Mackey Airlines

{{Short description|US international airline (1953–1967) that merged into Eastern}}

{{Hatnote|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}}

{{Infobox airline

| airline=Mackey Airlines

| image =

| caption =

| IATA = MK⁽¹⁾{{cite report|title=Airport Activity Statistics of Certificated Route Carriers|publisher=Air Transport Association of America|date=31 December 1959|page=iv|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBDWAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PR4}}

| ICAO = MK⁽¹⁾

| callsign =

| founded = {{Start date and age|1946|09|30|br=y}}
incorporated in Florida as Mackey Air Transport

| commenced = {{Start date and age|1953|01|02|br=y}}

| ceased = {{End date and age|1967|01|08|br=y}}

| bases =

| fleet_size = See Fleet below

| destinations = See Destinations below

| headquarters = Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

| founder = Joseph C. Mackey

| num_employees = 230

| notes = (1) IATA, ICAO codes were the same until the 1980s

}}

File:Douglas DC-6, Mackey Airlines JP5930439.jpg 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.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/129914221 Col. Mackey: A Man Who Has Done It All, Palm Beach (FL) Post, 11 January 1970] Mackey died February 1982, age 72, only a few months after his second eponymous carrier, Mackey International, ceased operations.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/629605147 Col. Joseph C. Mackey, airline president, aviator, Miami Herald, 15 February 1982]

In 1965, the airline had 230 employees.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/620606188 Merger Approved, But Col. Mackey Isn't Retiring, Miami Herald, 16 October 1965]

History

Mackey Air Transport was incorporated in Florida 30 September 1946.{{cite web|url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_fl/148669|title=opencorporates Florida incorporation record for Mackey|website=opencorporates.com|publisher=opencorporates|language=en|access-date=25 July 2024}} The airline's first flight was 2 January 1953.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/129846819 Mackey Line Launches Air Service to Nassau, Palm Beach Post, 3 January 1953] 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.{{cite report|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015024399167?urlappend=%3Bseq=209%3Bownerid=516804-217|hdl=2027/mdp.39015024399167|hdl-access=free|page=187|title=Handbook of Airline Statistics, United States Certificated Air Carriers, Calendar Years 1949–1956|date=June 1960|publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board}} The original Mackey Airlines certificate was transferred to Eastern Air Lines on 8 January 1967.{{cite report|title=International Jet Trends|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112105053968?urlappend=%3Bseq=39%3Bownerid=35753766-38|hdl=2027/uiug.30112105053968|hdl-access=free|date=October 1980|page=29|publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board}}

Destinations

As of November 1966 (same order as the timetable):{{cite web|url=https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/mk6611.htm|website=timetableimages.com|publisher=Mackey Airlines|date=6 November 1966|title=Mackey Airlines Flight Schedule|access-date=18 October 2024}}

Fleet

In March 1955, Aviation Week said Mackey Air Transport had four Douglas DC-3s.{{cite journal|journal=Aviation Week|date=14 March 1955 |title=United States Aircraft Engaged in Air Transportation |url=https://archive.aviationweek.com/issue/19550314|page=131|volume=62|number=11|issn=0005-2175}}

As of September 1961:{{cite journal|journal=Aviation Week|date=12 March 1962 |title=Aircraft Engaged in U.S. Air Transportation |url=https://archive.aviationweek.com/issue/19620312|page=153|volume=76|number=11|issn=0005-2175}}

The following types were operated by Mackey Airlines:{{cite web|url=http://aerobernie.bplaced.net/Mackey%20Airlines.html|title=Mackey Airlines|website=Aerobernie.bplaced.net|access-date=April 12, 2023}}

class="wikitable col1left col2center col3center col4center col5center col6left col7center col7center col8center"
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

class="wikitable col1left col2center col3center col4center col5center col6left col7center col7center col8center"

Type

!Total

!Introduced

!Retired

!Type

!Total

!Introduced

!Retired

Beechcraft 18

|1960

|1966