Vanguard Airlines
Encyclopedia
Vanguard Airlines was an airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based out of Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

. For a time, Vanguard also had significant operations at Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, until late 2000. It ceased operations on July 29, 2002, after filing for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

. The airline flew leased Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...

s and MD-80 aircraft to several destinations from its main hub in Kansas City at the time of its demise. Vanguard Airlines started service in 1994.

Early history

Vanguard was originally started as a Low-cost, low-fare airline, the purpose of which was to undercut the costs of the major carrier
Major carrier
Major carrier or major airline carrier is a designation given by the United States Department of Transportation to U.S.-based airlines that post more than $1 billion in revenue during a fiscal year.As of 2010, there were 19 major carriers....

s and so be able to charge lower fares. Super-low regular advance fares of as little as $29 each way were the norm. Sale fares of as little as $10 were not uncommon. By the time Vanguard started, however, most major carriers had learned how to deal with such competition. They simply lowered prices in the markets where these smaller airlines flew, making it impossible for the Low-cost airlines to make money.

Reservations

Reservations were outsourced to a call center in Lawrence, KS run by Dakotah Reservations, a division of Dakotah Direct (now owned by West Business Services). Reservation agents were mostly college students from the University of Kansas. Eventually the call center moved to Mission, KS.

Reinvention

In 2000, the airline began a program to change itself from a Low-cost, low-fare airline to the more sustainable Low-cost carrier
Low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...

 model. This type of airline had lower costs than the major carriers, but competed on more than just price. Service, on-time performance, leg room, frequent flier programs, and other factors are often used in this competitive model. No longer were the cut-rate advance-purchase fares well-below the major carrier
Major carrier
Major carrier or major airline carrier is a designation given by the United States Department of Transportation to U.S.-based airlines that post more than $1 billion in revenue during a fiscal year.As of 2010, there were 19 major carriers....

s. Only the full-coach fares, which fewer customers buy, were significantly lower.

The change program worked and the airline saw significant improvements in operational and financial performance. The summer of 2001 saw some of the best growth and performance the airline had ever achieved; but the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

 changed all that. In October, 2001, the airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 cut 20% of its staff. Full-time hourly workers were cut to as little as 32 hours per week. The executive suite took a 25% pay-cut. The airline struggled to compete in a market that saw schedules cut by a third and planes flying half-full.

During this period, Vanguard also introduced a multi-color aircraft livery
Aircraft livery
Aircraft livery is a paint scheme applied to an aircraft, generally to fuselage, wings, empennage , or jet engines. Most airlines have a standard paint scheme for their aircraft fleet, usually prominently displaying the airline logo or name. From time to time special liveries are introduced, for...

 similar in concept to Braniff International Airways
Braniff International Airways
Braniff International Airways was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982, primarily in the midwestern and southwestern U.S., South America, Panama, and in its later years also Asia and Europe...

 "Flying Colors" or Air Canada
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...

's "airline within an airline" concept, ZIP airlines
Zip (airline)
Zip was a Canadian discount airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, launched by Air Canada as a no-frills subsidiary in September 2002. It operated a fleet of 12 Boeing 737 aircraft, each painted in a bright, neon colour with a single class of service...

. This paint scheme was adopted with the introduction of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 Series aircraft and involved the stylistic painting of the new Vanguard livery, in varied hues upon different aircraft. As in the case of Braniff's ultimate "Ultra" or "wet-look", more restrained use of colors were favored by the design team, which conversely was to become Vanguard's final livery.

Post 9/11

The assumption made and popularized by many economic analysts was that airlines like Vanguard were forced into bankruptcy due to the industry downturn following the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

. This may be an incorrect assumption for Vanguard and other airlines despite popular opinion. Shortly after the attacks, Vanguard received approximately $2–3 million in federal aid, as did most other airlines.

If this money had never been distributed, there is a possibility that Vanguard might have gone bankrupt before the end of 2001. The cost of moving Vanguard from the Open Skies reservation system to SABRE during 2001 forced the airline to invest millions that the airline could little afford. Company meetings between CEO Scott Dickson and Marketing Director Greg Aretakis and other staff became more numerous and serious as the year passed. On at least three occasions, the conclusions made by the CEO and Marketing Director was that the transformation of Vanguard from an Open Skies to a SABRE system had to work, or it would be the end of the airline.

Daily revenue records showed marked increases in sales overall, but difficulties in adopting SABRE overshadowed the successful sales increases. The money that the government remitted to Vanguard after 9/11 offered the airline a new lease on life. It would not sustain the airline forever, but it allowed for a few months of replanning. Companion fare sales and internet ticket hot deals helped keep the airline above water for several months, and the hopes of more funding from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board kept a positive outlook among airline staff.

