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Ozark Air Lines during the '70's |
OZARK AIR LINES
: The SeventiesA nation’s President resigned, Disco reigned, man last visited the moon and OZARK flourished. Over the decade the airline would begin service to five new states, continue route experimentation and compete on a whole new playing field as airline deregulation became the law of the land.
Ozark’s fleet of Douglas DC-9s continued to grow through the period, as over twenty of the Douglas twins were bought or leased for service, either directly from the builder or second hand from airlines like Delta. Two of the new aircraft were DC-9-32s, equipped with long-range fuel tanks. While the jet fleet grew, the line’s force of turbo-prop FH-227s was slowly reduced in size as Ozark dropped service from more of the area’s small airports, such as Kirksville, MO, Ottumwa IA and Sterling, IL. The airline broke tradition in 1978 when it ordered two Boeing 727-200s. Although the pair would be painted in full green and white swallow scheme, neither would ever operate for the regional carrier, as both were sold to Pan Am at delivery, Ozark electing to stay with the DC-9 as its only jet aircraft. Taking on outside work, Ozark’s St Louis maintenance base overhauled USAF C-9As (essentially DC-9-30s) from nearby Scott, AFB and maintained Hugh Hefner’s personal DC-9. The gloss black aircraft with its trademark Playboy Bunny markings would become a familiar sight on the Ozark ramp at Lambert through the period. Two major Ozark cities debuted large new airports as Kansas City International (MCI) and Dallas-Ft Worth (DFW) were opened, both replacing smaller downtown facilities. New states were added to the timetable, as Ozark began flights to Detroit, Michigan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana through the decade. Florida became an Ozark state in 1979 as Miami, Tampa Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando were added as destinations. In time Ozark would serve eight different locations in the "Sunshine State." Ozark wasn’t afraid to try innovative ideas, as it introduced "commuter" service to Chicago’s Meigs Field in March, 1972 with three leased DeHavilland of Canada DHC-6 "Twin Otters". The high-winged, fixed gear, twin-turboprop aircraft were perfect for use into the short (3900 ft) lake-front field and by mid 1972 was flying eight daily weekday flights into the downtown location from the state capital at Springfield. Traffic never reached appropriate levels however, and service was suspended by 1974. In a similar fashion, Ozark operated seasonal flights to Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks in 1977-78 using Fairchild FH-227s into Lee C. Fine airport. Tragedy struck Ozark on 22 July, as Fairchild N4215 crashed on approach to Lambert-St Louis Airfield during a severe thunderstorm. The aircraft was scheduled as flight 809, from Nashville, Clarksville, Paducah, Cape Girardeau and Marion. 39 of the 45 people on board perished in the accident, which was attributed by the NTSB as probably due to a "sudden downdraft created by the thunderstorm". It was the first fatal accident in the airline’s 25 year history. In 1978 the Federal Government decided to deregulate the domestic airline industry. Deregulation meant that airlines could adjust service and rates as competition allowed and they saw fit. It meant an end to Civil Aeronautics Board micro-management of airline operations, which was welcome industry wide. However, the act also meant that competition would be much more fierce, and that smaller lines like Ozark would have to scramble to survive. Deregulation would lead to a flurry of new routes for Ozark, allow it to finally stretch to the Pacific coast and inevitably lead to its merger into a larger competitor. But that would in the next decade.GO GETTERS GO OZARK AIR LINES!
| Total A/C Fleet | DHC-6 | FH-227B | DC-9-10 | DC-9-31/32 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 43 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 11 |
| 1978 | 38 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 26 |
| 1973 traffic: 18,941,000 revenue miles; 2,307,000 passengers carried; 641,933,000 revenue passenger miles. | |||||
| 1978 traffic: 33,263,000 revenue miles; 4,725,800 passengers carried; 1,634,800,000 revenue passenger miles. | |||||
Rich Morgan who has taken an interest in the history of Ozark Air Lines
and the writer of this article on Ozark History from the '60's.
Rich, provided the following information about himself and how he became interested in our airline.
"I've been writing at the amateur level for over 20 years, and have over 15 articles printed so far in railroad historical and professional Navy
journals. Most of my work has appeared in the Navy historical/professional journal "The Hook", which is published by the Tailhook
Assoc. (yes, THAT Tailhook Association...).
I'm not from the region originally, but went to Mizzou 1974-78, met my wife there, and have taken the Kansas City area as my adopted home
since then. OZ was the "home line" at Columbia, so that's why it still interests me. I only wish I'd spent a lot more time shooting
pictures down there! I spent 16 years in the Navy flying EA-6B Prowlers, and have lived in the Northern Virginia area since 1995
only because that's where the job is. I work in the Pentagon, where I have access to the library and back issues of "Aviation Week"
and "Wall Street Journal", which has allowed me to develop a surprisingly large file on Ozark.
Copyright © 1997 IIDBS L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.