The first commercial flight I flew was from Chicago Midway to Toledo Express Airport on Liberty Airlines in the early 1980s - just around the time when the original (and forever the best) Midway Airlines was flying from Midway Airport in Chicago. They flew Convairs, but I cannot recall if they were Convair 340 or 580? Does anyone remember the short lived Liberty Airlines?
Liberty Airlines - Does Anyone Remember Them?
- Thread starter k2air
- Start date
Don't recall the airline, but here is a link to a photo I found on a Google search.k2air said:
http://www.flytoledo.com/gallery/album23
Photo is mislabeled--that's no 580 with huge Allisons, but a piston-powered 340/440.desertfox said:
- Thread Starter
- #4
...that's it. Convair 340/440s. Someone from the Toledo Port Authority needs to update the photo caption. Liberty had to be one of the shortest lived airlines after deregulation.
Found some more info on Liberty for ya: Perusing old editions of "The Airline Handbook" (useful publication--too bad it only lasted a few years), the 1982/83 edition says that Liberty was "a new carrier" flying a sole 440 on a TOL-MDW route, while the next edition (1983-84) says that the carrier, having doubled their fleet to 2 440s, had "suspended its scheduled passenger operations in mid-1983". Prior to closing up shop they had extended their route eastwards, adding CAK and PHL.k2air said:
So, correct on their short-lived status.
Yes, I remember Liberty Airlines well. They were formed in Toledo, to try and fill a gap in PAX service. Don't remember the founding fathers, but did know some of the people who were involved with the flight operations. In the era of their birth if you remember, the controllers had been fired, and ATC was operating less than full strenght, and airlines were slow in adding pax flights which created voids in smaller city markets. Liberty was trying to see if Toledo pax were willing to fly an old piston A/C instead of driving to DTW or driving to Chicago.
They never had a CV-580. One of their CV-440's, if they indeed had two, was one I once flew for a short time and they got it from a company that was Gulf Air Transport, out of New Iberia, LA.. I'm pretty sure they had problems with it, and I'm also pretty sure if you were a frequent air traveler, that you only flew it once.
One of their pilots who I knew from YIP days, is now a Captain or was with United.
I also worked with one of their other pilots for 8 years after he long left Liberty.
Liberty folded it's wings in 1983, and don't remember all the details or where the plane(s) went, but think the 440 was turned into a freighter. All the planes if I am correct that they got were CV-440.
Once saw that same 440 return to New Iberia in the morning just after take-off with a fire, and land with about 40 angry oil field workers.
They never had a CV-580. One of their CV-440's, if they indeed had two, was one I once flew for a short time and they got it from a company that was Gulf Air Transport, out of New Iberia, LA.. I'm pretty sure they had problems with it, and I'm also pretty sure if you were a frequent air traveler, that you only flew it once.
One of their pilots who I knew from YIP days, is now a Captain or was with United.
I also worked with one of their other pilots for 8 years after he long left Liberty.
Liberty folded it's wings in 1983, and don't remember all the details or where the plane(s) went, but think the 440 was turned into a freighter. All the planes if I am correct that they got were CV-440.
Once saw that same 440 return to New Iberia in the morning just after take-off with a fire, and land with about 40 angry oil field workers.
Similar threads
