Bonanza Air Lines

 

Bonanza Air Service began charter operations in 1945 in Las Vegas with a single-engine Cessna.^[5] In 1946 it acquired a C-47 from Flying Tiger Line and had it converted to civilian Douglas DC-3 configuration.^[6] The airline started intrastate airline service from Las Vegas to Reno on 5 August 1946 as Bonanza Air Lines,^[7] initially three times a week, increasing up to daily by 2 September 1947, requiring another DC-3.^[8] In 1947 the airline applied to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for a certification as a feeder or local service airline. In June 1947, the airline announced a proposed merger with Arizona Airways, then also operating as an intrastate carrier, but within Arizona.^[9] However, there is no mention of such a merger in either of the CAB cases that awarded local service certificates to Arizona Airways and Bonanza.^[10][11]

In June 1949, the CAB awarded Bonanza a feeder certificate from Reno to Phoenix via intermediate points including Las Vegas. The award was unusual in that it involved the transfer of Las Vegas to Phoenix authority from trunk carrier Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA) to Bonanza.^[11] In 1945, Arizona Airways had asked the CAB to approve of a deal by which TWA would sell that route to Arizona Airways for $100,000 and the right to be a 20% owner.^[12] The CAB had deferred any decision until it awarded the feeder certification for the state of Arizona.^[13] In November 1949, the CAB approved a deal by which Bonanza bought the rights from TWA for $672.09, significantly less than what Arizona Airways had proposed to pay in 1945.^[14] Certificated operations began 19 December 1949.^[15]

There is no railroad between Las Vegas and Reno, and roads were primitive. Las Vegas and Reno were isolated from each other, with Las Vegas being better connected to Southern California and Reno to Northern California than to each other. Bonanza was credited with bringing the two parts of the state together. It also did a better job of the Vegas to Phoenix route than TWA had done, also credited with building traffic and bringing those two cities together. The founder and first president of Bonanza was Edmund Converse, who also funded much of its development. In July 1952, the airline started service on a new route from Phoenix to Los Angeles via many intermediate points.^[5]

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."^[16]

In 1959, Bonanza introduced Fairchild F-27s and unsuccessfully applied for routes to Texas.^[17] 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.^[18][19] 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,^[20] 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.^[21] The headquarters moved to Phoenix during 1966.^[22][23]

Bonanza's April 28, 1968, timetable listed DC-9 jet service on the following routes:^[24]

With Civil Aeronautics Board approval on April 17, 1968^[25] 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.

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.^[26]

The Bonanza route map in their April 28, 1968 timetable lists the following destinations.^[27] 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:

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.^[28]

 

Bonanza Air Lines operated the following aircraft:^[29]

• In 1970 Howard Hughes buys Air West, naming it Hughes Airwest.
• Republic Airlines buys Hughes Airwest in 1980.
• Northwest Airlines buys Republic in 1986
• Delta Air Lines buys Northwest in 2010

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.

• List of defunct airlines of the United States

 

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