Air California

Original Air California logo, used from 1967 to 1977

Air California 737-200 in 1980

In April 1967, Air California was operating 48 nonstop Lockheed L-188 Electra propjet flights a week from Orange County (SNA) to San Francisco (SFO). The fare was $14.85 plus 5% tax. It added Orange County (SNA) to San Jose (SJC) and Oakland (OAK) flights around the beginning of 1968.

By May 1968, the airline was operating 92 flights per week from SNA to SFO, primarily using Douglas DC-9-10 twin jets, as well as 50 flights a week from SNA to SJC, with most continuing on to OAK. By January 1969, Boeing 737s had taken over all flights, with the Electras and DC-9s being removed from the fleet.

By 1976, Air California was operating nonstop intrastate jet service between Orange County and San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and Palm Springs; between San Diego and Oakland and San Jose; between Ontario and Oakland and San Jose; and between Palm Springs and San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.[8]

In the late 1970s, Air California's fleet was composed mainly of Boeing 737-200 jetliners. Two Boeing 737-100s were added in 1977–1978. It also flew two Douglas DC-9-10s in 1968, which were leased while Air California was awaiting its new 737s.

In 1975, Air California resumed flying Lockheed Electra propjets in order to serve Lake Tahoe Airport since this airfield had banned scheduled passenger airline jet flights, a ban lasting until the early 1980s. The Electras were retired again when Air California dropped Lake Tahoe as a destination in 1979, with the airline then becoming an all-jet air carrier.

Marketing

Revenue Passenger-Miles/Kilometers, in millions

Year	Traffic
1968	218 RPMs
1970	291 RPMs
1972	387 RPMs
1973	747 RPKs
1975	898 RPKs
1979	1624 RPKs
1985	2961 RPKs

Source: Air Transport World

In the early to mid-1970s, Air California offered school field trips for inner-city school children in Los Angeles to Sacramento at $25 (equivalent to US$148 in 2022) per ticket. The school children would be taken on a tour of the California State Capitol, Governor's Mansion, and Sutter's Fort.

When the airline introduced the new McDonnell Douglas MD-80, one could (for several hours at Burbank Airport) purchase discounted one-way passes (good for one year) for flights to San Jose and Oakland. The pass price was $9.80 one way/$19.60 round trip, with a purchase limit of four round-trip passes. Later that year, San Francisco was added to the pass program as well.

Following the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Air California started flights to Las Vegas and Reno, its first routes outside of the state. It then offered service to Portland, Oregon, and then Seattle, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona. The growing airline then became a takeover target for larger, national air carriers.

AirCal BAe 146–200 at Orange County airport in 1986

In 1981 Air California's owner Westgate, undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, agreed to sell Air California to a newly formed company, AirCal Investments, owned by real estate developers William Lyon and George Argyros, for 61.5 million.[9] The airline changed its name to AirCal and adopted a bright new logo and image, including a new wardrobe for its employees by fashion designer Mary McFadden.

AirCal served as the title sponsor of the 1982 CART Indy car race at Riverside International Raceway.

During the 1980s, AirCal had a small fleet of Boeing 737s (series -100, -200 and -300 aircraft); seven McDonnell Douglas MD-80s; and six British Aerospace BAe 146-200s. The BAe 146 allowed AirCal to increase flights at noise-sensitive Orange County Airport since this British-built jet was quieter than other jets. The airline recommenced flights to Lake Tahoe in the early 1980s with jet service, first with MD-80s and later with Boeing 737-300s. In early 1985, the airline was operating nonstop MD-80 jet service between Lake Tahoe and Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), and San Jose (SJC).[10]

By May 1986, AirCal had introduced new flights serving Chicago (ORD), Anchorage (ANC), and its only international destination, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (YVR).

Acquisition and merger into American Airlines

AirCal Boeing 737-200 in 1992[1]

AirCal was acquired by AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, in 1987.[7] American continued to fly many former AirCal Boeing 737s as well as the BAe 146s, which at that time were both new types in American's fleet.

American operated from its new hub at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) until it transferred the bulk of its San Jose operations to Reno Air in the mid-1990s.

American continued to operate former AirCal Boeing 737-300s into Lake Tahoe (TVL) until it turned over all Lake Tahoe service to their regional affiliate American Eagle, which was operating small, commuter turboprop aircraft at that time.

All eight former AirCal Boeing 737-3A4s were later operated by Southwest Airlines. AirCal also had ordered a ninth 737-3A4 (never delivered), which eventually also found its way into the Southwest Airlines fleet. As of April 2017, Southwest had retired all of the former AirCal fleet: N679AA, the last Boeing 737-300 in service, was stored in February 2012.[13]

In 1981, an AirCal Boeing 737-200 crashed while attempting to land at John Wayne International Airport around sunset on Tuesday, February 17.[14][15] AirCal Flight 336 was a scheduled flight from San Jose International Airport to John Wayne International Airport. Around 48 minutes into the flight, the crew received clearance for a visual approach to land on runway 19R. As Flight 336 was approaching, another AirCal flight, Flight 931, received clearance to take off from runway 19R.

The controller recognized the potential danger of a collision between the two aircraft and ordered Flight 931 to abort takeoff and instructed Flight 336 to go around. Flight 931 aborted its takeoff, however, Flight 336 did not go around and instead landed on the runway with the landing gear retracted. The aircraft left the runway surface around 900 feet (275 m) past the runway threshold, skidded another 1,170 feet (360 m) before finally coming to rest 115 feet (35 m) to the right of the centerline. All passengers and crew members survived the crash. The Boeing 737-293 aircraft, registered N468AC, was damaged beyond repair and consequently written off.[16]

On June 5, 1986, an AirCal 737 flying from Los Angeles to Portland came within 100 feet of a private plane before the AirCal pilot banked to avoid a collision. No crew or passengers were injured during the incident.[17]

Among other aircraft types, Air California/AirCal operated the following jet aircraft during its existence:[6][18]

• List of defunct airlines of the United States

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air California.

• Orange County Memories, AirCal Airlines
• Air California and AirCal History