The following summer was bad for most airlines, but worse for Vanguard. While operational performance continued to improve to summer 2001 levels, the airline was still saddled with $80 million in debt. Nervous about increased bookings, credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

 processors required greater and greater assurances that they would not lose money if the airline failed. In his book about the bankruptcy of the airline, Scott Dickson wrote how these processors required surety bonds of 125% of sales to continue processing credit cards. As each ticket was sold, the airline actually lost money. It was unsustainable and on July 29, 2002 the airline ceased operations.

Post bankruptcy

When operations ceased, National Airlines
National Airlines (N7)
National Airlines was a Las Vegas based low fare airline, and the third United States-based airline to use the name. The airline was created to bring tourists to Las Vegas. As a result, it offered service to a limited number of cities with high traffic to Las Vegas...

 and Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines, Inc., is an American airline headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The carrier, which is a subsidiary and operating brand of Republic Airways Holdings, operates flights to 83 destinations throughout the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica and maintains hubs at...

 immediately offered to take Vanguard passengers on a space-available basis. Controversy broke out with other airlines that had accepted Air Transportation Stabilization Board
Air Transportation Stabilization Board
The Air Transportation Stabilization Board is an office of United States Department of the Treasury created to assist US airlines in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks....

 grants immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

. One requirement of these grants was to accept passengers from airlines that ceased operations for a nominal fee. Some airlines refused and others charged higher fees than allowed under the law. Eventually, most passengers reached their destinations.

Not long after the bankruptcy, Robert H. Brooks
Robert H. Brooks
Robert H. Brooks was founder of Naturally Fresh, Inc. in 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia, and later created the Hooters of America restaurant chain in the mid-1980s.-Early life and career:...

, owner of Naturally Fresh, Hooters
Hooters
Hooters is the trade name of two privately held American restaurant chains: Hooters of America, Incorporated, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Hooters, Incorporated, based in Clearwater, Florida...

 restaurants and PACE Aviation
Pace Airlines
Pace Airlines was an American charter airline based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. It operated executive passenger and sports flight charters...

, offered to purchase the airline. His offer was rejected and the company was eventually liquidated. Its headquarters became the temporary offices of the Transportation Security Administration
Transportation Security Administration
The Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....

 in Kansas City.

Former destinations

  • Atlanta (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
    Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
    Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , known locally as Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, and Hartsfield–Jackson, is located seven miles south of the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

    )
  • Austin
    Austin, Texas
    Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

     (Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
    Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
    Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is a mixed-use commercial airport located southeast of the central business district of Austin, Texas, United States. It covers and has two runways and three helipads.The airport began passenger service on May 23, 1999...

    )
  • Buffalo
    Buffalo, New York
    Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

     (Buffalo Niagara International Airport
    Buffalo Niagara International Airport
    Buffalo Niagara International Airport is an airport located in Cheektowaga CDP, Town of Cheektowaga, in Erie County, New York, USA. It is named after the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The airport serves Buffalo, New York as well as Southern Ontario, Canada...

    )
  • Chicago
    Chicago
    Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

     (Chicago Midway International Airport) Focus City
  • Cincinnati (Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport) Service suspended twice
  • Colorado Springs (Colorado Springs Airport
    Colorado Springs Airport
    Colorado Springs Airport , also known as the City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, is a city-owned, public-use, joint civil-military airport located six miles southeast of the central business district of Colorado Springs, a city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the second...

    )
  • Dallas/Fort Worth (Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
    Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
    Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, and is the busiest airport in the U.S. state of Texas...

    )
  • Denver (Denver International Airport
    Denver International Airport
    Denver International Airport , often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado. By land size, at , it is the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world after King Fahd International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel...

    )
  • Des Moines (Des Moines Airport) Brief service from 1995 - 1996
  • Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood
    Hollywood, Florida
    -Demographics:As of 2000, there were 59,673 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of...

     (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
    Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
    Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport is an international commercial airport located in unincorporated Broward County, Florida, three miles southwest of the central business district of Fort Lauderdale...

    )
  • Fort Myers (Page Field
    Page Field
    Page Field General Aviation Airport is a public airport located three miles south of the central business district of Fort Myers, a city in Lee County, Florida, United States...

    )
  • Kansas City
    Kansas City, Missouri
    Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

     (Kansas City International Airport
    Kansas City International Airport
    Kansas City International Airport , originally named Mid-Continent International Airport, is a public airport located 15 miles northwest of the central business district of Kansas City, in Platte County, Missouri, United States. In 2008, 10,469,892 passengers used the airport...

    ) Hub
  • Las Vegas
    Las Vegas, Nevada
    Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

     (McCarran International Airport
    McCarran International Airport
    McCarran International Airport is the principal commercial airport serving Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. The airport is located five miles south of the central business district of Las Vegas, in the unincorporated area of Paradise in Clark County. It covers an area of and...

