Airport
* Phoenix - Tucson - La Paz - Mazatlan - Puerto Vallarta
* Salt Lake City - Phoenix - Tucson
* Reno - Las Vegas - Phoenix - Tucson

With Civil Aeronautics Board approval on April 17, 1968[14] Bonanza Air Lines merged with Pacific Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West on July 1. Bonanza's DC-9-10s and F-27As joined the new Air West fleet. Air West would be renamed Hughes Airwest in 1970 and would be acquired in 1980 by Republic Airlines (the result of the 1979 merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways), with Republic being acquired by Northwest Airlines in 1986. Northwest merged with Delta Air Lines in 2008.

A McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 (construction number 47246/registration N9333) was ordered by Bonanza but was delivered to Air West after the merger. It flew with Bonanza's successors until about 2009.[15]

## Destinations in 1968[edit]

The Bonanza route map in their April 28, 1968 timetable lists the following destinations.[16] Cities in bold were served with DC-9 jets and F-27 turboprops or only by DC-9s while other destinations were served only by F-27s:

* Blythe, California (BLH)
* Cedar City, Utah (CDC)
* El Centro, California (IPL)
* Grand Canyon, Arizona (GCN)
* Kingman, Arizona (IGM)
* La Paz, Mexico (LAP)
* Las Vegas, Nevada (LAS)
* Los Angeles, California (LAX)
* Mazatlan, Mexico (MZT)
* Ontario, California (ONT)
* Orange County, California (SNA)
* Page, Arizona (PGA)
* Palm Springs, California (PSP)
* Phoenix Arizona (PHX)
* Prescott, Arizona (PRC)
* Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (PVR)
* Reno, Nevada (RNO) (Lake Tahoe was served via Reno)
* Riverside, California (RAL)
* Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC)
* San Diego, California (SAN)
* Tucson, Arizona (TUS)
* Yuma, Arizona (YUM)

Guaymas, Mexico (GYM) is shown on this map; however, Bonanza was not serving Guaymas at this time although it had the authority to do so. Earlier in 1968, the airline served Apple Valley, California (APV) with F-27s.[17]

## Fleet[edit]

Fairchild F-27A, circa 1964

Bonanza Air Lines operated the following aircraft:[18]

Aircraft  | Total  | Introduced  | Retired  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Cessna T-50 | 2  | 1945  | Un­known  |
Douglas C-47 Skytrain | 10  | 1949  | 1963  |
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10 | 7  | 1965  | 1968  |
Fairchild F-27A | 17  | 1959  | 1968  |
Grumman Gulfstream I | 1  | Un­known  | Un­known  |

## Incidents and accidents[edit]

The airline's only fatal incident was on November 15, 1964, when Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114, flying from Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada, crashed into a mountain south of Las Vegas during poor weather. There were no survivors among the 26 passengers and three crew on board the F-27.

## See also[edit]

* List of defunct airlines of the United States

## References[edit]

1. ^ "AirTimes.com - Bonanza April 1968 timetable image". Retrieved 2013-07-01.
2. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. April 13, 1967. 561.
3. ^ Lehman, William. "Part VII - America West." US Airways. Retrieved on February 18, 2010.
4. ^ "Northwest Airlines nwa.com - About Northwest - NWA Up Close". Nwa.com. Archived from the original on 2000-06-04. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
5. ^ Moody's Transportation Manual 1964
6. ^ "timetableimages.com - Bonanza Airlines January 1959 timetable image". Retrieved 2013-07-01.
7. ^ Airlift April 1963: Mohawk "does not need CAB approval because it will handle its own financing without a guaranteed loan."
8. ^ "1963 | 1256 | Flight Archive". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
9. ^ "AirTimes.com - Bonanza March 1967 timetable image". Retrieved 2013-07-01.
10. ^ Official Airline Guides (1968). Official Airline Guide, North American Timetable Edition. Robert Parrish.
11. ^ "Bonanza Airlines". 2007-01-15. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
12. ^ "Birth of Bonanza Airlines". Retrieved 2008-05-13.
13. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, April 28, 1968 Bonanza timetable
14. ^ "Bonanza Air Lines' history". Bonanzaairlines.com. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
15. ^ "photo of DC-9-31 N9333". Airliners.net. 2009-05-02. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
16. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, April 28, 1968 Bonanza route map
17. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 1, 1968 Bonanza route map
18. ^ "Bonanza Airlines". Aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bonanza Air Lines.

* Bonanza Airlines Historical Website \- bonanzaairlines.com
* Timetableimages.com has Bonanza timetables from 1951–1968, showing where they flew and what it cost.
* Photographs of Bonanza Air Lines planes \- airliners.net
* Bonanza Air Lines timetable cover, showing Nevada destinations in February 1948 \- airtimes.com
* Gallery of Bonanza Air Lines timetable covers from the 1950s \- airtimes.com
* Gallery of Bonanza Air Lines postcards \- williamdemarest.com
* historical notes, route summations, marketing materials, and aircraft images of Bonanza Air Lines \- airlinecolors.com
* Bonanza Air Lines records \- lists artifact collection stored at the Minnesota Historical Society

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