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Morris Air was a low-fare airline in the western United States, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It began scheduled operations in 1992,[2][3][4] and was sold to Southwest Airlines in December 1993 for over $120 million in stock.[1][5][6][7][8] The airline officially became part of Southwest in the autumn of 1994.[9][10] Morris Air was the first airline in the world to invent e-ticket (ticketless) travel based on the suggestion of Stuart Thatcher, an employee at the time. Although Southwest Airlines is often credited with offering the first e-ticketing system, it was in fact created and implemented by Morris Air and later integrated into Southwest Airlines after it purchased Morris Air.[11]
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| Founded | 1984 (as Morris Air Service) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 1992 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | October 1994 (merged into Southwest Airlines) | ||||||
| Hubs | Salt Lake City International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 21, all Boeing 737 | ||||||
| Destinations | 21, western U.S. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | ||||||
| Key people | David Neeleman (President) | ||||||
| Founder | June Morris (CEO) | ||||||
| Revenue | $116 million (1992)[1] | ||||||
| Profit | $5.3 million (1992)[1] | ||||||
| Employees | 2,000 (1993)[1] | ||||||
The airline began charter operations as Morris Air Service in 1984.[3][12] It was launched by Utah businesswoman June Morris, who also founded Morris Travel in 1970,[13][14][15][16][17] and David Neeleman who also co-founded WestJet and JetBlue.[18] Neeleman worked with Southwest for a short period and when his non-compete agreement expired, he founded JetBlue Airways.[19] June Morris sat on the board of directors of Southwest Airlines until she retired at the annual shareholders' meeting on May 17, 2006.[20]
Charter flights were operated by Ryan International Airlines during 1992, and by both Ryan International and Sierra Pacific Airlines with some flights being operated with Boeing 737-200 jets[3][21] before 1992.[22]
Morris obtained its own FAR 121 operating certificate in December 1992 and then began operating as its own carrier.[3]
The airline was based at Salt Lake City International Airport where it operated a hub[23] and flew many routes primarily in the western U.S. using Boeing 737-300 aircraft. In late 1993, it operated over 1,000 flights per week with a fleet of 21 planes.[12]
The following destination information is taken from Morris Air route maps with the airline not serving all of these airports at the same time.[24]
Alaska
Arizona
California
- Fresno – Fresno Yosemite International Airport
- Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport
- Oakland – San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport
- Ontario – Ontario International Airport
- Palm Springs – Palm Springs Airport
- Sacramento – Sacramento International Airport
- San Diego – San Diego International Airport
- San Jose – San Jose Mineta International Airport
- Santa Ana – John Wayne Airport
Colorado
Florida
- Orlando – Orlando International Airport (seasonal)
Hawaii
- Honolulu – Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (seasonal) – flights to and from Hawaii operated on behalf of Morris Air by American Trans Air (ATA)[25]
Idaho
Nevada
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Mexico (seasonal)
- 21 - Boeing 737-300[12]
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