Morris Air

Defunct low-cost airline of the United States (1984–1992) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 Southwest purchased Morris Air.[11]

Quick Facts IATA, ICAO ...
Morris Air
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IATA ICAO Call sign
KN MSS WASATCH
Founded1984; 41 years ago (1984)
(as Morris Air Service)
Commenced operations1992; 33 years ago (1992)
Ceased operationsOctober 1994;
30 years ago
 (1994-10)
(merged into Southwest Airlines)
HubsSalt Lake City International Airport
Fleet size21, all Boeing 737
Destinations21, western U.S.
HeadquartersSalt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Key peopleDavid Neeleman (President)
FounderJune Morris (CEO)
Revenue$116 million (1992)[1]
Profit$5.3 million (1992)[1]
Employees2,000 (1993)[1]
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History

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]

Destinations

Summarize
Perspective

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]

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Morris Air Boeing 737-300 at LAX post-merger; note the nose with Southwest colors on the radome.

Alaska

Arizona

California

Colorado

Florida

Hawaii

Idaho

Nevada

Oregon

Utah

Washington

Mexico (seasonal)

Fleet

See also

References

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