    )
  • Los Angeles
    Los Ángeles
    Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

     (Los Angeles International Airport
    Los Angeles International Airport
    Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...

    )
  • Miami (Miami International Airport
    Miami International Airport
    Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...

    ) Service suspended before 1999
  • Milwaukee (General Mitchell International Airport
    General Mitchell International Airport
    General Mitchell International Airport is a county-owned public airport located five miles south of the central business district of Milwaukee, a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States....

    ) Service suspended before 1999
  • Minneapolis/St. Paul (Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) Service suspended in 2001
  • Myrtle Beach (Myrtle Beach Airport) Weekly service 3 times per week
  • New Orleans (Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
    Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
    Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is a Class B public use international airport in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by the City of New Orleans and is located 10 nautical miles west of its central business district. The airport's address is 900 Airline Drive...

    )
  • New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

     (John F. Kennedy International Airport
    John F. Kennedy International Airport
    John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...

    ) Service suspended in 1999
  • New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

     (La Guardia Airport)
  • Orlando
    Orlando
    Orlando is a major city in the U.S. state of Florida.Orlando may also refer to-Places:* in Florida** Orlando, a major city** Greater Orlando, the 27th-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

     (Orlando International Airport
    Orlando International Airport
    Orlando International Airport is a major international airport located southeast of the central business district of Orlando. It is the second busiest airport in Florida, after Miami International Airport...

    )
  • Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh International Airport
    Pittsburgh International Airport
    Pittsburgh International Airport , formerly Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Greater Pittsburgh International Airport and commonly referred to as Pittsburgh International, is a joint civil–military international airport located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Findlay Township, approximately west of...

    )
  • Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City International Airport
    Salt Lake City International Airport
    Salt Lake City International Airport is a major public airport in Utah. A joint civil-military facility, it is located in western Salt Lake City, approximately four miles from the central business district...

    )
  • San Francisco (San Francisco International Airport
    San Francisco International Airport
    San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...

    )
  • Seattle/Tacoma (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
    Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
    The Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , also known as Sea–Tac Airport or Sea–Tac , is an American airport located in SeaTac, Washington, at the intersections of State Routes 99 and 509 and 518, about west of Interstate 5...

    ) Service suspended November 1996
  • Tampa
    Tâmpa
    Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...

     (Tampa International Airport
    Tampa International Airport
    Tampa International Airport is a major public airport located six nautical miles west of the central business district of Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. This airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority...

    ) Brief service during the late 1990s
  • Wichita
    Wichita, Kansas
    Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

     (Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
    Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
    Wichita Mid-Continent Airport is a commercial airport located in southwest Wichita, in Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA. It is the busiest airport in the state of Kansas . In 2008, passenger traffic continued to grow despite increased fuel prices and economic troubles, with 1,615,075 passengers...

    ) Non-stop flights to Dallas-Ft. Worth & Kansas City from 1995 - 1997. After exiting service to/from Wichita, Vanguard Airlines sued American Airlines for unfair trade practices, in federal court...and lost.

Final fleet

At the time the airline was grounded in 2002, Vanguard had 15 aircraft in its fleet consisting of:
Vanguard Airlines Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(Business/Coach)
Notes
McDonnell Douglas MD-81 1 132
(12/120)
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 3 132
(12/120) or (14/118)
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 1 132
(12/120)
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 2 112
(12/100)
A smaller aft galley allowed more seats
than the normal configuration on an MD-87.
Boeing 727-200 2 164
(0/164)
Wet leased from TransMeridian Airlines
TransMeridian Airlines
TransMeridian Airlines was an Atlanta, Georgia based charter operator, operating under U.S. Department of Transportation FAR Part 121. It ceased all operations on September 29, 2005, after negotiations with creditors to restructure its debt failed.-History:...

Boeing 737-200 6 120
(0/120)


Historical fleet

Vanguard's fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
  • Boeing 737-300
  • Boeing 737-200 (Advanced and High Gross Weight variants)
  • Boeing 727-200 (wet-leased from Falcon Air Express
    Falcon Air Express
    Falcon Air Express is an airline based in Miami, Florida, USA. It operated charter services and wet-leasing of aircraft. Its main base is Miami International Airport. Falcon Air sub-contracts for Venezuelan carrier Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela...

    , TransMeridian Airlines
    TransMeridian Airlines
    TransMeridian Airlines was an Atlanta, Georgia based charter operator, operating under U.S. Department of Transportation FAR Part 121. It ceased all operations on September 29, 2005, after negotiations with creditors to restructure its debt failed.-History:...

    , and others)
  • McDonnell Douglas MD-81
  • McDonnell Douglas MD-82
  • McDonnell Douglas MD-83
  • McDonnell Douglas MD-87

External links

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