Best Airlines
Encyclopedia
Best Airlines was a small airline that flew to a miscellaneous and changing group of cities in the Mid-Atlantic United States
in the mid-1980s. Their headquarters was in the Covington, Kentucky
area which is near the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. The May 15, 1983 timetable indicates headquarters in Florence, KY and the January 7, 1985 timetable indicates headquarters in Ft. Mitchell, KY.
The airline operated a fleet of McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-10's, an aircraft which seats about 70 passengers. Their aircraft were painted in a striking livery. A diagonal cheatline with orange, yellow, and red stripes divided a white top from a blue bottom. The arrangement ran up the middle of the tail with the word "Best" in black letters on the white section.
Flight International Magazine's 1985 "World Aviation Directory" includes a short entry for the airline. It lists Best as a Part 121 carrier established on June 28, 1982. It listed headquarters as 207 Grandview Dr., Ft. Mitchell, KY, 41017. The airline's president is listed as William C. Yung, and its executive vice-president as C. Michael Dacy, and its treasurer as James W. Thelen. The airline is listed as having 100 employees and two aircraft.
The airline had no hub airport, and added and dropped a number of airports during its existence. Their January 7, 1985 timetable shows them serving the following airports:
The airline appears to have had no more than three or four flights a day, and sometimes as few as one, from its airports. In 1985 as in 1983 there is no hub, and there appears to have been no clear pattern to their choice of markets.
Best Airlines appears to have been one of the more quixotic of the new entrants. It had no identifiable hub or traffic flow, and it only operated for a few years. But it is an example of the many new airlines, successful in the long term or not, that took to the skies in the years after deregulation.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the mid-1980s. Their headquarters was in the Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
area which is near the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. The May 15, 1983 timetable indicates headquarters in Florence, KY and the January 7, 1985 timetable indicates headquarters in Ft. Mitchell, KY.
The airline operated a fleet of McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-10's, an aircraft which seats about 70 passengers. Their aircraft were painted in a striking livery. A diagonal cheatline with orange, yellow, and red stripes divided a white top from a blue bottom. The arrangement ran up the middle of the tail with the word "Best" in black letters on the white section.
Flight International Magazine's 1985 "World Aviation Directory" includes a short entry for the airline. It lists Best as a Part 121 carrier established on June 28, 1982. It listed headquarters as 207 Grandview Dr., Ft. Mitchell, KY, 41017. The airline's president is listed as William C. Yung, and its executive vice-president as C. Michael Dacy, and its treasurer as James W. Thelen. The airline is listed as having 100 employees and two aircraft.
Destinations
The May 15, 1983 timetable indicates that the airline served:- Buffalo-Niagara International Airport
- Detroit Metropolitan Airport
- Hartford, CT / Springfield, MA Bradley International AirportBradley International AirportBradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut....
- Philadelphia International AirportPhiladelphia International AirportPhiladelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
- Piedmont Triad International AirportPiedmont Triad International AirportPiedmont Triad International Airport is an airport just west of Greensboro, serving Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem as well as the entire Piedmont Triad Region in North Carolina. The airport has 3 runways; the third opened January 27, 2010 for traffic. The airport is located just off...
(Greensboro/ Winston-Salem/ High Point, North Carolina) - Raleigh-Durham International AirportRaleigh-Durham International AirportRaleigh-Durham International Airport is a public international airport located 4.5 miles northeast of the town of Morrisville in suburban Wake County, North Carolina, United States. The airport covers and operates three runways, providing direct service to 40 domestic and international...
- Greater Rochester International AirportGreater Rochester International AirportGreater Rochester International Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Rochester, a city in Monroe County, New York, United States...
The airline had no hub airport, and added and dropped a number of airports during its existence. Their January 7, 1985 timetable shows them serving the following airports:
- Cleveland Hopkins International AirportCleveland Hopkins International AirportCleveland Hopkins International Airport is a public airport located nine miles southwest of the central business district of Cleveland, a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The airport lies just within the city limits of Cleveland...
- Detroit
- Hartford/ Springfield
- Philadelphia
- Rochester
- Syracuse Hancock International AirportSyracuse Hancock International AirportSyracuse Hancock International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located northeast of Syracuse, in Onondaga County, New York, off of Interstate 81 near Mattydale, New York. The main terminal complex is located at the eastern end of Colonel Eileen Collins Boulevard.-History:In 1927...
- (Buffalo, Greenboro/ Winston-Salem/ High Point and Raleigh-Durham dropped by this time)
The airline appears to have had no more than three or four flights a day, and sometimes as few as one, from its airports. In 1985 as in 1983 there is no hub, and there appears to have been no clear pattern to their choice of markets.
Conclusion
After the deregulation of the airline industry in the United States in 1978, many new airlines took to the skies, and existing airlines grew, leading to an expansion from 297 million passengers handled in the U.S. in 1980 to 466 million in 1990. But along the way many startup airlines failed, such as People Express, Muse Air, and New York Air.Best Airlines appears to have been one of the more quixotic of the new entrants. It had no identifiable hub or traffic flow, and it only operated for a few years. But it is an example of the many new airlines, successful in the long term or not, that took to the skies in the years after deregulation.