Rio Airways

Rio Airways was a regional passenger airline headquartered in Killeen, Texas, United States,[1] which was operational from 1967 to 1987.[2] Rio Airways operated code sharing flights on behalf of Delta Air Lines from June, 1984 through December, 1986 whereby Rio flights were booked and sold under the Delta Connection brand name as Delta was operating a hub at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) at this time. Delta then replaced Rio with Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) for its Delta Connection service at DFW.[3] Rio then briefly operated as Braniff Express on behalf of Braniff from December, 1986 through the spring of 1987. Prior to the Delta Connection and Braniff Express service, Rio Airways (Code "XO") operated independently but shared terminal gates at the DFW airport first with Texas International Airlines (1974), then with Braniff International Airways (1975-1978). Prior to operations at DFW it operated at Dallas Love Field, having its roots in two smaller commuter air carriers, Dal Airways and Hood Airways.

Rio Airways
IATA ICAO Callsign
XO - -
Commenced operations1965
Ceased operations1987
Operating basesKilleen Municipal Airport
HubsLove Field, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
AllianceDelta Air Lines TranStar Airlines
Fleet sizeSee Fleet below
DestinationsSee Destinations below
HeadquartersKilleen, Texas, United States

Labor issues

In 1972, Rio pilots initiated collective bargaining efforts with proposed representation by the Teamsters, but vigorous opposition by Rio management and strong appeals by popular pilot Mike Mills, swayed the pilots to reject the union. Two years later, the Rio pilot group having grown dissatisfied with Rio management's failure to carry through with promises made to discourage the former unionization efforts, solicited the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct another union vote. This time the initial solicitation was actually initiated by Mike Mills who personally handed out the solicitation cards to be signed by pilots, and the pilots unanimously voted ALPA subsidiary "UPA" as their collective bargaining agent.

After a year of failed negotiations the NLRB mediator declared a thirty-day "cooling-off" period and then made his recommendation known to the pilot group that "only a strike will likely force the company to abandon coercive and probably unsafe practices against the pilots." The pilots had an almost 100% walk-out beginning August 1976, with the exception of management pilot Herb Cunningham, and line pilots Mike Mills, Calvin Humphrey, Will Kilgore, and Hugh Longmoor remaining with the company. The company hired replacement pilots from across the country, many of whom arrived to discover the airline under a labor dispute.

The strike continued for two years, with no UPA pilot returning to the company, until August 1978, when pilots Calvin Humphrey and Mike Mills organized a "sweetheart" union which de-certified UPA and established the "Rio Pilots Association". Rio acquired competitor Davis Airlines of College Station, Texas in 1979 and began service to that city.

The Connell's who owned Rio, sold it in early 1986 to a group of investors from Houston, Texas headed by Hugh Seaborn a former owner of Metro Airlines [4]

Rio operated various aircraft types through its history and initially flew single piston engine Piper Cherokee Six and twin piston engine Beech 18 aircraft. Turboprop aircraft were then operated, including the Beechcraft 99 until 1977 followed by de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters, Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners (Metro II models), de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7s and Beechcraft 1900Cs.

Incidents

On January 12, 1971 a Rio Airways flight from Dallas crashed on short-approach to the Killeen Municipal airport, injuring several people, including the chancellor of MH-B College. The flight descended below the approach minimum altitude in fog and struck the ground about a quarter mile short of the runway, slid across the highway 190 and ended up on the airport boundary fence.

On February 15, 1983 an Iranian man, Hussein Shey Kholya, hijacked flight ILE-DFW. The plane landed in Nuevo Laredo.[5]

Destinations in 1983

According to the January 1, 1983 Rio Airways route map, the airline was serving the following destinations:[6]

The airline also previously served Abilene, Texas (ABI), Dallas Love Field (DAL), Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (FTW) and Lawton, Oklahoma (LAW).

Officers

Ted C Connell Chairman Of Board; Mark S Connell Vice Chairman of Board; Pete Howe, exec. vice-president

From late 1986 through spring 1987, Rio Airways provided commuter passenger feed services via a code sharing agreement on behalf of TranStar Airlines, the successor to Muse Air after this new start up jet airline was acquired by Southwest Airlines and renamed TranStar. Only in print media were Rio's aircraft ever illustrated in TranStar SkyLink brandings.[7] According to the Victoria Advocate newspaper, plans were for TranStar Skylink to feature the aircraft livery of TranStar and operate smaller Fokker F27 turboprop aircraft in order to replace the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 jetliners then being flown by TranStar on the Houston Hobby - Brownsville, TX route as well as being operated on other intrastate feeder routes in Texas.

Among the routes[8] flown as the TranStar Skylink feeder brand were:

  • Killeen, TX - Austin, TX
  • Victoria, TX - Houston Hobby Airport, TX

Fleet

Rio operated the following turboprop aircraft types during its existence:

See also

References
  1. "World Airline Directory". Flight International. 1985. p. 112. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  2. "The World's Airlines, Past, Present & Future - Inactive Airlines". AirlineHistory.net. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  3. http://www.departedflights.com, Dec. 15, 1989 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Dallas/Fort Worth flight schdedules
  4. Ridder-Flynn, Laura (May 11, 2000). "City looks at illegal gun buying in Laredo". Laredo Morning Times. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  5. Staff writer(s) (February 16, 1983). "Texas Airliner Hijacked And Forced to Mexico". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  6. http://Jan. 1, 1983 Rio Airways route map
  7. (1986) "Transtar Rio link up smaller cities" Houston Chronicle
  8. Timetable


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